I miss you!
I’m giving her ten minutes, and then I’m just going to call her. I close my eyes waiting for her, resting my eyes, but I fall asleep. The next thing I know, my alarm is ringing for me to get up.
I look at my phone and see that Lauren texted me back.
Hey, sorry, I was giving Rachel a bath.
I miss you too!
Okay, I guess you fell asleep. I’ll call you tomorrow from work. Eek! I’m working with Noah.
I blink my eyes a couple of times and then text her back.
Good morning. Fell asleep waiting for your text. Are you really going to work for Noah?
I toss my phone aside while I go into the bathroom and splash my face with water. Grabbing the phone again, I go downstairs, where I start my morning routine. It’s still as silent as it was last night, so I turn on the television. The voices of the CNN anchors fill the silence while the coffee brews.
The phone rings in my hand, and I look down to see Lauren’s number.
“Hey,” I answer, smiling.
“Hey. I thought it would be faster if I called you,” she says, and I hear her moving around in the background.
“Did you sleep well?” I ask her, thinking about how much I would have loved to wake her up with my face between her legs.
“Yeah, I was exhausted.” I hear her call out a five-minutes warning to the kids. “Sorry, it’s hectic in the morning.”
“I can imagine. Are you really going to work with Noah?”
“Um, well, seeing as I’m due there in an hour, the answer to that would be yes.” She chuckles.
“You don’t need to do this,” I tell her while I pour myself a cup of coffee and take a sip. I can hear Gabe in the background asking where his lunch is.
“I’m doing this, so we don’t kill each other.” She moves the phone from her mouth to tell Gabe she already packed his lunch in his bag. “Sorry. I have to go. Rachel is not dressed yet. The bus is due in seven minutes, and Kaleigh didn’t come home again.”
I smile thinking of Rachel running around naked, calling me Asshat. “Okay, call me later.”
She doesn’t say good-bye, I just hear her yelling as the phone disconnects. The rest of the morning routine is uneventful.
Walking into the office, I groan thinking about training a new temp. God, I hope it’s not Carmen.
I see a man sitting at Lauren’s desk. “Good Morning, Mr. Mackenzie.” He gets up to greet me.
His hair is perfect, his suit is perfect, and he follows me into my office with a small pad and pen in hand. “I’ve taken the liberty of going through all the emails to familiarize myself with the routine you have. I also see you like your meetings alphabetically arranged, which is perfect, since it’s also how I like to file things,” he continues as I shrug off my jacket and put it on the back of my chair.
“What is your name?” I ask him.
“Bruce.” He folds his hands in front of himself. “I can’t wait to get started.”
“Can you tell Barbara I’m in, and that I would like to see her? Also, if a woman named Lauren calls, she always gets put through right away. No matter when she calls.”
“Right away.” He heads back to his desk and calls Barbara. She walks into my office five minutes later with a cup of coffee for me.
“Okay, what has your panties in a twist this morning?” She sets my coffee down and takes a seat in front of me.
I glare at her. “Nothing has me in a twist. I’m just wondering how long this has been in the works?”
“Since the second day, maybe, when she knew that you wouldn’t cave and she couldn’t fight her feelings for you anymore.”
I smile thinking over the last month and all the shit we went through. “Is he the best they got?” I motion to Bruce.
“The best they’ve got is Lauren. He’s the second best,” she replies, getting up to leave. “Now, I have lots to do. You let me know if you need anything,” she says as she walks out.
Looking over my emails and schedule, I get lost in my work. There is a new space I’ve had my eye on that I’m itching to get into. Denis just sent me the plans. It looks like a lot of work, but it will be amazing if we can get everything done. My phone buzzes on my desk with a text from Noah and a picture.
I swipe across it, opening up his text.
My PA is better than yours! Under the message is a picture of Lauren, with four guys around her desk as she smiles at the screen.
Fuck off! Is my only reply, but I go back and zoom in on the picture. She’s wearing a peach-colored sweater today.
Dude, she is the shit, these chumps are eating her up.
I squeeze my cell phone in my hands and call out to Bruce.
“Yes, sir?” He sticks his head in.
“I need you to send two dozen roses to Lauren at Noah’s law firm. The address is in my box.” I turn down to see another text came in.
All jokes aside, she just cleared my schedule in ten minutes.
I pick up my desk phone, calling Noah’s office, knowing she’ll answer, and when she does, I smile. “Hey, there, beautiful. How’s your day?”
“Hey,” I hear her say, hoping she’s smiling, too. “It’s going well. I haven’t had to poison him yet. So, I call that a success.” She laughs.
“What time is lunch?” I ask her.
“I have to meet with HR at lunch today and tomorrow.”
“Really, what about dinner?”
“It’s Monday, which means gymnastics for Rachel and a soccer game for Gabe. Rain check?” she asks. “The kids are with Jake on Wednesday. How about I make dinner, and we can eat in bed?” she whispers, and my cock springs to attention.
“That sounds like a plan. I’ll bring
