by Mia Carson
Greyson’s hands unfurled hers, and he intertwined his fingers through hers to draw her attention. “Stop thinking about them,” he grumbled sternly. “I mean it. Right now. They’re not worth it.”
“I can’t help it,” she whispered and hated the hot tears pricking her eyes. “Damn hormones.”
His deep laughter surrounded her as he kissed the top of her head. “We’ll talk about it later, alright?”
She nodded and quickly wiped at her eyes, fixed her hair, and gave him a determined look. “I’m going to go make my calls. Do not start another yelling match with Tim. Just get to work.”
She turned to go a second time, but he didn’t let go of her hands and dragged her around the corner out of view of the others. Her back against the wall, Belle opened her mouth to ask what he was doing when his lips captured hers in a hot kiss. All her worries melted into the background. His hands found her hips and held them as her pregnant belly and swollen breasts pushed against his hard body. His beard tickled her cheeks and nose, and she smiled as the kiss deepened. He must’ve hit the elevator button because the doors dinged a few seconds later and he pulled her into the small space with him.
“We only have one floor,” she reminded him, her breath ragged as his lips found her neck, his tongue tracing patterns. “Greyson.”
He chuckled but didn’t stop. With one hand, he reached out and hit the hold button. The elevator rang, but Belle ignored it when one hand snaked up under her shirt and pushed her bra aside, cupping the heavy mound. When his thumb brushed over her nipple, she moaned, arching her back, and tugged at his beard until her lips were on his again. She would’ve given anything to be home where they could finish this to relieve their stress, but there were phone calls waiting and Tim would never let Greyson hear the end of it if he was gone for twenty minutes while they dealt with a crisis.
Hating to do it, she nipped his lip and leaned back. “Greyson,” she whispered, and he sighed with a grunt, resting his forehead against hers.
“You’re right. Damn, what time is it?” he asked, glancing at his watch.
“Too early to take off for the day, but don’t worry,” she added, waggling her eyebrows, “I’ll make it worth the wait when we get home tonight.”
Her hand reached out and pressed his swollen erection through his jeans, and his hands fisted in the back of her sweater. “Damn it, woman,” he growled and kissed her hotly one final time before he reached over and hit the button for the elevator to continue up. It reached the next floor, and when the doors opened, they were still locked in an embrace.
“Well now, if I could find a man to kiss me like that, I’d be all set,” Kelly called out and whistled.
Belle’s face grew hot, and Greyson gave her a wolfish grin as she stepped away, her hand holding his until the last possible second. “Remember, no more fighting with Tim.”
Greyson hit the button to go down, a few people joining him, and shrugged. “I can’t promise that.”
“Damn it,” Belle started, but the doors closed on his smirk. “Gah! What am I going to do with him?”
“Oh, I’m sure we all know what you want to do with him,” Kelly muttered with a wink.
Belle nibbled her lip but couldn’t hide the smile as it spread across her face. “Yeah, well, I can’t help it, and now I’m all tense and have to call Bigsby. I could strangle that man some days.”
“Bigsby?” Kelly asked, walking with Belle back towards the joint CEO offices. “What for?”
“We have to convince them to push back the launch two weeks without telling them exactly why,” Belle told her. “Care to help me find some sort of loophole to make this work?”
Kelly shook her head and stopped in the doorway. “No can do. I have a list of people to interview today before I send them to you and Greyson next week.”
Belle frowned. “New hires? We’re hiring?”
“Greyson said he talked to you about needing more IT guys, and designs has been looking to add another creative mind… He didn’t talk to you about it?” she finished lamely.
Belle gripped the edge of her desk, working to control her anger and failing horribly. “No. No, he did not. Thank you for informing me, though. I’m sure it just slipped his mind.” That rotten bastard! New designer when I’m right here? He still won’t let me do it, after everything we’ve done together!
Kelly backed out of the door, but Belle stopped her with a look. “I really have to go.”
“I know. Just do me a favor. Don’t tell Greyson you talked to me about it.”
“Not a word,” Kelly said and ducked quickly out of the office. Belle watched her go and sat down behind her desk.
So much had happened over the past few months, Belle felt older. She wasn’t just a twenty-two-year-old, though she had never acted her age growing up—always wanted to be ahead of the pack, show people she could handle herself, be mature. Even now, working with Greyson, everyone acted as if only ten months ago, she hadn’t started here as an intern. The new people who started assumed she was a lackey until they saw her office and actually sat down and spoke to her, but they didn’t believe her. She saw the look in their eyes afterwards, that knowing gleam that said they knew exactly how she got to where she was.
One young woman, just a few years younger than Belle, had asked her how many times she’d slept with Greyson before he gave her the position. Furious, Belle yelled at the woman and kicked her out of the office, following her to the elevators to make sure she left the floor and didn’t get side-tracked searching for the hottie CEO. Belle told Kelly she wouldn’t interview anyone else until they passed through HR first and she had weeded out anyone who might give Belle a hard time. She’d worked hard to get where she was and saved this company more than a few times from its horribly unorganized CEO, but no one saw that. Glancing through the glass walls of her office, she wondered if most people saw her that way. She knew they liked her, but she also knew they wanted Greyson happy. She kept him happy.
Was that all she was good for? Keeping the boss happy? Belle puffed out her cheeks and glared at her phone. Without taking the time to cool down, she picked it up, dialed the direct number for Bigsby Inc.’s CEO, and waited as the phone rang and rang.
***
Greyson watched over Tim’s shoulder as sweat dripped down his forehead. The room was freezing because of the servers, so his sweat was more from worry this wouldn’t work or that Belle wouldn’t be able to get them the extra time. He had all the confidence in the world in her, but not in their partner. They were by-the-book suits who adhered to strict deadlines with no excuses allowed. Greyson wondered, not for the first time, if they had been the right company to go into business with. He’d been desperate for a partner, and Bigsby was what he'd got.
The desk phone nearby lit up, and Davis answered it. “Yeah? Hang on a sec,” he said, and set the phone down after pressing a button. “Alright, boss lady, you’re on speaker.”
“Bigsby has agreed to push back the launch,” Belle’s voice said through the phone.
“Oh, thank God,” Tim muttered, and his head fell to the desk with a quiet thud.
“You’re a miracle worker, Belle,” Greyson said and let out a breath.
“Don’t get too excited. There’s a catch,” she told them, and his stomach fell.
“What is it?”
“I think I should talk to you about that in private,” she said stiffly.
Greyson’s eyes narrowed at the phone as he picked it up. “Belle?”
“Yes, boss man?” she asked with an edge to her words.
“What happened on this call that has you so cranky?”
“Nothing, nothing at all, but the terms of the launch day extension are for your ears only. And I’m taking the rest of the day off. I'm tired. I keep falling asleep at my desk.”
He glanced over his shoulder then hunched them and turned away from the prying eyes of everyone in the room. “You didn’t look tired earlier.”
“Well, I was�
�� I just hid it well.”
She was lying. He could almost see her scratching her nose like she always did when she lied. “Are you sure there’s nothing else wrong that you’re not telling me? Did Brent call?”
“No, nothing happened, but I’m heading out. I just wanted to let you know that you have your extension. See you at home,” she said shortly and hung up.
Greyson stared at the phone in his hand before setting it down, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he turned around to face the guys. “She’s going to tell me what the catch is later at home,” he said in answer to their curious looks.
Davis and Billy looked away, and Tim whistled. “You’re in trouble.”
“I didn’t do anything, and no, I’m not,” he grunted, stalking over to the computer. He looked once at the hall leading to the elevator, wondering if he should go after Belle and stop her from leaving the office, but he had to get this work wrapped up. Four weeks was not a lot of time, and if this bug persisted, if they couldn’t get it to work, it would cause more backlash among their fans anxiously anticipating the next Greystone Games MMO. Bigsby would never let them hear the end of it.
The hours ticked by slowly and when five o’clock finally rolled around, Greyson stretched his back and stood, patting Tim on the back.
“We’ll leave it there for now. Go home, get some sleep. We’ll need it,” he told them.
“You’re going to need it,” Tim said with a chuckle.
“For what? I’m not in trouble,” he muttered, but even he heard the doubt in his voice. What could Bigsby have possibly wanted that would make Belle take the rest of the day off? “I’ll see you in the morning.” He stalked towards the elevator and rode up one floor. When he reached his office, he called Kelly to see if she was still in.
“Yes, boss man?” she asked.
Greyson’s jaw clenched. “Kelly, what’s going on?”
“Nothing, why?” she answered too quickly.
“Really? Belle went home early, she lied about why, and something tells me you know why, so do me a favor and just tell me so I know what I’m walking into when I get home.”
He heard papers shuffling, and she muttered under her breath, but it was too quiet for him to hear. “I can’t, sorry. That’s between you and her, and I have to go.” She hung up before Greyson could get another word in.
He set the phone back in the cradle and tapped his fingers on his desk, his gaze roaming over to Belle’s darkened office. Normally, he wouldn’t mess with her office nor even consider going in there to search through her papers, but he was not going home until he knew why she had sounded pissed earlier. He didn’t think he’d done anything besides kiss her in the elevator, and that was nothing new. He flipped on her desk lamp, smirking at the dragon figure with glowing red eyes, a token he bought for her a few months back. It lit her desk, and he stared at the perfectly organized space. He picked up the first stack of papers and rifled through it, but nothing stood out.
When he shifted, his hip bumped the desk and her mouse moved, waking up the monitor. He glanced around, making sure no one watched him, and sat down, staring at the desktop. He needed to log in first but had no idea what her password might be… or did he? Greyson set his fingers to work and grinned when his first guess gave him access to Belle’s computer, his heart swelling with love at her choice of password. At least he could say he knew her as well as he thought he did.
Once the computer logged in, he went straight to her e-mails, searching for anything that might stand out. There were several messages from Kelly, more from IT, but the latest ones came from Bigsby Inc.—and not their marketing department, but from the CEO himself.
“What are you up to, Tom?” he whispered under his breath.
Greyson maneuvered the mouse and clicked to open the message, but another password screen popped up.
“Password protected e-mails? What were you two talking about?”
He tried the same password as before, but it didn’t work so he tugged at his beard, thinking of what else she might use. After four attempts, another window popped up saying he was locked out of the e-mail account completely.
“Shit,” he whispered harshly. If she came in tomorrow morning and saw it locked, she’d know he’d been poking around. He picked up the phone, hoping IT was still around, and glared at the locked e-mails. “Yeah, Frank, it’s Greyson. Can you come up to Belle’s office? Her e-mail account’s been locked out.”
“Sure thing, boss, be up there in two,” he replied and hung up.
Greyson paced around her office while he waited, and when Frank walked in, he glanced around. “What’s wrong?”
“Where’s Belle?” Frank asked as he sat down behind the computer.
“Bathroom. I said I’d call you for her,” he lied.
Frank eyed him funny. “Really? I thought I heard she went home early today.”
Greyson stilled and threw his head back. “How does everyone know everything in this place?”
Frank laughed as he went to work. “Well, when the fiancée of the CEO storms out of the office looking ready to kill, word spreads quickly to stay out of the way—and then, of course, watch you intently to see what might happen next.”
“We are not some sitcom drama,” he snapped.
“Ha, no you’re not, but man, are you two a sight to watch when you go at it,” Frank said. “There you go, unlocked. What are you looking for anyway?”
“Nothing important. Thanks, Frank.”
“Sure thing, boss man,” he said. “Can I give you advice from an old man, married for thirty years?” Greyson nodded for him to go on. “Stop snooping around your soon-to-be wife’s computer, get your butt home, and talk to her about whatever’s going on,” he said sternly. “Just saying. See you in the morning.” He waved over his shoulder and left.
Greyson grunted as he looked at the computer and sat down. He swiveled in Belle’s chair for a full ten minutes until he sighed, shut off the desk lamp, grabbed his leather bag from his office, and ducked out. He didn’t want to say it out loud, but Frank was right. He just prayed that when he got home, Belle would tell him why she’d locked e-mails from their partner company without him having to push for answers.
Chapter 2
The strong smell of bacon wafted out of the kitchen to greet Greyson when he walked inside and set his bag down, sniffing the air. “Belle?”
“Kitchen,” she called, sounding better than she had earlier.
He followed the tantalizing aroma of frying pork. Belle stood at the stove, frying enough to feed at least ten people. Beside the stove, stacked at least a foot-high were pancakes, and in a dish behind that were hash browns.
“Breakfast for dinner?” he asked and slipped his hands around her waist, holding her pregnant belly. A thrill shot through him as well as an overwhelming sense of pride. His chest swelled knowing she carried his baby. “Again?” he added after kissing her cheek sweetly.
She smiled and shrugged. “It sounded good, and you can’t complain. You love bacon just as much as the baby does.”
“Okay, blame it on the baby,” he said, resting his chin on top of her head. “So, what’s with this catch you mentioned earlier? What does he want from us?”
“Nothing we have to deal with right away,” she said and moved the bacon around the skillet. “At least let us eat first. I’m starving.”
He kissed the top of her head and moved to get plates. “You’ve been home all day.”
“And?”
“And, didn’t you eat at all?” he asked, frowning.
She shrugged. “I was busy, had a few things to take care of,” she said as he watched her turn off the burner and move the bacon to a plate to let it drain. “Don’t worry, I didn’t starve myself. Your unborn son wouldn’t let me do that.”
Greyson set the plates down and carried the food to the kitchen table. She was lying again, and he wanted to do what he told himself he would—not push her for answers—but the stiffness of her body said
something was off. Once the food was on the table and Belle took her seat, he scratched his beard, debating how to breach the topic of the e-mails.
“Is it bad, what Tom wanted from you?” he asked.
She shot him a look but quickly replaced it with a smile. “No, not bad at all. Well,” she corrected herself as she plopped a pancake on her plate, “depends on how you look at it, I guess. I think it’s not so bad, but there’s always a catch to these things.”
Greyson’s hand paused halfway to the bacon. “A catch to what? The catch to him giving us the extension or a catch on the catch?”
“You’ll figure it out,” she said simply, but Greyson wasn’t in the mood to play games all night, knowing she was clearly upset with him about something.
“Belle, what’s going on?”
“Not at dinner,” she said, but he reached over and stilled her hand.
“Will you just tell me what you and Tom talked about?”
Belle set her fork and knife down, her eyes narrowing as she lifted her glare to meet his. “Only if you tell me what you and Kelly discussed a few days ago without me being present.”
Greyson paused, confused, and shook his head. “What we talked about?”
“Yes, very important—she said you talked to me about it, said I knew everything going on with HR and the interviews she was running this week,” Belle said, still smiling, but Greyson sensed the pent-up anger beneath it.
He swallowed hard as the pieces slowly fell into place. He glanced down at his plate. “Right, the interviews, I thought I mentioned those to you.”
“Really? You’re just going to sit there and blatantly lie to me about the new hires?” she snapped. “Seriously, Greyson, did you think I wouldn’t notice them running around the office at some point?”
