by Mia Ford
I pulled out and jumped from the bed, feeling more energized than ever. I smiled down at her and reached out, pulling her from the bed and into my arms. She laughed as I picked her up at the waist and let her feet dangle down. I pressed my lips tightly against hers, feeling the passion and emotion surging between us. I didn’t want to leave her yet, so I figured why force myself to?
“Get dressed,” I said, smiling. “There is this amazing French Bistro at the Del that I want to take you to. They serve brunch, and I would love some French toast right now.”
“That sounds perfect,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I am so hungry!”
I pulled my clothes on and watched as she pulled on fresh, sexy panties and a new bra. She lifted her arms up in the air, allowing a sweet but sexy sundress to cascade over her curves. She grabbed a sweater and sat down at her makeup table, brushing her hair. She looked back at me, smiling as she pulled her hair into a ponytail and touched up her makeup just enough to look fresh and bright. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She nodded toward a pair of wedge sandals sitting on the floor against the wall, so I grabbed them and walked over, holding them close to me as I bent over and kissed her lip-glossed lips.
We walked out of the room, and I watched as Ronni skipped into the kitchen and planted a huge kiss on her roommate’s cheek.
“This is Maria,” she said happily. “Maria, this is Nathan.”
I leaned over and kissed the top of her hand, flashing her a smile. Her stern face melted slowly away, and she looked into Ronni’s eyes, seeing that she was happy. Maria laughed as Ronni’s excitement trickled over into her. I wanted Maria to like me, especially if I was going to be with Ronni and help them get their business off the ground. If Ronni believed in Maria, I knew I could take that as a solid fact.
We left the house and jumped into my car, letting the top down now that the clouds had cleared and the sun warmed the air. It was a slow start to summer in San Diego this year, but I didn’t mind the eighty degree days at all. Ronni looked over at me, her ponytail whipping around in the wind, and her smile brightening up my day.
We got to the restaurant, and they took us straight back to a table, realizing who I was. My father and mother used to have brunch here every weekend, but they didn’t bring us kids. It was kind of their date night but with brunch instead. I could remember my mother putting on a beautiful dress, doing her hair just perfectly, and dabbing a tiny bit of perfume on her neck. She always hummed on Saturdays, and I knew it was because she got to spend quality time with my father, something that was few and far between with him running the company. However, no matter how busy their lives got, my father always made sure to clear his schedule for Saturday afternoon brunch with my mother.
We sat closely together, sipping our mimosas and looking over the menu. Everything looked delicious, so instead of picking I asked the waitress to bring us one of everything. Ronni’s eyes lit up at that. The waitress laughed and smiled, seeing the love surging between Ronni and me. When she left to put our order in, I leaned back in the chair and put my arm around Ronni. We watched the people coming in and out of the restaurant. The older women were dressed in their Sunday best with large hats and every piece of jewelry they could fit on their hands. The younger crowd was prim, pressed, and proper, laughing and talking amongst themselves as they enjoyed the beginning of a life of luxury. Ronni and I looked up at the door as a loud giggle broke through the low murmur of voices. It was Nick, walking in with a tall blonde girl, dressed like she was ready to go to the club.
“That’s the woman he ditched me for last night,” Ronni said, giggling. “Seems she didn’t get to change her clothes, and neither did Nick.”
I thought about how often Nick stayed at the Del and how if he had gone to his place, he would be wearing different clothing. They must have decided to stay at the hotel last night, which meant Nick had no intention of keeping this girl around past brunch. If he thought he would want to fuck a girl again, he would take them to his house in the hills, but if he knew it was a one and done, he would bring them to the Del, feed them brunch, more because he was hungry than anything else, and then put them in a cab back to whatever hole they crawled out from. He was so predictable.
The hostess took them to a table across the room, but Nick had already spotted Ronni and me. Ronni had switched her attention to her hot tea, but I sat meeting Nick’s angry glare. The blonde was fawning all over him, but he ignored her, sending angry daggers in my direction. I actually found it to be quite humorous, and I smiled a condescending smile in his direction. As soon as the waitress arrived with the food, though, I brought my attention back to the present, ignoring him for the rest of brunch.
We feasted on every breakfast food you could possibly imagine, laughing as people looked over at us and smiled. They figured we were a young couple in love, enjoying our breakfast on cloud nine. I kept my arm around Ronni, keeping her close to my side. I hated the idea that eventually I would have to let go and get to work. Weekends didn’t stop me from having client meetings. When we were done, I had the food boxed up and told Ronni to take it home for her and Maria.
“You’ll instantly win Maria’s heart,” she said, laughing. “That girl is so thin, but she can eat more than most men.”
We laughed as we carried the bags out, still ignoring Nick’s angry stare. We piled the food in the trunk so it wouldn’t blow around and drove slowly back to her house. I walked her in and helped bring the food in, smiling at Maria as I set it in front of her. She laughed and wagged her finger at me.
“You found my weakness, sir.”
Ronni walked me back outside and shut the door behind her for some privacy. I leaned in and kissed her lips softly, running my fingers over her shoulders and back. It was like torture saying goodbye.
“I’m sorry that I have to leave,” I said, sighing. “I have to head into work because I have a meeting later this evening. A lot of my clients don’t care about working weekends.”
“It’s okay,” she said, wrapping her arms around my waist and leaning back to look up at my eyes. “Do you want to get together again?”
“Of course,” I said, laughing. “I wouldn’t even leave now, but my weekend is completely sewn up with business. Sunday is insane, but I’m hoping to make headway with this huge deal that I’ve been working on for about three months now. I think things are finally coming together with it.”
“I understand,” she said, smiling. “Trust me, I would kill baby seals to have that kind of experience. Okay, maybe not baby seals, but I would definitely think about it.”
I laughed loudly and leaned down to kiss her lips. She was so soft and comforting, and I was having a really hard time breaking away. I took in a deep breath and released my grip, stepping back down the walk and toward the car. I blew her a kiss and waved.
“I’ll call you tonight, I promise,” I said as I opened the car door and stepped inside.
As I drove away, I watched her in the rearview mirror. I loved the fact that she was craving experience in business, the same way she used to crave education and knowledge. This girl was going to be trouble when she learned everything she needed to know. There had to be a way I could help her get that knowledge. As I turned toward the center of the city where the office was, I looked over and saw a help wanted sign, and it hit me. That was it. I owned a company that would give her everything she needed. I would hire her to work at the real estate firm. Why didn’t I think of that before?
Chapter Twelve
Ronni
I really didn’t want Nathan to leave the day before, but I knew how important his business was to him. He had taken charge of his father’s company after his mother passed away, and from studying the company as a whole during college, I knew that whatever he was doing was helping to bring the company into the new era. His father was a brilliant man, but he didn’t understand changing times. The company wasn’t in danger at any point, but if Nathan hadn’t come in with the changes he made, even
tually the conglomerate would have been broken up and sold to the highest bidder. He was brilliant, just like his father, but he understood what it took for an enterprise to survive a changing economic and political world. They were one of very few real estate companies in the country that actually increased revenue during the economic collapse, while many others barely hung on or folded under the pressure. It was extremely impressive.
So, in the spirit of moving forward and hard work, Maria and I sat down to work out the details of the bikini line and all the logistics that went along with it. She was an exceptional designer, more talented than most of the famous ones I saw in magazines, but just like me, she was just starting out. She sat and listened to everything that Nathan had explained to me, and I patiently went through each step with her so that she could better understand.
She had a designer education, a designer background, and an artist’s mind so I wanted to make things simple but understandable for her. Though I wasn’t going to be designing anything, we were going to be running the company together. Between her amazing work and my business skills, I knew there was no way we could fail at this venture. Luckily for us, Maria came from money, her father being a very successful Latin singer. He loved Maria’s designs and had already set up an account to fund the entire venture, and he didn’t want us to pay him back at all.
I had known since the beginning that Maria had gotten lucky in the parenting department, especially since she didn’t have to pay for college, didn’t have to work at all, and always had money in her bank account. When we decided to move in together, her father came down and picked out the place we lived in, offering to pay for the entire thing. Though it would have been nice to not have the cost of rent, I didn’t feel comfortable having yet another person take care of me, so we settled on a fair price, and I paid my monthly share. Maria thought I was crazy since she knew her father just took that money and put it in her bank account, but it made me feel good to be taking care of myself.
We sat there, brainstorming ideas for what we wanted to call the business, how we wanted to incorporate it legally, and where we really wanted to start. We had a really good list going, and I groaned as my phone went off on the other side of the room. I grabbed it and flipped it open, not even looking at the name on the screen. I cringed at the sound of Nick’s voice on the other end.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” He was furious.
“Excuse me?”
“You just go and abandon me at the club, acting like you are so much better than everyone else,” he yelled. “And then I find you hooking up with my fucking brother?”
“First of all, that is none of your business,” I said. “Secondly, if you hadn’t just ditched me for your blonde disgusting bimbo, I wouldn’t have ended up wandering around the Gaslamp District, drunk as hell, not knowing where to go. I was almost fucking mauled by a group of frat boys. It was a fluke that your brother found me, and thank god he did, because who knows what those guys would have done. You can lay the blame on me to make yourself feel better, but when it comes down to it, you are a disgusting and poor excuse for a man.”
“Maybe if you learned to not be such a cold bitch, none of this would have happened,” he yelled back. “It’s not my problem you have mommy and daddy issues and can’t handle someone of my stature and power putting their hands on you. You should be glad that a man like me asked out a girl like you.”
“A girl like me? What the fuck does that mean?”
“Oh, come on,” he said with a harsh laugh. “You think because my mother took you in, that makes you part of this family? No. Everyone looked at you as the poor little immigrant who was taken in by my mother. That was it. Nothing more. You are trying to hold on to that and milk it for all its worth.”
“You are so blind,” I said. “I have done more to support myself than you ever have and ever will. Have fun milking daddy for his hard-earned money just so you can go invest it in shitty ideas and watch them fail. Go to hell, you piece of shit.”
I hung up the phone and screamed, letting my anger radiate through the entire house. Maria poked her head around the corner and lifted her eyebrows at me. I rolled my eyes and waved my hand at her, wanting to kill that little prick. I sat down at the kitchen counter and tried to collect myself. It had been a very long time since I wanted to hurt someone, but right now, that was exactly what I wanted to do.
I was such an idiot, and after everything I had been through in life, I still couldn’t figure out what I ever saw in Nick. He was arrogant, ignorant, had no motivation, and when it came down to it, he was nothing more than a spoiled little rich kid. In fact, unless something drastically changed for him, I couldn’t see him ever making anything out of himself except for a mooch on his father’s name. Nathan, on the other hand, was that guy. He was the man who got things done and had the compassion and fortitude to think of other people in the process. Just thinking about him calmed my heartbeat, and I tossed my phone on the counter and headed back into the living room. Maria looked up at me and smiled as I sat down.
“Was that Nick?”
“Ugh, how did you know?” I rolled my eyes and stomped my feet.
“He’s pretty much the only rich asshole in your life, so I figured it was him harassing you,” she said.
“I thought you thought that about Nathan, too?”
“Yeah, well, he seems to have proven me wrong so far,” she said, laughing.
“It was the pancakes, wasn’t it?”
“You got me,” she said. “No, I just see how protective he is of you and how much you light up every time you are around him. I thought he would be bad for you, and for a second, I was right. But in the end, he really showed his true colors, and they are bright and happy, just how I like it.”
“God, Nick was such an asshole,” I said, still upset. “I don’t understand how you can know someone your whole life and be so mean. I mean we grew up together, in the same damn house.”
“Some people are only concerned with their egos,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “Nathan doesn’t seem to be one of them.”
I nodded my head and looked up as someone knocked hard on the door. I peeked out the window to see Nathan’s car sitting in front of the complex. It was like he knew we were talking about him, and poof, he was here. I took a deep breath, trying not to look so upset. I didn’t want him to know his brother said those things. It would only cause more issues between them. I grabbed the handle and opened the door wide, trying to muster a smile. Well, Nathan saw right through that, and his eyebrows furled at the upset look on my face. He reached out and brought me in close, hugging me tightly and kissing me on the top of the head. Luckily, he took my silence as a sign I wanted privacy and didn’t ask me what happened. He just squeezed me tightly. He waved at Maria and then looked down at me.
“You have a minute to go for a walk?”
“Uh oh,” I said with a worried face. “The last walk we went on didn’t turn out so well.”
“No,” he said, chuckling. “It’s not that kind of walk, I promise. Grab your jacket. The wind is pretty strong today.”
I reached in and grabbed my lightweight jacket off the rack and smiled at Maria as I shut the door. I looked up suspiciously at Nathan as he took my hand and led me toward the beach. The sand was cool between my toes, and I couldn’t help but feel renewed as the sea air hit my face. I looked over at Nathan as we walked, curious of what he wanted to talk about.
“Okay, what’s up?”
“So,” he said, taking a deep breath. “You are so smart and so amazing, and you are thirsting for knowledge in the business arena. On my way to the office, after I left you the other day, I started brainstorming ways to get you the experience that you’re looking for. Then it hit me. I run a huge conglomerate. Why would I not just give you a job with me? You could help me out and learn at the same time. It would be perfect. What do you think?”
“Wow,” I said, taken back by the offer. It was huge, and everything I wanted
since I left college, but I was completely torn. Working alongside Nathan would be amazing, but throw in the fact that he was the man I was lusting after twenty-four seven, and it suddenly seemed like it might be a bad business decision. It was hard enough handling a growing personal relationship, but twist that up in an office romance, and I knew bad things could come of it. However, if I looked at his parents, they did amazing things as a couple running a business. Nathan was so intelligent, and he was the savviest businessman I knew. I would learn so much from him.
“Say something,” he said, laughing.
I smiled. “Sorry. I’m just thinking it over really fast. That’s a big chunk of news at one time.”
As we walked along the beach, I played out the different scenarios in my head, always landing on the fact that, if it started to affect us personally, I could quit and go to something different. Best case scenario, I learned a lot, picked up some serious tricks of the trade, and ended up killing it with me and Maria’s new business. It was so blatantly obvious what I needed to do, but I was nervous since taking chances on things wasn’t my normal MO. In fact, I had been taking chances on things a lot lately, and though it landed me Nathan, it also put a huge rift between me and the family. But I couldn’t think about that. I needed to think about my career and making it big in the business. I stopped and turned to Nathan, taking in a deep breath.
“Okay,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ll do it. I need to put in two weeks at my other job, but I can do that first thing tomorrow.”
“Yes,” he said, smiling and picking me up off the ground.
He leaned in and kissed my lips softly, gazing into my eyes. Maybe working with this man wouldn’t be so bad after all.