Page 17 of A Merry Penthouse Christmas
“Anders? Not like that millionaire corporate guy?” Emily’s boyfriend asks, and even if I do remember his name, I am choosing not to.
“With a ‘B’ actually.” Arik grins.
“O-oh. Wow!” Emily sputters. Catching her off guard like that the way she once blindsided me feels indescribably… vindicating. “And, um, how did you two meet?”
“I believe Beau meant to wish you well at the hospital the day your daughter was born,” Arik says without missing a beat. “Then he found something better to do with his time.”
Ouch. I really love Arik right now.
“Conversely, my ex and I had a very cordial breakup. Nothing sordid occurred such as… well.” He glances so purposely judgmental from no-name back to Emily that I want nothing more than to kiss him again. “You know.”
Emily looks so stunned by his comment, she doesn’t speak for a while, but as much as I want to sit back and just enjoy this, I also really do not want to see her. Like, ever. In my entire life again after this if I can help it.
But maybe I do have one piece of ammunition left to load. “I hope you’re happy,” I tell her and muster a smile when she looks at me. “I am for the first time in a long while. Happy Holidays, Em.” I tighten my grip on Arik’s hand, and all too easily readingmy request, he steers the stroller around them to continue us toward the bridge.
I take a long sip from my latte before mouthing at him, “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” he mouths back and pecks me swiftly on the lips again.
He didn’t need to do that, but it leaves my mouth tingling.
I strain my neck just enough to catch Emily staring at us.
Once we’re on the bridge and pause at the top to enjoy the view, Arik asks me, “I hope that doesn’t earn me any sexual harassment charges?”
I laugh. “Not today,” I say and take another sip from my latte.
Once thing I can be certain of is that, once Emily is out of sight and Arik’s hand slips from mine, all I can think about the rest of the outing is how much I want to reach for him again.
“Hekissedyou?”
“Just to make Emily jealous!”
“Dude, like… normal bosses do not do that.”
Bellamy has a point. I wasn’t planning on telling him about my recent Anders adventures when he called me, which was mostly as proxy to remind me how upset Mom and Dad are that I ditched on family Thanksgiving. Our sisters are being just as judgy about it, but at least I have Bell in my corner.
“He totally has a thing for you!”
Or not. “He does not have a thing for me.” I glance out of Arik’s bedroom to be certain he isn’t hanging around within hearing distance. He’s supposed to be downstairs feeding Bastian while I made the excuse of starting a load of laundry to escape conversation. Bellamy calling at the same time was a bonus.
When Arik isn’t home, I’ll grab stray clothes from his bedroom sometimes to do a wash. Being up here now feels like the worst choice, however, because finding a pair of underwear beneath his bed when I bend to grab a sock makes me think of Arik sleeping in the nude.
Or doing other things in the nude.
“Not possible. Can you imagine how much my boss having a thing for me would complicate things?” I argue.
“Only if you don’t have a thing for him too.”
“I… don’t.”
“Beau.”
“I…” Have no good answer. Bellamy knows me too well, and I can’t deny what even a glance or grin from Arik does to me, let alone those kisses. “Fine. I have a thing for him. But this is too messy to pursue. He’s my boss. I look after his son. We can’t casually fool around, and if we try for something more than that and it blows up, we’re screwed. And not in the good way!” I hiss before Bellamy can comment on that word choice. “It isn’t worth it. I have to shut this down, keep things professional, and just—ow!”
My hip hits the end table as I’m standing, shoving the sock and underwear into the sack I’ll be bringing to the laundry room, and something starts… buzzing? Without thinking, I yank open the top drawer.
Baby books. All the same ones I read months ago. The sight of them makes me smile. But they aren’t what’s buzzing.
