Sweet Love

by Kayla, Mia

  I smiled up at him, my heart fluttering and beating a million times a second.

  “Can we do that, Charlie? Build a life together?”

  I watched the play of emotions on his face—excitement, anticipation, but most of all, love.

  I nodded, so choked up that I couldn’t speak.

  “Is that a yes?”

  “Yes,” I said, finally finding my voice.

  He closed the gap between us and kissed me, claiming my lips with the full hardness of his mouth. His kiss was demanding, all-consuming, that I nearly fell over from the contact. It had been so long since he kissed me, and in that moment, I knew that I never wanted to be kissed by another man. For the rest of my life, as long as I was breathing on this earth, my lips, my heart, my soul belonged to Connor.

  “What the hell?” It was Alyssa.

  “Are you in a diaper?” Casey asked.

  We both flipped to face them, and Connor turned all shades of purple.

  I stood in front of him to shield him from their eyes, but that was all for nothing because Connor was legitimately twice my size.

  “We came to get you for lunch and …” Alyssa shook her head.

  “This was Kyle’s stupid idea, wasn’t it?” Casey asked.

  Connor groaned, confirming that it was indeed Kyle’s idea.

  “Why do you even bet against him when he always wins?” Alyssa deadpanned.

  “What was it anyway?”

  “He bet me that I wouldn’t be able to stay away from Charlie for two weeks. He called me a baby for leaving … hence”—Connor motioned to his crotch—“the diaper.”

  Alyssa laughed.

  Casey pushed out her lip in disdain. “Your brother is a jerk.”

  “That he is.”

  “All you had to do was wait another week, and you would have won,” Alyssa said.

  “Yeah”—Connor’s eyes searched my face—“but one week was way too long as it was.” His one arm snaked around my back, bringing me closer. “There was no way I was going to last two.”

  “Does that mean you are here for good?” Casey asked, eyes light.

  “Yep. Forever until Charlie moves to another state.”

  “I’m not moving.”

  “Then, I’m here forever,” Connor stated.

  Voices sounded from the hall, and Connor dropped to his knees, crawling under my desk.

  “How long is this bet supposed to last?” Casey asked, pushing my chair in so Connor couldn’t be seen, more so that he was blocked in.

  “Ten minutes. I had to walk in the office and stay here for ten minutes, and it’s been way past ten minutes.”

  “Where are your clothes?” Casey asked.

  “Kyle has them.”

  Alyssa laughed. “Now, we have to find Kyle, who doesn’t work here.”

  “He’s here. Just seriously torturing me. Try my office.”

  “Come on, Casey. He’s afraid of you.”

  Casey stomped after Alyssa on a mission, and a tiny part of me was scared for Kyle because Casey looked like she was out for blood.

  After they were out of sight, I ducked down, tucked myself under the desk, and laughed. It was way too close for comfort.

  Connor reached for me, pulling me into him, but it was a tad uncomfortable, given that he was massive and his head was crouched over as though he were in a fetal position.

  It didn’t stop him from kissing me and making me giggle like a little schoolgirl.

  I got on my knees, leaning closer, and palmed his cheeks. “We got interrupted. You didn’t finish the story.” He quirked an eyebrow, and I continued, “There’s another sketch you’re missing, the one where their fingers are intertwined, hands wrinkled from the years, as they sit in matching rocking chairs, watching the sunset in front of them …”

  He finished my sentence, as he had done weeks ago when we were brainstorming, “The scene ends when he’s feeding her chocolates … why? Because she can’t feed herself because of her arthritis.”

  When I slapped his shoulder, laughing, he grabbed my hand, locking our fingers together.

  I leaned into him, my face only inches from his. “So, you are here for good now?” I asked, my heart full.

  “For good. Forever and ever … until you get rid of me.”

  I sighed. “That’s not ever going to happen.”

  He kissed me then, speaking as his lips brushed against mine, “So, I’m yours now until the end of time.”

  “You’ll forever be my baby, you big baby,” I said, pinching his diaper for emphasis.

  THE END

  Epilogue

  Connor

  I stepped out of the car, taking in the moon high above in the night sky, illuminating the lake beneath it.

  I rubbed my hands together then wiped them for what seemed like a million times down my black slacks.

  “Hey.” My brother approached, coming to my side of the car. “Don’t worry. You got this.”

  I swallowed. Hard. I didn’t understand why I was so nervous.

  “I mean, you wanted to do this months ago but you couldn’t find the perfect ring so what’s the problem?”

  “Nothing,” I said, smiling. Absolutely nothing.

  He was right. I had wanted to do this months ago but was looking for the perfect ring, waiting for the perfect time, plotting out the perfect proposal.

  He handed me the black velvet box and I flipped it open, staring down at the internally flawless single solitaire.

  Kyle let out a low hoarse whistle. “What did that cost you? Two years of your salary?”

  I shook my head and let out a nervous laugh.. “No, but close to it.”

  He threw his arm over my shoulder and led us away from the car toward where everything was going to go down. “Casey should be here with Charlie soon.”

  A few hundred yards from the lake, my brother patted my back one last time, lifting what he had in his other hand – a video recorder. “See you on camera.”

  “Thanks, bro. For doing this.”

  “Thanks for letting me do this. I told you. You need to record this for your future kids.” He lifted his fist and I bumped my fist against his before he walked to the other side.

  It was crazy to think that was how we bonded, filming a series of commercials that essentially saved my company.

  My company.

  Over the last year, my father had finally stepped away from the day-to-day functions, letting me implement my ideas, managing and leading my way.

  The past year with my family had been one of my happiest moments. Over the holidays, we went skiing with Charlie’s family. I didn’t remember a time when we went on a family vacation with everyone.

  My pulse ticked up when Casey approached from a distance leading a blindfolded Charlie toward the lake, toward me.

  I closed the space between us, meeting her exactly where I needed them to be, in between two trees underneath the moonlight.

  “Casey?” Charlie extended her hands, feeling for nothing but air. “Where did you go?”

  Casey threw me a thumbs up, smiled, and walked toward the hiding spot behind the tree.

  I stepped into Charlie and after I reached for her hand, she pushed back the blindfold and smiled. “Connor?” Her face registered confusion at first. “What is going on?”

  Seeing her in the dress I’d bought her, all my nervousness faded away.

  She was wearing what I told Casey to specifically pick out for her. It was Casey’s birthday last weekend and Casey had made up the excuse that they were going out to dinner for her celebration. Casey had gotten ready for her pretend birthday dinner at Charlie’s place and picked out this dress to specifically wear for today—a blue flowy chiffon dress, one that Charlie had drawn out for the proposal scene when we started brainstorming for the commercial months ago.

  “Charlie, you look amazing.” I pulled her in at the waist and planted a chaste kiss on her soft lips, my one hand heavy on her hip.

  She tilted her head, her
eyes playful. “What are you up to?”

  “Up to something good for once,” I said.

  “Are we celebrating? It’s not our anniversary.” She wrinkled her nose in the cutest way and I tucked an escaping strand behind her ear.

  The moonlight cascaded a shine across her beautiful features and the sounds of the lake rushing against the shore brought me back to when we had filmed the proposal scene, but now we were at a different lake and under different circumstances. We were no longer playing a part, I was living in the now.

  Just then the lights that Kyle and I had strung on the trees lit up.

  I knew when she knew, because she stepped back and both hands flew to her mouth. Taking her hand, I dropped on bended knee and that was when the first of her tears began to fall.

  “Charlie….”

  I whispered her name, getting choked up myself.

  “I kind of knew you were meant for me on that very first day I’d met you in front of that candy wall and you told me you hated our signature chocolate bar.”

  She swiped at her tears and laughed.

  “But what solidified my love for you was your kindness in helping me save my company—our company now. Because what’s mine is yours.” Staring up into her eyes, I knew it was because of her that my life was complete. “I came back for you and got more than I ever wished for. I got you. I got my family back. I am now leading this company where it’s never been before.” I swallowed down all the emotion bubbling up to the surface. “We didn’t finish writing out the commercials. We only finished up to the marriage scene.”

  Her tears fell harder and faster down her cheeks.

  “Will you make me the happiest man alive and finish out the rest of the scenes with me? Where we are gray and old, holding hands and sitting on our porch, watching our grandkids play games in our front lawn. Charlie, will you marry me?”

  With a nod of her chin, I was up on my feet.

  “Yes! Yes! Yes! A million times yes.”

  Both of her hands were on my cheeks as she kissed me sweetly.

  “I love you, Connor Colby.” She pulled back, smiling up at me. “But you are forgetting one part of the story—the part where we are giving out chocolate bars to the grandkids as prizes. Sugaring them up before we give them back to the parents. “

  I didn’t think I could smile any bigger. “You always complete the start to my stories.”

  Kyle and Casey emerged, clapping and cheering.

  After Casey jumped on Charlie in a congratulatory hug, Kyle pushed the video camera, still taping in my direction. “So, big bro, any words to say?”

  I reached for my future wife, dipped her, and my lips descended on hers.

  “And they lived happily ever after.”

  The End. Again.

  * * *

  Did you love this office romance? Looking for another one to read?

  Here is a sample of Mia Kayla’s bestselling novel, BOSS I LOVE TO HATE.

  BOSS I LOVE TO HATE

  SONIA

  “Her boobs can’t possibly be real.”

  My best friend, Ava, always tried to make me feel better. Too bad I knew she was lying. Lying through her teeth.

  With my forefinger, I pushed my glasses farther up my nose and leaned closer to the computer screen, so close that I nearly went cross-eyed. The scent of coffee hit me directly in the nostrils. The sound of paper spat out of the printer. The chatter of my coworkers rang loudly behind me. But I ignored it all and concentrated on my computer screen—her—my replacement. Jeff’s replacement for me.

  “She’s not that pretty,” Ava continued.

  I scrolled through my ex-boyfriend’s Facebook feed again, fixated on their endless pictures together, laughing, hugging, smiling, eating. And her … I couldn’t get over her. The replacement was beautiful, her body built like those mannequins at the store, tall and perfectly proportional. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. High cheekbones contoured like those stupid tutorials Ava always watched on YouTube.

  “I hate her.” Venom dripped from my tone. Not only because she was beautiful, but also because she had him.

  Already tired of looking at my computer screen, I leaned back against my chair and straightened my pens, separated by color in their cup-like containers.

  “I’m telling you, she’s not that …” She coughed. “But do you think her boobs are real?”

  “They can’t be.” My eyes level with the screen. “Who has a perfect face, body, and boobs, too?”

  Why must life be so unfair?

  “Sonia!”

  I jerked back at the sound of my boss’s voice and knocked over my coffee in the process, causing me to jump back and drop the phone. “Damn it!”

  Liquid spilled everywhere—on the desk, on my keyboard, on my skirt.

  Fisting a handful of Kleenex from my tissue box, I cleaned up my desk. The light-brown liquid soaked the tissues. I grabbed more, repeated the process, patted my damp skirt down, and glared at his office door.

  I had ordered his breakfast, picked up his dry cleaning, and gone over his schedule for today. What the hell did he want now? Couldn’t I get some peace for five freaking minutes?

  I reached for the phone dangling off my desk and placed it to my ear. “Gotta go, Ava. The crass hole is beckoning.”

  She sighed overly loud. “Tall, dark, and oh-so fine. Give my love to your BILF.”

  Boss I’d Like to—yeah, right.

  How about Boss I’d Like to Kill?

  “I’ll tell the BILK you said hello. Bye.” I reached for my iPad, adjusted my glasses, and skittered to his office, my two-inch turquoise Mary Janes clicking against the black marble floor. After I pulled down my plaid knee-length skirt, I entered his fishbowl office.

  Floor-to-ceiling windows outlined every single wall. His eyes focused on the screen in front of him, his backdrop was worthy of a picture frame—the Chicago skyline.

  Brad Sebastian Brisken had the face of a Hollywood heartthrob, the jawline of a GQ model, and the body of someone who lived at the gym all the time. His suit was always perfectly pressed, and the lines in his sleek slacks always hugged his firm thighs. There was never a dark strand of hair out of place. He looked like a Greek god—tall, fit, and fine.

  “Took you long enough.”

  “Sorry, was on the phone with my mom.” Jerkface. I didn’t sound sorry.

  And this was how our two-year working relationship had been going. Him being a jerk, me snapping back or blatantly not caring.

  Who cared if Brad was a millionaire? Who cared that he was seriously one good-looking, fine specimen of a man with his chestnut hair and dark brown eyes? Every woman fawned over him. Every male wanted to be him.

  Me? Sometimes, he drove me to the point of insanity where I wanted to wrap my arms around his neck and choke hold him, WWE-style, until he turned blue.

  After working for him for over two years, there was one thing I had come to realize: good looks and all the money in the world did not make up for his jerk-like attitude.

  He motioned to the chair in front of his desk, and I sat down. And, as I swiped at my iPad, his phone rang.

  “Hey, Jimmy.” He leaned back on his chair, resting his ankle on the opposite knee, and with a flick of his hand, he waved me off as though I were a fly on his shoulder.

  I stood, about-faced, and was almost to my desk when he called out to me as though he had a permanent megaphone attached to his mouth, “Sonia!”

  I pivoted and walked back into his office. When I sat down, his phone rang. He picked it up, and with a flick of his hand, he waved me off—again.

  “Yeah, yeah. But did you get the tickets?” His boisterous laughter grated on my nerves. He swiveled in his chair and faced his floor-to-ceiling windows, his back toward me.

  This guy!

  I glared at him, stomped back to my desk, and was about to sit down when he called out again.

  For the love of all that is holy.

  My eyes fell shut, and I inhaled deeply. I took o
ut my essential oils and rubbed one at my temples and my wrists. Lavender was supposed to alleviate stress, and I debated on dumping the whole bottle on myself to speed up the process.

  Breathe. Or go postal and lose your job.

  I counted backwards and walked into his office at a normal pace, purposely taking my time.

  “Did you spill coffee on yourself?” He lifted a perfect eyebrow and eyed the brown stain on the front of my skirt. “That’s a first.”

  Of course, it was a freaking first. I prided myself on being organized and neat, and I was—before stalking Jeff and his new girlfriend. Seeing them together and being so in love had officially screwed with my head.

  Brad’s head ducked back to his computer screen where he tapped away. “Dry cleaning is on the couch. Where’re my other clothes?”

  I peered over at the far corner of the room where a pile of pants, suit jackets, and shirts were stuffed into an overflowing bag.

  “Last week’s dry cleaning is in your closet.” That was the first thing I had told him when I saw him this morning.

  Maybe I needed to slip him some of that earwax solution, leave it on his desk with a little courtesy note.

  “I’ve also made reservations at Alessi’s Restaurant for your date tonight.”

  He lifted his head from the screen. “I said Carlucci.”

  “You said Alessi.” My eyes widened, and I double-blinked. I’d chased this reservation down for the past few weeks and called every day to check if there was a cancellation. I’d finally snagged a reservation yesterday. Is this man serious?

  “I’m pretty sure I didn’t.”

  This coming from the guy who couldn’t read his schedule. Despite that I kept it organized, yesterday, he had met with the wrong Mr. Wilson.

  Boss, really quick, can I borrow your desk because it’s closer than mine so I can bang my head against it?

  “Did you book the hotel?”

  “Yes.” I clenched my teeth in a tight smile and ground my molars. “I also ordered flowers, and they will be delivered to your table.”