Page 42 of Never Till Now

“You’re alive.” Lauren nudges my arm.

“It’s been a crazy few days.” I lift my arm and drape it over the bench.

“What’s new with work?” Her body shifts toward me, giving her full attention, so I explain.

“Hmm.” She purses her lips. “Well, that should be easy for you. You know marketing is about the feeling and connection. You, of all people, know the longing to have family together under one roof to make lifelong memories. Families need to put their phones down to enjoy the social without the media. Pull from that.”

She throws around a few more ideas and damn, I almost dropped to my knee and proposed. Social without the media. That has to be worked into a tagline somewhere. Guests are heading to the mountains for a reason. Obviously, social media is great advertisement, but she is onto something. I start forming a commercial storyboard in my head.

“Or not?” Her voice cuts through the air and I watch her face scrunch up.

“You’re brilliant, Lauren McAllister.” I stand and cup her face, planting a dramatic kiss on her lips. “Any chance we can hire you to replace our marketer?”

“I’m sure sleeping with an employee is frowned upon.”

“Your boss wouldn’t protest.” I smirk and instantly picture her bent over my desk.

“I’m happy with my career.” She stands and takes my hand. “I don’t mind helping out on this project, if you need any.”

“Then come right this way, Blondie.” I lace our fingers and lead her back to my office.

Lauren sits on my lap as we hunch forward, staring at the computer screen. We have made great progress the past two hours on this presentation. I know she’s starting to get uncomfortable sitting like this, but if her body shifts against my dick again, I’m going to hike up her sexy little sun dress and bend her over my desk. I should have fucking knocked that fantasy off my list before we started working. I know she can feel my dick pressing into her back each time she moves. Lauren clears her throat and continues to act oblivious, which only fuels my need to fuck her into submission.

My thought halts as a knock echoes on the door. The handle turns and my father’s head peeks in. His eyebrows shoot up with surprise as he scans the layout of Post-its on my desk and the pretty lady on my lap. Lauren goes to stand, but my grip tightens on her thigh. The last thing my father needs to witness is the clear effect this woman has on me. Thankfully, she understands the mental memo.

“Sorry to interrupt.” He steps into my office. “Adam, if we could have dinner together and go over this morning’s meeting, that would be great.”

“About that. I ran into this pretty lady on my lunch break and she threw out a brilliant marketing idea.” Lauren has a wavering smile of nerves and I lean forward to kiss her soft cheek. “Too bad she turned down the full-time job offer.”

“Hmm, I look forward to seeing what you’ve produced,” my father entices. “Depending on how well Katherine pulls her act together, the marketing position can pay very well.”

“It’s not about the money, sir.” Lauren shrugs. “I really enjoy the job I have.”

Warmth. There’s a warmth to my father’s face that I have not witnessed since the birth of my sister’s last child. Every time my father sees Lauren, he becomes more delighted. I don’t know what it is about her, but she calms the silent storm between me and the person who created me.

“Care to join us for dinner?” my father asks her. “We can hold off business talk until the morning.”

“Thank you, but I start work soon and should get going.” Lauren stands and places a hand on my shoulder. “I enjoyed getting a glimpse into the corporate world today. It was fun.” A giggle bubbles in her chest and warms my own damn heart.

“I forgot you have a night shift. I feel horrible knowing I’m the reason you didn’t get enough sleep.” Her lips press in a fine line to bite back a smirk.

“Lying isn’t attractive on a man your age, Charmer.” I hear my father grunt a quick laugh as Lauren’s eyes send me the true message. ‘You’ve never had a problem keeping me up before.’

“Let me know how much money you want for your time helping with this project today. It was a great idea, Lauren.” I stretch back in my chair and want to call it a day.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Her face scrunches as if I’ve offended her. “Consider it my treat after the strings you pulled for Coit Tower.” She turns to my father. “I wish you the best with your marketer. I’m routing that she pulls through, for the business’s sake.”

“Good day, sweetheart.” He closes the door after she leaves and places his hands on the front of my desk.

“I’m glad I didn’t walk into what I did eight months ago.” Humor laces his voice but the accusation is sharp.

I lace my hands together and lean forward. “Nothing happened today. But if it did, the door would be locked.” I never bothered to lock it before with Miranda. She always dropped in when I needed a quick fix. I respect Lauren’s body too much to risk exposing it to others.

“She’s a nice girl.” My ears perk up at his remark. “Don’t ruin her more than life already has.”

Of course, he’s done a full background check on her. It’s nothing new with people who frequent our hotel.

I put both hands up and shake my head. “I don’t need to know anything more than what she wants me to. Her past is for her to tell.” I do wonder if my father knows why she wakes up some mornings in a panic. “We aren’t together. We’re strictly friends.”