LAYTON“Happy Valentine’s Day everyone,” I announced from my spot at the front of the room. The atmosphere was electric, with the excited faces of my staff smiling at me. “Thank you for being here. I hope you enjoy the party. The social committee has outdone itself this year, let’s give them a hand.”A round of applause sounded and the two self-appointed members of our social committee flushed happily. Both women worked on the design team, but they consulted on interior decorating from time to time.It showed whenever they were tasked with transforming the office into a jollier space. This year they had opted for a less garish theme than big red hearts. Fairy lights twinkled overhead, attached to the light fittings and walls.There were white flowers on every surface. I briefly wondered what their allocated budget had been, but then I let it go. My people worked hard. We didn’t have parties very often. When we did, it made sense to spoil them a little.There was an open bar set up alo

MARISSALayton paused for just a fraction of a second and I was sure he was going to put a stop to our heated kiss. I still wasn’t sure who had initiated it or how exactly it had happened. I only knew that as soon as we stepped inside his apartment, we crashed together like magnets which had no choice but to join.His tongue swept into my mouth and I let out a moan, trying to store the way he tasted and the feel of his lips deep in my mind in case he stopped. In case I never got to kiss the man again.Suddenly, his moment of hesitation vanished. He let out a sound somewhere between a low groan and a needy growl and deepened the kiss.One of his hands came to my neck and cupped it at the nape, holding me to him. The other came to my cheek, his fingers brushing the edge of my hair. He tilted my head to where he wanted it, devouring me as he started walking backward and bringing me to him.Having never been to his apartment before, I kept expecting us to crash into something. But we didn

LAYTON“Yeah? I bet you can get it in two tries.” Marissa giggled, crumbling two sheets of paper into her hand and shooting them one after the other in the general direction of the trash can in the corner of my office.Both pieces of paper landed way short of their target. I laughed and gave her a pat on the back. “What did we bet again?”She shot me a playful glare, elbowing me in the stomach. “Double or nothing.”I motioned for her to go ahead, desperately wanting to wrap my arms around her. It had been a week since our date at the Freedom Trail and the night that followed. It had been, without a doubt, one of the best nights of my fucking life.Marissa agreed to stay and after what turned out to be a series of naps instead of a decent night’s sleep, neither of us could get enough of the other. After our first relatively frenzied romp, we hit the shower, the bed again and eventually ended up on the kitchen floor.Our relationship had changed since then. We spent more time together,

MARISSA“Why didn’t you call, Dee? How long has she been like this? What’s wrong?” The questions tumbled out of my mind one after the other. I was sitting in the back of Denise’s car, as close to Annie as our respective seat belts would allow.I had her clammy hand in mine, my thumb rubbing comforting circles on the back of her hand. Denise caught my eyes in the rearview mirror, worry shining through stress clouded by more worry. “It started a couple of hours ago. She threw up once, then it just kept happening.”I reached for Annie’s forehead, trying to determine if her fever had gotten any worse since we left my office. She felt the same, but she looked much worse.Her eyes were closed, her head resting against the window. She was breathing fine, but deeply. Denise looked at me again. “I’m not sure what it is. I gave her some flu medication, but I don’t know if she kept it down long enough for it to make a difference. I don’t think it’s the flu. She keeps complaining about her stomac

LAYTONTwenty-four hours and still no word from Marissa. I consulted with a new client in the morning. An interesting man who wanted to build an off the grid tree house to live in about an hour outside the city.The project was bound to be both challenging and something totally different than anything I was used to. I was excited to get into it, but struggling to concentrate on the design.Sitting behind my drafting table, I stared down at the empty sheet of paper in front of me. My pencil clutched between my fingers, I had yet to draw so much as one line.Marissa was on my mind. I kept wondering what she might think of the project. I wondered if she would be as excited about it as I was, and I looked forward to seeing how she put the reports on this one together.The client was adventurous, but his budget didn’t match his dream. To say it would be tight was an understatement. There was no doubt in my mind that if anyone could put it together inside budget and make his residential dre