“Yes,” I say, desperately wanting to ask why she isn’t free at night suddenly.
Can I even ask that? Yes, this is an unusual arrangement, but it’s also unusual for me to want to know what my assistant is doing once they leave my house. I’ve never gotten involved in my assistants’ personal lives.
But Bella is different.
She feels like more than an assistant. If anything, the title is a disservice to her.
“If you need me, then of course,” she offers.
For some reason, my hands turn clammy as I say, “There’s a charity event I’m attending for dogs with special needs. I was hoping you could come.”
“Of course! I love dogs,” she gushes, moving to write it down in the calendar.
Turning my head to the side so she can’t see my wide smile, I place my attention on my yard—my extremely depressing yard.
I sigh at how sad it looks.
Bella places the chicken on simmer and rounds the bench, coming to sit beside me as she follows my line of sight. “Did you fire your groundskeeper too?” she jokes.
I let out a deep chuckle. “No, I used to do all the landscaping myself actually.”
The red gummy making its way to her plush pink lips pauses mid-air.
“That surprises you?”
“No offense. It’s just such a large property it would be hard for one person to manage.”
Looking back out over my garden, toward the mountains on display in the background, I admit, “I used to love it. It wasn’t work in my mind.”
“Why don’t you garden anymore?”
My entire body tenses at the question.
Tearing my gaze away, I snatch a gummy from the packet, purposely not taking a red or yellow one. “Not interested anymore,” I answer gruffly.
Halfway through eating the candy, I notice her staring at me. I give her a pointed look, making her shake her head. “What?”
“I call bullshit.”
The gummy goes down the wrong pipe, and in the next second, I’m choking, whacking my chest as tears spring into my eyes. Bella rushes to grab me a bottle of water, her small hand on my back doing the opposite of helping. I choke harder, my body so excited that she’s finally touching me again I swear my throat closes up to keep her hand there for longer.
Turning, I hunch over and cough, and Bella steps forward, practically standing between my legs as her hand rubs up and down my shoulder.
How long can I continue to choke before I pass out?
Furthermore, is it wrong I want to pass out so she has to give me mouth-to-mouth?
Taking a sip of water, I get control of myself again, though my face flames with embarrassment.
Bella scoffs, yet there’s a look of fright covering her features. “No one ever called you out on your bullshit before?”
“Plenty, actually.”
She gives me a look that has me smirking. “I highly doubt that considering you’d rather die than hear the truth.”
“And what exactly is the truth?” I ask, finding myself leaning into her warmth as she stands in front of me. If I continue, she’ll be standing between my legs.
Heat grows in my belly at the thought alone, my cock stirring as she gives me the most devilish smirk imaginable, peering up at me through her thick black lashes.
