“When you are coming on my fingers, I will kiss you hard on your mouth, so our co-workers won’t be able to hear you scream. Then I will turn you around and deposit your juicy ass on my desk. With one hand, I will spread your legs, while my other hand massages one of your amazing tits. I will tug at your other nipple with my teeth through your clothes, until you beg me to fuck you. And you will do anything I tell you to. Take my dick deep into your throat and swallow everything I give you.”
Wow. He is a bossy boss. And he can talk dirty too, apparently. I like that. As far as sex is concerned, anyway. I can’t believe the moment has finally come. Will I finally have sex with my American sex god? The deal was that we would do it after this week, so to be fair, we need to stop this, but my body has other plans. Slowly, I start undoing his pants. It’s gonna happen now. O.M.G. O.M.G. O.M.G.
I’m trying hard to rid him of his shirt, but my fingers aren’t fast enough. All of a sudden, he spins me around and presses me against the desk. He gives me a soft push, so I land on the desk with my chest flat on top of it and my butt pointing upwards. His hand reaches my panties and pulls them down quickly, while his other hand shoves my skirt up. The cold air makes my bare skin tingle. Then I hear a loud smack and my right butt cheek starts burning. What? Did he just slap me?
I look at him over my shoulder and an intense look meets mine. With his right hand, he starts rubbing the same spot he just slapped, and it feels deliciously naughty.
“Will you start behaving and keep your temper in check?” Those words cause my brain to short-circuit. I shouldn’t like this so much. He can’t smack me like I’m a disobedient child, can he? Part of me likes it, this dominant side of him. “That’s what you want, isn’t it? That’s the real reason you came barging into my office like that, isn’t it. For the make-up sex?”
What?
I was on the verge of getting my very first mental orgasm from all that smooth talk of his, but now it feels like I’ve suddenly been put under a cold shower without any warning, clothes on and all. What a dick. As if I only care about the sex!
The shower manages to cool me down for only just a few seconds, before anger takes over again. I can still feel its heat in my body. I roughly push him away and take a couple of steps back. Quickly, I pull up my panties and down my skirt.
“No, no, no, Cowboy. This is not the way we are going to play this game. Don’t start twisting things. You make it sound as if I only came here for the make-up sex!”
“Didn’t you?”
“No!” I can hear myself yell, but it doesn’t sound very convincing. If I’m completely honest to myself, I obviously had hoped we would make up. And a good fuck is a very nice way to do so. But making up is just a side issue. It’s about the principle and my self-respect. I would never stage a fight just to get my way. I am Nina Palermo and I manipulate no one to get what I want.
Maybe his reaction says more about him than it does about me. Maybe it’s because he is like that. He is control freak. He is someone who uses manipulative techniques to achieve his goal. Not me.
I can’t accept this. My go-with-the-flow-philosophy doesn’t mean I will let anyone walk over me like that. The fact that he’s finally about to give me what I want, doesn’t mean I will let him play me like that. No. Way.
It’s not easy recapturing myself, because I simply can’t believe that he thinks I’m actually like that. Through my anger, I can feel a certain clarity. I take another step back and look him in the eye.
“The fact that you rescued my parents and me from the mafia when I was ten, doesn’t give you the right to meddle with my life. You have a way of twisting things around and making it look like I have no right to be angry, and that’s just fucked up. On top of that, you pretend I got angry just to manipulate you into sex? In what kind of sick reality are you living?!”
But I’m not finished yet. No, no. “Fuck you, and fuck your beautiful suit! You really think you know everything about me, don’t you? If you did, you would have known that I’m allergic to manipulation and that I would never do that to anyone! Yes, I want sex with you, but we had a deal. One week for you, one week for me, and I will stick to that. I would never try to make you deviate from that, or manipulate you into doing things differently.”
This is unbelievable. This romance, sexcapade, or whatever you’d like to call it, would only last two weeks. Two weeks. You can’t even call this a relationship and we’re already fighting. This is exactly the kind of thing I’m not in the mood for. I want to have an adventure, but not the kind that gives me high blood pressure and sweaty boobs. I mean, high blood pressure and sweaty boobs are perfectly acceptable when physical pleasure is involved, of course. Not blind rage.
No. Way. Jose. Oh, no.
No. Way. Sebastian. No. Gers, it is.
No. Way. Gers. Or is it, No Way, Cowboy? Screw it, I really don’t know anymore!
With all these thoughts racing through me like a hurricane, the only thing I can do is stare at him with bulging eyes and a heaving chest. This man has a knack of saying exactly the wrong things to me. Before I explode, there’s only one thing left to do. Run away quickly.
“Bye-bye, Cowboy. Bye-bye, nice blue tailored suit,” I say, half in tears. I’m done. This is all getting way too hard and just the thing I can do without. This is the end of my adventure with the American God, folks. Determined, I turn around and walk away.
If my life were a highway, I would be one passenger lighter right now.
Chapter 21 - Salsa
NINA
“Are you gonna lead, or what?” I roll my eyes, making it clear I’m losing my patience. It feels as if I’m dancing with a woman. Some people often find it exciting to see two women dance with each other. I can understand that. But a man dancing like a woman ... that’s just plain annoying. Especially when there’s only one woman here!
Salsa. It’s supposed to be a passionate dance. A strong man, doing whatever he wants to the woman. Wonderful. But when two women dance with each other, there’s no one to take the lead. Despite his girly ways, our Booty Boy usually manages to lead very well when we’re dancing. But not tonight.
The merengue classic “Suavemente” by Elvis Crespo booms out of the boxes while we attempt to dance. We have reached the end of our class and are to practice the copa and the paperclip, the new moves we learned today, on our own.
“It would be a lot easier if you wouldn’t resist so much,” Billy counters. I’d better not react to that, because nothing good can come of it. Sighing, I take my position and wait until Billy gets us started. Before he takes the first step with his left foot, our South American teacher claps her hands to indicate it’s time for a break.
We walk up to the bar together and sit down. “What’s going on with you today? Something’s wrong, spill it,” my friend demands.
There’s no use in denying it. I take a bottle of water out of my bag and take a huge gulp.
“Do you remember that Cowboy? Sebastian? Well, I took your advice. We agreed that we would date for two weeks. Until he returns to the States, at any rate.”
“But that’s great, isn’t it? Good for you! So, why are you so terribly cranky today? Aren’t things going well?”
“It’s over already.”
“Over?” he asks with a curious expression.
“Over, yes. I’m a little disappointed, but no big deal.”
Is it really not that big a deal? It’s easy to say, but I’m not entirely convinced myself.
Lost in thought, I twist the top back on the bottle. I try to convince myself one more time I did the right thing by walking away. Who does Cowboy think he is? Who does Cowboy think I am? I did the right thing. It was all getting too hard. All that drama, I can do without it. Although, I do realize I was the main reason for the drama. My reaction was rather explosive. I could have reacted a bit differently. He is a control freak, after all, I knew that much. But knowing is one thing, experiencing it is something completely different. Initially, I r
ather liked that aspect of him, but now that I’ve seen it in practice, it’s a very different story. It’s really not nice being treated like my opinion doesn’t matter.
However, I must admit I didn’t handle things very well by storming into his office. I could have told my story quietly, without exploding. And I could have opted to stay. He had me figured all wrong by thinking I could be that manipulative. That’s not the end of the world now, is it? He doesn’t know me yet, that’s all. If he had, he never would have thought that about me. I could have explained to him calmly that I’m not like that and that’s it. Then everything would have been fine, and I would be dancing with Cowboy now. I bet he’s a good dancer.
“Hello! Are you gonna tell me what happened or not?” My friend draws my attention back to our discussion.
I’m not really in the mood for this conversation. Not in the mood for someone else’s opinion, let alone having to think about whether I did the right thing or not. Or about what I should or should not do. What happened, happened. I can’t doubt myself. Ever. I’ve already decided.
Apart from that, Cowboy didn’t even chase after me. I haven’t even heard from him since our fight. Big talker with his I will hunt you bullshit. Off to the next adventure! Right? Hell yes. I am Nina Palermo, seducer extraordinaire.
“No. I’m done and I don’t want to talk about it. Come on, let’s get back to the dancing.”
I pull him off the bar stool and onto the dance floor. The other couples follow, and the music starts again. Here we go. Dance the night away! There is nothing wrong. I am Nina fucking Palermo. Everything is fine. Life goes on, exactly where I had left it. I will pretend the past couple of days never happened and start another sexcapade as soon as possible. With someone other than Cowboy. When you fall off a horse, the best thing is to get back on one again straight away. That’s what I’m going to do.
“LET ME LEAD,” I SAY, frustrated. It just won’t work today, no matter how hard Billy tries. Or is it me after all?
“What? You lead?” While we keep dancing, Billy looks at me, astonished, like my suggestion is the craziest thing he ever heard. As if he doesn’t look like a girl trying to lead.
In the meantime, we’ve fallen into a standard step. Short, short, long. Short, short, long.
“About Cowboy ...”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” I cut him off before he can finish.
“Does the fact that your schedule has been altered have anything to do with the fact that it’s over between you two?” he asks.
“Yes!” I startle him, and he rubs his ear.
“I thought it was strange that I received that order. I was wondering if you knew. But you’re not the only one who had their schedule completely rearranged, so I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal.”
“I didn’t know anything. And apparently my opinion doesn’t matter. He didn’t even ask me how I felt about it. He just did it without consulting me.”
“Hmmm,” Billy says thoughtfully, and he suddenly stops dancing.
“What do you mean, hmmm?”
“He’s the boss, isn’t he?”
“He is one of the managers at Audi, yes. What’s your point?”
“I’m wondering if the other twenty people who had their schedules rearranged are also angry. Because I don’t think he consulted with them either.”
“Are you saying that he doesn’t have to consult because he’s the boss?”
“Yes, that’s what I’m saying. And moreover, I wonder if that is in fact the real reason you’re mad at him. But hang on.” He starts dancing again, swinging me back and forth a couple of times and then going back to standard step once more. After these amazing moves, which got me a little out of breath, he continues his string of thought. “Let’s get to the core of this. For someone who’s all go with the flow ... you really don’t flow very well with that go... and I’m not just talking about dancing. But getting back to the dancing ... let it go for now and let me lead, woman!”
Now he’s the one sounding frustrated? Good! The feeling is entirely mutual. “What’s it with you men? That’s like the millionth time go with the flow has been used against me this week!”
“Relax. I’m just saying that you don’t like being directed. That’s not a bad thing or anything. But it’s a fact. As far as Sebastian is concerned ... maybe you should just stop resisting and let him be in charge. If you really are all about the go with the flow, like you always say you are, then you two should be the perfect combination, am I right? Wouldn’t it be great to just let yourself go with his flow and let him lead? Think about it.”
“I will decide with which flow I will go or not. And it is not his. Get it?”
“Okay, that makes sense. But could you please decide what you want to do with my flow? Because otherwise, it will be very difficult to dance together.”
“Okay, I’ll go with your flow.” And off we dance.
Suddenly, his eyes wander and grow wide. He gets a surprised look. Or is it fear? With his chin, he points at something behind my left shoulder.
“What?”
“Cowboy alert! Cowboy alert!” he whispers in my ear. “He’s in the back of the room and he’s coming our way now. And I’m off. I’ll see you at the bar.”
He’s talking so fast, I hardly understand what he’s saying. Until I see the American God heading towards me. Billy the coward wants to let go of my hands and run but I hold on tight, so he can’t leave. “Keep dancing, Billy. Act as if nothing’s the matter,” I whisper in his ear.
I’ve never seen Billy look so frightened. The panic in his eyes is almost comical. He literally starts shaking.
“Oh no, I don’t want anything to do with this. It’s obvious you two need to work things out amongst yourselves. Or maybe dance things out? As for myself, I’m skipping this one. See you later.”
Billy roughly tears his hands away from mine and walks in Cowboy’s direction. He, in turn, slaps Billy on the shoulder in a manly way, like he’s awarding him for good behavior or something. But he slaps him so hard that Billy almost tumbles forward. He is such a softy.
Once he reaches me, Cowboy grabs my hands without a word and softly kisses my lips. Then he starts leading me. Slowly at first. Only the standard steps forwards and backwards. He radiates so much serenity, confidence, and determination. His masculine scent reaches my nose; I don’t know whether it’s his is cologne or deodorant, but my panties notice it immediately, if you know what I mean. And they don’t even have a sense of smell!
Do I even want to dance with him? Aren’t I supposed to be mad at him? Before I can begin to figure out the answer to those questions, the music speeds up and we are forced to dance along with the fast rhythm. Before I know it, he’s already spun me around three rounds.
Wow. I’m impressed. We are dealing with a dancing Cowboy here.
It’s all going so fast. I don’t know what steps he’s doing. He doesn’t dance like Billy at all. With Billy, I know all the exact moves and can predict when he will do which step. With Cowboy, it seems as if there are no defined steps. One move melts into the other. All I can do is follow, hope I don’t trip, and that no one can see my panties when he spins me around.
When the song is over, we are standing opposite each other. It’s gotten quiet. We look into each other’s eyes, out of breath. I quickly look away before his sensual gaze can cloud my common sense. Then everyone applauds. I hardly noticed that they gathered around us to admire our dance.
Cowboy takes a short bow and then points at me, like I’m worth the applause. He was in charge. I was only following! He puts his hand in the small of my back and leads me off the dance floor, towards the bar. His touch feels familiar. When we reach the bar, Billy is waiting for us with drinks. Cowboy lets me go and reaches for the drink, and I immediately miss the contact. That’s ridiculous, right? I can’t figure myself out.
“Thanks for letting me dance with your lady for a bit,” I can hear Cowboy say to Billy.
“
My lady? She’s your lady. Isn’t she? I should be thanking you for letting me dance with her here every Wednesday night.” Billy gives Cowboy a wink and takes another sip of his wine.
“This lady belongs to no one. And I’m sitting right here, you know. I can hear you!” I roll my eyes, making it clear to them how annoyed I am. I put the glass to my lips and empty it in one big swig.
“Yes. She is my lady,” Cowboy tells Billy, completely ignoring my remark. “But would you mind keeping that a secret for now? I still need to convince her, as you can see.”
“Good luck with that,” are Billy’s last words for him. He gets up and gives Cowboy a slap on his shoulder. A second later, I can see his face distort in pain. He shakes his hand and whispers, “Ouch, he is rock hard.”
I quickly pull Billy towards me and whisper in his ear, “Who’s side are you on, Billy? What the fuck?”
“Yours, girl. Always yours.” He gives me a little kiss on my cheek and bends over to scoop his man-purse off of the floor. Before he turns around to walk away, he makes a phone gesture with his hand. “Call me!”
Hot potatoes... here I am again, alone with Cowboy. Of course, he will try to seduce me again with his amazing looks and smooth words. But I won’t let that happen this time. It’s over. I’ve made up my mind. Off to another adventure. Be strong, Nina. Be strong.
But being strong is always hard for me when it comes to Cowboy. He’s just so incredibly beautiful. He’s more than just a man. He is an animal. He takes light, secure steps despite his powerful posture. His gaze is direct, penetrating, and investigative. When he looks at me, it feels like he’s looking straight through my very soul and knows exactly what I’m thinking.
His gaze is so intense, it reminds me of our passionate encounter in his office. He takes my hand and a wave of heat shoots up my arm, starting at the spot where his skin touches mine. It makes me lightheaded.
If I’m completely honest with myself, it does move me that he’s here now. Ever since I fled his office, I’ve been waiting for his next step. He told me he would hunt me, didn’t he? So I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed when he didn’t come after me. But then there was only complete radio silence. No phone calls, no messages on my cell, no e-mails, no sweet little star-shaped flowers either. Niente.
Chasing the CEO (The CEO duet Book 1) Page 17