Page 89 of Without Apology

“Good.” She sighed in relief. “What will you do about Jeff?”

“As far as him having sour grapes, nothing. However, his management style is about to change. He starts treating his people better and doing more, or he’s out.” I would do what my predecessor had failed to.

“God, you’re already talking like a CFO. Did you call your sister? You going out to celebrate?”

“Thank you. And I didn’t yet. She has soccer practice, piano, and homework on a Monday night. But I’m sure we’ll do something over the weekend.” I hadn’t wanted to make my sister feel pressured. Balancing three girls during a school week was hard enough.

“I could call Doug and tell him I’ll be late if you want to go out tonight.”

I waved her off. Mondays were tough for anyone to try to go out, especially on short notice. “Honestly, I simply want to go home, let it sink in, and take a long bath.” Now that I’d said the words out loud, nothing sounded better.

She patted my hand in a friendly gesture. “I’ll let you go then. Congrats, and we have such a raincheck coming once this kid gets here. It’ll be drinks all around.”

“You got it.” After she left, I packed up my things. It was tempting to see if Simon wanted to come by tonight, but oddly, I found myself wanting him to do that on his own and not because I’d asked him.

***

I’d been in the tub only a few minutes when the knock on the door came. I tried to remember if I’d left the front door unlocked. It was tempting to yell ‘come in,’ but if the person didn’t happen to be Simon, it could turn out to be awkward, not to mention dangerous. I stepped out of the hot water, threw on my robe, and padded out to the door. Smiling, I opened it to him holding a bottle of champagne.

His gaze immediately raked down my body. “I should’ve called.”

Still smiling, I took the bottle and allowed him to step inside. “Yes, because then instead of me getting out of my tub, you’d already be in there with me.” My gaze fell on the label. “Is this the same champagne you bought when we met?”

“Technically, you bought it for me, but yes. Laverne let me buy my own bottle this time around.”

I recollected the day we’d met in the checkout line. “Wait. I can’t believe this is just now dawning on me. Was the bottle for George that night? Is he who you were meeting?” It explained why Simon had been in my home town and had stopped to get something.

He laughed. “It was indeed. Although now I know he probably would’ve preferred whiskey.”

Taking his hand, I led him to my kitchen where my whisky sat on the counter.

He whistled at the Macallan. “From George?”

“Yep.”

“Congratulations. I didn’t know if you’d be out celebrating tonight. I sent you a text.”

“Thank you. I was in the tub, and my phone is somewhere still in my purse.”

He pulled me to him, running his hands down to my ass. “We shouldn’t let the water get cold.”

His scent was intoxicating. My arms snaked around his waist, and my fingers rubbed beneath his suit jacket. “Do you want to join me?”

“How about I pour the champagne first and meet you in there?”

I kissed him briefly, pulling away with reluctance and giving what I hoped was a seductive look over my shoulder as I walked back toward the bathroom.

After sinking back down into the water and closing my eyes with bliss, I sensed his presence. My gaze found him standing a foot away, staring at me with heat in his eyes.

“You’re absolutely stunning.” He set the two flutes of bubbly on the bathroom countertop and took off his jacket, laying it to the side.

“Thank you.” I watched while he undid his cuff links and rolled up his sleeves to his elbow. I’d never been attracted to forearms as much as I was in this moment.

He knelt down at the head of the tub and took my loofa from the side. “Slide up so I can wash your back.” His voice was husky, thick with desire.

I scooted up a few inches, bringing my knees to my chest and sighing with pleasure once he brought the loofa to my back. He dipped it into the water and then made long strokes up and down.

“There’s room for you to join me,” I offered. For the first time, I appreciated the large size of my soaking tub.

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