by Various
"Oh, God no. Don't even say that. No! I am not sick. I just didn't sleep well, there’s a lot to do for this darn event and—" I pause and take a sip of my now cold coffee.
"Yeah, I heard Mr. Daddy's Boy is babysitting you and Julie. Heard he is drop dead gorgeous, though!" She smirks at me.
Rolling my eyes at her I say, "Leave me alone now, please.”
She walks out laughing and leaves me staring at my plan book.
"Okay, girlfriend. I am so good!" Julie flounces in and plops into one of the two chairs in front of my desk. She is extremely pleased with herself.
"We all know how good you are, my dear. Please tell, what did you do this time?" I fail to sound serious. Slowly, I am waking up; the coffee must be starting its lift.
"I, yes, little 'ole me, have found not only the Amaryllis we need, but have just confirmed that the marketing package is at the printers as we speak!"
"That is great news! Well done, Julie!" That’s a load off. Now it’s just a matter of logistics to get this event off the ground.
"Sooo." Julie eyes me speculatively. "Aren't you going to tell me more about Mr. Daddy's Boy? All you said this morning was that you got the reservation straightened out."
Oh, that. I had hoped she wouldn't ask. "Nothing to tell really, he watched my interaction with Gary and told me he didn't think he was needed, and that was that."
"Really? That's all? Nothing else." Julie is sitting in the chair, arms crossed, eyes narrow. What the heck, why is she even asking about this?
"Well, I asked him what he did to get the honor of babysitting us," I say nonchalantly.
Julie stands up in a rush, jaw open, "Oh, my God. You didn't? What did he say?"
"He didn't answer, but he did say that his aunt was a bit, how did he put it, oh yeah, tightly drawn." I smile as I let that tidbit of information go.
"His aunt? Tightly drawn? Who talks like that? Mrs. Foster is his aunt?" She looks horrified.
"Yeah, Reade, Foster and Cole are Mr. Cole and his two sisters, who knew? Ryan, I did get him to use his first name with me, is their nephew. We need to do a better job on background research with our clients.”
"Huh. Well, that explains a lot. I’m sure it’s in the file. Oh yeah, I think David mentioned that their family relationship isn’t really common knowledge. They think it’s better for client relations to not be related, or something like that." Julie looks distracted as she wanders back to the door. "I’d love to get out of here early tonight. I’ve got a hot date.” She says right before leaving.
It is suddenly quiet so I look around my office and start pulling files out, running through lists in my head.
The phone jars me out of my reverie. I pick up. "Nora Young."
"Hello, Nora Young." The voice on the other end is smooth and deep and inviting. A shiver runs up and down the length of my spine. I know this voice, it’s the same voice as my sexy stranger; I just know it is.
"Well, Mr. Ryan Cole. I wondered if your babysitting duties extended to today's working hours." I am suddenly buoyant.
Laughter from the handset reaches my ears. I smile.
"Yes, well, the babysitting duties do, in fact, extend to today's working hours, however, I have these pesky things called clients, and quite frankly, they don't give a rat's ass about my aunt's annual function." Wow, he sounds so different on the phone, so self depreciating, a welcome change from yesterday.
"Ah, so you’re checking up on us via telephone, then?" I hear the smile in my voice that I can't hide.
"Yes, in truth, I would love to come over there and check you out in person."
At that, my stomach clenches.
"But this will have to do for now." He continues, bringing me down a little.
Good God, Nora! Get a grip. This is getting out of hand.
"So, you want an update, then?" I lower my voice, trying to sound less like a schoolgirl and more like a businesswoman.
"Yes, please." I can still hear the humor coming over the hand set. I give him the update on where we are, the marketing package, the dreaded flowers, and the major tasks for the next few days.
"Okay, then." He's all business now. "Sounds like you have things covered there. How about we meet again on Thursday afternoon. I know Mrs. Foster will want an update by then, too."
A stab of disappointment runs through me. I am so disgusted with myself, and now I’m beginning to feel disloyal to Darren.
"Sounds good. Thursday, two p.m., then?" I put on my best business voice now.
"Great, see you then." He pauses. "Oh, and Nora."
"Yeah?" My heartbeat quickens and my voice shoots back up an octave.
"I had a good time with you last night. Even if you are a cheap date and can't handle your liquor."
What? A wave of sensation washes over my entire body and I have tunnel vision. Before I can respond, he hangs up.
I am left dumbfounded holding the headset.
Great time? Cheap date? Wait, am I a cheap date, or was that a cheap date?
Was that a date?
CHAPTER SIX
Julie sets down my fourth double latte of the morning. I stand, for the first time in over an hour, and start pacing around my office. It feels good to move around, so I roll my shoulders and stretch my neck. The neck stretch almost knocks me off my balance. Steadying myself against the wall, I wonder if the high heels were a mistake.
"Jeez Nora, are you sure you’re alright? You can barely walk around your office!" Julie scrutinizes me carefully.
I feel her gaze on me and I know she wants the scoop. After that ridiculous phone call yesterday, I have thought of nothing but Mr. Ryan Cole. I know I’m acting like a teenager, but I can’t stop myself. I even had an erotic dream about him last night. Good thing I don’t have to face him until tomorrow. I cringe as a ripple of pleasure courses through my body.
"I didn’t sleep well last night. And then I had some strange dreams.” I shudder, hoping she will think they were nightmares.
She picks up my coffee and hands it to me. "Well, drink this. Mr. Cole, Ryan, just called. He needs to come over for a meeting. He wants an update."
My insides cave. Fuck! Ryan? Here? Right now? What happened to ‘see you on Thursday’?
"Great. Thanks for the heads up." A mixture of dread and excitement turn my stomach. I take the last sip of my latte and hand her the empty cup. "Keep these coming! I’m tired, overwhelmed, and way over caffeinated, but we can do this!"
She grins, accepts the cup, and turns to leave. "Good thing you have your power suit on, Nora. Heels and everything. Good call this morning. It's nice to see you accentuate your height. It really works for you!"
I’m momentarily speechless. No one has ever complemented me on my height before. I am often the tallest in the room, sometimes even in a room full of men. I love high heels, but with Darren’s feelings on the line, I have learned to go without.
~~~~~~~~
Last minute make-up check complete, I've done everything I can. I may not be 100%, but it's everything I have. Fully caffeinated, adrenaline coursing through my veins, I am as awake as I'll ever be. With the make-up almost hiding the dark circles and bags, I just might pull this off.
Ryan walks in the conference room scowling. Lovely. He crosses the room briskly and sits without removing his topcoat. Placing his briefcase on the table, he snaps it open and pulls out the plan book and room schematics.
I glance at Julie who sits waiting, impassive. Okay, here goes nothing.
"Hello, Mr. Cole. How are you doing today?” I start.
"Yeah, fine. Blah blah blah. I'd like to get this done as quickly as possible. I have clients to attend to." He speaks without even looking up. What happened to fun Ryan? I feel myself bristling and sit up straighter. There is no way this could be the same man from the club. Ryan Cole is cold, rude and wound up like a top. I feel stupid for even wanting him to be the same man.
"Well yes, by all means, let's move pleasantries and manners aside and get str
aight to work!" I clip.
I hear a slight gasp from Julie, but I refuse to look at her. This man has got to be stopped. How dare he come in and treat us this way? He called this meeting, not us.
"Right, then," I hear Ryan say, but I’m not looking at him. I am pulling out the summary I typed up. With an extra copy in hand for him, I stand.
"Mr. Cole, here is an updated summary of where we are. I wrote this about ten minutes ago, so it is as up to date as we can get. Maybe you would like to review this, first." I walk across the room, but just before I get close enough to hand it to him, he stands abruptly.
We are eye to eye, only about three inches between us. I smell soap coming off his skin. His eyes are dark chocolate this morning; they seem to go on forever. He reaches out and slowly takes the summary from me, brushing his hand slowly across mine. An involuntary gasp comes out of me. Damn.
His eyes widen in surprise, and I see a small smile play across his lips. Double damn.
Holding the paper, but not taking it from my hand he says, "My apologies, Miss Young. I didn’t mean to be rude. I only meant to hurry the meeting along." Somewhere in my fogged brain I hear a small voice telling me to move away from him and go back to my chair.
Responding a little too late, and I walk back to my chair without saying anything. I’m desperately tying to compose myself and try to breathe. By the time I reach my chair, my brain has regained its speaking capabilities.
"Apology accepted, Mr. Cole. Now, since you were the one to call this meeting, is there anything specific you needed reassurance on?"
I steal a glance at Julie while he is reading the summary. She is ashen, her jaw still open. I glare at her and she recovers. She looks down and shakes her head and then smiles up at me with a wicked I-know-what-you-dreamt-about smile. I am so doomed.
"As you know, Mrs. Foster is concerned about the place looking its best. Flowers and what have you. Paper pads with logos on them, et cetera. Is all that confirmed?”
"Yes." Julie pipes up.
"And have you had any more issues with the hotel management trying to move our room reservations around?"
"No. That seems to be resolved as well." I jump in on that one.
"There is one more thing that we neglected to add to the festivities," he says, looking away from both us.
Oh, no. They want to add something with less than a week to go.
"Oh?" I ask, trying to sound calm.
"Yes, well, we forgot about the corporate gift. Actually, we had an internal debate about it. There were some who felt that it was unnecessary, and I guess those who felt that it was necessary have won the debate. Only just. So, yes, I need to add a corporate gift to the to-do list." Ryan looks pained as he says this.
I am guessing that he was heavily in the unnecessary side of the debate.
"Okay." I breathe out. "Did you have something in mind?"
There are loads of wonderful corporate gift ideas out there, but nothing that will work within our time frame. I’m trying hard not to panic.
"Yes, in fact, I do." Ryan sits up and pulls something out of his briefcase. "This is a monogramed pen and mini notepad set. I made some calls this morning, and I believe we can get this ordered and shipped out in time." He starts to pass the paper across the table.
Again, the table is too large to reach across. He notices this and somewhat awkwardly starts to get up. Oh, maybe he thought I walked over there to flirt with him?
I watch as he moves across the table, and to my shock, he sits down next to me. Be still my heart. I can deal with all these confusing emotions across the table, but now I feel the heat rising from his skin as he sits next to me.
"Here are the company details. And my notes." He leans closer, showing me the papers. Suddenly, my brain is completely empty.
I feel his gaze on me. "Did you have a late night, Miss Young? You look a little tired." As he speaks, I hear the humor in his voice.
Rage spikes though me. He is laughing at me, damn him. Rage is good, it fuels my brain, and now I am on fire again.
"Mr. Cole, I am a little tired, thanks for asking. Nothing for you to worry about, this project is my top priority," I say, icily shifting in my chair to face him.
I feel his surprise as he jerks back, the smile fading from his mouth.
He waits a beat, giving me a searching look. I gaze back at him, hopefully with an impassive look on my face.
I pick up the order forms and the notes. "I'll get right on this." Flipping through the notes, I notice that there is no employee list attached. I hand the order form over to Julie, without looking at her; I can't take what ever expression is on her face right now, I am doing everything I can to hold my own with Ryan so close.
"Do you have a list of all the employees who will receive one? First and last names? We need all of that as soon as possible." I turn and look up at him. He is staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes are flashing, possibly with some salacious thought? I’m not sure, but whatever he’s thinking, it’s not about the corporate gift.
Without taking his eyes from mine, he leans in and says, "I will have that for you shortly." My mouth goes dry and my heart rate spikes. This effect he has on me is baffling. With each little word he speaks, tingles run down my spine, landing in my belly. I can barely breathe.
"Well, I'd better get started." Julie breaks our spell and I let out a deep breath.
"Was there anything else you needed, Mr. Cole?" I ask, trying to appear devoid of emotion.
He looks rather sheepish as he stands, straightening his topcoat. "Um. No. I think that about covers it."
"If you don't mind, I'll get started working on this right away." Julie bolts for the door. I glare at her, pleading for her to stay. She doesn't even look back, or say goodbye. She practically runs to the door and is gone before I can respond.
I turn back to face Ryan. Our distraction is gone, but the spell now seems to be broken as he moves back toward his briefcase.
"I am sure we will meet on this again, Miss Young." He snaps his briefcase shut and looks up at me. No more sheepish boy look, no more wickedness in his eye. Just Mr. Professional.
"Yes, of course." Exhaustion seeps back into my bones.
He stops and looks back at me flashing that salacious smile of his, "You look great in those heels, Young. You should wear them more often."
My mouth drops open. Before my brain function returns he is out the door and down the hall. Stunned, I watch him until he disappears. What was that? I sink back into the chair. I’m going to need another coffee to make it through the rest of this day. What little reserves I had are now depleted. My stomach aches, my heart is leaping around, and somewhere deep inside of me, is an awakening, something I have never felt before.
~~~~~~~~
The text comes in from Darren as I’m leaving the office, 'Here. Where r u?'
Crap. Crap. Hurriedly, I text back 'Running late. On my way now.'
I rush to the car; my frazzled nerves are over stimulated by my obscene consumption of caffeine. Exhaustion, confusion, and a quagmire of emotions clash around my body. I feel knocked around and the exhaustion resonates deep in my bones. I want nothing more than to simply go home by myself, take a hot bath, and go straight to bed tonight.
While driving home, memories of the other night flood my brain. Could Darren and I ever get that passionate? I mean, without sex toys obviously, but would he take me dancing and let go like that? Would he even want me to dance with him that way?
I meant to send Darren a text or call him or something. I hadn't had a second all day. Guiltily, I realize that I have had thoughts of Ryan Cole reeling around in my brain. Ryan’s smile comes rushing back to me, causing my stomach to flip. More guilt seeps into my system. My phone buzzes once again.
'Waiting at ur door. Where r u? :( '
Oh lovely. Now he's mad. Just what I need right now. Well, excuse me for having a busy day at work.
As I step off the elevator, I see
him pacing in front of the door. Taking a deep breath, I start damage control.
"Hi there. Sorry I'm late. Crazy day at the office. How come you didn't use your key?"
Rushing down the hall, I don’t think about my shoes until I lean down to kiss him and realize that I am towering over him. Damn these shoes! As I reach toward the lock with the keys, he steps to the side to let me pass. When I open the door, I can feel him seething behind me.
"I see you’re wearing your heels," he says, coldly, as we enter my apartment.
Quickly, I slip them off. "I know, what a mistake. I thought they would help me get through this God awful day. But man, my feet hurt."
He breezes past me heading towards the kitchen. "I've told you time and time again to throw those away. They’re not good for your feet. You look awful in them. They just look so uncomfortable."
I freeze, astonished. Did he just say that? I’m pretty sure I should be royally offended. Darren and his damned insecurities! So you’re shorter than me; get over it, already. I laugh at the thought of actually saying that out loud. Like that would ever happen!
"So. How was your day?" I want the mood to get better fast.
"Great,” he says sharply, while he starts busying himself in the kitchen.
I head down the hall to change. “Good. I'll be right out."
I want to try and bring up the other night again, but obviously now is not the time. I’m thinking I over reached with the sex toy and hope that talking about it will work better. I am a bundle of nerves, excited about the possibility of bringing that kind of passion into our relationship, but I’m just not sure what the best way is to bring up dancing like that with a stranger. I’ll have to wait and see if his mood gets better.
We’re finally sitting down to dinner and I still haven’t mentioned it, memories of the condom fiasco fresh in my mind. The food is delicious, Chicken Piccata, my favorite, with steamed carrots and a tossed salad. Darren seems to have forgotten about my dreaded entrance, and my insides start to relax for the first time all day.