MARISSADinner with Layton had surprised me so far. When I got dressed earlier, I was stuck between thinking I might be fired or that he was only in it to get to round two in bed. Or against the wall, in our case.I wasn’t getting that vibe from him at all this evening, though. He seemed to be genuinely interested in just talking to me. Throughout dinner, we’d talked about everything and nothing. There hadn’t been a quiet minute.We kept circling back to design and regrets about my life choices in choosing my current job over designing, but in between we’d discussed everything from the weather to our bucket list of countries to visit.The reason I was surprised was because I hadn’t thought I’d been as attracted to him as a person as I was to his, well, person. He was easy to talk to, a great and interested listener and all round actually more fun to be with than I had expected.For all my suspicions about ulterior motives for his invitation to dinner, he’d been nothing but the perfect

LAYTON“Open up, man. I got news!” Craig hollered from my door, his voice partially drowned out by the pounding he was giving the poor, innocent wooden door that protected me from the world. “Layton, I know you’re in there! Open up.”Of course he knew I was in here. My condo came with two parking spaces and as the only person I trusted with my spare key, Craig’s vehicle details were on the books for the second spot. Right next to mine.Giving Craig my spare set of keys was my only concession in terms of privacy. High up on the twentieth floor, my penthouse apartment had floor to ceiling windows that were mirrored on the outside and a doorman who only let people up who were on your list.My list contained only three names. My dad’s attorney, my assistant’s and Craig’s. Craig was the only person with unfettered access to the place, since he had my key, but he never barged in.He showed up unannounced, as he was doing right that very minute, but at least he didn’t let himself in. I had a

MARISSA“Mommy, why are you cutting it like that?” Annie leaned over our dining room table where I was working on a dress. She stretched the red material between her little fingers, stroking it while she watched me work.I finished slicing through the fabric that was later going to form part of the skirt and set it aside, talking to Annie as I rotated the remaining material on the table. “If I cut it like this and add a few more panels, the skirt will flare.”Annie nodded dutifully, as if she were taking a class in dressmaking. I pushed my tool box containing buttons and sequins and other shiny things at her. “Why don’t you sift through those and take out a few options for us to decorate the bodice with?”Eyes lighting up with excitement, she started taking out the different plastic levels in the box and spread them out in front of her. “I love doing this stuff with you, Mommy.”“What stuff?” I asked, pausing for a moment to take in the contented expression on her gorgeous face as she

LAYTON“I would like to remind everyone that the human resources department will be on the lookout for any—” I checked the printout my assistant had given me with HR’s requests about the Valentine’s Day party. “Uh, shenanigans. No shenanigans will be tolerated, even if it is a party.”I frowned at the paper in my hand, shaking my head slightly even as a chuckle escaped. Glancing up, I found myself looking right into the disapproving glare of my head of human resources. The man jabbed a stubby finger at the paper, prompting me to read the rules out loud and take them seriously.Laughter and chuckles tittered around the office as I finished the announcement. I couldn’t blame them for their amusement, since I was having a hard time keeping a straight face myself.O’Donnell, the head of HR, was the only person who would send me a list prohibiting shenanigans and expect people to take it as a decree. It was a party for crying in a fucking bucket. Fully aware of the dangers of a workplace r

MARISSALayton surprised me when he came to my office after making the announcement about the party. He hardly ever ventured over to my side of the building. My heart rate kicked up a notch when I saw him approaching, looking dapper as ever in another one of his impeccably tailored suits.Even if they were the only thing I’d ever seen him wear, they never got old. He looked too damn good in them. And since I’d copped a feel at what lay underneath the expensive layers of material, it was hard to look at him and not imagine what he might look like without the corporate suit of armor.A powder blue shirt brought out lighter flecks in his green eyes, especially since the tie he was wearing matched his eyes but had an intricate paisley design in the exact color of the shirt. I briefly wondered whether it had been made especially for him to wear with that shirt and if it was, whether the person who made it had chosen the green of the tie based on the color of his eyes.I nearly swooned over