“Good morning,” he mumbles as he wakes.
“Morning.”
“God, you feel so good in my arms.”
“You do, too,” I say shyly. “I never would have pegged you for a cuddler, Adam.”
“Well, I have never had a woman who I wanted to cuddle with before, but with you I don’t ever want to take my hands off of you.”
He flips me so I am lying on top of him and squeezes my butt cheeks. “As a matter of fact, I would love to have these hands permanently glued to this mighty fine, tight ass,” he says in his strong but still sleepy voice. “But unfortunately we need to get our little angel up for school and I need to get to work.”
“Yeah, I have so much paperwork to do in your office today, too,” I agree.
“Oh, hell no. You’re taking the day off today. Maybe even the whole week,” Adam declares.
I shoot straight up in bed with a look that could kill. “What? Like hell I am! I have a ton of work to do and you know it.”
Shrugging his shoulders, he gives me the most irresistible look I have ever seen. “You’re taking the day off and that’s final. Besides, you wouldn’t want to disappoint Shayne, now would you?”
“What do you mean by that?” I question.
Bringing himself up so we are face to face, he blows me the fuck away with his next words.
“You and Shayne are going shopping. She stated right before the wedding that she needed some new clothes, so I told her you would go with her and you’re going. You have not taken a day off since you started working for me and you deserve one. And before you try and get all badass about it, just remember I am your boss. So go and enjoy time with your friend, baby. You deserve it.”
I feel tears forming. I would really love to spend the day with Shayne, but I have so much work to do. “You’re impossible, you know that, right? And you know I have all those invoices to file?”
He simply shrugs. “I got it, Erin, so go and have fun.”
“Fine. You win this time, but only today. And leave my paperwork alone!” I say furiously as I climb out of bed and tread as fast as I can to go get my daughter ready for school. At that moment, Adam’s words from just a few minutes ago hit me like a ton of bricks. I stop dead in my tracks just outside of Sierra’s room with my mouth gaping open, and I let one stray tear of happiness fall down my face because he just called my little girl, “Our angel.”
************
“Oh, no he didn’t?” I screech, laughing hysterically with Shayne as we sit at the table in the food court at the mall.
“He most certainly did,” she chuckles. “I was so damn embarrassed. I mean, who does that for God’s sake? The bellhop was just a kid, he couldn’t have been much more than eighteen years old and Luke went all caveman on the poor guy.”
“He loves you, Shayne. The idea of anyone else looking at you, especially at your ass, just pissed him off,” I joke.
“That’s exactly what he said, but still, the poor kid looked like he wanted to cry and Luke refused to apologize to the jerk.”
I am laughing so hard right now that I snort which makes everyone around us look our way. We can’t help but sit there in a fitful of giggles like a couple of schoolgirls.
After Adam was so persistent this morning about me taking the day off, I showered quickly and as Sierra and Adam were eating breakfast, I called Shayne to coordinate our shopping trip. We met at the mall after dropping the girls off at school. As of right now we have been shopping for several hours. I have gotten a few new pairs of shoes which I do not need; I am definitely what you would call a shoe whore. I also found a few pairs of new jeans that Shayne said make my ass look delish. Feeling a little self-conscious about the last store I want to go in, I feel my face start to flush.
I look up at Shayne and she has the biggest shit-eating grin on her face.
“What?” I question.
“You know, there is something different about you today.” Her expression makes me turn every shade of red as she leans back and crosses her arms. “You had sex with Adam, didn’t you?” she gasps.
Oh, hell’s bells. “I did not,” I state matter-of-factly.
“Something happened, I can tell. Don’t just leave me hanging here. Tell me everything!” She pauses. “Well, maybe not everything. Oh, come on, spill it!”
Blustering up as much courage as I can, I tell her everything that happened between the two of us. I tell her about our date and that I slept in his bed last night and how good it felt to be held by a man all night for the first time in my life. I am so engrossed in my story that I am not even paying attention to the tears falling down Shayne’s face, but when she looks at me her face is filled with nothing short of joy.