The Journey Home

She stopped at my desk and leaned over. “Mr. Powers needs that presentation to be ready first thing in the morning. He asked me to stay late in case you needed anything.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, then checked the time. Fuck. It was six-thirty already. I picked up my phone to see that I had a few missed texts from Maddie.

Maddie: Hey! Are you working late tonight? I haven’t heard from you all afternoon.

Maddie: You must be busy. Lily and I are going to the park with your mother. Call me.

Maddie: I’m guessing you’re working late. Just gonna make something for me for dinner. Hope everything is okay.

I ran my hand through my hair and sighed. I can’t believe I hadn’t even talked to Maddie at all this afternoon. I began typing her back a reply as I talked to Katrina. “Why are you here so late? And why didn’t remind me of the time?”

“I knew you had this big presentation, so I just assumed you wanted to be alone to work on it. Then Mr. Powers asked me to stay, too. Would you like some dinner?”

In that moment, my stomach decided to answer for me. Katrina giggled and said, “It’s a good thing I ordered Chinese, isn’t it?”

I smiled. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

Me: Hey, baby. I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize it was so late and my damn phone was on silent from a meeting earlier this morning. Your dad is expecting this presentation first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll probably be at least another hour. I’m sorry.

Maddie: No worries. I’m just glad everything is okay. I was about to call Daddy.

Me: Why didn’t you call my office number?

Maddie: I did, twice. Your assistant said she gave you the messages, but that you were working on a big presentation.

I looked toward my office door. Weird. Katrina never gave me any messages from Maddie.

Me: I never got any messages. I think Katrina needs to go. She’s still here. Working late.

Maddie: Really? I called twice, once just a few minutes ago.

Me: I’ll take care of it. Give me an hour and I’ll be home, baby.

Maddie: We’ll be waiting. Not sure the princess will be able to hold out that long. Her and Grandma had tons of fun today.

I smiled as I thought about my mother and Lily playing. My mother had become a new person this year. Something about Lily had changed her, and we had never been closer. My father was happier too.

I looked up to see Katrina walking in. She had taken her hair down and was holding a bag of food. I had to admit—it smelled heavenly.

Me: I’m glad they had fun. I’ll try to hurry. I love you, Maddie. More than anything.

Maddie: I love you! Please hurry. I have something for you.

Me: I love you, too, baby. I’m counting down the minutes. I’ll be as quick as I can.

She sent a photo, and I waited for it to load. When it did, I about dropped my phone. Maddie was standing naked in front of her full-length mirror. I licked my lips as I thought about all the dirty things I wanted to do to her tonight.

Me: Holy shit, Maddie. I’ll wrap this up as fast as I can.

Maddie: Don’t rush. Just know I’ll be waiting for you.

Me: I’ll text you when I’m heading home.

Maddie: K!

“Dinner’s ready,” Katrina said as she placed everything out on the table, then sat down on the sofa.

I had a huge office. A conference table and eight chairs were on the left side of my office, and a sofa, coffee table, and two chairs sat on the right side. I got up and walked over to the sofa. I was attempting to think of anything besides Maddie’s naked picture and my rock-hard dick. I grabbed the food and made my way back to my desk.

“You’re not even going to take a break and eat with me on the sofa?” Katrina asked.

I looked over my shoulder at her.

She licked her lips. “It’s after hours, so I thought we could be a bit more relaxed.”

I turned away from her. “It may be after hours, but we’re still working.”

I sat and went through the spreadsheets one more time. Everything was pretty much ready to go for the presentation, and I was just double-checking everything before I finished up. Since Katrina was here, I would send the file to James—Maddie’s dad—and Katrina could send it to everyone else after she got it all in order. James just needed the data ahead of time. He didn’t need it looking all pretty.

I was so deep into the power point that I didn’t even notice Katrina get up and approach my desk. She placed her hands on my shoulders and I jumped.

“Relax. Let me take all your tension away, Cale.” She messaged my shoulders and brushed her lips against my neck. “I can relax you in so many ways.”

I stood and turned to her. “Katrina, I think it’s best if you leave for the evening.”

She smiled and tilted her head. “Is that what you really want, Cale?”

“It’s Mr. Blackwood.”

She bit her lip. “I do like a man who is in control.”

I stared at her. Was she for real? I picked up my phone called security.

“Good evening, Mr. Blackwood. Is everything okay?”

I shook my head as I watched Katrina start unbuttoning her blouse. I held up my hand to stop her. “Yes. I need you to come to my office ASAP and escort Ms. Miller from the building. She is being terminated as of this moment.”

Katrina’s mouth gaped open as her hands fell to the side. “What? You’re firing me?”

“Yes sir. Sending up Philip now, Mr. Blackwood.”

“Thank you.” I hung up the phone and walked to the other side of my desk. Turning to Katrina, I said, “I need you to gather your things. Security will be here any minute to escort you from the building.

“But…I thought. You’re not interested in me?”

I ran my hand through my hair and shook my head. “I’m very much in love with my wife, and I’m pretty sure I never gave you any indication otherwise.”

She quickly began to button her shirt as she headed out of my office, back to her desk. She stopped at my door and turned to me. “I’m uh…I’m sorry. It’s just that most men don’t turn me down. Not even the ones who are happily married.”

I put my hands in my pockets and looked at her. I felt so sorry for her. She needed to find someone

who'd treat her with enough respect that she wouldn’t feel like she needed to throw herself at men.

“If a married man slept with you, Katrina, he was not happy in his marriage, and he had zero respect for his wife.”

She swallowed hard and headed to her desk. I heard Philip walk into the office and ask if she could hand him her badge.

After Katrina cleaned out her desk and gathered up her items, I walked out as they both made their way to the elevator. She turned to me. “What are you going to say?”

“I’m going to send HR the letter of resignation that you sent to me.”

She looked confused, but then it hit her. “Thank you for not…well…you could have said what happened.”

“Nothing happened, Katrina. Besides, it wouldn’t do you or I any good in spreading it around, would it?”

She shook her head and slowly turned away. I returned to my office and picked up my phone. My first call was to James, and my second was to Maddie to tell her how much I loved her.

I LOOKED UP from my book as Cale came into the living room. “Rough day?”

He nodded and threw his stuff down on the chair. “I had to fire Katrina tonight.”

I sat up and set my Kindle down. “Oh my gosh, why?”

Cale sat down and pushed his hands through his hair. Taking a deep, he said, “She came on to me tonight.”

Anger engulfed my body. “She came on to you? Is that why the bitch didn’t tell you I called?”

Cale nodded. “I guess.”

My voice cracked as I said, “What happened?”

“She didn’t bother to tell me you’d called or even that your dad had called. I was so lost in Power Point that I didn’t realize how time was flying by. She ordered dinner and brought it into my office and sat on my sofa to eat it. I took it to my desk and, the next thing I knew, she was massaging my shoulders and she…well, she came on to me.”