Touch Me, Daddy

5 - Stefan.

I watch as Sadie chooses a simple bouquet of white daisies from the florist, then a small box of toffee-nut cookies from the bakery next door. After those two modest gifts, she point blank refuses to accept another thing from me, and insists on heading to the rooftop to help set up tonight's party.

Whatever. I don't care.

There never were any errands. I had no plans except spoiling her all day. Nothing else matters except keeping my assistant within arm's reach, and changing her mind about quitting—and sure, I'd rather do that while buying her a diamond necklace or hand-feeding her chocolate dipped strawberries, but we can lug around sun loungers on my building's rooftop if Sadie prefers.

After an hour of fussing with the furniture, she props her hands on her hips, breathing hard. Long flyaway hairs have frizzed out of her blonde ponytail, and her skin is dewy with sweat where it's not covered by her purple dress. All around us, sun loungers have been dragged into clusters of two or three, safely away from the swimming pool's edge.

Static crackles across the rooftop as the band sets up their sound system over on the pop-up stage. It's a hot, sticky day, and we're on top of a skyscraper, held up to the sun's fiercest rays. Is Sadie drinking enough water? Does she need sunscreen?

"Should we fence it off somehow?"

Dabbing her wrist against her forehead, Sadie squints at the pool, with its sparkling turquoise water lapping the tiles. It would be so good to slip into that cool water right now. To soothe my heated skin, and feel the anguished pounding of my heart vibrate the water, and burn off this turmoil with fifty hard laps, barely coming up for air. Especially if Sadie came in with me.

Imagine it. That blonde ponytail trailing across the surface; those slippery wet legs twining around my waist...

"What if someone falls in?" she says.

"That's called natural selection."

"Stefan!"

For god's sake. "Would you fence off a fountain?" I point out. "Or a lakeside?"

"Well, no. But—"

"There are no children invited tonight. No high-risk guests. And let's say you roped the pool off—a rope wouldn't stop anyone falling in, would it?"

"I guess..."

She's still stewing, her big eyes fraught. That worried pinch between her eyebrows won't go away. My thumb itches to smooth it, then trace the length of her pert nose. Since when am I so desperate to touch her?

"I could hire a lifeguard," I hear myself offer. "Someone to blend in and hang around the sun loungers. There's still time."

Sadie beams up at me like I'm her hero. And f**k, this is the gift that finally warms her up to me? Not the flowers or the cookies. This is the trick to punching down the wall she's built between us?

A rent-by-the-hour lifeguard. This woman makes no sense.

"It's done."

My footsteps echo against the rooftop tiles, and I tug my phone out of my pocket, weirdly shaken by that whole interaction. By that smile.

Because what if I'm going about this all wrong? What if there's something else Sadie wants from me that I'm not giving? Planting myself in a patch of shade, I close my eyes and let the breeze wash over my cheeks. My frozen heart is still numb inside me, the ice creeping through my chest.

One painful beat rattles my ribs. Two. Three.

Then I snap back into action and start typing on my phone, finding a last-minute lifeguard. There's still time to figure Sadie out. Still time to fix this.

There has to be.

* * *

"What do you want from me, exactly?"

The question makes Sadie jump where she's loading up a refrigerator behind one of the pop-up bars. Crates of beer and wine bottles rest on the bar top, and Sadie lines their labels up neatly as she fills the chilled shelves. "What do you mean?" she asks, ducking her head. Her ponytail swishes over one shoulder.

Isn't it obvious? So far, guess work has gotten me nowhere. That means I need to go on the attack. After all, I didn't build a thriving business by being timid.

The sky all around us is stained pink, and the puffs of cloud are lit golden by the sunset. We've been working at this for hours already, stopping only for a rushed late lunch of deli sandwiches. The guests will arrive soon, and I'll grit my teeth and smile through the whole night, and then Sadie can finally forget about this nonsense and focus on what is important: staying with me.

"You need to tell me how I can stop you from quitting."

"I already have quit," Sadie points out, lining up another beer bottle with a soft clink. "It's done." And she doesn't need to set up these bars, doesn't need to help with every single task, but my assistant actually likes being helpful. She told me once that it soothes her nerves.

Do her nerves need soothing right now?

Well, they can join the damn club.

"There must be something." Rounding the bar to start loading a second refrigerator, I steal measuring glances at Sadie as she works. She seems fine. A little flushed, maybe, but then we've been in the sun all afternoon, and I'm keeping an eye on that. Already made her sip her way through two big water bottles. Already made her apply sunscreen as I stood over her, glowering whenever she missed a spot. "You liked the lifeguard thing."

Sadie hums, lifting a Pinot Grigio from the crate and scanning the label. "You've got me there, boss. I do like it when people don't drown."

She's missing the point.

"You liked that more than the flowers, I mean. And you didn't want a raise."

I already tried that approach—plus more paid vacation, a fancier desk chair, and a membership at the fancy wellness spa three blocks from the office. All afternoon, I've been calling offers across the rooftop. Nothing. Not even a nibble.

My girl-scout of an assistant cannot be tempted.

Soon to be ex-assistant.

Shit.

My frozen chest feels like it might cave in, but I wrestle the panic back down. That won't help. Nothing will help until I've solved this problem.

"It's a simple enough request." My tone is too harsh, my words too clipped, and I should handle this better but I can't. Not when she's threatening to suck all the meaning from my life. "Just tell me what you want from me, damn it."

Because if Sadie's not behind that desk, what's the point of going to the office at all? If I'm not working to give her the best possible salary and package, what's the point of Rodriguez Enterprises? What's the point of me?

If Sadie is not near, will my heart even f*****g beat?