“No, I’m attending so that I can strip you out of the tux as soon as the night’s over.”
“Promises, promises.” My cock perks up at the suggestion.
“Get ready. I’ll see you soon.”
I hang up and dress quickly. Most years, I spend the entire day at the hotel with my team. I’m sure they aren’t expecting me to pitch in all day, but I feel guilty for leaving them to work on it alone. After a few tweaks in the mirror, I hop in my car and head for downtown.
As usual, no one in the lobby looks twice as I approach the ballroom. The signage and decorations look perfect. I hope our staff made the inside look just as lovely. I start planning what I might need to do to ensure everything gets the proper finishing touches in—I glance at my watch—for the next twenty-three minutes.
I push through the doors, and my jaw drops. The place looks incredible. All the centerpieces are arranged perfectly, and the other flowers are placed around the room as planned. The staff has the tables set up with more elegance than I remember us having in past years, including somehow making the donation envelopes look fancy. Even the tiny stage looked perfect. I turn my head toward the voices at the side of the room and spot several of our staff members and Colt.
He looks delicious in his tux. The shirt’s top buttons are still undone, and he hasn’t put his tie on yet. His ass is perfect, though, and he fills out the trousers perfectly. He isn’t the only one with plans for tonight. Thankfully, I thought ahead and booked us a room.
“There he is!” Colt gives me a huge grin and waves me over. I start toward them, and he meets me halfway. “How are you?” He keeps his voice low so that no one else can hear.
“Okay. A bit overwhelmed at how this room looks.” He snakes a hand around my waist and pulls me close to him, nuzzling against me.
“You aren’t dizzy or anything, though?” He runs his hands over my shoulders and arms. His face is tight with worry, and the guilt hits me again.
“I’m better. Honest. The whole day of sleep seems to have done its job.” That and the chicken soup he fed me for dinner.
“You promise to let me know if you need a break tonight? We can always find somewhere to get some air or sit down for a few minutes.” He inspects me—that’s the only way I can describe it—looking me up and down from head to toe.
“I promise. Now let’s go see what we can do to help.” All the attention is a bit much.
“Nothing,” Victoria says as she and some of the other staff come closer.
“Nothing? Everything’s ready to go?”
“Yeah, thanks to Colt. We’ve checked everything off the checklist.”
I give Colt a questioning look. How did I get so lucky?
“And then checked to be sure nothing was left off the checklist.” Victoria smiles and nods toward the rest of the group.
“How long have you been here?”
“Not that long.” Colt’s face flushed.
“He’s been here all day. I think he was the first one on site this morning. He’s a real taskmaster, but at least he brought doughnuts.”
Fuck. No one has ever done something like this for me before. My eyes well up with tears that I manage to hold back. “You did this for me?”
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to rest if things weren’t taken care of here.”
I pull him into a kiss that I hope conveys everything I’m feeling right now. Colt slips his tongue into my mouth, and I pull him closer, slotting myself in so there’s no space between us.Mine. Colt is mine.
“Yes, yes, your boyfriend is wonderful,” Victoria says.
Someone else calls out, “Get a room.”
I pull away, panting heavily and resting my forehead against his. “Later?” I whisper close to his ear. He nods, but I swear I hear a slight whimper.
COLT
The night runs smoothly, which is as much of a shock to me as anyone else. It feels strange being on the other side of an event like this. I might not be an employee, but I’d made it clear to everyone that if they needed something or there was a problem, they were to run it past me before they asked Nathan. His color is back to normal, and he seems like his old self, but I’m not ready for him to jump back into everything yet. His system needs time to recover, and we’re not having a repeat of yesterday. All night, I make sure to send any of the waiters with hors d’oeuvres over to him so that he keeps eating. I may also refill his water glass every so often.
Fortunately, all the attendees appear to be enjoying themselves. After checking in with a few people, I grab two flutes of champagne from the bar and find Nathan. He’s engaged in conversations with a few guests, so I hang back for a few moments while they wrap up.
