Page 34 of The American

He sat back against the hot tub and reached for her hand. “What are we going to do?”

Sage frowned. “I’m so happy I’m not alone in this, but the problem remains that we are currently both CEOs for a company that tried to blackmail and trick us into unethical practices.”

“I think Zachary’s going down.”

“The whole company has to go down, and it’s killing me.”

“I don’t see why.” Thad twisted his lips. “I think we can pull this off so that Zachary is portrayed as the crook, you are the hero, and I’m the jester.”

She squeezed his hand. “Hardly a fair part for you.”

“But someone must be the jester.” His eyes held sadness. And she regretted with a huge wave of pain, all the things she had said to him earlier.

“I must apologize. Thad, I have never given you the respect you deserve. I am sorry. And if we ever get to be CEOs again, I promise to support you like you deserve.”

His eyes twinkled. “We may yet share this same position. I don’t think our choices are limited to quit or break the law.”

A small puff of hope hovered about in her heart. “I really would like to salvage my career.”

“I don’t see why you can’t. Someone has to go down. And by common consent we know who that is. One casualty from this mess is plenty, I’d say.”

They talked late into the night, until their fingers and toes were so pruned Sage wasn’t sure they would return to normal.

As the covers warmed her in bed in the beautiful spare room, she smiled, thinking about how lucky she was to have someone like Thad in her life.

Just as she drifted off to sleep, a low mumbling in the hallway surprised her. She thought she heard Zachary, but her muffled hearing and dozing brain must have imagined it. She would see Zachary soon enough, she didn’t need to go imagining him in her dreams. Now, Thad, she wouldn’t mind at all if he were to make a dream visit.

Chapter 17

Thad awoke to the smell of bacon. He didn’t even know the flat had bacon. He brushed his teeth and ran wet hands through his hair before following the delicious smells of breakfast. The sight warmed him more than the smell. Sage stood with her hair on top of her head, earphones in, dancing in the kitchen while flipping pancakes.

He silenced his chuckle and took a moment to watch her. This vibrant, incredible woman had made such a difference in his life. He had never cared for anyone like he had grown to care for her. They didn’t have much history to go on, but he knew he wanted to make more. He wanted to spend every day falling in love with her. When the words, “I love you” left his lips in their free fall, he thought that was an amusing response in the middle of his terror, but as they bounced around and as his lips met hers, he was struck that he actually could be falling for this woman in much the same way he had fallen off the bridge, fast, crazy, and sudden, but intense.

He couldn’t know for sure, but he did know he did not want to be apart from her, even for a day.

Watching her hips swivel in front of him, cooking his breakfast, she became too much to resist. He stepped up behind her, rested his hand at her hips and moved to her rhythms. He couldn’t hear the music just followed her lead, hips swiveling in unison. A wave of desire rushed through him, and he paused. Shocked by the sudden intensity of his feelings, he stepped away.

Her confused expression helped him gain some control. Then he pulled at an earbud. “What are you listening to? It sure looked good.”

Her cheeks colored in such a charming way, he longed to pull her back up against him. But instead, he grabbed the plate she held out for him, sat at the table and drank his orange juice.

When she sat beside him, he started eating. In between bites, he said, “I don’t think we should go into work today.”

She smirked. “Ready to quit again?”

“Absolutely not. I meant what I said last night. We are going to ride this out, and Zachary’s going down.”

She held up a hand “Understood. I’m joking.”

“I was looking at the news and people are camped outside the building, on all sides.”

“What?” She ran to the windows, trying to peer straight down and she reminded him so much of a child, he had to tease her. “You might get a better view just watching the news.”

“Oh true.”

They brought their plates out in front of the television. Sure enough, people were surrounding the building. Thad used the computer function and searched through all the sights. Their date last night had skyrocketed views, they were trending on Twitter and Facebook, Google searches. Everyone thought Thad talking her through eating the locust was the most heroic thing a man could do. And then their tandem jump off the bridge and the kiss, they had captured the kiss, was the most replayed gif on all platforms. She smiled, proud. “Now I call that publicity.”

He fist bumped her. “We rock at this.”

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