The Auction House Deal: Bought by A Billionaire

Chapter 152: New Office: Hannah III

I relished the days that Roman was off of work. We slept in for a few hours, waking for brief moments to wrap our arms around one another before dozing back off to sleep. When we woke, the sunlight was streaming in and I found myself feeling so much joy in waking up to a beautiful day next to my amazing husband.

After showering and getting dressed, we went down to the kitchen together for breakfast. Geoffrey was used to us sleeping in when Roman was off, so he was just finishing up some blueberry muffins and fried eggs for us with a side of fresh fruit.

Roman and I lingered over breakfast, not discussing anything in particular, just enjoying the slow pace of morning together.

"Anything in particular you want to do today?" Roman asked me after he had finished his coffee.

I bit my lip before answering. "I was hoping you would help me fill out the paperwork for the office?"

I didn’t know why I was so hesitant to ask him. It may have been because I was afraid he would chide me for focusing to much on the nonprofit or for stressing myself out. To my surprise, he smiled.

"Of course," he said. "Anything I can do to help you, I’ll do it."

I was a little too giddy as I jumped up and planted a kiss on his lips before hurrying from the kitchen to grab the paperwork.

When I returned, our empty breakfast plates had been removed from the table and I placed the paperwork before Roman, sitting beside him to review everything. There were instructions on the forms for each block, and Roman was very patient in explaining certain wording to me that I didn’t quite understand. When the forms were complete, I stared down proudly at the finished documents.

"Looks good," Roman said, rubbing the space at the base of my neck. "All that’s left is to submit everything."

"I can arrange all that on my own later," I said to him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. "Right now, I need a break."

Roman smiled at me. "I think a break sounds like an excellent idea. To the gym?"

"To the gym," I agreed. "I love watching you work out," I said to him with a mischievous grin.

Roman chuckled. "You know, studies have shown that men perform better in the gym when there’s a sexy woman nearby." I smiled and we closed with gap between us with a lingering kiss. "I don’t mind your stares."

And stare I did from my vantage point on the treadmill. Roman worked out shirtless and I watched his muscles ripple with rapt attention. Apparently, today was back day and what a glorious back he had. His sweat made his body glisten like that of a demigod sent to earth to outshine all of the mere mortal men.

I had set the treadmill to a comfortable walking pace, and while the movement of some exercise was nice to get the blood flowing, I spent my time watching my husband conquer various workout machines and free weights. When he was done, he toweled off his sweat and invited me to do some stretches with him on the mat.

"You want to give me a rundown of your business plan?" He asked me. The question caught me off guard and I hesitated before answering.

"I’m still working out the details of the financials," I admitted, "but I have a list of goals and values that I want the nonprofit to represent, and services that I want to offer to the victims."

"That’s a good start," he said, moving into a different stretch. I mimicked what he did, wondering how to go about building an actual business plan. "Once you have your foundational why, the reason for starting your business, then that naturally flows into the how and other details to form your business plan."

I thought about his words and nodded. It made sense. "Tell me about your father’s plan for the business you’re managing now."

"It was actually my grandfather’s plan," Roman said, moving into another stretch and I did the same. "My grandfather had an idea and even though he couldn’t start the business on his own, he spent a lot of time creating a very detailed plan of when he wanted to get started and how he envisioned everything coming together. And then he did it."

"That easy, huh," I said, wondering how something as important as the business plan for a billion-dollar business could be so vague.

"Yes, and no," Roman said to me. He stopped stretching and moved to sit with his back against the wall. While he drank deeply from his water bottle, I moved to sit next to him. "What is your goal for the nonprofit?" He asked me. I knew that he was aware of my goal, but there was a lesson about business planning that he needed to convey to me.

"I want to provide free, therapeutic services for victims of sex trafficking," I said to him.

"Perfect. How will you make the services free for them?" He asked me.

"I’ll set up a nonprofit charity," I responded.

"What does that entail?" He asked me. "I’m sure you’ve done enough research to know the answer." I smiled and nudged him with my shoulder before laying out the basic details of what I had learned that I needed to do to start a nonprofit charity.

"Now you have actionable steps for setting up a nonprofit charity to provide free services," Roman said. "The next question in your goal is, how will you provide therapeutic services? Does that require separate licensing? What about hiring therapy professionals?" Roman had certainly got me thinking. But surprisingly, I wasn’t overwhelmed. All I would need to do is research this topic the way I had researched how to start a nonprofit charity and then put those things into action.

"I get it," I said to Roman, having a eureka moment. "A business plan is basically each step in the process toward the goals of the business." Roman smiled and nodded.

"Sexy and intelligent," he said to me, his eyes sparkling with playful mischief. My body was humming with excitement for the business plan and the sensual way that Roman was gazing at me.

I jumped up and grabbed Roman’s arm, attempting to pull him up with me, but he resisted. "Come on, I need to write this down," I said to him excitedly, but in one motion he pulled me down onto his lap.

"Hold on, princess," he said to me before kissing a trail up my jaw, making my body tingle with pleasure. "You got the chance to admire me while I worked out, now I want to admire you." I laughed and tried to push myself up and out of his grasp, but he held me firm, pulling me closer so that he could kiss my neck and shoulder.

"I admired you from a distance," I said, giving in to his grasp. "I never once touched you, even if I wanted to," I said to him, gazing into his intense blue eyes.

"I wouldn’t have stopped you," Roman said, widening his mischievous grin. I pulled his face toward me and kissed his lips.

How had a conversation about my business plan turned into a makeout session? It was beyond me, but I was grateful to have Roman as my business coach.

"Thank you, Roman, for being so patient with me and teaching me how to think like a businesswoman," I said to him.

"You make it easy," Roman said, smoothing a few flyaway hairs from my face. "You’re smart, you’re driven, and you recognize the need for women like Kristen and all the other victims of sex trafficking to have a safe place to go for help and healing."

My heart swelled with pride at his words, and I nodded. I knew that Kristen wanted her life’s mission to be saving other women from sex trafficking, and although we had different ideas on how to go about it, we were both going to do so much good.

"Kristen will be so happy for the cause," I said, leaning my head down to rest on Roman’s shoulder. He stroked my hair.

"Not only Kristen, but Marcus and Ed too," Roman added. We were silent for a moment, each of us distracted by our own thoughts as we sat there together, finding comfort in our closeness.

"I wonder if you running a nonprofit for victims of sex trafficking will draw negative attention to us again," Roman said quietly.

My brow rose at his statement, and although he said it somewhat casually, I sat up to study his pensive expression.

"You don’t think I should do it?" I asked him, holding his gaze.

"No, not at all," Roman said quickly. "That’s not what I’m saying." He reached up to caress my cheek. "We’ve been through a lot together because of sex trafficking, and you have a choice to not let it force you into the shadows of fear and isolation. We both have that choice."

I leaned my cheek into his warm hand before taking his hand into my own and planting a kiss on his wrist.

"Fear can go f*ck itself," I said and Roman laughed before lifting me up and standing.

"Come on," he said, "let’s finish working on your business plan."

The day was spent with Roman helping me think through my business plan while also making plenty of time for breaks together. Later, when we were getting ready for bed, I had nearly forgotten about Roman’s statement in the gym about drawing negative attention.

"You’re taking your bodyguard with you when you go out during the day, right?" He asked as he climbed into bed. I glanced at him with a frown.

"Of course," I said as I joined him. We cuddled in bed, my head against his chest.

Roman’s question brought me to an uncomfortable realization that he might be more worried than he was letting on.