Page 64 of Caught A Vibe

Dash is dangerous for my equilibrium. It would be very easy to start depending on him. I don’t know if I’m ready for that. But oh how my heart wants to trust him with everything.

Shaking the deep thoughts along with my wet curls, I push aside my fears and walk naked back into the bedroom.

“Penny, I wanted to—” Dash stops mid-sentence, both in words and motion, frozen halfway through the bedroom door, his laptop balanced on his forearm.

I toss the towel I’m using to scrunch my curls on the bed and stand there naked and amused. I wait for him to finish his sentence. It’s supremely gratifying when he can’t.

“You wanted to…?” I prompt, barely holding back my chuckle when he looks at me like an owl through his glasses, all wide-eyed and stunned.

“I…I can’t remember. Jesus, Penny. How can you expect a man to think when you’re there, all naked and warm and wet?” Tossing his computer on the bed, he wraps his arms around me and kisses me like he means it.

I could really get used to him meaning it. Scary thought indeed. His lips obliterate any remaining scrap of humor and shoot me straight into the fire that sparks at a moment’s notice between us. I kiss him back, happy to let my conflicted thoughts burn.

The rest of the day passes in a blur of spot fires to be put out and anxious emails from my team as I change gears on them yet again. I can’t expect them to keep their balance on shifting sand, so I try and do as much of the legwork as I can before I hand the tasks off. Exhausted, I flop on the couch at the end of another long day and drop my head into Dash’s lap. He sets aside his laptop to pet my hair, and I very nearly purr.

“Tough day?”

“Lots of chasing my tail. I feel like it was an all-out hustle just to hold our ground. It’s frustrating not making progress.”

“Wo—” Dash cuts himself off with a shake of his head.

I study his face from below and watch the muscle in his jaw clench and release as if he’s literally biting his tongue. “What were you going to say?”

Dash shakes his head again. “Nothing. I’m sorry you had a tough day.”

“That’s not what you were going to say.” I sit up and turn to face him. “Spit it out.”

“I was going to ask if it would make sense to delegate some of the decision-making responsibilities so that you have more time to do the actual growing of the company? You keep having late nights, and I wonder why you are the one handling it. But then I thought, ‘You idiot! She’s the CEO and founder and knows what she’s doing. I’m sure she’s already thought of that.’ So I didn’t say anything.”

I grin at both his cuteness and his thoughtfulness. “I think I followed that. And yeah the ultimate goal is delegation, but we are too new and still unsteady so my people aren’t comfortable making big decisions on their own. And at the end of the day, it’s my company, my call. Today just happened to have a lot of big decisions coming to a head.” I kiss him on the lips. “That’s for trusting me to know my business. But I don’t want you to feel like you can’t ask questions.”

“Okay. Just know that when I ask a question it’s because I don’t understand, not because I’m questioning your decisions.”

His soothing hand down my back makes me want to curl up like Callie. No wonder she’s traded her allegiance to him. Well, that and the table scraps he thinks I don’t know he’s giving her. “Deal. Want to watch a show?”

“Sorry, I have to finish this article before I can relax.”

Speaking of Callie, she comes and settles on the back of the couch against his neck. I swear she would read over his shoulder if she could read.

“Yeah, I can see your editor is really breathing down your neck,” I tease as I lift her from her perch to cuddle on my belly. “What’s the game?”

“Ha ha, I wish. I’m not back on the game beat yet. My editor still has me ‘temporarily’ assigned to pandemic tech and funny reviews. This one happens to be about the challenges of sharing space, and how to ensure that your Zoom background doesn’t accidentally catch your partner in the nude.”

“You are not!” I sit up quickly, much to the chagrin of the cat I’d just placed in my lap. Callie leaps from the couch, but not without voicing her displeasure and leaving me with a few claw marks on my thighs as souvenirs of her love.

“I am too!” Dash turns his screen so I can see. “Look at all the cool green screen choices there are.”

“Oh my God! I’m mortified.” I cover my face with my hands.

“I’m not using your name, or any personal references, but curating your background and being thoughtful about privacy is a big deal. You’re simply my muse.”

“You’re sure no one will know it was me?” I ask between my fingers. I know he wouldn’t deliberately embarrass me in an article, but I need confirmation.

“Positive. Zero personal references.”

“Okay.” I’m not totally convinced, but I don’t know what more to say.

“I tell you what. You give me two hours to knock this out, and I will get you naked again and keep you well off camera this time. I’ll be yours to command.”

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