Page 20 of The Merger

Sabrina threw her hands up and jumped out of her chair to pace in front of the large window. She spun around to face me, and my breath caught in my throat. Standing in front of the window in the morning light, her golden hair glowed. She was the embodiment of sunlight, and she lit up my life.

“I don’t know what I want to do.” She continued to pace. “Colt said we should get an annulment, but—” She took a deep breath and sat back down in her chair. She rubbed at the center of her chest. “What if that would be a mistake?”

I’d held my breath until she spoke those words. Emily Dickinson wrote, “hope is the thing with feathers that perches in your soul.” I understood that poem now. Hearing her sound like she was willing to give us a chance made my soul feel like it could soar.

“We could date,” I suggested.

Her face tilted up, eyes wide with surprise. “But we’re married.”

I shrugged a shoulder. “So we do it all backward. We had sex before we got married. Now we should date, spend some time getting to know each other.”

Her head bobbed up and down. “Yeah, okay. Wow, I figured that we, uhm, you know. I, don’t remember.”

I tried to hide my disappointment hearing that, but I’m sure she could tell. “I figured that out.”

She took a deep breath. “Pushing that aside for now. I think your idea could work. I need to talk to Malcolm first.”

My jaw clenched, but I nodded. “I’ve waited five years, what’s a few more days?”

She blew out a breath. “Well, want to show me around the office?”

“Might as well.” She followed me out to the main part of the office.

“Sheila,” I shouted when she wasn’t at her desk.

“Is your secretary hiding from you?”

I scowled at the empty office. “She might be. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

Together we searched for her, but most of the staff weren’t at their workspaces. “I hope Jana won’t be pissed off when I fire most of the employees,” I bitched.

Sabrina bit her lip, something that would normally make me want to bend her over the nearest flat surface, but this time it made my chest clench with trepidation. “Do you think maybe they’re scared of you?”

This was not a side of myself I’d ever tried to temper. Being ruthless made me good at business, but it might also scare her away. “Maybe,” I admitted. “That’s why I need you, Sunshine.”

“Then let’s find them and get started,” she said, her blue eyes shining with determination.

It took us much longer than it should have, but between a couple of conference rooms and the break room, we managed to find the missing employees. Sabrina stepped up and corralled everyone in the large conference room. She introduced herself, and let everyone know she’d be the point of contact for them going forward.

Their relief was palpable. A few of them even sighed. Whatever it took to make them stop hiding from me and do their damn jobs was great. If only they didn’t make me look like a giant asshole in front of my wife.

After the meeting, everyone got back to work, freeing me up to finish giving Sabrina a tour. We finished back where we started. I took a key out of my pocket and opened the door next to mine. “This is your office.”

I showed her into the space, larger than her previous one. “Do you like it?”

Her mouth fell open as she looked around wide-eyed. “You know, I don’t think the whole promotion aspect of the job hit me until just now. This space is crazy.”

I’d been so good at keeping my distance, giving her space to decide whom she wanted to be without me steamrolling right over her. But, here she was, right in front of me, and I couldn’t not touch her. I let my fingers slip through the silken strands of her hair, and tucked a loose curl behind her ear. “You deserve this,” I whispered next to her ear.

She shivered and all the blood rushed to my cock. Someday soon I’d send chills over her entire body, and I’d use more than my voice to do it.

ChapterEight

Stryker

Alight knock tapped on my closed office door. I wasn’t one of those bosses who had an open door policy. I didn’t like people on a normal day. Listening to petty bitching made my eye twitch.

The knock sounded on the door again. I suppressed a groan and bit out, “Come in!”