Page 358 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 1

He laughed. "What the hell are meggings?"

"You know, like leggings for men."

"I didn't know they made leggings for men. Sounds like a good birthday gift." He pressed his lips together to prevent himself from laughing again.

His birthday was next month and he knew I always struggled to think of something to get him. "You know, if you don't give me any other hints about what to get you, I might be forced to buy you a pair."

He laughed. "How about I cash in an early birthday gift right now?"

"James, all you have to do is say you cave."

"My beautiful soon-to-be-wife is ridiculously stubborn."

"I'm stubborn? What about you?"

He shrugged. "Only 10 days, 18 hours, and 15 minutes to go. But who's counting?"

I smiled. I loved that he was counting down the time to our wedding. "You really think you can resist me that long?"

"No. Or else I would have just agreed to wait. But I'm giving it to the end of the week, tops. I should be able to get you to beg me by then." He looked so nonchalant. Like it was a given that I was going to lose.

"We'll see about that." I had just gotten the perfect idea on how to get him to cave. "Goodnight, Professor Hunter."

His throat made a low groaning noise.

I kissed his cheek and rolled onto my side. In a second his arms were wrapped securely around me. When I was little, I couldn't fall asleep without hugging my teddy bear. Every night, Jamesfell asleep with his arms around me. He was my new safety net. I drifted to sleep knowing that I was his equivalent.

Eruption - Chapter 17

Thursday

"Did you ask him yet?" Sierra said when she returned to her desk with a cup of coffee.

I looked up from my computer screen. Earlier this morning I had texted Melissa about hanging out tomorrow night, but I still hadn't heard back. Every day her silence weighed on me more and more. It was getting hard not to think about it. "I'm sorry, Sierra, I keep forgetting. We've been so busy with..."

"Ask him during lunch today."

"Yeah, okay, thanks for reminding me." For the past few days my fellow interns had been nagging me nonstop about meeting up with James and me after work one day this week. And the more they asked me about it, the less I wanted to ask James. It was pretty clear that they didn't care about getting to know me. They just wanted to meet him. But I couldn't really blame them. Who wouldn't want to spend time with James? "What day are you guys all free?"

"I could do tonight," Tavon said and put his hands behind his head. Sometimes he leaned back so far in his chair that it seemed like it was going to tip over.

"Tonight would be great!" Sierra said. "But I'm free pretty much every night." She laughed awkwardly after saying it, which just made me feel bad. She was new to the city. I should be helping her out, not avoiding her. What did it matter if she had a crush on James? Every single girl in New York probably had a crush on James.

"We have a cake tasting after work tonight, but maybe tomorrow..."

"How about after the cake tasting tonight?" Zach asked.

"Yeah, I already have plans tomorrow. Come on, let's do it tonight, it'll be so much fun. We promise not to embarrass you," Tavon said.

I laughed. "I guess that could work." I glanced down at the time. It was a little early, but I was already hungry. "I'm going to take an early lunch. And I promise to ask him." Tonight would be the best time to do it this week. Even though I was free tomorrow night since Melissa and Tyler weren't talking to me, James still had plans with his friends. And I'm sure he wasn't going to cancel on them to hang out with a bunch of interns that were obsessed with him. I bit the inside of my lip to prevent myself from laughing. I was an intern that was obsessed with him too. He didn't seem to mind my obsession at all.

Sierra clapped her hands as I walked toward James' office. She probably thought I was out of earshot.

I wove my way through the different departments. Tonight I thought I'd play up the student/professor role playing idea I had come up with. If anything could get James to cave, it was whispering Professor Hunter seductively in his ear. That dynamic between us never got old. It reminded both of us about when we first started our relationship. And no matter what anyone else said, I loved how we met. I could relive our first time together in his office over and over again. I absentmindedly licked my lips. Sex seemed to be the only thing on my mind recently.

The blinds on James' office windows were open, so he saw me approaching before I even knocked. He immediately smiled andwaved his hand, gesturing for me to come in. I walked in and closed the door behind me.

"Sounds good," James said into his desk phone. "Reach those numbers and then we can discuss it." He smiled at me as he listened to whatever was being said on the other end of the line. He stood up, eager for the phone call to be over. "Thanks. You too." He immediately hung up the phone and grabbed my waist, pulling me close to him. "I was just thinking about you."