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“Now, some women like to contribute because they genuinely believe in an equal partnership, and nowadays, most households need two incomes to survive, so that’s okay,” I explained. “However, some women insist on paying their fair share to prove a point about their independence, and I think that’s rather ridiculous. A genuinely confident woman is not intimidated by much, especially strong men, so she couldn’t care less if he pays all the bills. A strong woman isn’t afraid of other strong people. If anything, being surrounded by like minds will just motivate her to set more goals for herself. So, with nothing to prove, it’s not a problem to let the man pick up the tab because he should.”
Merritt cocked her head a bit. “I’ll have to think on that a bit.”
I smirked. “Well, let me know what you come up with after you’ve given it some thought.”
She grinned back at me as she shut her laptop. “Actually, I think it’s time for a hot shower. It’s been a long day, and if I had any pampering products with me, I’d take a hot bath instead.”
“Tell me what you need, and I’ll run out and get it for you,” I offered, continuing to ignore that line between boss and employee.
“Thanks, but I can grab some stuff tomorrow,” she replied.
“We’ll be working tomorrow,” I reminded her.
“We work every day, Mr. Moore,” she retorted. “But I’ve still managed to shop for things that I’ve needed on occasion.”
Biting my tongue, I said, “Well, if you want to retire after you’ve had your shower, then good night. If you feel like you can’t sleep, then you’ll be able to find me in my office working.”
She gave me a terse nod as she stood up. My eyes were glued to hers, and I really had to be the dumbest motherfucker on the planet to have thought that this was a good idea. I was going to lose my mind with her in my home, and I’d have no one to blame but myself.
Merritt stepped to go take a shower, but then she stopped to look back at me. “Cutter?”
“Yeah, ba…yeah?”
What the fuck?
“I just wanted to thank you for all your help today and for being so understanding about my situation,” she said. “Even though me staying here is highly unorthodox, it was still kind of you to open up your home to me.”
“Not a problem, Merritt,” I replied, glad that I stopped myself from calling her baby.
I watched her head towards her bedroom, and as soon as she was out of sight, I let out a heavy breath as I ran my hands down my face. I was usually so good at calculating risks and outcomes, but I was fucking this thing up with Merritt rather spectacularly. She was here because she needed a friend, and I had her here because I wanted her more than I wanted to take my next breath.
God, I really was an asshole.
Doing my best to forget the woman that was currently naked in one of my showers, I checked all the doors to make sure that everything was locked up for the night, then grabbed my laptop from the living room to go work in my office.
Once I was inside the room that I lived in most, I brought my laptop back to life, then also turned on my desk computer. You’d think that I was a hacker with as many computer screens as I had lit up around me on a daily basis, but it really was just the business world and everything that was Moore Industries.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been working when I heard a soft knock on the door, and when I looked up, Merritt was standing in the doorway, looking a bit wary. I noticed that her hair was also dry, so it had me wondering if she’d taken her shower yet.
“Is everything okay?” I finally asked.
She walked further into my office, and she looked a bit embarrassed. “I forgot to pack something to sleep in,” she answered. “I thought I put my pajamas in my overnight bag, but I guess not.” She grimaced, and I realized that she really was embarrassed. “I was thinking of unpacking my boxes to find something, but I wanted to ask you if that was okay first.”
I stood up from my desk, not caring about whatever it was that I’d been doing before Merritt had knocked on the door. She was so fucking beautiful that it was distracting on a good day, but having her in my home took that distraction to a whole other level.
“So, you just need something to sleep in?” I asked as I made my way towards her.
Merritt nodded. “Yeah,” she muttered. “I just…I don’t want to start unpacking everything, scaring you into thinking that I might really move in.” She let out a soft laugh to try to hide her nervousness.
When I finally found myself standing in front of her, all kinds of wild things started racing through my mind, but I welcomed them. Hitting on Merritt was all kinds of unethical, and I could very well lose her as the perfect replacement for Lucy, but I just couldn’t fucking do it anymore. For two years, I’d done my best to be a good boy, but I was done with that shit. She was finally single-and in my home-and I’d be goddamned before I squandered this chance with her.
Staring into her brilliant blue eyes, I grabbed the hem of my t-shirt, then pulled it up over my head. Merritt’s eyes widened as I reached out to hand her my shirt. “Will this work?”
I watched as her eyes slid over my shoulders, arms, chest, and torso, and not for nothing, I was in my gym four times a week, so the six-pack that she was looking at had been hard-earned. In fact, everything that she was looking at was a result of making time to work out as much as I could. I sat behind a desk a lot, so it was easy to gain weight or develop back problems because of that.
When Merritt’s blue gaze looked back up at me, her cheeks were pink, her lips were parted, and those beautiful cobalt orbs were dilated, telling me that she liked what she saw, and that was good enough for me.
“Cutter…” she whispered, still not reaching for my shirt.
