Effortless

Silence spread through the room. I tried to see if I could get a read on what was going on in his head. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Hopping off the desk, I hitched up my dress and straddled him on the chair.

“Amelia.”

The strained way he said my name triggered an immediate response in me. I kissed him desperately, feeling him shudder in my embrace.

“Come with me,” I requested, skimming my lips over his.

I melted when he smiled.

“You like stealing my phrases.”

“What can I say? You’re quotable.”

Squeezing my waist gently, he laughed. The sound of it always filled me with such joy. Leaning his forehead to mine, he closed his eyes. Bit by bit, the protective shield locked into place. I ran my hands down his chest, disheartened to feel him stiffen beneath my touch.

“Sorry, love,” he said flatly. “I have to be in London for the rest of the week. I leave early tomorrow morning. Paxton will be here to make sure you get to and from work safely.”

I swallowed down my disappointment like it was a spoonful of salt. “Why do y—”

“My fucking uncle,” he snapped. “He’s trying to undermine my decisions regarding the music division. He set up an investor meeting behind my back and now I have to go talk everyone off a ledge.”

“What happened?”

Scrubbing his face with both hands he grimaced. “My grandfather is trying to convince me to dissolve the music end of the business and use the extra funds to launch a production company. I told him no and gave him my reasons but fucking Jason keeps,” he paused, scowling. “My uncle and I don’t see eye to eye on this and he’s constantly up my grandfather’s ass about it.”

Not really knowing what to say, I could only play with his hair in the hopes it would calm him down. He never talked about work and I never asked so I knew nothing of the intricacies involved with running a worldwide media empire.

“Well,” I said, “you’re the boss. Jason has to answer to you and your grandfather is retired so he really has no say, right?”

Alastair laughed bitterly. “If only it were that simple.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know—”

“My dad created the music division about a year before the accident,” he interrupted. “I was so young, I had no idea what it was but I do remember him being rather excited about it. He’d play records really loud on the weekends and my sister and I would dance around the living room. I think,” he paused, swallowing hard, “I think this was my dad’s dream. I think maybe he’d started it because he wanted to step out of my grandfather’s shadow. Jason was strictly the business minded one and yessed Samuel to death. My dad was the creative one.”

He looked up at me. “Since Jason and Katherine have no children, I’m the last one in line. If I fuck up the business, it dies along with all the hard work my dad put into it.”

“You’re not going to fuck up the business. You’re too smart to let that happen.”

His frosty exterior thawed. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“No, you shouldn’t have. Watch those sore spots, chief.”

“Fair point.” He pulled me closer so our faces were inches apart.

I kissed him because I could and because that’s really all I’d been wanting to do since I returned home.

“Tell me to stay here with you.”

His quiet words ripped through me, shredding my soul into a thousand pieces. Oh, Alastair. I hugged him, marveling again at the tremors shaking his body. He never failed to surprise me with the strength of his affection.

“I love you so much, it hurts,” I whispered against his neck.

Gently breaking our embrace, he looked at me with clear, bright eyes. We didn’t have to say anything for us both to know what I’d meant. “Come with me to London. I don’t want to be away from you for one second.”

I smiled, completely aware of how easy it was for him to disarm me. “You know I can’t.”

“Then come down this weekend. I’ll have the plane ready and waiting for you after work on Friday. We’ll go stay at the May Fair and never leave the room” -he kissed me- “or I’ll send you to the spa and do whatever else you want.”

“Tempting,” I murmured, tracing my fingers along his jaw. “Why don’t we go to your cottage here instead?”

He frowned. “I may not be back for the weekend, Lia. I don’t want to leave you alone here.”

“I won’t be alone. I have Stephanie and Darren.”

“Maybe your sister would like to see you. She does live in London, you know.”

“Wow.” I laughed. “When did you turn into my mother?”

A sharp squeeze at my waist made me flinch. “I see your smart mouth also made the journey across the Atlantic.”

“It’s a package deal, Holden.”

Uncoiling a bit from his annoyance, Alastair kissed me firmly. “We could get married this weekend,” he said, playing with my hair. “Have a civil ceremony at Islington Town Hall. It would be just the two of us.”

The thought left me breathless. Every cell in my body, from my toes to the tips of my fingers, hummed with anticipation. Images of us exchanging vows and spending the entire weekend blissfully alone and entwined with each other filled my mind. It was perfect. It was…

“My family will kill me,” I blurted.

Alastair raised an eyebrow. “Not if I have anything to say about it. Besides, they’ll get over the shock. We’ll have a massive party back in the States. That’s why everyone has a wedding anyway, right? For the party.”

“But don’t we need, like, paperwork and licenses? And witnesses? We can’t just walk in and—”

He kissed me quiet and essentially halted all talk of eloping. “You really need to do something about this habit of overthinking.” The smile in his eyes and on his lips sealed the deal for me.

“Fine. You’re right.” I tugged on his tie. “Is there a reason why you’re still in CEO mode at home? I mean, the suits are hot and stuff but it’s well past quitting time.”

“There’s no rest for the wicked.” He smirked. “Would you rather I sat here naked?”

I slung my arms around his neck and grinned. “It would be an improvement.”

“Cheeky.” He felt his way down my body. “We do have some unfinished business to attend to, don’t we?”

Capitalizing on his softened mood and flirty playfulness, I nuzzled into his neck, kissing his warm skin and enjoying the low groans vibrating in his throat. “That depends.”

“On what?”

I loosened his tie and slid it off his neck. “Did you think about me all day?”