Page 15 of Theirs to Take

“I’ll keep you warm, honey,” he offered. How could she refuse an offer like that? It had been so long since she was with a man, let alone slept with one, it would be nice to cuddle and be held while she slept.

She brushed her teeth as Alex brushed his own in the side-by-side vanity sinks. It felt so domestic to be with him like this, she almost forgot that she had only just met him yesterday. It felt as though she had known him her whole life. Being with Alex was easy and natural, almost like breathing.

He helped her into bed and leaned over to kiss her forehead as if he was tucking her into bed and the gentle gesture had her almost swooning. How could a man so in control, a man who was admittedly rough with her during sex, be so gentle and nurturing otherwise? Every time Nova thought she had him figured out, he’d prove her wrong again. She wondered if she’d ever figure Alex out, but she was pretty sure that she already knew the answer to that question—she wouldn’t.

She woke the next morning to find the bed empty before the sun had even come up. “Alex,” she called, but he didn’t answer. A part of her worried that she had just dreamt the whole wonderful night that she had just spent curled up beside him.

Nova got out of bed and found Alex’s T-shirt on the floor from the night before. She smiled to herself as she slipped it on, remembering the way she took it off of him just before he pushed her up against the wall and took her. Nova made her way down to the kitchen and tried to remember what he said about where everything was in his house. This place was enormous and finding her way around was going to require a map.

She found a note on the kitchen counter, next to the coffee pot. “Help yourself to coffee. I’m in the basement—come find me when you’re up.” Nova poured herself a cup of coffee and sauntered down to the basement to find him.

“Hey,” he said as she walked into the home gym he had built in the back of the basement.

“A ballroom on the top floor and a gym in the basement. Where’s the bowling alley?” she teased.

“You joke, but it used to be here,” he said. “In this space. My grandfather had it built when my brother and I lived with him for a while,” he said.

“You had a bowling alley?” she said. “Right here.” She pointed to the gym, and he nodded.

“I tore it out to put in the gym. While I love bowling, I use the gym every day. I’m kind of private about my workouts. Plus, I don’t like waiting for machines, so this works for me,” he said. She had to admit—it worked for her too, seeing him lifting weights, glistening with sweat, and making her hot as hell.

“Well, I love bowling. I can’t say that I love working out. In fact, I don’t do much of it,” she admitted.

“Your body says otherwise, honey,” he said.

She shrugged, “I guess I can claim good genetics,” she said.

“I’ll have you down here with me in no time, honey,” he promised. “Good genetics or not, you still need to work out. It will give you so much more energy.” She did feel like a slug most days. By dinner time, she felt ready to drop.

“Don’t hold your breath,” she said. “Mind if I take a quick shower to get ready for work?” she asked.

“My house is your house, honey,” he said. If only. Nova wouldn’t have a clue as to what to do with a house this size.

“Thanks,” she said, “I’ll be ready to go to the office in thirty minutes. You have a nine o’clock meeting.”

“I’ll be up in a few minutes to shower,” he said. She nodded and turned to go back up the steps. “Oh—Nova,” he said. She turned to look back at him and he smiled at her. “I like the way you look in my t-shirt, honey,” he said. All she could do was sigh—just sigh, like a lovesick schoolgirl. Yeah, she had it bad for her boss, and there wasn’t anything she’d be able to do about it.

They got into the office and even though she expected all eyes on them and everyone to be whispering behind their backs—it didn’t happen. No one seemed to even know that they had arrived together to work. No one questioned the fact that Alex was holding her hand on the way to her desk or that he had kissed her cheek before heading into his own office. Not one single peep.

He had spent most of the morning locked away in his office while she worked at her desk. She was deep into a training guide that HR had sent up when her cell phone rang from inside her desk. She stowed her purse and phone in there to keep them out of the way and out of sight. She’d be tempted to check her phone every few minutes if she kept it on her desk. The question was, should she answer it on company time or not? The HR manual she had just started reading was adamant that company time was just that and personal business should be conducted during her hours off.

Alex poked his head out of his office and smiled at her. “Honey, I don’t want to alarm you, but your desk is ringing,” he said.

“I know,” she whispered as if she didn’t want to get caught with her phone ringing. That was laughable since Alex was her boss. “But the HR manual I just read said that I’m not supposed to take personal calls while at work. I should save them for my free time.”

“Well, I’m your boss and I give you permission to disregard that rule, Nova,” he said.

“I can’t just disregard the rules, Alex,” she insisted. “What will people think?”

“I don’t care what anyone else thinks, honey,” he said. “I thought I made that very clear when we arrived at work together today. Hell, let them all talk.”

“You think anyone’s talking about us?” she asked. Her phone had stopped ringing, to her relief, and just when she was about to tell him that it didn’t matter anymore, it started to ring again.

“I’m sure that rumors have already started to spread, Nova,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter to me and shouldn’t matter to you either.” Yeah—it shouldn’t, but it did. She hated the way other employees at her old firm looked at her when rumors started spreading that Simon was cheating on her. Of course, her digging around to prove the rumors right didn’t help. She hated the pity she saw in their eyes when they realized what was going on with her and Simon. That was the worst part about all of it—the pity.

“Just answer your phone, Nova,” he grumbled. She sat and looked at the drawer that held her cell as it was going to tell her what to do. “Fine,” Alex said, crossing the office to her desk. He pulled the drawer open and grabbed her cell from inside.

“Hello,” he answered, putting it on speaker, “This is Nova’s phone. How can I help you?”

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