Page 8 of Lily, Unwritten

“No,” he said as he pressed his fingers onto mine, encouraging me to continue. “In their office, here, as their in-house legal counsel. Please don’t stop what you’re doing, by the way.”

“Seriously? That’s huge! They asked you, out of the whole team they’ve worked with?” I ran my fingers through his hair as I smiled.

“They’re emailing me the offer to look at over the weekend.”

“You’re so in demand. Also, you taste incredible right now, Zachary.”

“I know you love it when I’m drunk, you always take advantage of me.” He slid his hands up my sides which caused me to suck my breath in; the power in him as he climbed on top of me. His stubble tickled as he kissed the warm skin on my stomach. “I love summer,” he said with a satisfied sigh. “Love you feeling all hot like this.”

“Maybe don’t go to Iceland then?” I tried to wriggle down the bed, but he stopped me, a sexy smile on his face as he shed the rest of his clothes.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find a way to warm it up.” Then his mouth was on mine as we became a hot, clammy mess of skin and fingers and lips. I burrowed my mouth into his neck as the frantic exchange peaked, caressing the skin of his back with soft strokes as he ran kisses over my face, telling me over and over how much he loved me. We eventually fell fast asleep - bodies hot, minds happy, hearts full.

At around ten, I slid out of the bed and tiptoed to the kitchen, deciding to make breakfast and let Zack sleep in as late as he wanted. We were now officially hibernating until Monday morning. I messaged Cassie whilst I cooked.

Morning trouble x

I was going to call you later, you ok? x

Yep, really good, things have felt great this week. Odd moments you know but it feels like progress

Good. Girls are still going on about last weekend, they loved it x

I’m glad x How is he?

Which ‘he’ are we referring to?

You know…

You have to let this go

I am! I just want to know if he’s ok

He’s coming round tonight, I’ll call you tomorrow ok? But promise me you will stop, just concentrate on Zack. I’m not finding you another one!!!

Ok, sorry. Speak soon. Love you x

I sighed at myself, frustrated at my moment of weakness. It was ridiculous, but I was jealous of Cassie that she got to see Luke and I didn’t. As I heard Zack’s footsteps head to the bathroom, I slid the phone to silent and put it in my back pocket, plating up a huge breakfast for him as I ignored the negative feelings that ran through my mind.

“What did I do to deserve you?” he asked as he kissed the top of my head and took a seat. He surveyed my lonely poached egg on toast compared to his full English. “You didn’t have to go to all that effort just for me, you know?”

“Well, if you have international companies headhunting you now, I figured I better step my game up in case you start expecting a girlfriend upgrade too.”

“I should have let you sleep, sorry, was just excited,” he said as he tucked in. I watched him, all scruffy hair and stubbly chin. We’d been together a good while now, but I still couldn’t stop admiring that handsome face, all chiselled, dark, and brooding.

“Well, yeah, I hate it when I get woken up by a gorgeous man who has good news, and then wants to have super intense, hot sex. Worst Friday night ever,” I teased. “Have they emailed you yet?”

He slid his phone across the table, an open email on display. There were multiple attachments, but the body of the message had the main points of the contract in a bullet list. I glanced down them, and my eyes widened in shock. “How much money? That can’t be the right salary, can it?” I asked.

He nodded, unable to disguise the look of glee on his face. “Look at the number underneath. They’re offering a signing bonus.”

“Oh my god! I don’t know what to say! That’s like, twenty thousand a year more than you get now? And you get the other twenty thousand for just accepting the job? That’s insane.”

“I’d have to go to Iceland once a month, be weird to be away from you. It’s such a good job, but it takes me out of that partnership career path, I guess,” he pondered. His mouth pulled away to one side as it always did when he was thoughtful.

“It does, but you always knew that was just one path. Depends on what you want. Where you are now, you just get given the clients and cases and don’t have any say. I can tell you enjoy working with these guys, and they obviously think a lot of you to offer this. Worst case scenario, if you hated it, is just apply back to legal firms, right?”

“True,” he replied. “But I’d worry about being away from you.”

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