Daisy' Little Secret

“Oh! Ms Blackwood is here!” Clara cheered as soon as Thea and Daisy stepped into the restaurant.

The staff cheered, Thea smiled shy as she got closer, her eyes scanning one staff to another.

Everyone on his table got fired by Posy and replaced by incompetent asshole. Yet they showed up when she called, when she told Clara to send them all an email. They had all agreed to work with her despite the fact that Balmero still wasn't doing so great in the stock market.

Yet.

“Woah. Everyone is here.” She muttered.

Thea sat near the center table, surrounded by familiar faces. People who had stood by her even when it meant risking their own jobs.

“Of course! Ms Thea called, we will definitely answer!” One of the staff , Nate, echoed.

Clara, radiant in a coral dress, raised her glass.

“To the woman who brought Balmero back from the ashes!”

The room erupted in cheers. Thea smiled, cheeks warming, but there was humility in her eyes.

“You’re all being dramatic,” she said, though her voice trembled with emotion. “I didn’t bring it back alone. We did.”

The staff, her staff, grinned. They’d seen her fight for this company to grow it to the point where it was before it was taken away from her. They had watched her take blow after blow and still refuse to crumble.

From across the table, Mr. and Mrs. Stagg, the oldest of Balmero’s employees, leaned in. “Mrs. Blackwood,” Mr. Stagg said, his tone half-teasing.

“Never thought we’d see the day you’d be sitting in the big chair again.”

“It still doesn’t feel real,” Thea admitted, sipping her wine.

Mrs. Stagg smiled kindly. “You’ve earned every inch of it. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Posy’s downfall… well, let’s just say karma remembered your address.”

Laughter followed, and even Thea laughed softly, shaking her head. “I’d rather not think about Posy anymore. The past belongs behind us.”

Clara raised her glass again. “To new beginnings, then!”

“To new beginnings,” they echoed.

Daisy sat beside Thea, laughing, eating, smiling but there was a flicker in her eyes that Thea caught between moments.

Her phone buzzed, once, twice, and she turned it screen-down on the table, biting her lip.

Thea tilted her head. “You’re awfully quiet for someone who swore she’d drink the bar dry tonight.”

Daisy chuckled. “I’m pacing myself.”

“Uh-huh. And the mysterious texts?”

Daisy opened her mouth to reply but the phone buzzed again and Daisy picked it up. The screen lit up with a name Thea only saw for a split second.

Arian.

“Oh,” Thea said, eyebrows lifting. “Should I ask or pretend I didn’t see that?”

“Pretend,” Daisy said too quickly, grabbing her bag.

Thea’s laughter followed her as she stood. “Fine. I'm partially blind then. Until you tell me everything there is to know about this.”

Daisy met her gaze. “You’re not mad?”

Thea tilts her head, “Why would I? Hurry up! And you owe me all the details.”

“Noted,” Daisy murmured, trying to hide her smile.

As Daisy slipped out of the restaurant, the cool night air hit her like a balm. She pulled her coat tighter, hailed a cab, and stared out the window the entire ride to Arian’s building, her pulse strangely fast.

♤

When she reached his penthouse, the city lights glowed against the glass walls. He had texted her his address and refused to call an ambulance when she suggested he did. She hesitated before hitting the doorbell , a twinge of worry creeping in.

He’d said he was sick, that was enough to make her drop everything and rush over.

The door opened before she could hit the doorbell again.

Arian stood there, perfectly fine. Shirt unbuttoned at the top, hair damp as if he’d just showered, a faint smirk curving his lips.

“You’re not sick,” Daisy said flatly.

“No,” he admitted, leaning on the doorframe. “But if I’d said I wanted to see you, you wouldn’t have come.”

Her jaw tightened. “You lied to me.”

“I missed you.”

His words caught her off guard. “Arian…”

“Don’t,” he said softly. “Not yet. Come in.”

She should’ve left. She knew that. But something in his voice, low, almost weary made her sigh and step inside.

The penthouse was quiet, dimly lit. The scent of espresso and sandalwood hung in the air. A single record played somewhere in the background, a lazy, melancholic tune.

Daisy set her bag down, arms crossed. “You dragged me out here because you missed me? You couldn't have just said so?”

“I did,” he said, walking toward her. “You ignored me.”

Her mouth opened but the words escaped her, he's right, she wouldn't have responded. Hell, he had texted her with a different number because she blocked the one she had.

“And I was right. You care. That's why you're here..”

“It's called being a decent human being.”

Arian chuckled. “You're lying.”

Daisy looked away, what was she still doing here anyway? She should leave, he's clearly fine!

“What do you want from me, Arian?”

“To talk.”

“About what?”

“About us.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. We made a mistake that night and that's it. Nothing more.”

Arian stopped, guilt flickering across his features. “It meant more. Too much, maybe. That’s why I want this to work out.”

Daisy said nothing, she wasn't sure if what she felt was excitement or fear…

Daisy looked away, pacing toward the window. The city stretched beneath them, alive and restless. “You said you were sick,” she murmured. “I actually thought….”

“That I needed you?” he asked gently.

She turned to glare at him, but the look in his eyes made her breath hitch. There was no mockery there, no arrogance. Just a raw, unguarded kind of honesty that always disarmed her.

“You called,” she whispered. “And I came running like an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot.”

“Then what am I?”

His gaze softened. “The only person I didn’t know how to lose.”

Silence stretched between them, fragile and humming.

Daisy shook her head, trying to stay angry, but the tension in her chest was already cracking. “You don't know what you're talking about...”

“Maybe,” he said, taking a slow step closer. “But I’m done pretending I don’t care about you.”

Her pulse jumped. “Arian…”

He reached up, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “You’ve been in my head since the day we met. At Seth's wedding. Then at the park when you cursed me out with those eyes. I tried to push it away, tried to bury it under everything else, but it never went away.”

Her breath trembled. “I've been ignoring you for weeks..”

“I know,” he murmured. “And I get it.”

She wanted to tell him to stop, to pull back but she didn’t. The warmth of his hand against her cheek burned through every wall she’d built.

“I want us to work out. For real. This isn't a game. This isn't some fantasy of mine. I want you, Daisy..”

“What would Seth say? Or Thea? I'm just a cafe owner. I don't belong in your world.”

“ I'm not going to lose something good because of what people have to say. I don't care about that. And Seth will probably shoot me dead on the asphalt but I'll take it.”

Daisy chuckled, tears stinging her eyes. “Ypure good with words.”

But he wasn't joking, he was serious. “ Cause I mean it. I love you Daisy. I really do.”

When he leaned in, his breath mingled with hers, she didn't pull back. She could taste coffee on his lips, faint and bitter, when they finally met.

The kiss was soft at first, hesitant as if neither of them was sure they should. His lips moved gently against hers, searching, asking.

Daisy froze, then melted, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. He deepened the kiss, slow and deliberate, and she felt the breath leave her lungs in one long exhale.

His mouth was warm, the taste of wine and something distinctly her, a mix of charm and danger he could never resist. The pressure of his lips shifted, tender one moment, desperate the next, as if the world outside no longer existed.

When he finally pulled back, their foreheads touched. Both were breathing too fast.

“This is wrong,” she whispered, though her voice was weak, unconvincing.

“Then tell me to stop.”

She didn’t. “Fuck me. Please.”

That was the answer he needed and he met her halfway.

The second kiss wasn’t soft. It was urgent, weeks of tension rushing in all at once. His hands slid to her waist, hers tangled in his hair, and somewhere in the distance, the music kept playing.

He led her into his room, kissing her and driving her mad with his lips.

“Take it off,” he whispered against her ears, as soon as they were in his room.

Daisy took off her dress, no questions asked. He lifted her off the ground and set her on his table, his fingers sliding under her soaked panties almost immediately. Daisy gasped, her eyes staring into his, glazed with pleasure.

“You’re so wet…” He muttered, thrusting his fingers even deeper.

Kisses trailed from her neck down to her shoulders and then her nipples. He took a mouthful of her breast, and another hand held her thighs in place as he teased her nipples. His hands and mouth were everywhere, she could barely think straight.

He yanked off the panties, eyes dark with pleasure.

“Lean back.” He ordered and she did just that.

She was used to being in charge but ever since that night with Arian, she wanted more than ever to have his sexy hands wrapped around her throat again.

He kissed her, a teasing kiss as though promising to make tonight better than the last.

“Look at you..” he said fondly, hands tracing her face. She looked so beautiful, quivering and longing for his touch.

His fingers traced her clit, thrusting deep into her as he gave her wetness a kiss. A teasing kiss. Daisy moaned, leaning in closer to his face, but he held her thighs in place.

His lips kissed her clit, sliding his finger gently inside her just as his tongue teased her as well.

She was a moaning mess, not a single thought going through her head. All she wanted was Arian and nothing else. He was right, she wanted this. Hell she missed this.

Her thighs trembled in his hold, and her back arched, but then he stopped.

He slid inside her. Her face, the way her thighs tightened around him when he did…

He was huge and painfully pleasurable.

Arian watched her face; she was a beautiful mess. One he’d never forget in a hurry.