Stomach fluttering madly, I stepped back. “You just said no sex.”
His eyes glistened. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t touch you.”
“You could have just said you didn’t hire me to sleep with me,” I muttered, suddenly feeling disgruntled.
He laughed. “Would you have believed me?”
“Maybe.” My shoulders slumped. “People will still think that, though.”
“Does it matter what other people think if you know the truth?”
No. I shook my head.
“I have faith that your ability as a designer will show everyone at Ansoft why I hired you.”
I felt those words in my heart. Like it was putty in his hand. “You do?” I whispered, basking quietly beneath his praise.
“I do.”
Making the decision, I nodded. “I’ll stay on at Ansoft. I really like your company. It’s cool.”
Another sunny smile lit his face.
“But I’ll find my own place,” I added and went to the bedroom for my suitcase.
He caught me in the doorway, arms wrapping around me from behind. “I can’t let you do that.”
I spun out of his arms. “You don’t have a choice.”
“I’m not paying for this place. Ansoft is. It’s a business expense.”
I made a face. “You own Ansoft.”
Scrubbing a hand over his face, he cursed low. “Do you have to be so damn difficult?”
“Yes!”
“You said you wanted reality,” he said, harsh, holding his arms wide, “This is reality. My reality.”
“Let me make something clear.” Straightening my back, I faced him head on. “I’m not here because of your money. I don’t want anything from you in that sense. I’m staying here because I want to learn at Ansoft and because…”
“Because,” he prompted, longing in his eyes.
Unable to hold back, I went to him, taking his hand. “Because I want to see you. I want to know you. But I don’t care about your money or how many things you own.”
“I think you are the first person I’ve met in a very long time who’s said that and actually meant it,” he whispered.
I squeezed his hand. “I do mean it. That’s why I’ll find my own place.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
Yanking my hand away, I fumed. “Look, buddy. I might want to do everything you tell me, but I sure as hell won’t!”
Wait. I don’t think that came out right.
Confused by my own mouth, I didn’t see him coming. Before I knew it, Carter was on me, pressing me against the bedroom wall.
“What are you doing?” I asked, pushing at him.
“Didn’t you hear anything I said before?” he asked, impervious to my struggle.
I went still. “What?”
“When people find out I’m spending time with you, it will put a target on your back. They’ll try to use you. Maybe even hurt you…” His eyes shadowed. Pulling away, he moved across the room. “Fuck. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought you here.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I know you don’t.” His voice was gentle. Then, much quieter, speaking to himself, he said, “This is why I live alone on an island.”
I took a step toward him. “You think people will hurt me to get to you?”
“I can’t be sure. That’s why I said I’ll protect you.”
When I said nothing, he turned back. “That’s why you need to stay here, in this building. It’s secure. I won’t have to worry about you when I’m not around. You might not like my money very much, Nora, but it’s part of me. I won’t let my girlfriend live somewhere that I don’t deem safe.”
“There are plenty of safe—”
“I said no.” His tone was quiet but final.
“Who said I was your girlfriend?” I shot out because, really, I had nothing else.
His eyebrow lifted. “You’re not?”
“No.”
“No sex. No relationship status,” he listed. “What exactly do I get?”
Pursing my lips, I held out my hand. “Give me your phone.”
Clearly curious, he pulled out his phone from his back pocket and handed it over. I took it, swiped the screen, and made a face. “I need your fingerprint.”
Holding up his hand, he smiled. “Come get it.”
Crossing to him, I went to take his hand. Abruptly, he held it up overhead and out of my reach.
“Hey!” I complained, reaching unsuccessfully for it.
“Ah,” he teased. “Is this why you wear heels?”
“Carter!” I bellowed.
Laughing, he pulled his hand down so I could use his thumb to unlock the device. Once it was open, I gave him a squinty-eyed scowl and turned my back.
“What are you doing?” he asked from behind.
“You really should be more careful who you hand your phone over to.”
His body wrapped around mine from behind, and momentarily, my eyes drifted closed because the way he felt against me was so right. “I trust you,” he whispered.
My heart skipped a beat. I wasn’t sure why, but that seemed like something he didn’t often say.
Going back to work, I called up his contacts and added my phone number. “What should I label myself as…?” I wondered out loud.
“Not my girlfriend.” He complained.
I giggled.
“Are you laughing?” He was incredulous. When I didn’t answer, he poked me in the ribs and made me squeal.
“No!” I squirmed. “I’m not.”
“Put Good Girl,” he ordered.
I stuck out my tongue. “People will think your dog is calling you.”
“Hey, no one looks at my phone but me.”
“I don’t like it.”
We argued about it for so long the screen went dark and I needed his thumbprint all over again.
“Ugh!” I said, annoyed.
“Let me see,” he said, taking it from my hands and holding it in front of us. Unlocking the screen, he put an emoji where the name was supposed to go.
It was a heart.
“I like it,” he declared, putting it back into his pocket.
I couldn’t even argue because I liked it, too.
Carter stepped back. “That’s all I get, huh? Your phone number?”
“I don’t give that out to just anyone.”
He didn’t seem very impressed.
“I’ll stay in the apartment.”
His eyes flared. “Really?”
I nodded. “It seems to be really important to you.”
One second, I was on my own two feet, and the next, I was in his arms, against his chest. “Thank you,” he whispered into my hair.
Smiling against him, I marveled and how good it felt to be in his arms. When at last I pulled back, I shook my finger at him. “But no more stalking.”
I could tell he was about to argue, but I had to put my foot down.
“I mean it, Carter. I said I wanted real. In real life, if you want to know something about someone, you ask them.”
“Fine.” He pouted.
Sticking out my hand between us, I said, “Let’s shake on it.”
Taking my hand, he used it to pull me forward. I fell into his chest with an, “Oomph.”
“I don’t shake with you.”
Before I could ask what he meant, his lips brushed over mine. Once. Twice. And then a third time for a lingering soft kiss. It wasn’t some soul-crushing kiss that was provocative and toe curling… but damn.
I guess, with Carter, it didn’t have to be.
When he pulled his head back, my eyes fluttered open, meeting his. “You make me so nervous,” I confessed.
The corners of his eyes crinkled with his smile. “I have no idea why. I’ve already seen you naked.”
Because he was getting into my heart… a place that was so much more vulnerable than my naked body.
Leaning down, Carter pressed a kiss to the tip of my nose,
almost as if he could read my thoughts. “You gonna let me spend the night?” he asked, giving me a roguish grin.
Hands on my hips, I scolded him. “Didn’t you say no sex?”
“Who said anything about sex?” he asked innocently. “You have a filthy mind.”
I started to kick him, but he swept me off my feet and into his arms. “I told you I’d convince you to stay.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have been so easy to convince, but truthfully, I wanted to stay and so I would.
Carter
The sun was barely rising when consistent knocking echoed through the condo. The intrusive sound startled Nora, making her bolt upright with a forceful gasp.
Her hand fell onto my bare chest, patting rapidly. “Carter,” she whispered.
An unintelligible sound forced its way out of my throat. Automatically, I reached for her hand to hold it.
The knocking continued, making Nora’s fingers tighten around mine. “What is that?” she asked, freaked out.
Dragging my free hand down the length of her back, I wondered what the fuck I’d been thinking last night when I told her we wouldn’t have sex.
“Carter!” She fussed again, clutching the blankets against her chest as though she were caught naked when, really, she was dressed in shorts and a tank top.
“Someone’s knocking on the door,” I murmured, still half asleep and thinking about sex.
“Its five thirty in the morning!”
That woke me up. Pushing into a sitting position, I glanced toward the bedroom door. “Did you give anyone your address?”
Chewing her lower lip, she shook her head.
Using my thumb and forefinger, I pulled her abused lip out of her mouth. “Don’t do that.”
“Aren’t you worried?” she asked, pointing toward the sound.
“It’s probably just Aaron,” I muttered, tossing the blankets back and getting out of bed.
“Does Aaron usually come looking for you at five thirty in the morning?”
“Aaron is usually with me at this hour.”
She made a surprised sound, and I looked over my shoulder. “We share an apartment in Miami.”
Her mouth formed a little O as she nodded.
Picking up the white jeans discarded on the floor, I made my way to the door, tugging them on as I went. Nora’s feet smacked on the wood as she rushed behind. The knocking ceased, but it was only because the person on the other side of the door realized there was a doorbell.
I really wasn’t sure which was worse—the pounding or the chiming.
Instinctively, I put an arm out, blocking her from stepping up beside me. “Stay there while I answer.”
“I thought you said this building was safe,” Nora retorted.
“Smart men don’t take chances.”
I went ahead while she muttered about going to live in the ghetto, making me smile. Unlatching the lock and yanking open the door, I scowled, expecting to see Aaron standing there. “This better be good—”
“Ah!” a woman screeched.
I drew back, startled. “Do you have to be so noisy at five a.m.?”
“I thought this was Nora’s apartment,” the woman exclaimed. Suspicion clouded her face, and she held up a giant bag. “Who are you? Nora!”
“Valerie?” Nora queried, hearing her friend waking up half the building. She rushed up behind me, pulling the door wide. “Val!”
“Step aside, Nora. I’ve got this,” her very loud friend declared, swinging all her attention back to me while heaving the bag backward.
“What do you think—” I began, but Nora skirted around, blocking me with her body.
At the same time, the overstuffed bag came barreling at me like a battering ram. Hastily, I spun, blocking Nora from the hit. My body jolted when it struck me in the center of the back.
Nora gasped. “Valerie! Stop!”
With her body still in the shelter of mine, she looked around the curtain of hair over her shoulder, concern in her eyes. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll live.”
Ripping out of my grasp, Nora spun around, but I grabbed her back just in case her BFF wasn’t done.
Valerie froze, the bag falling on the ground between us as a stunned look crossed her face. “Mr. Fantasy?”
“What?” Confusion made me squint.
“Oh crap! I hit Mr. Fantasy!” Valerie’s eyes transferred to mine, then back to Nora. “He slept over already?” she whispered really loudly, as if I wouldn’t be able to hear. “Damn, you said he was good, but seriously, that good?”
“Oh my God!” Nora gasped. “Shut up!” Turning to me with bright-pink cheeks and shy eyes, she said, “I never said that.”
I smiled.
“I guess we don’t call you Mr. Fantasy for nothing, eh?” Val quipped, smacking me in the stomach on her way into the apartment.
“I don’t call you that,” Nora rushed out.
Bending at the waist, I lowered until we were eye to eye. Bashful, she looked everywhere but at my face. “Is that where you got all this reality vs. fantasy stuff?” I teased.
“Make yourself useful and bring in her bag,” Nora ordered, then rushed away after her friend.
Grabbing the bag, I followed at a much slower speed.
“Valerie, what are you doing here?” Nora asked, following her friend into the living room.
Not answering at first, Val went to the sliders, pulling back the curtains to look out over the view. “Um, wow,” she commented, staring out.
“Valerie,” Nora demanded.
Still gazing out the window, she said, “I missed you. I decided to come for a visit.”
Nora glanced around at me, and I shrugged.
“I thought you were in Atlanta. What about your internship?” She pressed.
“Umm,” Valerie said, her voice quieter than I’d ever heard. “I don’t think it’s going to work out.”
Distressed, Nora rushed to her side. “Val.” She put a hand on her friend’s arm.
A sob burst out, and her shoulders began to shake.
Nora seemed stunned, momentarily gaping at Valerie like her crying this way was something she rarely saw. Banking that shock, Nora lunged forward to hug her.
Leaving the bag by the bar, I went into the kitchen to put on some coffee while Nora comforted her distraught friend.
“Here, sit down.” Nora cajoled, guiding a sniffling Val to the sofa. “What happened?”
“It’s so embarrassing,” she replied, voice watery.
“There isn’t anything you can’t tell me.”
My stomach dipped a little with my girl’s words, wondering if they extended to all the people in her life or just her best friend.
“I’ll, ah, just go grab a shower,” I told them, leaving the coffee to brew and heading toward the bedroom.
“My boss hit on me,” Valerie announced.
My feet paused on the wood.
“What?” Nora gasped.
“It’s not like I’m that uptight, you know?” Val’s voice wobbled. “I mean, if it was just innocent flirting or a couple lewd comments, I could ignore…”
“What did he do?” Nora asked quietly.
“That jerk called me into his office and handed me a hotel room key. When I asked him what it was for, he told me it was my job as an intern to make sure all his needs were met.”
“Are you serious?” Nora exclaimed, outraged.
“As a heart attack,” Val vowed. “I told him he was crazy, and he told me all I had to do was go there when he called.” She took a deep breath and continued. “Then he pushed me onto his desk and stuck his tongue in my mouth.”
“Oh my God!” Nora leapt up off the couch and paced. One of the thin straps of her tank slipped over her shoulder, but she didn’t notice.
Anger ignited within me as I imagined some dick with a superiority complex putting his hands on Nora that way.
“What did you do?” she demanded.
“I bit him,” Val retorted.
Proudly adding, “Drew blood.”
I smirked. “Should have kicked him in the balls, too.”
Both women turned to look at me, their eyes widening as if they hadn’t realized I was still there.
Valerie pursed her lips. “Isn’t it like sacrilege for guys to tell women to attack other guys’ junk?”
“Some guys don’t deserve the dick between their legs,” I deadpanned.
“I like you,” Val mused. She looked at Nora. “I like him.”
Nora wasn’t about to be deterred from the conversation. “What happened next?”
“I quit, and he told me if I told anyone what happened, he would make sure I never got another internship.”
“He can’t do that!”
“I’m pretty sure Jon Max can do that,” Valerie stated.
I knew that name. “Jon Max, the CEO of Intex?”
Valerie stiffened. “You know him?”
I shrugged. “I’ve met him a couple times.”
Surging to her feet, she worried. “Please don’t say anything. I graduate next year. I don’t want something like this following me to interviews or hurting my chances at a decent job.”
“You’re majoring in the same thing as Nora?” I asked.
She nodded. “Please?”
“How many other girls has he done this to?” I wondered, gazing toward the windows.
“I know it’s so cowardly of me to keep quiet,” Valerie wailed, plopping back on the couch.
Good Lord, she was loud.
“I just feel so gross, you know? He said no one would believe me anyway and he’d tell everyone I came on to him and when he fired me, I made up a sexual harassment story to save face.”
Nora hugged her friend, which muffled the loudest of her sobs. Still patting her back, Nora lifted her eyes to me.
“I won’t say anything.” I promised.
Val lifted her head. “Really?”
I nodded.
Blowing out a shaky breath, she said, “Thank you.”
I didn’t agree with keeping quiet on this, but getting into a lengthy discussion about it would just end badly. Clearly, this girl was traumatized, and forcing the issue would only make it worse.
“I couldn’t stay there. I had to get out.” Valerie peeked up at me. “I didn’t realize you’d have… company.”
Mr. Fantasy: (A standalone romance) Page 12