Suddenly, the boy cries. The dog goes back to him and licks his face. Shawn approaches him, too, but backs off when two adults arrive. I'm guessing they're his parents.They talk in German but only briefly, the child's parents in a hurry to whisk him and the dog away. Shawn lets out a sigh.I stand by his side and touch his arm. "Are you okay?"He says nothing. He doesn't look okay. In fact, he seems upset. Is it because the dog's gone?I squeeze his arm. "Hey. It's fine. You can get a Samoyed when you get back to Chicago."He can probably afford a hundred of them."I don't have time for a dog," he replies.Right. If I don't have time to take care of a dog, Shawn has even less."Well, at least you were able to pet this one," I say. "And he seemed to really like you."Or was it a she? I wasn't able to tell."But the boy cried."I look at Shawn with arched eyebrows. Is that what he's worried about?"That wasn't your fault," I tell him.He doesn't look convinced. In fact, he looks like h

This is a fucking mess.I slam the lid of my laptop shut and lean back on the couch. Then I rub my temples as I contemplate the current situation.The acquisition of Odermatt Corp. is on hold, thanks to that fucking employee who disappeared with the company's program files, including Simone Odermatt's original code. No one knows where he is or what he's planning to do with the files. We don't even know if he did this all on his own or if he's working with someone, possibly another company. If it's the latter, we screwed. There won't be any point in continuing with the acquisition.Odermatt Corp. might even shut down while another company rises because of their hard work. If that company turns out to be one of the handful that have been trying to bring down Colby Holdings for the past several years — and I know some of them were interested in Odermatt Corp, too — the problem will be even bigger.One of our major stakeholders, an elderly fellow named Reuben called just to chew my head o

My fingers search for the opening at the back of her dress — a hook, a zipper, buttons. I find none so I grip the hem and peel the entire garment off her. She pulls away and lifts her arms so I can take it off completely. Then her mouth and hands are on me again. I toss the dress aside and run my hands across her back.I find the hooks of her bra and unfasten them. As soon as the underwear is gone, I break the kiss and take one of her breasts inside my mouth. Felicity gasps. Her fingers rake my scalp.I suck on her nipple as I slip one of my hands beneath the back of her panties to clutch one plump ass cheek. She reaches between us and rubs my hard cock. It quivers in my boxers and strains against her palm.Fuck. Does Felicity really want me that badly?Fine. If she wants my cock, she can have it.I unzip my pants and take it out of my boxers. Felicity gets off me and kneels between my legs.She wraps her fingers around my cock and licks the tip. It swells even more.I grip her hair a

We spend the next few minutes eating in silence. I realize Im hungry after having walked for hours. Shawn is voracious, which I suppose isn't surprising. He only ate two sandwiches last night, which was his first and last meal for the whole day, and then two more this morning, which he ate in the car because he wanted us to leave for Bern early.That's good. At least he's got his appetite back. Hopefully, the acquisition can get back on track, too. There's still time. But if it does, will I have the heart to ruin his good mood with bad news? On the contrary, if it doesn't, can I really add to his troubles?Wait a second. I'm not trying to cause Shawn more trouble. I'm trying to soften the consequences of the trouble that I have caused, trying to mitigate the effects of the mistake I made, just like Ryker said I should.Shawn should be relieved, grateful. Why, then, do I get the feeling he won't be? I shrug off my feelings and thoughts and gobble up another spoonful of gnocchi. Didn't

"Do you normally shower with women?" I ask him.It's a risky question, I know.Shawn could find me nosy and be annoyed. But I have to start gathering my courage. Maybe if he gives me just a little more hope, it will be easier for me to summon enough later on."No," he answers, and my heart does a little leap. "Consider this your reward for helping me forget my troubles today."He lets my hair go and starts to soap my shoulders, my arms, my breasts and my stomach. I hold my breath as I anticipate him going lower, but he soaps my back instead, my ass and the backs of my legs. Then he turns me around and soaps the front of my legs up to my hips. Again, he comes close to the part of me that has started to ache for his touch, but again, he ignores it. He hands the soap to me instead."Your turn."I stare at the soap. Okay. I've never given a man a bath before, but I'll give it a try.Shawn turns his back to me so I start scrubbing that while he stays still as a statue. I work on his ass ne