Touch Me Boss: A Single Dad Office Romance

by Aria Ford

  Lucian finished his explanation in a broken voice. His voice was thick with unshed tears while his eyes had taken a faraway look.

  Emma had tears freely falling down her cheeks, hearing the man’s struggle. She knew most women would be scared and running for the hills by now but Lucian’s speech had instead triggered a soft spot in her heart. She wanted to ease the hurt and lonely man. She wanted to help him gain all that he had lost. With this decided, she ignored the stares of Jesse and John and moved across the room towards Lucian. She saw a guarded look come into his eyes as he tried to decide what to make of her approach. She just stood right in front of him with just a few inches in between and stretched up on her toes. Looking into his eyes, she stroked his face softly. His eyes widened at the unexpected gesture and he stared into her eyes, trying to find what she was on about.

  “I will marry you. Not because I’ve nowhere else to go but because I see the goodness in you. I’ve observed a lot of things ever since I came here and in all of them I’ve found a person who cares, even if silently. You jumped on me when you heard the crash of the plates which meant you wanted to protect me above all else, even at the cost of your own life. You allowed Jesse to come along with me when any lesser man would’ve refused. You are working as a lawman even though you have nightmares brought on from the guns and the violence. Lucian, you are a very brave man and any woman would be fortunate to become your wife. Please marry me and stop doubting yourself. And I know you will never hurt me. I know it in my heart,” Emma relayed while looking into his moist eyes and caressing his face slowly.

  “Please don’t. I don’t know how long I would be able to refuse. There’s no telling if I strangle you in my sleep. I’m not dependable or trustworthy,” Lucian told her with a desperate look in his eyes.

  “I’ve decided, Lucian. There’s nothing you can say to dissuade me, believe me. And we can keep separate beds until you improve. It’s too soon to forget easily. I’m sure it will get better with just a little more time. Please don’t refuse,” Emma urged him, her eyes pleading with him to accept her proposal and just agree.

  Lucian gave a few more paltry excuses before finally telling her yes. The joy Emma felt at that moment was unspeakable. She looked towards Jesse to find her friend smiling at her with tears in her eyes.

  Chapter Six

  POV Lucian Thorne

  It had been a week since the plates incident. Emma and Jesse had taken control of all the household duties as well as some of the farm work. He saw daily the progress the women were making for all of them. Both he and John were very grateful to the women. They had transformed the house. Pieces of wood had been taken and converted into small shelves and decorative pieces.

  All around the house, tapestries and embroidered stuff can be seen here and there, speaking of the woman’s touch inside the house. The house was always clean and the food always ready but the thing that gave him the most pleasure was seeing the smiling face of Emma every day after work. Lucian’s life was finally moving in the direction he wanted it to and he thanked God every day for it. His nightmares had eased and he rested better now.

  It was Sunday and all four of them were going to the church. The marriage license Lucian had applied for had arrived a day early and thus the ladies and John had decided that he should get married post haste. The bride was willing and, now, she looked gorgeous in her ivory dress that fitted her perfectly. It was a simple but beautiful dress. Emma looked at him shyly once in a while from under her lashes and those gazes were undoing the ice around Lucian’s heart.

  They were all chatting happily when Lucian suddenly heard a strange noise. He looked around the carriage to see if anyone had heard it too and sure enough everyone was staring at him with questioning looks. He shrugged his shoulder just when the carriage suddenly drew to a halt and a loud commotion was heard outside. The door of the carriage was jerked open and a man stuck his upper body in. His face was covered by a handkerchief while in his hand he held a gun. A creeping chill stole over Lucian’s whole body as the man waved his gun around ordering all of them to give up everything they had.

  It was no doubt a normal highway robbery but Lucian could not stop his mind from moving back in time. He started hearing and seeing things as they were in the war. There were guns pointed at him, the stench of death around him as his friends lay around him, covered in death and dirt. The man was saying something to him, pushing the gun into his chest when the red haze stole over Lucian.

  He gripped the hand pointed at him and twisted it around so badly that there were sounds of bones breaking. As he threw the man backward and jumped outside the carriage, the rest of the robber’s partners had taken stances as well. There was a total of four men outside. Before they could even guess what was happening, Lucian had jumped on the nearest man with a roar of retribution. He was on a roll as he punched, kicked, and attacked the men one after the other.

  The last man was a cunning guy and had managed to turn towards the carriage. By the time Lucian turned around to teach him a lesson, the guy had shoved Emma out of the carriage and now held a gun against her head. Lucian froze. For once, he was able to clear his mind of the red haze. The sight of Emma being held hostage with a gun to her temple shook Lucian to his core. Instead of diving at the man as he would have done otherwise, he feigned a step to the left and as the man moved his stance around to adjust Emma, Lucian pounced. He jerked Emma out of the man’s hold and simply high kicked the gun out of his hand. The robber had had no time to anticipate any of Lucian’s actions before he was on the floor, bleeding like the rest of his fellows.

  As he stood breathing harshly, staring at the downed men, both John and Jesse came out of the carriage. They moved cautiously at first but as Lucian gripped Emma’s arm and pulled her into his embrace, burying his nose in her fragrant hair, both of them relaxed. Emma’s slight body trembled a bit before she raised her arms and hugged Lucian back.

  “Thank you,” Emma whispered as she held fast. Lucian sighed as he relaxed his hold and looked into her green eyes.

  “I think I know now that I can control myself when it comes to you,” he told her, smiling fully for the first time. Emma smiled back and him just when John patted him on his back, his way of thanking him.

  “Let’s get married,” Lucian murmured, staring deep into Emma’s eyes. With his doubts cleared about hurting Emma in his haze, Lucian was more than a bit relieved. He knew they would still have to tread slowly and keep separate beds before he was completely recovered but the process had been started now and he knew that he could not wait another moment to marry Emma.

  “Let’s,” he heard her reply as she moved back into his arms.

  THE END

  * * *

  1 Daisy, in Spanish

  2 “tejas - friends”

  Billionaire Romance Collection

  A Week with The Billionaire

  There was no way I could know that I would meet someone like Jeffrey at my niece's preschool art show, but I did. I hadn't expected it or prepared for something like it, but I had, at least, dressed nicely. I was wearing a blue flared A-line dress with a subtle pattern and pink pumps. I had my dark black hair in curled ringlets that fell down past my collarbone. Even if I wasn't ready emotionally or psychologically to meet someone, I certainly looked the part. Though all of the artists were under the age of five, I was giving each series of paintings and crafts a good and thorough look-over.

  I glanced up and saw him across the room, next to a patchwork quilt and van Gogh-inspired paintings. His hair was all white and even from across the room, I could tell his sparkling eyes were blue. I looked back at the artwork quickly, to avoid ogling at him. I moved toward my sister and pulled her aside.

  "Lynn," I said eagerly. "What do you think of that guy over there?"

  "Which one?" she asked.

  "That one," I replied, subtly inclining my head in his direction.

  Lynn said, "White hair? He looks so young."

  "Doesn't he?"
>
  "He isn't your type, for one thing," she told me.

  "My type?"

  "Yeah, your type is tall, dark, and brooding."

  "What do you think?" I said, stealing a glance at him as he joked with some teachers.

  "I think the more important question is what do you think?," she turned the question back on me.

  I studied him out of the corner of my eye for a moment before responding. "He seems pretty vivacious. He is handsome, for sure, and wears his confidence on his sleeve."

  "He's probably a Leo. You know me, I'm good with the zodiac," she said, looking back at him.

  He was ending his conversation and beginning to peruse the art. I watched as a child went up to him and tugged on his collared shirt sleeve. He turned and kneeled down, getting on the child's level. They talked and then the little one handed the man a piece of artwork. I looked away, and then back at Lynn.

  "Lynn, help me out."

  "I have a child to attend to, by the way. Single motherhood is nothing like the commercials."

  "Should I go over and talk to him?" I asked.

  "Do what you want," she said, sounding distracted.

  "Lynn," I said, but turned to see what she had been looking at. Her daughter had dumped a bucket of lunch boxes onto the floor. Lynn hurried over to clean it up and I turned toward the man with white hair, only to find that he was gone.

  I spotted him again after a few minutes looking around the room. He was two or three people away from me and soon, I was caught up in a conversation with Lynn's daughter's teacher. She turned me toward a series they had done with some children from the class. I looked in awe at the paintings and then when the conversation was over, I turned away from the teacher and found myself staring into a pair of sparkling blue eyes.

  He was stunningly handsome up close. He smiled and subtle crow's feet appeared beside eyes that looked at me like I was the only woman in the room. He had dimples, which made him look younger than he might be. I had a hard time placing his age, but could immediately tell that I was in trouble.

  Overcome with the attraction I was feeling for him, I backed away a step. I bumped into a little girl behind me and I bent down to apologize. When I got back up, he was gone. I moped back over to Lynn.

  "I think I missed my opportunity," I told her.

  "Not quite," she said, "here comes your lover boy."

  I looked up to see him making a beeline for me.

  In a moment, he was in front of me and put his hand out, "Jeffrey."

  We shook hands and my sister bowed her head and turned away. Neither Jeffrey nor I made any notice; we stared solely at one another.

  "I'm Raina."

  "Raina," he repeated, rolling my name around on his tongue.

  "Mhmm,” I replied dumbly.

  "What brings you to the art show?" he asked.

  "My niece, actually."

  He nodded, "No kids of your own?"

  "Nope, what about you?"

  "Nope."

  "So what brings you here?" I asked.

  "I’m on the Board of Education," he replied. "I like to stop in and see what the students are up to from time to time."

  "Really? I’ve been to a few events but I’ve never seen you before.”

  "That’s because I’ve been out of town for a lengthy stay until just recently."

  "Well that sounds awfully interesting,” I said, wondering where his travels had taken him.

  "Yes, but enough about me," he said. Tell me something about you."

  I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. I hated talking about myself. “What is it you would like to know?” I asked.

  “Hmm, you know what I do, why don’t you tell me what you do,” he said.

  I nodded. “Well I studied political science at Berkley, but I’m a journalist,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

  His eyes twinkled. “It doesn’t sound like you have a great passion for it,” he observed.

  “Wow, you’re very perceptive,” I said. “I mean, I like the research, the writing, even the reporting. It’s the people I don’t like. People aren’t always that nice.”

  Jeffrey nodded and smiled at me. “Yeah, that’s for sure,” he agreed.

  I smiled back and stood rooted to the floor in front of him, unsure of what to say or do next.

  "So, should I go and leave you to check out more artwork?" he asked after an awkward silence.

  "No, no," I said, putting my hand on his arm. "Stay."

  "Want to look at it together?" he asked.

  "I would like that," I said.

  "So, this is one of my favorite pieces by a student named Ben," he said, pointing at a mosaic that had been made by toddler sized hands. "Then this one is pretty great," he said, pointing to a new one. We continued to look at the walls of art like that together before we stopped at the entrance, where Lynn and her daughter were ready to go.

  "They’re my ride, I have to go, sorry," I said.

  "That's quite all right."

  "Listen, I want to see you again," I blurted out, surprising even myself.

  He picked up a pen and paper from the desk he was leaning on and slid them in my direction. I wrote down my number and he picked it up and smiled before putting it in his breast pocket.

  "Have a good night, Jeffrey."

  "Have a good night, Raina."

  He reached out and grabbed my hand, placing a kiss on the back, and I felt a jolt of electricity course through my system. Despite only having just met him, I felt an odd connection to Jeffrey and I knew that my initial thought had been a correct one. I was in big trouble.

  Jeffrey called me the next day and we planned a date for the upcoming Saturday. I waited outside my apartment building for him and he showed up promptly at the designated time. He pulled to the curb in a sleek silver sports car and I ducked into it after he had come around to open the door for me.

  "So, what is it you do?" I asked as we drove away.

  "I’m in finance," he said, vaguely.

  "That sounds interesting," I said, not knowing the first thing about the subject.

  "Not really, but it pays the bills," he said.

  He continued to drive as we began talking.

  "So, what is it you have planned for the day?" I asked.

  "I thought we could go to Balboa Park."

  "It's right next to my job and I've never gone," I told him.

  "You’ve never been to Balboa Park? Really?"

  "Yes, really."

  "Then, we're going for sure," he said.

  "Great, I can't wait."

  Within minutes, we pulled up to the park which housed two museums. As we walked through the first, we talked about where we had lived prior to our current residences and discovered that we had both been in Santa Barbara around the same time. We even knew some of the same people. I found myself wondering how I’d never run into him before.

  We walked next into the Museum of Human Anatomy and I was amazed by the displays.

  "I love the amazing detail," I said, turning to him.

  Jeffrey was staring at me with his brilliant blue eyes in a way that made me feel almost naked under his gaze. After what seemed like a long moment, he turned his eyes back to the painting.

  "I like it, too; quite a bit actually."

  We then went to the botanical gardens and walked around among the beautiful plants and flowers. While we were there, we talked about our families and what they were like. He loved his while I couldn't stand mine.

  "I'll probably never get to meet them, then?" he asked.

  I was a little taken aback by the question. I had known the man all of a few hours and he was talking about meeting my family. A little thrill crept up my spine at the thought that a man as handsome as Jeffery was that interested in me already.

  I cleared my throat and shook my head. “Not if you’re lucky,” I said, wryly.

  “That’s too bad,” he mused. “I’ve often known that my family wasn’t like a lot of others’ and for that, I’ve
always been grateful. I’m sorry you don’t feel the same way about yours.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “It is what it is,” I said. “So, tell me what makes your family so fabulous?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation back to him.

  "We love one another and are always there to support each other," he said simply.

  "That's not quite the kind of family I have," I chuckled.

  “That’s really too bad,” Jeffrey said.

  I started walking again, determined not to let the subject of my crappy family ruin this day. I spotted a large rose bush with flowers of bright yellow and I wandered over to it, a smile spreading across my face.

  “I take it from the smile on your face that you like yellow roses?” Jeffrey observed.

  I nodded vigorously. “Yes, they are my absolute favorite,” I said.

  “Good to know,” he said, tapping his finger to his temple as if to commit it to memory.

  I looked to him and smiled again. There was something about being with him that made me feel light and happy. I did not typically attract guys that were light and happy. This was a nice change.

  “You have a very lovely smile,” Jeffrey said, his eyes playing over my face.

  “Thank you,” I responded. “You make it easy to smile.”

  “I’m glad,” he said, reaching down to take my hand in his as we continued through the display.

  We walked out of the botanical gardens and sat beside the fountain, watching the other people come and go, continuing to get to know one another.

  As we sat, a large white dog came bounding up the to fountain for a drink, dragging his poor owner behind him on his leash. The dog splashed happily and lapped up the cool water as I laughed at the poor guy, trying to drag him away.