Samuel's POV:

It's been a few months now, to be more precise it's been 6 months. Many things have happened and for a change it is mostly good things. We're into the second month of the new year. That bastard has been sentenced life in prison for 57 years without parole. He got what he deserve. Tatum wanted to adopt Cassie on her own, but she got there too late. Another family already adopted Cassie. Tatum was sad about it, but she was happy for Cassie. I've been getting along better with Tatum's family, but some things will never change. Her mother still has it in for me. I don't know what I did to make her not like me,but I'll live. Most importantly, Tatum got better. She started working at her father's company as well. With her own shares and the shares that she inherited from Brandon, she's almost always busy working. I've been there for her too, but as a friend. I feel like it's the right time, so today I want to talk to her about us. Oh and something else happened too. I was hired as Tatum's personal driver and security guard by her father and brother. I don't need the money, I guess I just do it to be closer to her. She didn't agree with it at first. You know how she can be,always wanting to do everything herself. So for the first few days she started working, she drove herself and after only 3 days she realised it was too much and that she needed a driver. Since she plays such a big part in the company now, she's always running around, going places and my lucky ass gets to go wherever she goes.

I come to a stop in front of their building. Cornelius Corp.

I get out of the drivers side, shut the door then make my way around to the other side. I open the backdoor to let Tatum out. I lend my hand out for her to take. God she looks amazing in all black. She's wearing a black dress that fits her perfectly, showing off her delicate curves finished with a high heel black boot that reaches just over her ankles. Her hair is placed neatly on the sides of her shoulders. She's been straightening her hair more often as well and I have to say it does suit her. She looks more mature.

"Samuel you know I can open the door for myself." Tatum says as she climbs out of the car.

"You've been saying that for the passed few months already and nothing has changed. It's your father's orders Tatum... Miss Cornelius." I say smirking and she rolls her eyes.

"I'll see you later Samuel." She says and turns away from me to walk off.

"Wait! I actually wanted to know if you'd have lunch with me?" I asked and she turned around to face me.

"Lunch?"

"Yeah. You need a break Tatum. You're working too much."

"Samuel but-"

"No buts. I won't take no for an answer."

"Okay. Then will you take 'some other time' for an answer?" She asks grinning. Smart ass.

"No I won't."

"Okay fine,but only this once." She says. She's become more demanding lately, it's the effect of the corporate world.

"I make no promises." I say and she smiles.

"Okay now go, I have work to do." She says and I nod.

She walks into the entrance of the building and get into the car and drive off.

Tatum's POV:

"Good morning miss Cornelius." Various employees around the company greet me as I make my way to the elevator.

The elevator opens and step in. Just before the elevator doors closed, a blonde headed man nimbly slips in. He doesn't look familiar at all, but he is quite handsome. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'm ready to get out there again, but that doesn't make me blind.

"Good morning." He says and smiles charmingly.

"Good morning." I nod.

"I'm sorry, I don't know mean to come off as impudent, but I have to say you look quite beautiful." He says in his British accent which I didn't pick up on when he first spoke.

"Well thank you, you're not too bad yourself. I've never seen you here before?"

"Oh yes, well it's my first day here." He says and the elevator dings to a stop on the 26th floor where my office is. I didn't want to be too high up in the building and I didn't want to be too low, so I chose for my office to be on the 26th floor.

"Are you nervous?"

"A bit yeah. They say the boss lady is really fierce and becomes fiery when you get on her bad side. So I'm a tad bit nervous about what her first impression of me will be like." He says and I laugh on the inside. He seems nice, so my first impression of him is good.

People say that I'm fiery? Well I guess there are things that goes around the office that I don't know about.

"You don't have to worry. She's not that bad, she's just success orientated." I say as we both walk out of the elevator.

"Well then. Welcome to the company."

"Thank you." He says and nods. We both turn around and walk our separate ways. I wonder in which department he'll be working in since he's on this floor.

...

"Jessica before you go can you ask Alison to bring my coffee please?" I ask as Jessica takes away the blueprints I have rechecked for a new project I'm working on.

"Miss Cornelius, Alison doesn't work here anymore she-"

"Oh yes. How could I forget? It completely slipped my mind." I say. Alison left because she has to deal with family issues. She assisted me well.

"Don't worry. Your new assistant is here. I'll just call him in." Jessica says.

"Okay then. Thank you." I nod and she turned around to leave, but stopped.

"Miss Cornelius?"

"Yes?"

"You should give yourself a break,you work too much." She says. So I've been told.

"Well Jessica when you have things to do, you get them done." I say and she nods.

"But thank you for your concern." I say and she smiles then leaves.

As I check through the list of investors I hear a knock on my office door.

"Come in." I say and look up.

"Ms. Cornelius this is your new assistant Mr. Eric Bates." Jessica says and I look at the man to only recognise him from our elevator encounter.

He looks at me with a surprised expression on his face. I bet his really worried about his first impression now.

"Oh you. This is the man I met in the elevator who said I was fiery." I said pretending to be angry.

"Um...Miss Cornelius I'm really sorry... It was Je-" He stuttered and I laughed hard on the inside.

"Jessica leave us alone, so that I can show this judgemental man how fiery I can really be!" I order and in a flash she leaves the room. I shut the door behind her and turn around not being able to keep in my laugh anymore.

"Oh my... You should have seen your face." I laugh and he begins to relax a bit, but looks confused.

"God you're so stiff. Loosen up a bit and relax. I'm not a god damn monster, jeez." I say and sit down in my chair. I don't understand why these people are so afraid of me.

"Have a seat Mr Bates." I gesture to the chair opposite mine. He adjusts his tie and sits down.

"Why didn't you say anything in the elevator?" He asks.

"I was silently amused." I smile.

"First impression?" He asks.

"Well you'll find out by the way I treat you right?"

"Right." He says slowly and watches me intently.

"Hey relax. We're all just here trying to make a living so I won't be hard on anyone, unless you take advantage of my kindness."

"Oh I promise I won't." He says eagerly.

"Eric, I look forward to working with you so please relax. You don't have to act differently around me just because I'm your boss. Be yourself, I like the person I met in the elevator." I say and he smiles.

"Really?"

"Yes, but hitting on your boss on your first day is really bold." I say.

"I was not hitting on you, it was a platonic compliment." He says not keeping eye contact.

"Okay sure and if I wasn't your boss, would it have been platonic?" I ask and he stays silent for a few seconds.

He clears his throat," In all honesty Ms. Cornelius your questions are making me anxious. I don't know which answer would be the right or wrong one."

"The honest answer will work." I say and he looks nervous all over again. It's a good laugh making people jumpy sometimes.

"Okay with all seriousness both of us should get back to work." I say.

"Jessica said you wanted coffee?"

"Yes please."

"How do you take it?"

"Strong and black." I say and be nods then heads out of my office.
He seems...interesting.

Not a long while after he came back with my coffee.

"Thank you very much." I say and take the warm cup from his hands.

"Eric, what is this? I asked for black coffee." I say.

"It's a gingerbread latte. You're stressed out and probably a workaholic, so I made something that will help you better. It's both an energy booster and tastes good. Go on try it." He says and I narrow my eyes at him.

"And this? What is it? It looks like a butterfly." I say examining the art floating on the top of the latte.

"It is." He says and I bring my lips to the cup slowly. I take a small sip. Oh my god. That does taste good.

"Well...it tastes okay, but I'm not eager on change." I say and he laughs.

"Fine, then I'll take this one back and bring you a bland coffee." He says and reaches for my cup but I push his hand away.

"Okay okay. It's really good. Thank you." I pull my cup away from him.

"Change isn't bad." He says and leaves my office.

...

The telephone rings and I answer it.

"Yes Eric?"

"Are you enjoying your latte Ms. Cornelius?" He asks and I look at the empty cup on my desk.

"Eric this is for work purposes only." I say.

"Okay, then I'll hang up." He says and does so.

Not long after, it rang again.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Eric!"

"What?"

"You...You're annoying me."

"Am I now?" He asks and I hang up.

*Ring ring ring*

"What is it?!"

"You still haven't answered my question Ms. Cornelius."

"Okay! It tasted great. There, are you satisfied now?"

"Not quite..."

"What else do you want?"

I swear I'll fire him if he keeps this up.

"Nothing, I just wanted to make you smile." He says and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not smiling."

"I can hear it in your voice Ms. Cornelius."

"Okay fine. Can I go now?I have work to do."

"You may." He says and I can hear the amusement in his voice. I hang up and get back to work.

Later on I met Samuel for lunch at a quaint diner not too far from the office.

"This is nice." I say and fill my mouth with a few fries. It's awkward talking to Sam. I don't know what to say. I guess I'm afraid if I say something stupid it might mess up things.

"Yeah it is. So Tatum. I wanted to have this lunch for reason." He starts and I listen.

"We need to talk." He says, vaguely.

"About?"

"Us. Tatum you know I still love you and I don't see myself with anyone else."

"Samuel you can't say that. You don't know me. I'm-"

"Tatum stop. Don't give that 'I'm not the same person anymore', because I want you okay." He says looking me straight in the eyes.

"Samuel I-"

"Tatum do you love me?"

"Samuel-"

"Do you love me?" He asks cutting me off once again.

"I love you Samuel. I love you, but that doesn't change anything or makes it okay."

"Doesn't make what okay? What doesn't it change?"

"Samuel I still feel guilty. I know you're not mad at me, but I'm mad at myself for lying to you. I don't feel like I deserve you okay? It hurts to know that you're still here for me after what me and my family did. It's not fair okay. It's not fair towards you and I don't understand how you can just be okay with it." I confess my true feelings.

"Tatum I know it isn't fair, but as crazy as it sounds, by all honesty my love for you is greater than any anger could ever be. I love you and I want to try again. I want to give us the chance that we didn't get and I know you want it too." He says and places his hand on mine. I relax into that soothing feeling of his touch. It suddenly felt like everything was gonna be okay.

I call over the waitress for the bill. I paid it and gave her nice tip.

I stood up and grabbed Samuel's hand.

"Tatum we haven't finished our food yet." He says and I roll my eyes.

"Just shut up and let's go." I say earnestly.

"Yes mam." He says. I grab the keys from his hands and climb into the driver's seat. He got in and I drove off.

"Where are we going?" He asks.

"Samuel I'm a woman and I haven't been touched in months." I say daringly and glance at him to see him staring at me wide eyed.

"Tatum are you sure? You still have to get back to work-" He starts but is cut off by the screeching of his car coming to a sudden and abrupt stop in front of his house.

"How did we even get here so fast?" He mumbles and I laugh.

We rush out of the car and once we were in his house, we couldn't keep our hands off of each other. His touch feels so foreign, but yet comforting.

"Samuel I want you." I moan in between kisses as we make our way upstairs.

"I want you more." He says as we burst through his bedroom door.

He immediately has me pinned up against the wall with his lips trailing kisses down my neck. What makes this moment even more special and exciting is that I've only ever been intimate with Sam once.

We tumbled onto his bed with me now laying on top of him. Our clothes were slowly removed and tossed to one side. I deepened the kiss as his hands roamed all around my body. His muscles tensed as I ran the tips of my fingers up his abs.

He lifts himself up and kissed me in my neck as he unclipped my bra. His soft kisses moved to my shoulder as he got rid of the bra.

"You're so beautiful." He mumbles into my neck, making me smile.

I shudder as his fingers trailed along the inside of my thigh.

"Samuel."

I gazed into his eyes and the warmth and familiarity of his skin against mine brought excitement in me that I couldn't control.

I simply couldn't wait anymore and just a few hours of lovemaking, made up for all the years we missed...