We’re not real family here. In a few days most of them will be with their real family. But we are a family. The kind of family you choose.
We use the top twenty floors of our building for the company. Most of them are just floors and floors of offices, and cubicles, and the research and development labs.
But up here—on the top five floors of the Bright Berry Beach building—it’s… kind of magical.
Especially during the holidays.
The Bright Berry Beach executive lobby is five stories tall and there are two massive walls of windows that showcase the city lights outside. The tree is twenty feet tall at least, and it takes a whole team of people an entire week to decorate it. The theme is pink and gold. So very, very Bright Berry Beach.
Huck is singing I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas and when I squint my eyes, I can see that it’s actually snowing outside.
Everyone is dressed up. Some of them are wearing costumes, like Hannah and her boyfriend—there are lots of sexy elves. And some of them are conservative, opting instead for the little black or gold dress. Most of the men are in tuxes. I glance over my shoulder at Jesse, who has his arms around my middle now, his chest pressing up against my back. He’s in a tux. But it’s not his tux I see. It’s his eyes. Such beautiful, thoughtful, sexy eyes.
I will never get tired of gazing into them.
“I love you,” I say.
He kisses my cheek. “Miss Dumas, I didn’t even know what love was until I met you.”
I turn around, my hands automatically slipping up to his shoulders and then around his neck. I play with the longer strands of brown-blond hair that almost touch the top of his collar. And when I look right into his eyes and see myself looking back, I don’t need to be tipsy to feel lightheaded and dizzy.
He does that to me all on his own.
“I can’t wait to marry you, Mr. Boston. I wish we could do it right now. Right here, in front of all these people and that huge tree lit up in pink and gold.”
He reaches up for my left hand and brings it into his lips. Kisses my knuckles gently. “Emma, my life has been a celebration from the moment you bought me at a bachelor auction.” And then he turns me around, places both of my hands on the brushed metal railing, and leans forward.
“Attention!” he yells down to the crowd. “Can I have your attention, please?”
People look up. Huck stops singing. The music stops.
“I just need a moment of your time. I just need to shout it out. I love this woman! I love Emma Dumas and next spring I’m going to marry her!”
People laugh and cheer. Shout up encouragement. Some of them are yelling for more.
But Jesse is suddenly in motion. He’s got my hand and he’s pulling me over towards the next escalator.
But he doesn’t get on. Instead he whisks me into his arms and starts running up the escalator.
Everyone down below knows what we’re up to now, thank you very much, Mr. Boston, because they are whistling and cheering.
And I don’t even care.
Let them know.
Let the whole world know.
I am in love with this man.
When we reach the top, he sets me back on my feet and tugs me along hurriedly towards my corner office. And then we’re rushing through the door. Huck is singing again. The low hum of conversation fills in the background.
He turns me around and presses his body up against mine, walking me backwards until I reach the hard edge of my huge wooden desk. Then his hands reach behind my thighs and he lifts me, and the hem of my pink skirt, up and sets me on top of it.
I’m already unbuckling his belt, my fingers desperate for access. Not even caring that the door to my office is wide open.
He’s unbuttoning my pink chiffon blouse and halfway down he gives up and just pulls it out of my skirt. But his hands are already inside it, squeezing my breasts and then yanking my strapless bra down so he can play with my nipples.
I don’t love Jesse Boston just for his sexual prowess, but his skill certainly doesn’t hurt.
Especially when, just as my hands have his pants open and are reaching inside to wrap around his cock, he presses forward, forcing me to lie back on the desk.
And then my legs are bending at the knees with the urging of his hands, and he’s opening them up. His fingers slip between them, right past my carefully coordinated pink-lace panties, and penetrate me.
I close my eyes with a moan, but then open them again immediately. I want to see him. I want to see every moment with him. The tipsy inside me is suddenly gone. There is no alcohol or edible-induced lightheadedness.