ASTONHoly crap! I did it. I actually did it.I had no idea where the courage to do it came from, but I had wanted to kiss him all night. Out of nowhere, I saw my opportunity and I took it.It felt so brazen, so bold. So freaking terrified and yet so damn turned on. Blake seemed to be drinking it in though, like a dying man who found a spring in the desert, so I kept kissing him.The tables turned when he brought his arms around and took what he wanted from me. I loved every second of it.His tongue stroked mine possessively, low noises of pleasure coming from the back of his throat as he explored every nook and cranny of my mouth. His hands traveled up my sides, running up my back and into my hair.Changing up the pace of his kiss, it turned hungry. Frenzied. We clawed at each other, desperate to get to each other. My fingers fumbled with his shirt, stupidly reaching until I found the hard nubs of his buttons.He did the same to me, his hands much surer and defter than mine. Within s

BlakeExactly two hours later, Aston and I were walking down to the beach together. It was a beautiful day, made even more so by the radiant girl beside me. She was dressed casually in a blue sundress and sandals with shiny little studs on them that caught the light as we walked.We didn’t hold hands, but she stuck close enough to my side that I could smell the vanilla scent of her shampoo. She peered up at me, rose gold framed sunglasses covering her eyes. “So, want do you want to do first on your clear-your-head party?”I shrugged. “I didn’t really plan for this, but how about we just keep walking for a while?”“Sure.” She grabbed my hand and jerked me off the promenade toward the beach. “But if we’re walking, I want the sand between my toes.”Chuckling, I followed her. “I can do you one better. How about the waves at your ankles?”“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” she said, then flushed. “I didn’t mean—oh, whatever. Yes, let’s go walk along the shore.”Aston kicked off her s

Aston“I should have seen it earlier.” I could kick my own ass up and down this beach all day long for missing it. “If I’d had more experience, I would’ve figured it out before you had to show me.”“But remember, the branches don’t get sent the same numbers I do,” he reminded me. “Trust me, Aston. You’ve done everything right. There are people at fault here, but you’re not one of them.”“Even so. It’s my branch, my people, my responsibility. Promise me that if the cuts have to made, you’ll let me tell them and do it my way.” Most people probably would’ve begged to let Blake or someone else from corporate deliver the news or have asked for corporate protocol so they could try to absolve themselves from any blame.But that wasn’t me. If it came down to cuts being made, it was up to me to make them. The least I could do was to try and soften the blow. Whether it was policy or not to do it, I intended on promising anyone affected that I would hire them back as soon as I turned the branch

Blake“Don’t play that card with me. I wouldn’t be doing Dad a favor, I would be doing one for you. Now, usually I wouldn’t mind, but I’m not yanking people’s livelihoods away on a whim you can’t even justify with actual numbers showing that it’s necessary.”Danny spat out a string of curses. “Could you just do this one fucking thing, or do I have to drop everything else and come over there to do it myself?”“No.” It took everything I had to keep calm, but I managed it. Only just. “That won’t be necessary. I’m coming back to Florida to settle this. Today. I’ll see you later.”“Don’t you dare come back here before you get it done, Blake. I’ll—” I didn’t listen to whatever threat he was about to make. I was done with him for now. Pulling the phone away from my ear, I punched down on the disconnect button and brought my phone to my forehead.I wanted to slam the phone down on the floor or hurl it off the balcony, but I tossed it on the table next to me instead.It was about time I stood

Aston“Did Blake run out the door? I kind of wish he would’ve stayed, but that’s selfish of me. What’s going on between us is a really good question, actually.” It was one I’d asked myself a few times now. I couldn’t avoid the truth about it anymore. Sleeping with Blake the first time may have been about getting my cherry popped by a nice, hot guy who I got along with, but it wasn’t just like that anymore. “We’ve never really talked about it. It’s weird, we’ve talked about pretty much everything else, but we’ve never talked about what’s going on between us. I honestly don’t think either of us really knows at this point.”Tiffany’s expression sobered and she lowered her voice, her eyes darting from side to side before she spoke. “While you’ve been talking about pretty much everything else, did you happen to talk to him about the cuts?”I gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. A shiver of excitement ran down my spine at the good news I could share. “I did, and we don’t have anything to worr