Engaged (Challenge series, #2)

by Kiru Taye

  No...She’s engaged?

  His heart dropped into his churning stomach. With a frown on his face, he glanced back up to her face. Their gazes met. Her brown eyes glittered with cold humour, her lips in a haughty smile confirming his fear.

  The impact was like a full body blow—painful and crushing. It was unexpected. Something he hadn’t planned for. Cornered, he had to retreat and think. Pushing back his chair, he stood up.

  “Please excuse me for a minute. I’ll give you some time to enjoy the refreshments and settle in. We’ll start the meeting in about five minutes.”

  “No problem, Paul. I’m rather enjoying these cinnamon rolls,” Charles said, before taking a sip of his coffee.

  Paul nodded to Charles. Without giving Ijay another glance he walked out of his office choosing to walk to the gents down the hallway near the lifts. He needed the walk and the distance from Ijay to clear his head. Luckily when he got in, there was no one in the cubicles. He paced the floor, confused, his face scrunched in a frown.

  When did Ijay get engaged? How did it happen so soon? They’d been together only six months ago. Yes, he hadn’t called her in that time. He’d been bidding his time waiting for the right opportunity. Perhaps he was a tad arrogant to still expect her to be single.

  But this? An engagement?

  When did she meet someone new? He’d known she’d been on the rebound that night. She’d confessed to him that she’d been dating Frederick before his fellow LBS alumni had broken off their relationship to get engaged to someone else. She’d been in love with Frederick. Was she still in love with him? Ijay couldn’t possibly be engaged to Frederick, could she? Frederick was due to marry another woman soon.

  When has that stopped anyone before?

  He paused from pacing and scrubbed his head roughly. It’s true. Marriage wasn’t sacred to people these days. He read all the time about couple getting married and divorcing in very short timescales, about people breaking their vows with infidelity. All he had to do was drive past magazine vendors and he could read the headline splashed on gossip rags. He didn’t even have to look too far away to see it happen. In fact he was born and bred in the bedrock of adultery. His father was never faithful to one woman.

  Was that what Ijay was doing? Was she seeing Frederick again? She couldn’t have met someone else and become engaged in such a short time. Surely, it had to be Frederick.

  Letting out a low growl, he gripped the corners of a sink tightly as his vision became clouded in red. Jealousy pulsed through his mind. Hate made his body tremble with rage. He despised cheaters. He’d witnessed the ugly consequences of cheating. He’d seen the results first hand and had borne the brunt of it.

  How could he sit back and let two people he knew live such a lie? He wasn’t going to let it happen. He wasn’t going to let Ijay marry Frederick. If Frederick had cheated on his fiancée with Ijay, then nothing stopped him from doing so to Ijay when someone else came along. Moreover he’d thought a woman like Ijay would be wiser and know not to get involved with someone who was already engaged regardless of her feelings.

  What would happen in six months time when Frederick met another girl and dumped Ijay? Would she end up in a bar picking up another man for a one-night stand? He disliked the idea even more than he disliked the idea of Ijay marrying Frederick. Those two couldn’t possibly be healthy for each other if they kept jumping in and out of a relationship.

  Disgust clogged his throat. He wanted to scrub its bitterness off his tongue. Scrub the crazy notion of Ijay and Frederick together off his mind.

  What kind of infatuation made a person blind to the realities of life?

  He shook his head. No. He had to stop it from going ahead. He looked up at the mirror, watching his chest rise and fall as he panted. He was going to carry on with his seduction plan. This time the objective had changed slightly. He was going to save Ijay and Frederick from themselves. An engagement ring on her finger wasn’t going to deter him.

  Happy with his decision, he washed his hands, dried it patiently before striding out of the gents. This time his steps were more relaxed and confident, his mind calmer and with purpose.

  “Right. Where were we?” he said when he returned to his office. His guests turned around. He could feel Ijay’s gaze heating his body. He ignored her for a moment, smiling at Charles instead. He wanted to be face to face with her when he met her gaze. He needed her to understand the unspoken messages in his eyes.

  “We’re ready for you now. Thank you for the breakfast,” Charles said as he wiped his hands with a wet wipe.

  “Don’t mention it. It wouldn’t be African hospitality if we didn’t fill our guests with food and drink,” Paul asserted. He strode to the table, pulled his chair out and sat down. “As this is an informal meeting, I hope you don’t mind if I take this off.” Leisurely, he undid his tie and pulled it off his collar. The sound of silk sliding against cotton resonated in the room.

  “No, no. Go right ahead. In fact, I think I’ll join you,” Charles laughed and proceeded to fiddle with his tie. “After all, when in Rome, I have to behave like the Romans. Or should I say, when in Abuja.”

  Paul chuckled. His affable friend was full of English humour. He focused on the woman sitting next to his old Uni mate. Meeting Ijay’s gaze, Paul saw her chest rise sharply as she held her breath. He tidied his collar with one hand and undid his top button. On the other hand, he dangled the tip of the tie over the table, letting it trail over it for a few seconds.

  When Ijay’s high cheeks darkened in a blush, he rolled up the tie on his hand and purposefully placed it on the table midway between Ijay and him. He liked the idea that she could reach out and touch it. Mostly, it was to let her know that she’d feel it against her skin soon.

  Her worried gaze flicked to the tie on the table and she bit her lower lip. She looked back up at him, her brown eyes querulous. He loved to see the fire in her eyes. Raising his brow, he flicked his eyes to the tie and winked at her. Her eyes widened immediately in astonishment.

  Get ready, sweet Ijay. We’re not done yet. You’ll wear my bond again.

  Smiling pleasantly, Paul turned his attention to Charles as Pamela took her seat beside him.

  “Right. Now that we’re all refreshed, let’s get started so that you can get back to your hotel early and get some rest,” he said, silently relishing the fierce look Ijay was giving him. “I want to start by saying I’m thoroughly looking forward to working with Havers and Child on this POD venture. It’s been six months in the making and I know the next six weeks will realise our dreams.” He smiled inwardly as he saw Ijay’s nose flare out in response to his insinuations. She understood his meanings. He knew it.

  We’re going to have a great time, sweet Ijay. So much more than you know.

  Chapter Nine

  Sonia: So how are you getting on?

  Ijay let out a slow sigh as she tried a to get a true handle on how she felt. She was having a Skype chat with Sonia. The last few days had been tense on her nerves. A critical project, new work environment and the biggest source of distraction—Paul—were all contributing to keep her on her toes. She didn’t really want to unload all that onto her friend. She didn’t want to come across as if she wasn’t coping well. Sonia would be supportive, but she’d ask too many questions that Ijay wasn’t ready to answer. She replied choosing her words carefully.

  Ijay: Not too bad. Charles is on the flight back to London this morning. I have a meeting with Paul later to discuss the plans for when we visit the factory. Overall it’s been good. Abuja is hot and I’m adjusting to it slowly. It’s great that everywhere is air-conditioned though.

  Sonia: Yes, I’ve arranged for a car to pick Charles up from the airport. How are things with Paul?

  Ijay: Things are professional at the moment. She typed in a rush. She’d hit the enter button before she realised her mistake.

  Sonia: At the moment? You expect things to become unprofessional later?  She added a frowning face ava
tar.

  Ijay: No, of course not.

  Ijay: Well it’s just that something happened on the first day. Paul did some things that made me think he wanted to get personal. Nothing’s happened since and he’s been very professional for the past two days.

  Sonia: That’s good. You may have read things into his actions because you were already apprehensive about seeing him again. Don’t worry. You’re there to work, nothing else and he knows it.

  Ijay: You’re right. I should stop worrying. He’s not a big bad wolf about to gobble me up.

  A warm shiver ran through Ijay straight to her core. Perhaps thinking about Paul as the big bad wolf wasn’t the best idea if she didn’t want to get personal with him.

  Sonia: LOL @ Big bad wolf.

  Sonia: How are things with Vincent?

  Ijay: I don’t know.  I haven’t spoken to him since the day I arrived. We’ve exchanged text messages. That’s all. He’s been busy with work I guess. I’m hoping we can catch up over the weekend.

  She really was trying hard not to get worried about Vincent. Considering all the fuss he made before she left London, she’d been expecting him to be more enthusiastic about speaking to her daily.

  Sonia: Well, I wouldn’t worry about it. When you were in London you were hardly speaking to him every minute. So it’s hardly going to change now that you’re in Abuja.

  Ijay: True. Still, I’d really like a little bit more attention from him. He was the one who was concerned about me being here.

  “Especially since I’m here on my own with Paul,” she said out loud. Luckily, there was no one around to hear her reflective words. Being in Abuja with Paul made her feel more sensitive. Vulnerable. She just needed the daily reassurance from Vincent. Was that too much to ask?

  The meeting reminder on her laptop popped up. She had a meeting with Paul in ten minutes.

  Ijay: Anyway, you’re right. There’s probably nothing to worry about. I have to go now. We’ll chat again soon.

  Sonia: Cool. Don’t forget to let me know if there are any hot men working in the POD offices. You know I’m relying on you to hook me up, girl. 

  Ijay chuckled. No worries, girl. Later. 

  She glanced at her watch and shut down her Skype connection. The teams met daily for updates and plans as she got acquainted with the project. Now that Charles had returned to London, the meeting would be between just her and Paul.

  It would be the first time they were alone since that night. The apprehensive knots in her stomach tightened. She took calming breaths. There was nothing to worry about. Maybe the tie thing was just to test her out. He’d seen her engagement ring. And he’d kept things professional since. He wouldn’t be change things now, would he?

  She picked up the items she needed for the meeting and walked to Pamela’s desk with a smile fixed her face.

  “Hi Pamela, is Paul ready to see me now?”

  “Yes, you can go straight through,” Pamela replied with a smile.

  “Thank you,” Ijay answered. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

  “Come in,” the timbre of Paul’s voice vibrated through her body. Would she ever get used to hearing his voice?

  She pushed the door open and walked in. Paul sat on the sofa, leaning back. Today, he was in a sky blue cotton shirt and charcoal trousers. His shirt sleeves were rolled up his arms showing off hard toned arms. She remembered the feel of them against her body when he’d held her. She’d felt desirable. Beautiful. Sexy.

  Ijay, focus!

  Fighting the nervousness in her stomach with another deep breath, she walked to the sofa and sat opposite Paul. He looked up from the file he was reading. Unhurriedly, his lips lifted in an appealing smile, his onyx eyes gleaming delightfully. Thud. Her heart rammed into her chest.

  “Hi, Paul,” she managed to choke out, covering her mouth with her hand as she coughed out the lump in her throat.

  “Hi, Ijay,” he said and straightened in his seat. “Did you get to read the market research report?” He lifted the report in his hand.

  “Yes, I did.” She nodded, taking the report out of the plastic folder in her pile of paperwork.

  “Good. I’d like to discuss it this morning. Before that, I wanted to let you know we’ll be going down to the factory next week. We’ll be in Enugu for three days. Will that be okay?”

  “Sure. That’s no problem.” In the three days she’d worked closely with Paul, she’d come to appreciate his attitude. He was direct, dedicated, and open to new ideas. He never wasted time getting to the crux of an issue or dealing with it. He was a natural leader.

  “All right. Now, let’s walk through the report,” he said.

  Once they started discussing the items in the report, Ijay relaxed. The nervous tension in her shoulders eased off, her heart rate settling to a near normal rate. This was her job and she was very good at it. Otherwise she wouldn’t be here. Regardless of what was going on in her personal life, she loved her job. It was her strength. She could do it with flair. Without panicking.

  As they chatted, she identified the areas she thought they needed to focus their marketing efforts on based on the report summary. She also highlighted what she saw as the brand strengths and unique selling points.

  Paul listened to her attentively. He maintained eye contact when necessary, his expression always encouraging as his gaze flicked from the report in his hand to her. Though her body registered his presence with an underlying buzzing sensation, it wasn’t overwhelming or distracting.

  Perhaps because Paul was in business mode, she felt at ease. He nodded when he agreed with her ideas. When he had a query, his facial features creased in a frown, parallel lines appearing on his forehead. He asked questions. She answered, confidently. At the end, they also agreed a plan of action for the next week and things to focus on while they were down at the factory.

  Feeling positive that working with Paul would work out just fine, she packed her things to leave his office. Perhaps she’d allowed her vivid imagination to run wild the first day at his office. He didn’t really want anything more from her than for her to deliver the PR project for POD.

  “Let’s have dinner tonight.”

  Ijay’s heart thudded in her chest, her hands frozen mid-air with her notepad and paper documents hanging precariously. His resolute words were unexpected, his deep voice husky with emotion.

  “Pardon?” she choked out, her forehead screwed up in a frown. Was she imagining things again, perchance? Her gaze flicked up to meet his. The challenging spark from the other day was back in the vigour of his black eyes.

  “You do eat dinner, don’t you?” he returned with a lopsided grin. Was he mocking her?

  Her frown deepened, the nervous knot in her stomach revisiting. She lowered her notepad to her lap. “Yes, but—“

  “I’ll pick you up from your hotel at 7pm.”

  Her grip on her notepad tightened in annoyance. How could he say it like it was a foregone conclusion? She hadn’t agreed, yet. “Paul, I don’t think going out to dinner with you is a good idea.”

  “Perhaps, but we need to talk. If you’d rather we did it in your hotel room?” he raised his eyebrow, his eyes sparkling with a sardonic glint. He was certainly mocking her now. The two of them in a hotel room was definitely not a good idea.

  “No!” she shouted. She closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. She opened her eyes and met Paul’s determined gaze with resolution. She wouldn’t allow him to ruffle her. Too much was at stake. “Dinner will be fine. I’ll be ready at seven,” she said coolly.

  He nodded. “I’ll see you later.”

  Glancing away, she calmly picked up her things and walked out of his office. She walked briskly to the ladies. Once the door shut behind her, she leaned against the wall and she blew out a deep shaky breath. This thing with Paul was doing her head in.

  So he hadn’t worn his tie since that first day. Neither had he said anything overtly. His insistence that they talk over din
ner might be innocuous. He had something up his sleeves. She could swear it.

  To think that he’d pulled that stunt with his tie. He knew what effect it would have on her. He’d been taunting her. Punishing her. But, for what?

  She shook her head. She didn’t know Paul’s motive. She’d been hoping that he’d say something—anything—so they could finally talk properly. She couldn’t confront him directly. He was a business client. She had to keep things professional on her end at all times.

  She wasn’t happy about meeting him for dinner. It was bad enough being alone in the office with him. Working with him so far had been purely business. So that wasn’t a problem. However, a restaurant, despite the other diners, would be intimate and personal. She couldn’t guarantee his behaviour or hers for that matter.

  Still...what was the alternative? Him in her hotel room?

  No way! That was so wrong on several counts. Warmth spread through her body, heating her cheeks and settling low in her belly, her nipples hardening painfully. Hugging her body, she groaned out loud at her body’s shameless response to being in a hotel room with Paul. How was she supposed to acquire the strength to resist Paul if her body kept responding so blatantly?

  The way she felt right now, if she was left in a room with him alone, and a bed within easy reach, she could be the one pouncing on him. Her body was so wound up from the pent up tension of not having any sex for over six months. It hadn’t been so bad when she was in London. Yet in the three days in Abuja, she’d turned into a walking mass of hormones.

  “Oh, Vincent! Just one night with you would have saved me from all this stress.”

  Saying his name out loud made her cheeks sting with mortification. She was engaged. Her traditional wedding was in a few weeks. Yet the memory of another man’s touch was affecting her in a way no other man has. Even her soon-to-be husband. She really had to get a grip.