by EJ Whitmer
Carl grinned as he stood to collect the rest of his deliveries. “Thanks, Anna. See you tomorrow morning for weight training?”
I cringed. “Yeah, sure. Just … skip the helmet this time, okay?”
Carl shot me look like I was missing my head. “Duh. Helmets are just for spin class.”
I gave in to the eye roll begging to be let loose and rested my forehead on my desk.
“Napping already?” Came a deep voice from my office door.
I looked up and smiled at my boss, Eric Blake, as he sauntered into my office. I’ve known Blake for over ten years. He and my brother Michael were college roommates and have remained close friends. He is a couple inches over six feet tall, with dark brown hair and gorgeous indigo eyes. His face should probably be on one of our magazine covers and he has a body most people have only seen in the movies. He works out hard every day while the women at Vance Publishing swarm around to watch. It’s half funny and half obnoxious.
“What’s up?” he asked as he approached.
I groaned and let my head bang on the desk one more time. “One word: Carl.”
Blake barked out a laugh and sat down in a guest chair. “Enough said. I probably don’t want to know.” He reached forward and plucked my nearly empty box of granola clusters off my desk. “So,” he began between crunches. “I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be out of the office for the next couple of days. There’s some sort of leadership conference in Boston and somehow I’ve been volunteered to go.”
I reached across my desk to steal my granola back and frowned at the now completely empty box. He smirked at me and continued to crunch loudly. I responded by throwing the box at his head and glaring.
Blake rubbed his forehead and scowled at me. “Seriously? That hurt, you brat.”
“Don’t mess with my food, Blake. Especially during my moment.” I flashed him my most intimidating eyebrow arch. “Anyway, when do you leave for this conference? Do you need me to cover anything while you’re gone?”
“We leave tonight and should be back by Thursday or Friday. I think I’ve got things covered for the most part, but keep your phone on in case I need you to put out any fires.”
I nodded as he rose to leave. “You got it. If I’m in a meeting or whatever, just call Mae.”
“Will do,” he replied. “And Anna … be careful. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”
“What?!” I fought the eye twitch that had recently been making an appearance whenever Blake honked me off.
“You know what I’m talking about, Jennings. Just be smart. Don’t go snooping or investigating or anything while I’m gone.”
I don’t snoop. I thought.
“You snoop,” Blake shot back. Yet another moment I forgot he had the ability to read minds.
“Get out of my head!” I screeched as he chuckled and left my office.
The rest of the morning flew by in a whirl of design meetings and layout discussions. By the time the lunch hour hit, my brain felt like mush. I fought the urge to kiss my desk clock, grabbed my purse and headed out to find my boyfriend, Emmett.
2
Emmett works on the accounting floor, or as I like to call it, the “Fifty Shades of Lame” floor. I took the stairs down and tried to avoid eye contact with the staff accountants while I made my way to Emmett’s office. A high-pitched giggling caught my attention as I approached his closed door. His assistant’s desk was empty, so I knocked quietly as I attempted to place the female giggle.
“Come in!” shouted Emmett from inside his office.
I opened his door and stepped in, immediately taken aback by what I saw. The blonde from spin class was sitting on the corner of Emmett’s desk, laughing like he just delivered the funniest joke in existence.
“Hello, darling!” Emmett approached me and kissed my cheek. “This is Gia. She’s filling in while Penny is on maternity leave.”
Emmett’s assistant Penny had looked nine months pregnant for the last four months. It was about time she popped that kid out. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he came out as a toddler. Well, that solved the mystery of the new girl.
I forced a polite smile to my lips and reached out to shake her hand. “Hi. I’m Anna Jennings. I work upstairs as the Creative Director for Tuff Enuff.”
Gia smiled and flashed her perfect teeth as she shook my hand. “It’s very nice to meet you,” she gushed. “Mr. Vance has told me so much about you already. I know we’ll be fast friends.”
Emmett let out a totally fake “business chuckle” as he patted Gia on the shoulder. “Gia, it’s Emmett. Mr. Vance is my father.”
I suddenly felt the need to gag. Thank Baby Jesus that Emmett can’t read minds too.
“You ready for lunch?” I asked as I grabbed his suit jacket for him.
“Yeah, absolutely. Gia, would you like to join us?” Emmett asked.
My eyebrows shot up before I could stop them. Thankfully, Gia declined, obviously noticing my alarm.
I waited until Emmett and I were alone in the elevator before I let any green tinge my features. “Mr. Vance is my father? Can you get any more cliché? Jesus, Emmett, you were practically drooling all over her!”
Emmett rolled his eyes and squeezed me into his side. “I was not. She’s new. I’m trying to make her feel welcome.”
“You’re just lucky I hadn’t already eaten or my lunch would have come up on your floor.”
He shuddered and smirked down at me. “Thanks for the mental picture. But seriously, you have nothing to worry about. I prefer my women to have auburn hair, beautiful blue eyes, a smart mouth and just a touch of clumsiness.”
I rewarded him with a little smile and snuggled into his side. “You’re lucky you’re a smooth talker, Vance. And so we’re clear, I wasn’t worried. I was just grossed out by your cheesy flirting.”
Emmett laughed and kissed the top of my head before we exited the building. Spring was finally making its appearance in Chicago, so we took the opportunity to walk hand in hand to a local sandwich shop. We sat down to eat and I couldn’t help but stare a little. Emmett really is an extremely good looking man. He’s quite fit for his age of forty-two and only sporting a tiny bit of grey in his light brown hair. He’s built like a linebacker with wide shoulders and biceps as big as my thighs. He’s pretty much the dreamiest thing ever.
I must have drooled a bit because when I came to, Emmett was smiling at me. “Like what you see?” he asked before taking a ginormous bite of his Reuben.
I winked and turned to my chicken salad sandwich. “Yep. I think I’ll keep you.”
He smiled back and reached forward to wipe a rogue bread crumb from my chin. “You may absolutely keep me. However, you’ll have to let me go over the next couple of days. I just found out I need to go to Boston for a conference on corporate performance management. I think it only lasts a couple days, though, so I’ll be back before the weekend.”
“Really? Blake said he was going to Boston as well. Something about a leadership conference,” I mumbled through bites of sandwich.
Emmett shrugged. “Could be. Who knows.”
My spidey senses were on full alert. What were the chances the two of them had conferences in the same city at the same time and didn’t find out until the last minute? Something didn’t add up. I was stuck.
Should I demand answers now, or wait until they leave to do a bit of exploring? Oh shit … maybe this is what Blake was talking about.
I decided to drop the subject with Emmett. I knew from experience that questioning him about anything supernatural would just make him shut down. Emmett was under the firm belief that the less I knew about his super team, the safer I’d be. Apparently he didn’t realize that the less I know about something, the more I want to know and the more investigating I’ll do until I learn as much as I can. Better to just figure it out myself after they’d left town.
“So when do you leave?” I asked Emmett as I snuck a french fry off his plate.
He
scowled playfully and scooted his plate closer to his side of the table. “My plane flies out tonight at nine. Want to give me a lift?”
“Absolutely. Can we be all dramatic and wear trench coats and kiss in the rain before you leave?”
Emmett shook his head. “Sometimes our age difference is more apparent than others.”
I threw a chunk of bread at him and laughed. “Sorry you’re such an old fuddy-dud,” I joked. “Can I come help you pack after work?”
Emmett sent me a salacious grin. “Only if you promise to send me off with something to remember you by.”
“Like what?” I feigned innocence. “Do you want me to bake you cookies to take on the plane? Fold your undies? Tuck little notes in all of your pockets?”
“That does sound nice,” he replied, scooting his chair closer to mine and leaning in close. “But I was thinking more along the lines of some sexy memories to hold me over until I get back.”
My face involuntarily flushed and I stared hard at what was left of my sandwich, willing my normal color to return. “I think I can handle that.”
After a conversation like that, I knew my afternoon would be rough. Who wants to stay at work when you’ve got a super schmexy hunk of man meat waiting for you to help him pack after work? Luckily, as the creative director I can jump in on random meetings and photo shoots. There weren’t any coffee shop or bakery meetings going on, so I opted to check out a photo shoot for an article on the top ten brands of men’s thermal underwear. Strictly for business-related purposes, of course. I had to make sure they had my vision and all.
After the shoot wrapped up, I headed back to Emmett’s office to see if he was close to calling it a day. Outside his door, Gia smiled brightly at me and waved me through. I fought the urge to flip her off and smiled politely as I entered Emmett’s office.
“It’s early, but I think I’m toast for the day. We should probably head out so we can get you packed,” I said, plopping down in a guest chair.
Emmett smirked, clearly reading between the lines, and loosened his tie. “You’re probably right. I’ll need to get to the airport by seven thirty at the latest, and you know how long it takes me to pack. We’d better head out right away so we’ve at least got a few hours.”
I grinned. “Good thinkin’. We wouldn’t want you to be rushed and forget your toothbrush or hair gel.”
“Should I invite Gia?” Emmett asked, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.
I narrowed my eyes and shot the hair tie around my wrist at his head. He dodged my assault, laughed and held his hands up in surrender.
“Meet you at my place in thirty minutes?” he asked, grabbing his suit jacket and slinging it over his forearm.
“Absolutely.” I stood and leaned over his desk to deliver a peck on his cheek, before bolting out the door to head to my office.
Twenty-five minutes later, I zipped into Emmett’s parking garage and came to a screeching halt in one of the guest stalls. After a quick glance in the rearview mirror to make sure I didn’t look as desperate as I felt, I climbed out of my car and headed for the elevators where I attempted to wait patiently, tapping my foot and humming a nameless song. Suddenly, two large arms circled my waist and a bristly jaw rubbed against the side of my neck. I let out an extremely girly shriek and swiftly elbowed my assailant in the gut, causing him to grunt in pain and loosen his hold. Unfortunately, the man’s gut wasn’t exactly a gut. It was more like a cinder block and my elbow immediately screamed in pain. I squirmed out of the man’s hold and attempted to run toward my car when he snagged my wrist and pulled me to a stop.
“Anna!” A very familiar male voice shouted from behind me.
I winced and slowly turned around to see Emmett rubbing his stomach with is free hand and attempting to catch his breath. “You asshole!” I screeched. “You scared the shit out of me!”
Emmett tugged on my wrist to bring me into his body. “I’m sorry,” he murmured as he nuzzled my ear. “I didn’t exactly sneak up on you. I did call out your name when you were pushing the elevator call button. Damn, woman, did you have to elbow me so hard!?”
I glared up at him. “You’re lucky I hit you in your stomach. I’ve taken quite a few self-defense classes. I usually aim for more sensitive areas.”
A visible shudder passed through Emmett’s body before he grabbed my shoulders and steered me back toward the elevators. “I thought you liked my sensitive areas.”
I smirked and shrugged as we boarded the elevator. “Yeah, they’re alright.”
He gaped down at me in mock outrage. “Alright? Just alright? Not amazing, fabulous, orgasm-inducing, or humongous?”
“Hmmm…” I tapped my chin, pretending to be deep in thought. “I suppose one might consider using those words. It’s been so long, though. Maybe my memory is fuzzy.”
The elevator pinged our arrival and I smirked at Emmett as we stepped out.
“A fuzzy memory, eh? Apparently you need a reminder then.” Emmett’s eyes sparkled with mischief as he crowded me to his door, crushing me against the wood with his large body. I could feel his erection pressing into my belly and I bit my lip in anticipation.
Emmett leaned down slowly and ran his nose from my collar bone to my ear, eliciting a moan from deep in my chest. I pressed my hands against his hard stomach and slowly moved them up over his impressive pecks to his shoulders. I stood on my toes to kiss his jaw line and down his neck. He smelled delicious; spicy and manly and incredibly sexy. Unable to resist, I crushed my mouth against his. His tongue immediately pried open my lips, dipping into my mouth. I could feel him fumbling behind my back with one hand, attempting to shove his key into the door. The other hand had somehow worked its way up my blouse and was doing magical things to my left breast. My hands were furiously attempting to unclasp Emmett’s belt buckle. Of course, he had to wear one of those funky tension buckles that refuse to cooperate with female hands. We both hit pay dirt at the same time; me wrenching his belt open and tearing at the button on his slacks, him unlocking the door and backing me into his foyer. Emmett kicked the door shut behind us and leaned against it as I continued my plundering of his pants. I finally wrenched open his zipper and dug my hand in. Emmett froze as I wrapped my fingers around his “sensitive parts.”
“Okay, I guess you were right about the humongous part,” I quipped, nibbling on one of his earlobes.
“Um, Anna,” Emmett whispered, still frozen with his hand under my shirt, his eyes glued to something over my shoulder.
I immediately stiffened. Emmett, or rather Emmett Junior, immediately did the opposite of stiffen in my hand.
“Hey mom,” he said over my shoulder, followed by a nervous chuckle.
Mom!? I yanked my hand out of his pants and batted his out of my shirt, straightened my hair out and turned to greet Mrs. Vance. I’d met her several times before at various work functions, but I’d never met her in my role as Emmett’s girlfriend. Standing in his entryway with my hand down his pants was probably not the best way to start out.
Sharon Vance stood rooted to the floor just outside Emmett’s kitchen. She looked just as I had remembered her; shoulder length, chestnut brown hair, thin with the right amount of womanly curves, a smattering of laugh lines around her dark brown eyes. Although this time around, those brown eyes were bulging and her cheeks had a bit more of a rosy flush than was probably natural.
“Hello, Mrs. Vance,” I stammered.
“Hello, Anna,” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.
The three of us stood in shocked silence for what felt like a good twenty minutes. Finally, Sharon’s hand rose slowly to her face and covered her mouth. I winced, prepared for her to either vomit or launch into hysterics.
A high pitched squeak broke the silence, followed by a snort.
Oh shit. Is she crying!? Sharon’s entire body was shuddering and her eyes were clenched shut.
I took a step forward and stopped short as she launched into an extremely loud belly laug
h. Sharon doubled over, one hand still on her mouth, the other holding her stomach as she had the biggest laughing fit I’d ever seen.
“You should have seen your faces!” she cried. “Oh my God! Did you say the word ‘humongous’!? That’s priceless! Things must have changed since he used to run naked around the living room with his He-Man sword!”
I felt Emmett tense behind me. “Mother …” he warned, stepping around me to approach her.
Sharon, finally over her giggle fit, straightened and wiped her eyes before pulling Emmett in for a hug.
