by Nikki Wild
Damian pulled up his slacks, lightly dusting them off before buckling his belt. I took a quick look around and tossed the soiled napkin in his dustbin beneath his desk, then climbed off of his chair and onto my feet.
Damian whistled at his watch.
“Just shy of an hour…”
Standing pleased, sweaty, and totally naked in his office, I flashed Damian a satisfied grin; he looked up and matched it with his own.
“Better get dressed, kiddo,” he noted happily, slipping his suit blazer back onto his shoulders and whipping out any folds. “After a fuck like that, you’d think that I’d put a ring on it…”
“You’d think that, wouldn’t you?” I laughed as I gazed down at the ring on my finger. “You’ve made me so stupidly happy, Damian. For years and years, this is all I’d ever wanted… I never once really thought you’d look at me any differently than just my father’s kid.”
He pulled me into a quick embrace, planting a kiss on his lips. “You are so much more to me than that, Chloe… and I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving it to you.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but I was interrupted as the phone rang.
Lifting the receiver to his ear, he kept his arm around me. “Now Gladys, what did I say about not being disturbed for a…”
He paused.
“Uh-huh?”
My palm staying high against his chest, I glanced around his office, doing my best to account for where all of my clothes had fallen.
“Is that so…?”
He listened to a response.
“Great!” He chuckled happily. “Thanks for the update. I appreciate that. Yes, I’ll keep myself free all day afterwards.”
Damian hung up the phone.
“Good news?” I pulled him into a kiss.
“Oh, not at all,” he chuckled. “It appears that my client did not take too kindly to waiting. He’s actually fumbling his way here as we speak.”
My eyes widened in shock and I quickly slapped his chest with my palm. “What? But you… on the phone… your tone…”
His cheeky smile widened.
“Goddammit, Damian!”
That’s why, less than a minute later, I was laughing like a love-struck teenager as I stumbled just past the open door, my clothes barely in place, straight into some old, fat dude.
Shocked, he grunted. “What on Earth…?”
“Mr. Prudence!”
As we held each other in surprise, he and I turned towards the source of the voice. Seated in his mighty black throne, the magnificent Damian Clarke swiveled towards us with a confident smirk and pushed his clasped hands forward across his desk.
“Let’s do business….”
Epilogue
Chloe
Two Years Later
Clad in cap and gown, I grinned for the camera.
“All right, you two,” Christa grinned, lining up a shot with my phone. “Say ‘grad school!’”
My father’s arm squeezed me a little tighter.
We both said in unison: “Grad school!”
She snapped a few quick pictures, then handed me back my phone. “Alright, my turn! Wait… where are my parents?”
“Right here!”
Christa’s mom and dad quickly wrapped up their chat with Damian before pulling her into a family photo together. I was more than happy to return the favor, taking her phone and setting up a few photos for them.
Her parents even grabbed Zack for a couple of photos together.
I’d seen a lot more of him since that semester, and he was an amazing fit for their daughter. He finished school a year ahead of us and took some time to roadie with a band for money; Zack had returned to support our graduation ceremony, and was about to take Christa on a summer-long road trip across the States.
As I snapped their photos, I couldn’t help but overhear Damian and my father on the side, deep in a friendly chat. It was fantastic that they had set aside all of their differences. It didn’t hurt that their merged companies had done nothing but flourish with their timely reunion.
With their acute minds put back together, their expansions had dominated Philadelphia. As I understood it, they were already buying up a few fringe firms and preparing to expand across state lines.
Business was better than ever.
I handed Christa back her phone, then turned back to Damian and my father. They were the very picture of dear friends, sharing a laugh with an arm around each other.
I walked over and happily threw a hug around the two businessmen in my life. “I’m so happy both of you could make it here today. I know things are a bit crazy with work at the moment…”
My father grinned into my hairline. “You’ve made me so proud. I wouldn’t miss this for the world, Buttercup! My little valedictorian…”
All three of us separated from the hug, and Damian drew me aside into a small, loving kiss. “You’ve done good, kiddo. Couldn’t be happier with you if I tried.”
We locked fingers as my father walked along us, joining back with our small graduation group.
“I don’t know about you guys,” Zack spoke up, “but I’m starving. All in favor of busting out of this place and grabbing some grub, say aye!”
We all erupted into a chorus of ayes.
“Then it’s settled,” my father smiled. “Let’s hit that barbecue and finally get this party started! I’ve got a cheeseburger with my name on it…”
We started to separate out into groups to drive towards the graduation party, but Christa’s mom grabbed me for a moment.
“I have to see this ring that I’ve heard so much about,” she gushed, glancing down at my hand. “Is that it?”
“It sure is,” I warmly smiled.
“Could I?”
I lifted my hand for her, and she took my fingers daintily. She gazed in the same awe at the stunning ring that had probably been painted across my face when I first saw it.
“That’s so beautiful. I’ll bet you’re excited!”
“Sure am, Mrs. King!”
“And the wedding is a few weeks before you start grad school?” She asked politely. “We have our invite around somewhere, I’ll dig it out when we get back home…”
“Far enough ahead to get a honeymoon in Paris before classes,” I nodded with a smile. “I’m going to be tied up with a couple more years in school, so we decided to have the ceremony before all the craziness started up.”
Since Christa’s parents had strong views about premarital details, I conveniently left out the part where half my stuff was already sitting in Damian’s condominium. I’d kept up the dorm room with Christa for the duration of college, focusing on my schoolwork.
Since we would lose the dorm between finals and graduation, I’d gone to live with my father back in Pittsburgh, for the week.
But tonight, I finally moved in with Damian.
“That is so wonderful, sweetie,” she told me. “I couldn’t be happier for you!” She glanced up over my shoulder before I could respond.
Christa appeared beside me, her arm around me in our graduation gowns. “Mom, let the poor girl get away from this campus. You can ask her all this stuff at the party!”
“Oh, alright dear…”
As soon as her mother had ventured back towards the rest of their group, Christa whispered in my ear: “Zack and I are gonna be back from our road trip before August. Don’t worry about either of us missing your wedding.”
“You’d better not,” I grinned with mock disdain. “I’d kill you in your sleep. You’re the freaking Maid of Honor!”
We shared a laugh before pulling away to join our respective families. My father had gone ahead to give us privacy, and Damian was patiently waiting for me just ahead.
He looked so goddamn handsome in that casual ensemble. Dressed to perfection as always, Damian never looked better than that moment, as he turned to me with a smirk on his face.
“You ready to go, Princess?”
I pulled my fiancé i
nto a deep, loving kiss. Together with the man I had loved all my life, we stood at the cusp of our new lives together.
“Yes, Daddy.”
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Other Novels by Nikki Wild
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Play Dirty (A Bad Boy Football Romance)
Running Game (A Bad Boy Football Romance)
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Knockout (A Bad Boy MMA Romance)
Bad Boy Bikers:
Saving Landon (A Bad Boy Biker Romance)
Saved by the Bad Boy (A Devil’s Dragons Biker Romance)
Pride and Pregnancy (A Devil’s Dragons Motorcycle Club Romance)
Roughneck (A Bad Boy Motorcycle Club Romance)
Rough Rider (Outlaw Kings Motorcycle Club)
British Bad Boys:
Royal Prick (A Bad Boy British Romance)
Arrogant Brit (A Bad Boy British Sports Romance)
Rock Hard (A Bad Boy British Rockstar Romance)
Played (A Bad Boy British Romance)
Bad Boy Rockstars:
Illicit Behavior (A Bad Boy Rockstar Romance)
Rock Hard (A Bad Boy British Rockstar Romance)
Bad Boy Stepbrothers:
Lust (A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance)
Richard (A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance)
Bad Boy Billionaires:
Protect And Serve (A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance)
Pretend Married (A Sexy Billionaire Romance)
Taking Beauty (Taking Beauty Series Book 1)
Claiming Beauty (Taking Beauty Series Book 2)
Owning Beauty (Taking Beauty Series Book 3)