Page 65 of Bad & Bossy

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I hadn’t been able to get my fill of him no matter how many times we’d collided.

Two days passed in a blur of pleasure, showers, and parenting. We’d barely left his penthouse save for the few times we’d needed something of Drew’s from my suite. Every fucking moment he was out cold, I couldn’t keep my hands off of Cole.

We barely slept. We barely ate.

What I’d originally thought was just a need for affection after far too long without it was so much more. Every kiss, every cuddle, every second he spent buried inside of me felt too damn perfect to be just that. I hadn’t made a mistake in saying yes. I was sure of that now.

On the final night of the retreat, we’d collected ourselves enough to make an appearance downstairs with the rest of the group. The staff drank and toasted to a vacation well-deserved, and in solidarity with Cole, the two of us had cheers-ed with the rest of them with a glass of Diet Coke, Drew with a half-full bottle of breastmilk.

“Dana!”

Allison, my manager, pushed through the sea of people to approach me, her grin far too wide to not be suspicious.

“I’ve barely seen you since we got here,” she said. The little smirk that tugged at her lips told me she knew exactly why that was, especially with Cole behind me, his hand protectively on the small of my back as he spoke to Ben.

“I…” I couldn’t think of what to say. Instead, I let out a breathless chuckle, my cheeks heating. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” she laughed, taking a sip of her drink and flashing me knowing eyes. “It’s none of my business what goes on between consenting adults.”

I readjusted Drew, shifting him further up my hip as he kicked. He was absolutely going to break another of my ribs if he got much stronger. “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind,” I admitted.

She nodded, waving a single hand at Drew as he animatedly waved back at her. Her voice dropped, just a little quieter than the din of the crowd of employees, and she leaned in closer. “Just be careful, okay?”

“I am.”

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The morning of departure, Cole met me in my room far before when he said he would. He came empty-handed, his bags already on their way to the airport, and helped me make sure I hadn’t forgotten a single thing of mine or Drew’s. He packed up my things as I packed Drew’s, his worry over misplacing things incorrectly or confusingly making my chest warm.

And he carried everything.

The diaper bag, Drew’s luggage, my luggage, even my purse. All I needed to worry about was the slightly snotty baby on my hip and his little plastic giraffe.

The drive to the airport was almost too short. I wasn’t entirely ready to say goodbye to the little slice of paradise I’d found the last ten days, but I needed to believe I could have that back home in Boulder, too. We needed to see how we both fared in the real world—him with his temptation and us being in a relationship.

We could make it work and I truly wanted it to.

The same people who had flown down to Costa Rica with us joined us for the flight back. Drew slept almost the entire way, either in his foldable bassinet or on Cole’s lap. The little dribbles of snot weren’t entirely unusual for him, but I made a note in my calendar on my phone to make an appointment with his doctor just in case.

Cole didn’t seem to have any problem wiping it away with a tissue.

For the millionth time in the last week alone, the weight of my secret pressed down on my shoulders. I owed it to him now more than ever; if we were going to try our hand at an actual relationship, he deserved to know instead of assuming he’d be helping raise someone else’s child. He hadn’t had a single blip while we were in Costa Rica, not a mention of needing to drink or a craving. I knew he was itching to get through meetings, but he seemed to be making major improvements from that night at the liquor store.

It was risky, involving him this much with his son. But it was a risk I felt ready to take. If we could get through this and make it out the other side, it would be good for us. For our family. I just needed to tell him.

No matter the reaction.

No matter if it meant an argument and turmoil.

He deserved to know.

The landing back in Boulder was a little rough with the winds coming over the mountains. Drew sobbed, his little plastic giraffe not quite enough to keep him distracted from the pain in his gums and ears. I’d said my apologies to the rest of the staff on the plane, but Cole had cut me off, insisting it wasn’t anything to apologize for.

We waited for the rest of them to deplane before we gathered our things. Cole took Drew as I packed up his bag, making sure nothing was left behind, especially the giraffe.

“I think he might lose his mind if I lost that,” I laughed, looking back at him over my shoulder as I walked down the steps of the plane onto the tarmac. Cole carried him against his chest, the smallest bit of saliva on his t-shirt.

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