Page 106 of Emergence and Ascendance

She didn't respond so I added, "And if you don't want more then I'll stick to the terms of our agreement, but please understand, I'm going to take full advantage of whatever time I have left."

She smiled slowly. "And that sounds dangerously close to a threat."

I chuckled. "It is but in the best way. Let's eat." I motioned to our food and reached across the table to lift the lid from hers, then mine, before stacking them together on the side of the table. When she realized what her meal was, she laughed lightly.

"I don't know if I can trust Niama."

She leaned in to inhale the aroma of the food she had at Divine Wines which I was also advised she'd thoroughly enjoyed.

"She made the suggestion after advising me about the wine. I promise the only thing we discussed was your food and wine preferences. She didn't betray your trust."

"I don't know if I believe you."

"I only want what you're willing to offer, Scotlyn. I'll never take more than you're willing to give. But please understand, when you let me in, if you let me in, I'm going to fucking consume you in ways you never even imagined. You will be mine to honor, protect, and pleasure-mind, body, and soul-but when that happens, it damn sure won't be a performance or a line item on a contract. It will be by choice."

Dinner with Scotlyn was perfect. After we both exposed our vulnerability with how our marriages damaged things we weren't sure could be repaired, I kept my promise and worked diligently and intently on seeing how many times I could make her cum before the sun came up. I lost count but I was pretty sure we now had a solid fucking argument about overdosing on orgasms and, for the second night, she slept in my bed.

We had a mutual attraction that was stronger than either of us expected but that still didn’t make this anything more than a temporary agreement between the two of us. I didn’t do relationships, had no interest in being married again and love was damn sure a foreign concept that I had no plans on attaching to my future.

Neither of us brought up the discussion again about wanting more but it lingered between us, weighted as hell. I was cool with that as long as she didn't outright shut the idea down and so far she hadn't. I was going to enjoy the moment for what it was and I assumed she was too. Our night was proof that we worked but our morning was proof that the universe was intent on challenging us.

Scotlyn woke up to a text from James letting her know Justin scheduled a meeting with the planning commission about zoning restrictions. The decision had been made late yesterday and we were just finding out at five in the morning. I made some calls to try and get the meeting pushed back so we could prepare but they refused, stating Justin had already hinted to the bias that might exist and mentioned my name.

How the fuck he had my name annoyed me but I would deal with that at a later date. As of now, Scotlyn and I were workingon her argument to shut down what Justin submitted for review. After reading the stack of papers I had been staring at for the past ten minutes, I raked my hand down my face and looked up at Scotlyn.

"The environmental impact study is solid. He doesn't have shit to stand on."

She nodded and reached for her coffee. We had been working on this for the past two hours and I could tell she was exhausted. We barely got any sleep but were determined to make this work.

"I really feel like this is a delay tactic. Whether it's him or my father, I believe the plan is to push me back a few months, hoping I'll get frustrated and ask for help or bring them in."

"That's a waste of time. You don't need their fucking help." I closed the folder and leaned back, staring at Scotlyn. She looked a mess but a cute as hell mess in one of my T-shirts, hair clipped on top of her head but still all over the place, and a pair of my socks because she said the tile in the kitchen was cold.

"You're staring," she mumbled without looking up.

"You in strategy mode is sexy."

She kept her eyes on the document she was reading but rolled them at the same time she smiled. "Focus, please. This is important."

"I am focused. I can appreciate you while making sure you shut this shit down so I don't have to step to this muthafucker."

"This is personal on his end."

"I know." My jaw tightened.

"It honestly may not even be about my father. Justin never got over me ending things because he always felt inferior. A woman shouldn't be more successful than him in his opinion. Honestly, I believe he wanted a connection to me to try and micromanage my life."

"I want to say I'm surprised that these are your experiences but I'm not. I am fucking pissed that your father hasn't protectedyou better, and before you say you don't need a man to save you, that's not what I mean. He is your father. His priority should be establishing that he's the one man in your life you're always able to depend on. That's not the fucking case."

Her gaze met mine. "No, it's not." She dropped the papers and finished her coffee. "We should go. I want to get there before Justin arrives."

"Are we going together?"

I had to ask because assuming anything with Scotlyn wasn't smart.

"Together." She smiled softly just before she left the kitchen mumbling that she was going to get dressed.

An hour later we walked into the commission offices downtown. Justin was with his team in the corner but looked up the minute we walked in. His expression dropped when he noticed Scotlyn wasn't alone and I kept my eyes on him long enough to make him uncomfortable.

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