My second alarm is blaring on my cell phone. It declares the time, shit, I’m going to be late. As I stretch I become aware of aches in places I didn’t know existed. Rolling over, I pull Enzo’s pillow to me, inhaling deep. He’s always right, no cuffs are necessary, I don’t want to leave his bed at all. If I could live here I would. The alarm sounds again. Damn it. Grabbing it, I turn it off and hustle into the shower.
As I sit in the back of the car eating the breakfast sandwich Everett handed me, my phone chimes with a text.
I hear you woke up late. Did Everett get you breakfast?
“Everett, can you believe he’s checking up on you?”
“Didn’t doubt him for a minute, miss.”
“Please, please call me Chloe,” I plead for the fifth time.
“Yes, miss.”
Yes, it’s yummy. Thank you
I barely hit send before he responds.
Good. Lunch at noon in my office?
In his office? I check his calendar; there aren’t any meetings around lunch.
Lunch, yes. In your office, no.
I laugh at his response.
Do you wake up wondering how you can annoy the fuck out of me?
He thinks he’s so funny.
If I annoy you it’s only a happy coincidence. I don’t want to eat stuck in an office. I don’t care how nice the office is.
I swear I can see him sigh.
Where do you want to go for lunch? We’ll leave the office.
I name a restaurant, he agrees. I let Everett know of the time as I get out of the car.
Over lunch we talk about the wedding. Enzo admits he has given the mold people a large incentive to finish faster than a week. I’m not surprised in the least. In the elevator going back up to work, he hugs me close.
“If we were in my office I would have been able to kiss you as thoroughly as I want to.”
“Hmm.” Damn, I hadn’t even thought of that. “I’ll keep it in mind for tomorrow.”
“Six tonight?”
I shake my head. “If you want to leave at six I’ll be gone already, unless a client comes in.”
A sigh. “What time?”
Rolling my eyes. “I can compromise. I’ll do five thirty. There’s a report I can do early.”
“Thank you.” His kiss is only a brush across my temple. Maybe his office isn’t such a bad place for lunch after all.
He’s right on time; I’m the one stepping out of the building five minutes late. His eyes go up as I get in.
“I forgot the time. I’ll set an alarm next time.”
Laughing, he tells me to put my seat belt on. We’re home before I finish showing him the flowers I picked out.