Page 42 of Provocation (Temptation 3)

Julia

“Look who’s back from her little sex-cation,” Naomi remarked as I entered my company’s corporate office in Downtown Atlanta later that morning.

Much later than I typically showed up for work.

The place buzzed with energy, dozens of people smiling at me before returning to whatever they did to keep my company running. Payroll. Purchasing. Merchandising.

All things I never thought I’d have to worry about on such a large scale.

Yet here we were.

There was a time when, had I attempted to take off three weeks from work, my business would have come to a grinding halt.

Hell, there was a time that would have happened had I missed a single day.

Not anymore. Everything continued without me. It made me wonder if I were needed here at all, apart from being the face of the company.

Made me feel like nothing more than a glorified spokesperson. Not someone who put her blood, sweat, and tears into building this company from scratch.

“It was not a sex-cation,” I muttered to Naomi with a roll of my eyes.

Even though the past few weeks with Lachlan kind of was.

Since returning from Hawaii, I practically lived at his place. I even took extra time away from the office, which allowed me to spend the mornings and early afternoons with him before he had to head to the ballpark for pre-game warmups. When he got home, he crawled into bed and made love to me until we were both too exhausted to stay awake another second.

It was…paradise.

“Whatever you say,” Naomi chided, following me into my corner office, Atlanta buzzing outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

“I want to hear everything.” She plopped down into the chair across from my desk. “And don’t leave out a single, juicy detail.”

“I already told you everything.” I shrugged dismissively as I sat behind my desk and pulled my laptop out of my bag. “We’re trying to make something work.”

“And how’s that going?”

“Good.”

“Good? That’s all you’re going to give me? I want details. What have you been doing? Besides fucking all hours of the day. Have you gone to—”

“Excuse me, Ms. Prescott.”

I flung my gaze to the open door of my office, my assistant, Rina, standing there, a cup of coffee in her hands.

“Come on in, Rina.”

“I hope you had a nice time away.” She set the mug in front of me.

“Did she ever,” Naomi shot back under her breath.

I glared at my friend before plastering a smile onto my face. “It was exactly what I needed. Is there anything on my schedule today?”

She looked down at her tablet. “There’s a director’s meeting at noon. Your agent has also requested a meeting to discuss a few offers that have come in. I told her you’d be back today and I’d see if you could meet with her. Is this afternoon okay?”

“Sure,” I answered, feigning enthusiasm.

I missed the days my time was spent in a kitchen, covered in flour, interacting with customers, watching their expressions as they took their first bite of whatever concoction I’d whipped up that day. Now they were filled with investor meetings, reviewing sales figures, sitting through advertising pitches, and listening to arguments about where to expand to next.

“I’ll let her know.” Rina made a note on her tablet. “Is there anything else you need right now?”