by Bella Grant
“Nothing. Just that I know you can get pushy when it comes to my affairs with men, but try as much as you want, I will not date Nick Saunders.”
"Oh well, your loss. Did you return the necklace to him?”
"He wouldn’t take it back. The driver wouldn't take it back. I can't wear it. I mean, I cannot accept such an expensive gift. If he already thinks he can kiss me because I was in his house, can you imagine what he would do to me if I wore the necklace?”
"Well, you're not going to wear the necklace. But we are going to use it to get you what you want.”
"What I want?" I asked, dreading the answer. She knew what I wanted, rather who I wanted, but I didn’t want Amy’s help because she had a way of complicating things. They were already complicated enough. Maybe I should have stayed and listened to him; we might have shared another kiss or two. We might be dancing together right now. Maybe he would have introduced me to his other guests, and I'd have met someone who would offer me a job. Or maybe I could have talked about a job with him.
So many maybes if Nick hadn’t kissed me. If Olivia hadn’t stopped by and the kiss had been mutual, things would have been different.
“What you want is Nick,” Amy said.
“Why would you think I want Nick?” I sounded defensive, but I hated it when Amy read my mind.
“When Olivia Newton showed up, you freaked.”
“How do you know her last name?”
"There's only one Olivia I know who is rich enough to be there. Oliva Newton. The Italian supermodel."
"Oh...it was her. I knew she looked familiar."
"He dumped a supermodel for you? Wow! You must have impressed him."
"No, she must have kicked his tail so bad he was too ashamed to be seen as a loser, or maybe he just wanted to prove he can get any woman he wanted without her. I’m not sure what type of sick game he was playing, but he’s had his fun and I won’t be part of it.”
"So, you’re not going to kiss him again?”
“No, I won’t,” I said emphatically. “You need to drop this.”
“Sure, I will, but don’t you have to return his necklace to him?”
"Dreading it, but yes,” I said. Even to my own ears, my lie was evident. I did want to see Mr. Rich again and was glad I hadn’t returned the necklace. It gave me a good reason to see him again.
“So we’ll take it back.”
“We?” I asked.
“Yes, we. I don’t want him to kiss you again without your explicit permission.” She had a faint smile on her face that told me she was mocking me. “And if my plan works out, he will be begging to kiss you every minute.”
"What are you planning, Amy? Don’t get me in trouble again.”
"I won't get you in trouble, Sara. I promise. But let me do the planning, okay?”
I nodded. What choice did I have? Whatever Amy wanted, Amy got!
NICK
Nick sat in his office looking out the window. It had been two weeks since the ball, and he had resisted every urge to call Sara and apologize to her, which was the decent thing to do, but his pride was such that he could not do it. That was one of the things he hated about being rich. Pride! He took so much pride in all he did that apologies were out of character for him. Sometimes he hated himself for that weakness, but most times, it worked to his favor. It worked well when he wanted to get a woman in bed - women loved his shrewdness and arrogance. But that wasn’t going to work on Sara. So far, she had proven to be a tough catch, a different ball game. His pride helped him excel in business since he knew how to keep going even when others quit and gave up. His pride was what kept him hanging onto the last thread of hope for the preservation when the family thought all was lost. He knew a lot about pride, but so did Sara, apparently.
He was restless, his mind focused on Sara and that curvy body of hers, his work neglected. He sat there for hours, drinking coffee and nibbling on the orange banana scones his secretary had brought in, his body aching for Sara. He glanced at his phone and saw a missed call from the phone number that was dear to him, Sara’s. She had tried to contact him, but he hadn’t been sure how to respond to her call and had let it got to his voicemail. He knew she was calling to return the necklace, but he didn’t want her to do that just yet. If she kept it, she would have something that linked them.
A knock at his door interrupted his thoughts. "Yes," he answered absentmindedly. The door opened and his sister walked in. "Hi, Zia," he said, not too excited to see her when he saw the pile of papers in her hands.
Zia’s main interests were numbers and business. Nick appreciated her and all she did, but he was in no mood to talk business. He wanted to send her on her way with the least suspicious reason. If she found out what had happened at the ball, she would give him a lesson on how to treat women. Zia had already told him a million times he needed to treat women better, but she knew his inner pride sometimes made it hard for him to distinguish what was right and what was primal.
"I have the final numbers," Zia said as she pulled up a chair across the desk from him.
"Sure," Nick mumbled.
"So, after tallying all our donations and proceeds from the auction, we actually met and exceeded our budget." She was excited, and Nick didn’t want to kill her joy.
"Good job, sis. If anyone can do things, you can. Over-achiever!"
"Whatever, you know I'm good," Zia said. "And I thought we'd outgrown that teasing."
"You mean over-achiever?" he asked, smiling.
"Yes, that one," Zia pouted.
"Well, little sis, I get to decide when I stop messing with you.”
"Whatever, Nick. Anyways, I've been meaning to ask you a question about the night of the ball.” Nick's smile was replaced by a small frown that deepened by the second. "Not trying to meddle with your affairs, but Grandma told me about this girl you were talking to.”
"What girl?" Nick asked, pondering whether to tell her how much he really liked Sara. Zia was territorial, and he often wondered what she would do when he got married? Move in with him and his spouse? She’d made it her duty to protect him since they were kids and she had never let go of that responsibility.
"Some curvy chick she said she liked. And you know Grandma doesn’t like most of your girlfriends, so I assume this one is good.”
"Maybe."
"And Diane told me the girl left early."
Nick looked at her, the frown deepening even more, creases appearing on his forehead and lips. "Zia, you know better than to discuss my business with the staff."
"I wasn't discussing you. Diane felt I should know that one of our guests left unhappy."
"One of my guests, not yours."
"You know very well what I mean. One of your guests, fine. So you made some lady, your guest, cry and go home. What did you do to her, take her ‘candy?’” She put air quotes around candy.
"Not yet, Zia.” Nick giggled a little at her inappropriate joke. “But I don't want to discuss her."
"Ok, don’t tell me,” Zia said, her eyes widening as she rose from the chair and walked around to Nick. She sat on his table so he could not escape her. “She is the one!”
"Zia, you’re jumping to conclusions. Haven’t you learned not to listen to Grandma?”
“No, and she did have a point. You really like this girl. Sara, right?”
“There’s nothing going on between us. Drop the topic. You’re going to spread a rumor about something that doesn’t exist.”
“Me, spread a rumor? The entire staff saw you kiss her and watched her leave a few minutes later. You won’t admit this girl has you whipped!”
"Zia, you need to leave my office. We can continue this meeting later. I'm going for a walk."
“That won’t make your problem go away,” Zia chuckled.
“Trust me, it’ll make my little sister go away for now,” he said. He smirked at her and left her sitting on his desk.
"Please take my messages. I'm going for a walk," Nick said as he passed Bev,
his secretary.
Just then the phone rang. "Mr. Saunders," Bev called before he disappeared around the corner. "You have a phone call. A Sara Nolles."
He stopped as if he were thinking about it. "Take a message. I’ll call her back when I can.”
He was being rude, but he was not ready to face Sara again, not so soon. With other women, he was never nervous about seeing them again. They worshipped the ground he walked on. Sara, on the other hand, hardly cared about his money or riches. She had demonstrated that by trying to return the necklace and walking out on him and his money just because he kissed her.
He had regretted the kiss since his lips touched hers. Not because he didn’t want to kiss her. He did, and so badly, but after that moment of tenderness, when he had taken her mouth with his, he had realized that he could never kiss another like that. His father had told him years ago that he knew his mother was his soulmate based on their first kiss. And Nick knew Sara was special to him, and he had to convince her of that.
He walked past his security and elevators, and walked out the sliding glass doors of the main building. The air was crisp, a beautiful fall day. He breathed in the air, allowing it to hit his lungs gently and calm his nerves. He sometimes wished he practiced yoga. It would have helped him to relax.
He weaved through the streets of New York City like a pro. On days like this when he needed to escape his office and couldn’t get home, he imagined New York City thousands of years ago with land fertile and undeveloped. He imagined his forefathers, who would have wandered the forest, foraging for food, providing for their families, and protecting their mates. They would have been totally unaware of the changes that were to come thousands of year later. He imagined if he and Sara had been alive then, they would have found each other and become one.
The sound of a car’s horn directed loudly at him made him stop. He had lost track while walking, letting thoughts of Sara cloud his mind so much that he was almost run over by a car. He had wandered into oncoming traffic without thinking.
“Watch where the fuck you’re going!” the taxi driver yelled at him.
“Sorry,” Nick said as he stepped out of the way. The taxi simply sped off. Nick cursed at himself but kept walking, careful to pay a little more attention to his surroundings. He was heading for his favorite park where he always found peace. It wasn’t the fanciest park and nor was it secluded, but he could see the zoo and feel a connection to nature. The park wouldn’t be busy today. It was never busy on Tuesdays, which was great. He could relax without too much distraction.
He turned right and started walking toward the familiar route of the park. Once in a while, when he needed to clear his head, he would come out to the park to run during lunch, but today wasn't a day he wanted to run. He usually kept his running gear in the office for easy access. But today, he just wanted to blend in. He simply wanted to walk and see what other people were doing.
The park was crowded with children running, playing ball, swinging, and sliding. He sat at one corner of the playground, mindlessly observing people. There weren't too many men in the park, but there were a lot of women chasing after children.
His thoughts went to Sara, who would make a good mother. She had the curves for it. She would make a good mother to the sons and daughters they’d bear, just like his mom had been.
Nick thought of his two younger brothers, Michael and Ian, who he hadn't seen in years. When their parents had died in a car accident, leaving the family business to the children to manage, their lives had changed. Michael had taken off to Europe. He claimed he wanted to explore the world and live wild for a few years. Nick was jealous of him. He wanted to explore the world too, but he and Zia had inherited the overseeing of the day-to-day operations of the family company because they had heads for numbers, according to his parents. He never asked what his brothers were good at; he had simply assumed the role.
Ian had moved to California a few months ago, signing off on the business as well. He had moved in with his girlfriend and they didn't hear much from him. This was good as far as he was concerned. Ian had trouble written all over him, and years ago, when they were one big family, Ian had always caused trouble. When he announced he was moving out of town, Nick could not have been happier. Granted, some days it was hard to run the family business with just the help of Zia and the occasional meddling of their grandmother, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
He found an empty bench and sat on it in a position that allowed him to watch the kids. The children seemed excited to be playing. He smiled as he watched a young boy, no more than three or four, holding a girl and giving her a hug as they flew down a slide. Even kids knew how to express love, something he admitted to himself he didn’t know. The girl said something to the boy and he kissed her quickly on the cheek – an innocent, playful kiss. He was jealous of them. The girl had not run off the way Sara had, and she and the boy were now playing in the sand. Maybe if he had asked Sara’s permission, she would have let him kiss her. But he doubted it. She was going to be hard to get.
But the feeling that she was his soulmate was getting stronger by the day, and if he didn’t want to be more messed up than he was, he had to get close to her. Offer her something, something she couldn’t refuse. But the first thing he had to do was find her and talk to her.
SARA
I stood at the main entrance of Saunders Empire, wondering how I got there. The night before, Amy had convinced me to go to Nick Saunders’s office and talk to him, to return the necklace and confront him for kissing me. She had opted at the last minute not to go with me in order to “control herself.” I didn’t ask her what she meant, but knowing Amy’s knack for causing problems, I was relieved she had decided not to go with me.
“Don’t let him push you around,” she giggled. “Come back in one piece.”
Amy had used the word push to make fun of me. Left to her, she would have gladly gone back for more pushing from Nick. Like she’d said to me right before she left, "Who wouldn't want to be kissed by a billionaire?” Apparently I'm the only girl on earth who didn't want some stranger shoving his tongue down my throat. Billionaire or not.
As I debated whether to go in and demand to see him, some lady brushed past me. She looked very familiar; actually, she looked exactly like Nick, except she was the female version of him. This was the famous twin Amy had alluded to. The resemblance between her and Nick was too apparent to be missed.
She walked a few steps ahead of me. She was tall with dark, bouncy, black hair and heading for the entrance when she turned around to face me. "I know you from somewhere," she informed me, walking back. "Are you coming in?"
"Yes," I replied.
"Come on then," she said as she walked through the door, which had been held open for her. I followed her closely.
“Thanks. Are you Nick's sister?" Once the words left my mouth, I regretted speaking. I had called him Nick like I knew him well. The way his name rolled off my tongue, no one would have known that the only interaction the two of us had shared so far was a kiss I had been an unwilling participant in.
She stopped in the middle of the reception area and turned around. She didn’t answer my question, but she looked at me from head to toe as if assessing me. "So you’re a friend of my brother’s?” she asked. “Interesting.”
The way she said it made me self-conscious. I probably wasn't what she was used to seeing when compared to Nick's fleet of mega-rich brats and bitch girlfriends, aka sluts. Maybe I wasn't skinny enough or maybe I wasn’t slutty enough. I looked down at my clothes. Yes, second-hand clothes, even though nice, hardly made a good impression on a billionaire princess.
"Not really," I said. “Well, sort of.”
"And you're here to see him?"
"Yes."
She looked at me a little longer, like she was trying to determine what to do when a look of recognition flashed over her face as she walked to the elevator. "I'll take you to my brother," she said, getting into the elevator and ho
lding it open for me.
I scrambled in, noting that the elevator was fancier than the best hotels I'd ever been to. I could smell her perfume – a fruity, exotic scent that had probably been made for her.
"So, where did you meet my brother?" she asked casually as she pressed the button to the penthouse once the door of the elevator closed.
I glanced at the penthouse button and all sorts of naughty things crossed my mind before I remembered that I was simply here to return a necklace to Mr. Rich.
"We met…ah...at the ball," I answered, and again, I regretted my words. She would have been at the ball and that ball was supposed to be for guests they already knew. I didn’t want to get Nick in trouble, though I doubted anyone could ever do that. I hoped she assumed I had come with someone else and happened to meet him.
"You must be Sara Nolles," she said flatly, but I saw a mischievous smile curve her face. "I can see why my brother likes you.”
I wanted to refute the idea that Nick liked me, but Zia didn’t look like she was in the mood to talk too much, and besides, she didn’t look like someone I wanted to argue with. She would probably win.
"He doesn't really know me..." I began, but I was cut off by the ding of the elevator. We had arrived at the penthouse. She entered a security access code since the elevator needed one to let us out and into the penthouse. She put her thumb on a screen to confirm her identity.
I watched silently, trying not to get too excited. All that separated Nick and me was a fancy elevator. Why do Nick and his sister need high security access? I assumed they had grown so rich they’d probably made enemies along the way, people like Olivia who probably stalked Nick. Or maybe I was letting my imagination run wild again and the security access was just to restrict unauthorized access to their company’s sensitive materials. That made more sense than Olivia stalking Nick at the office. That was more hilarious, though. I chuckled to myself. Nick’s sister turned to look at me, and I quickly pretended I was straightening my skirt suit.