"Mr. Burhock!""Jia, so good to see you again. How are you! You look ten times more lovely than before, how is that possible? Maybe if I spin around once, it'll happen again."Mr. Burhock was his sweet, jovial self as usual as he pulled her into a hug and pounded her back a little too hard with his plump fist. He babbled on about his new grandchild and about the rigors of childproofing his house now that there would be yet another small baby running about wild. No, he wasn't his usual jovial self - he was exceedingly so, more than normal.They were meeting in the hotel lobby of the Ritz-Carlton hotel. Ava would be here in a second as well once she adjusted her makeup in the bathroom. And then they would be off to a eat a celebratory dinner, a reservation at Burhock's favorite Greek restaurant. Jia was looking forward to it for more than one reason. For one, it was the one time Atlas would be eating with them instead of working himself to death in his offic

Clearly, they weren't going to be heading back into the building anytime soon. Jia took a deep breath before turning to look at Ava, making sure her face betrayed nothing but steady composure."You care about Atlas," she said shortly, "and so do I. It's your right to doubt my intentions, but our relationship is ours and no one else's. Meaning that it's his choice to stay in one with me, just like it's my choice to do the same with him.""So, in other words, you don't care. About letting the company crash because you can't give him up?""...I'll consider everything you said to me today. You can interpret my intentions however you want. I care about Atlas. He is important to me. So is Pandora Lights. I am not 'giving' either of them up like I'm swapping trading cards.""That's a nice, self-righteous way of saying you'd rather screw the whole company over rather than let go of his money. Before you say it's not about that, I'll just remind you that it's funn

Jia pushed Atlas away from herself with a furtive look around the dim rear hallway they found themselves in. "Stop that! Someone will see."But he didn't listen. With a low, rumbling chuckle in his chest, he pressed her up against the wall and nuzzled her neck, breathing her in as if he couldn't get enough of her scent. She did her best to keep from melting in his arms as they snaked around her, one around her waist and the other coming up to cup the back of her neck, but a small gasp left her lips when she felt him grind his hips against hers."The things you do to me," he whispered in her ear, and she had to bite down hard on her tongue so that she didn't let out a breathy moan and tremble against him.No, they were absolutely not doing this. They were in a restaurant. In public! At a party! The last time they had done this, they had almost gotten caught by a waiter and only barely managed to hide themselves in a tangled mess in the utility closet."Atlas -""Fine, fine," he said, an