My spine snaps straight when I see there is one from Karina.

Elise,

My contact at Alexander’s office is no longer returning my calls, even after being asked outright about your apartment break-in. I don’t have a great feeling about this. Please continue to remain vigilant. Where are you staying? Somewhere safe, I hope. Please remain there, even if you’re in the arms of an adult film star, etcetera. I am working on this. Please trust me.

Karina

I’m barely given time to process the managing editor’s email when a set of footsteps comes down the hallway. That heavy tread belongs to Gabe, I decide, before he turns the corner into the kitchen and proves me right. I close my laptop and smile at the shirtless foreman, curious about the bashful expression on his face. The way he rubs his palm against the nape of his neck, redness high on his cheekbones.

“Morning, Elise.”

“Morning.”

He kind of paces around the kitchen, apparently without having a destination in mind. “You’re not self-conscious, are you?” I murmur, coming to my feet and wrapping my arms around his neck, a move that requires me to stand on my tiptoes. I kiss his jaw, his mouth, purring involuntarily when he groans and tilts his hips against mine. “I didn’t think that was possible after last night.”

“Maybe you have no reason to be self-conscious…”

“Is this about the whole endurance thing again?”

“No.” He chuckles against my mouth. “You’ve done a great job of letting me know how much you enjoy my…early arrival.”

I’m giggling. We’re swaying together in the middle of the kitchen floor. The lightness I felt walking out of the shower is only increasing by the second. Is this what happiness feels like?

“Then why are you blushing?”

He tilts my face up and examines it. “I was raised to respect women. My mother always told me girls should be treated like gold.” He shakes his head. “There were times last night where it felt like three big dudes ganging up on one woman. We were really aggressive with you, Elise. I…spanked you for doing nothing wrong. I spanked you hard—”

“Careful, Gabe. You’re turning me on.” My smile fades when I see he’s actually concerned about this. “Hey.” I wrap my arms more securely around his neck and the pressure of his hold on me increases. “I knew I could say stop and all of you would stop. Or I wouldn’t have been here in the first place. I loved every single second of last night. Even the spanking.” I nudge his nose with mine. “Maybe even especially the spanking.”

“Really?”

I hum into a long, winding kiss, loving the way I can predict the hardening of his body, the length and slant of it inside of his sweatpants. His big hands clutch my bottom, I lick the tattoo on his neck and I’m being lifted onto the kitchen table, my thighs pushed apart eagerly…when my stomach growls loud enough to shake the cabinetry.