Business Dinner

(Lisa's POV)

"Wait! I'm not decent!" I shouted, covering my face with a pillow as Valin grabbed his phone to take a picture of us.

"Come on, we don't have a lot of pictures together," he pleaded. I lowered my defenses, and at that moment, he licked my cheek and snapped the photo. Shocked, I turned to him only to be kissed—and subjected to more pictures.

"Valin!" I said, trying to chastise him as I pulled the covers up over my head.

"You're going to work today... I need something for when I miss you," he said sweetly, manipulating me with his cuteness.

"Alright, I get it!" He grinned, cuddled close to me, and we both smiled up at the phone. He seemed satisfied and sat up, flipping through the pictures he'd taken. Then he laughed.

"Your face looks so weird in this one!" I reached for his phone.

"Delete it!" He held it away and blocked me with a smooch.

"No, I love it. It's my favorite." I pouted, still trying to wrestle the phone away, but he wasn't giving an inch.

"Sigh! Fine, keep it... just don't let anyone else see." He tilted his head, put the phone down, then reached under the covers and squeezed my thigh.

"Rest assured, these pictures are just for me." I blushed.

"Speaking of which... you don't have social media," I said. He stayed silent, waiting for me to continue. "I want to see if it's okay if I post pictures of us together on my page. It's okay if you're not into that."

"Hmm... sure... do what you want." He picked his phone back up and laughed at my goofy picture again. "So cute," he muttered, sending my heart into overdrive.

"Then... when can we take more?" I inquired. His eyes locked on mine, causing me to shiver for some reason.

"How about when you get off tonight? We don't have much time now." His words set off an alarm in my head.

"Wait! I have a business dinner tomorrow! Can you be my date?" Valin looked into my eyes, then scowled.

"Who else could be your f*cking date?" I pounced into his lap and hugged him.

"We should both get dressed up and take lots of photos! I usually hate business events like this, but now I'm excited." He bit his bottom lip and said,

"I'm excited too," while closing the small gap between us. I jumped out of bed before he could make me miss work again. He sulked as soon as I got away and laid back down, playing a game on his phone. As I got dressed, I asked,

"Do you want to ride together... or should I drive myself to work today?" At my question, he got out of bed, revealing his nude body. I turned away before my thoughts got too warped, then heard him rummaging through his dresser.

"I want to see you off," he answered finally, just as I heard the zipper on his pants. I turned to look at him. "We hired a new team to work on the tedious parts of the game development, so I have some free time. I think I'll go to the gym." He pulled on a tank top. I wished I could be with him; I'd just settle for seeing him later. I reached for my purse and suddenly felt myself being tugged into a hug from behind. I squirmed and let out a squeak, then Valin pecked my cheek just before letting me go.

"Let's go... before I make you late," he threatened but walked away as if he were completely cool-headed. My heart was still racing when we arrived at my job. Most of me wanted to skip work altogether—being responsible is hard.

"Is it okay for me to walk you inside today?" His question surprised me, but I nodded.

"Yeah! It should be fine." Once he got the okay, he parked, and we entered the building hand-in-hand. Derrick was chatting with our co-worker Nate, but when he saw us, he frowned and stomped off. I feel bad for hurting him, but I had no idea how he felt.

"Wow, Lisa! You brought him to work with you?!" Angela exclaimed, running up to us. She stared at Valin for an uncomfortable amount of time, then held out her hand for a handshake. "I'm Angela, Lisa's agent." Valin's face twitched; he stared at her hand, made a disgusted face, and walked out without saying anything.

"Did I do something wrong?" Angela asked, confused as she watched him leave.

"Not exactly... He gets social anxiety real bad, and he's even worse with physical touch."

"Bullshit, he can't keep his hands off you." I got flustered and began pushing Angela toward the elevator.

"That's different! We're close!" I corrected. We boarded the elevator when she asked,

"Do you think he'll be okay at the dinner?" Valin... we've gone on many dates, but I handle most of the social interactions... Is a party really a good place for him?

"I think he'll be fine, and if not, we'll leave early."

"Oh... well... he is pretty!... like damn, I didn't think he'd look like that up close. I was in shock for a moment." I noticed...

"Yeah..." I didn't feel comfortable letting the conversation continue in that direction, so I led Angela to my desk and shared the music I'd written with her.

"I thought I could see the end,But passion is insane.It grows each dayTo an unimaginable range.I feel empty. Give me some of your bottomless love!I feel full, but I want some more of your love.I'm overflowing, but like an addict I want you; I want to be consumed by your bottomless love..."

Angela read the rest silently, then paused.

"This song is kind of raunchy... that's unusual for you."

"It is?! I didn't even notice! Is it bad?" I asked, hanging my head.

"Oh no, I like it... we'll apply a few different sound samples to see what fits best and share it with Dite when she comes back on Monday." I relaxed in my seat. I'm so glad she likes it—that means she won't care if I take the weekend off...

When work ended, I met Valin at the entrance. He cupped my cheeks and kissed me over and over as if no one was watching, then said,

"How was work?" I'm still adjusting to his level of affection, so I looked down and held his hand.

"Good... Um... do you think you'll be fine for the dinner tomorrow? You looked uncomfortable earlier." He held the door open for me.

"Yeah... By the way... is Dite going to be there?" I laughed and looked at him gleefully.

"No! She's a client; she doesn't work here." He looked relieved, but I expected disappointment. If he's not a fan, why is he asking?

We got in the car together before I worked up the nerve to ask, "Why don't you want to see Dite?" He sighed and started the engine.

"I just... know her." His revelation struck me, and I screamed.

"What?! You've met her?" His expression looked stressed, which made me more worried—no wonder he acted weird when I mentioned her before.

"My brother did some work in the music industry a few years back. Mainly making connections; I was there to help with the actual music aspect. She wasn't into me, she was into him." Once he clarified that, I relaxed a little, but then he said, "But... I feel bad not telling you, since you'll be working together, and when you post pictures of me, she might... we f*cked." This is an emotional roller coaster day!

"J-just once?" He didn't answer immediately, so I knew it was more than that. "But she liked your brother."

"Zai can be aloof and cold. He was not interested in her at all, but he took her out to eat a few times for publicity, then dumped her." I'm not sure how to feel... I knew he'd been with people before me, but I didn't think they were famous, gorgeous people! I also didn't think I'd ever meet any of them! "I should have told you earlier... I thought it would be better if you didn't know, but there are additional factors now, and I'd rather be the one to tell you."

"Your ex is Dite?" He scoffed, then laughed loudly.

"Ex?! She wasn't my girlfriend... I would never be serious about a girl who chose my brother over me. That's a risk I'm not taking." So... it didn't matter to Valin at all, but... how does Dite feel? And how do I even compare to someone like that?

"Wait, you're only 18..." I commented.

"She's only a year older than me... we met when I was 16." I took a few deep breaths—so that's like 800 days ago. That's a pretty long time; she has to have moved on by now.

"Thank you for telling me... It's hard to process. Is choosing you first the only reason you're with me?" He reached for my hand, and after I took hold of his, he said,

"I'm with you because I love you." I blushed.

"Also... you didn't just choose me first. You adapted to me and tried to understand me right away. You always communicate with me when you're confused or frustrated, and you always do really sexy stuff that shows me how much you're into me—like figuring out my favorite color and wearing lingerie to try to seduce me... You could seduce me just as well in a potato sack, but seeing you try so hard turns me on. I always feel happy and appreciated when I'm with you... that's why there's no one else for me." I slapped myself to calm down and reply.

"You make me happy too! You're so considerate and hot; I can't get over how hot you are." He laughed and mumbled something about me being silly while squeezing my hand tighter.

"I love you too... so, so much. You always listen to me so calmly, so I feel like I can talk to you about anything... I am crazy about you, Valin..." He reacted with a mischievous smirk.

"Do you need a new outfit for tomorrow? Is there a theme for this party?" There wasn't a theme, but I couldn't turn down the chance to go shopping with him and figure out exactly what style he preferred.

"There's no theme, but let's both pick out something... and if it's not too childish... could we match?" I asked bashfully.

"Anything for you." I could barely contain my joy, so I yelled out a big yay. It made him laugh.

Before we went shopping, Valin pulled out a box from his pocket and handed it to me. Inside was a pair of gold dangle earrings molded into the shape of gardenias with a cluster of purple gems in the disk.

"What's the gift for?" I asked, staring at them. These earrings are my favorite color, but he'd have no way of knowing that...

"Do I need a reason to give you something?... Hmm... if I need a reason, it's because I wanted to. I had those purple sapphires for a while, so don't think too much of it." They were much too pretty to wear with my normal clothes, but I put them on anyway.

"Thank you... I will cherish the heck out of them!"

"...Lisa, you should be careful... don't think just because we're not home you're safe because if you keep making me smile, I'll find somewhere to **** the ******* **** out of you." I gasped, then he laughed again and got out of the car first.