Cuffed

ROMAN KENT

I knew I wasn’t the easiest man to get along with or want to be around, but somehow, my girlfriend of three months, the stunning Juniper Bailey, didn’t agree with what all my past flings and relationships had all said. I was man enough that I had my flaws and shortcomings, and I was so grateful that Juniper was able to look past everything and embrace me for all that I was because, without her, I didn’t even realise that I was living life in the dark.

Juniper and I met exactly one week before we made things official and started dating exclusively. If she didn’t think I was joking and hadn’t turned me down several times, I would have made her my girlfriend the very same day we met.

No woman had ever made me feel the way Juniper did, had ever made me want to become a better man for her, to become more worthy of her, and I knew I needed her as soon as we met.

We were two kindred spirits, and the moment we met, the whole trajectory of my life changed completely.

It was an ordinary Monday, and I dropped by a local bar for a drink after a long day at work. I had recently been promoted in my cousin Douglas’ company, and as happy as I was about earning my promotion instead of just being handed it because I was family, Douglas was working to the bone. I guess it came with the territory of being the newly appointed COO of Kent’s Fund, one of the biggest hedge funds in the country. And soon, according to my cousin’s vision, the world.

Douglas was one year older than me and while we weren’t exactly friends, naturally, we spent a lot of time together growing up. So, when he asked me to work for him once I graduated college, I instantly agreed. There were only ten employees then. Seven years later, the company now had nearly five-hundred employees working between New York, Washington and Los Angeles, and another hundred or so working internationally.

It was really impressive what Douglas had managed to achieve in such a short span of time, and I was proud that I had been by his side for the entire ride. Others had come and gone, but I helped Douglas build the company up from the ground and stuck around to keep it flourishing, and I wasn’t arrogant when I said that being promoted to COO was well-deserved and that I had it a long time coming.

Hopefully, after a few months, I would be able to find my feet, and the workload would no longer be rocking my ass. But then, if I hadn’t stopped for a drink after working late in the office that evening, I never would have met my girlfriend.

Juniper Bailey was a stunning vision in a blue and white striped shirt tucked into tight black dress pants that made her ass look so tantalisingly delicious. Her hair was an auburn vision, long and wavy, falling to the middle of her lower back. And when she threw her head back and laughed, showing me more of her face, I was taken aback by her beautiful amber eyes–a shade I had never seen before–and a stunning smile that knocked the breath out of me.

Juniper was new to the city after having moved here to start a new job after completing her graduate job back in Cleveland where she graduated college and had lived her whole life. This was her dream job, and since she had no friends and family here, her new co-workers took her out to a bar to welcome her.

I spotted her as soon as I walked into the bar, even when she had her back turned to me and was busy getting to know her new co-workers. Unable to take my eyes off her, I sent a drink her way. When she sent it back with a defiant lift of her chin, I knew I had met my match. The next time I bought her a drink, approximately five minutes later, I decided to hand-deliver it myself, and it went down a little better. I joined her and her co-workers, drinking, talking and playing drinking games late into the evening even though I had an early morning meeting the next day, and somehow, along the way, convinced her to get lunch with me the next day.

We had lunch together every day that entire working week, and I managed to convince her to get dinner with me on Saturday. The date went better than I planned, and she invited me back to her apartment. By the end of the night, and three orgasms later, I finally got her to agree to being my girlfriend, and we’d been practically attached at the hip ever since.

Not a single day had gone past where I hadn’t seen Juniper since we started dating, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I used to find previous women clingy and cringe when they wanted to hang out all the time, but with Juniper, I couldn’t get enough of her, and thankfully, she seemed to want the same thing.

In no time at all, she became my best friend and my better half, and I never wanted to be away from her.

Ever.

The more time I spent with my sweet Juniper, the more I became sure of one thing. I was going to marry this woman one day. Maybe even sooner rather than later. Especially if she continued looking at me the way she did when she thought I wasn’t paying attention.

Fuck, I needed to start looking for a ring.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“You.”

She rolled her beautiful amber eyes playfully. “I bet you say that to all your women.”

I curled my arm around her waist and pulled her closer until her thigh pressed against mine. She was wearing a satin green dress that fell to mid-thigh, and it had ridden up from where she was sitting. The warmth of her bare thigh was delicious against my leg, and I couldn’t resist gripping it, needing to feel her close. I had to suppress my groan when she shivered at my touch and subconsciously leaned closer to me.

“You’re the only woman I have, Red,” I whispered in her ear and sucked on the lobe. She was wearing the gold hoops I had gotten her last month, and fuck, if that didn’t make me happy. I couldn’t wait to get her a matching gold necklace. Maybe one with my initial. “The only woman I want.”

A warm flush coloured her pale complexion, giving her the most beautiful flush.

“You’re such a smooth talker, Rome.”

“Only for you, Red.” A kiss to her neck. “Do you want to get dessert here or somewhere else?”

She squeezed my hand. “I have the perfect dessert waiting for us back at my apartment.”

With words like that and that cheeky smirk on her face, which promised me everything I could ever want, I grabbed my girlfriend’s hand and called the waiter for the bill.

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Layla Knight

09.12.2024