Nick seemed happy with how the meeting was going, and that made me happier than anything the men around the table could possibly say.
“Are you getting any sort of payment for doing this?” one of the men asked. I didn’t know his name, but I didn’t bother asking for it, either. They clearly didn’t care much about my name, or even about me as a person. They just wanted to make sure I would keep Nick on a tight leash.
“I don’t think that’s really any of your business,” I said tersely. “ All you need to know is that I am helping out a trusted friend in his time of need and as an employee myself, I will do whatever is needed to ensure the security of the company.”
The man gave a wry smile but said nothing.
“Are you satisfied, gentlemen?” Nick asked, taking over. “Is this woman worthy of your demands?”
“Don’t be a child, Mr. Brantley,” Maxwell said condescendingly. “You know we have everyone’s best interest at heart here, and we’re doing this to make sure the company thrives.”
“I’m sure you are,” Nick replied dryly. “But that didn’t answer my question. Does Liz satisfy your demands?”
“She does,” Maxwell said. “I think she’s going to keep an eye on you better than any of us can especially since she’s known you as long as she claims to. I’m sure she’s aware of the trouble you can get yourself into. I trust that she will help keep you out of it. And her vested interest in the company helps as well. I think you’ve made a good choice. But I will reiterate that there will be no second chances. If you fail, we walk and take our money with us.”
“No second chances needed,” Nick said with a grin. “It was great to see you all again, and I hope you have a great rest of your day. I trust that we’re going to be able to continue working together, and this is going to be the best thing for all of us.”
“I hope so as well, on behalf of all who are involved,” Mr. Maxwell said. He looked at me as he spoke, but he covered it by glancing around the room as he rose from his chair. I was relieved they were leaving. I didn’t like the group, and I felt sorry for Nick for having to deal with them.
“This needs to be done as soon as possible,” Mr. Maxwell said when he reached the door. I noticed Nick left my side to shake hands with the men as they left. “I’m not going to let you stop just because you are close to holding up your end of the bargain. You need to make it official as soon as you feasibly can.”
“It’s going to be in the news soon. Keep your eyes out for that,” Nick said with a smirk. “Trust me; the entire world is going to be blown away when they pull out their papers.”
“I’ll be in touch with you personally to check in,” Mr. Maxwell said. He turned to the other men in the room. “I’m sure the rest of you are going to want updates, and we’ll be stopping in for another meeting soon.”
“Get in touch with my secretary and set up the day and the time,” Nick said with a smile. “I’m sure you know what my schedule is like by now.”
“We’ll be in touch,” Mr. Maxwell said again. He shook hands with Nick and walked out, followed by the rest of the group. Nick was professional, shaking each one’s hand and wishing them a good rest of their day, though I could see in his face he was relieved when the last of the men had left.
“Charming bunch,” I commented, and he sighed.
“They are more than a little bit of a headache, but I’m glad they are all for our arrangement,” he said as he pinched the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb. “I was worried they were going to try to be more involved in the process, and I wasn’t going to put up with that.”
“I’m surprised you’re putting up with any of this,” I said with a small smile. “I mean, to think that they can tell you to go get married, and you do it, that’s huge.”
“I need the money, but I’m not going to lie. It’s not actually going to be a hardship to pretend to be engaged to you,” he said with a smirk.
I shook my head, unable to hide the smile.
“What’s this?” I asked, walking over to the table. There was a pile of papers that had been spread about, and we both reached for the same one at the same time. Our hands brushed against each other, and immediately, it was more than either of us could handle.
In an instant, Nick’s hand was around the back of my neck, and our mouths were pressed tightly together. I was glad the door to the office was closed, but I still wondered what anyone would say if they were to knock on the door and find the two of us disheveled.
I couldn’t help myself for a few moments, letting myself give into the lust and passion that coursed through my veins. I couldn’t get enough of him. We were like two teenagers again, unable to keep our hands off each other. His hands were all over me, and mine were doing their fair share of exploring.
There was a part of me that wanted to straddle him right there in his office, but at the last moment before the clothes started coming off, I pulled back.
“We can’t do this here!” I hissed.
“Why? We’re pretty much engaged now,” he said with a grin. “And it feels so damn good.”
“We’re at work, and you know what we talked about,” I said. “I don’t care if we are married, we’re going to stay professional while we’re at work.”
“I’m sure we will,” he said with a grin. I felt the heat rush to my cheeks, and once more I fantasized about what it would be like to be bent over his table. In an instant, however, I got control over myself once more and fixed my hair.
“I’ve got to get back to work,” I said quickly. I turned and walked out of the room, fixing my hair with my hands as I did so. I couldn’t stop the racing of my heart, and I was still flustered from the kiss, but there was another part of me that felt on edge.
This was a lot for me to process, and I was doing my best, but it was going to take some time before I felt comfortable with the situation. I knew I had to give myself that time, and I had to figure out what I really wanted, too.
We were getting married, after all, then I’d be his wife.
Chapter 12
Nick
Saturday morning the news of our engagement finally hit the newsstands. One call to a particularly gossipy acquaintance of mine was all it took. Of course, I wasn’t sure what we were going to do about the wedding just yet, but I knew it would satisfy Mr. Maxwell to hear of the engagement.
At least, it should get him off my back for a while.
I read through the story that the paper ran, and I had to admit, I was pretty impressed with how they pulled the whole thing together. There was a part of me that wanted to believe it was all real, though I knew I still had to be careful of talking that way around Liz.
She was great about everything, but there was also no denying that she was trying to keep a level of distance between us, too. I wasn’t sure why she was doing that, or what she was truly feeling. There was no way that she didn’t have some kind of feelings for me; not with the way her body responded to mine. But I wasn’t sure if it was just lust or something more.
But, whenever I brought up the emotional side of our situation, she was quick to shut it all down. Perhaps she was worried about what her brother would think or perhaps she really didn’t have feelings for me like that anymore.
Whatever it was, I was still bothered by it. I couldn’t deny that I was catching more and more feelings for her, and with the engagement now out for all the world to see, I knew without a doubt that I cared for her more than I should.
Soon after the story broke, the text messages and emails started pouring in. I knew my changed status as an eligible bachelor would create a stir in both the business and social world, but the sheer volume of responses it had created was a little mind-boggling. People really needed to get lives of their own.
And even though I knew it would be big news nationally, I still had to admit I wasn’t entirely prepared when I got the phone call from Liz’s parents. I wasn’t sure how they were going to react, but I knew it wouldn’t be a good
idea to miss their call. They were as important to me as they were to Liz and David.
“Hello?”
“You’re engaged!” it was her mother.
“Hey Lisa,” I said with a laugh.
“We just read it in the paper!” it was her father’s voice coming through the phone now, and I realized I must be talking to them both on speaker.
“I know,” I said. “I read it earlier, too, but I’ve got to explain.”
“That would be a good idea son,” Mr. Robertson chimed in.
They sat silently on the other end of the line as I told them about the investors and how I had to find a wife in a month, or they were going to pull their funding from my company. Finally, I wrapped it up.
“So I asked Liz, since she and I have known each other for so long, and I thought she would be the best person for the job,” I told them.
“She is, you’ve got that right,” Lisa said.
“Are you sure there’s nothing really going on between the two of you?” her father asked.
I was surprised to hear that he sounded disappointed, though also strangely emboldened by it.
“I’m sure,” I said.
“Well, keep us in the loop, if something changes, then we want to be the first to know,” Lisa replied. “I’m disappointed that this isn’t real, I’ll tell you that much. I always thought the two of you would be good together.”
I laughed, feelings bubbling up in my chest. “Liz is great; I can tell you that. And I’d be lucky to have her if I were what she wanted.”
We chatted for a few more minutes before I hung up the phone. I missed the Robertsons, and I hoped they would make the trip to New York one of these days and see us. It would be good to see them after all these years, and I would love to show them both how well I was doing with the company.
After hanging up the phone, I wanted to call Liz and see how her own day was going. I was sure a lot of people back home would be shocked to hear the news, and I wondered if they would reach out to her as much as they were reaching out to me.
She answered on the first ring.
“Yes, my phone has been blowing up with all this!” she said with a laugh. “I can’t believe that so many people still have my number – and care that I’m engaged!”
“Did your parents call?” I asked.
“Not yet,” she said.
“They called me,” I told her.
“What did you tell them?” she asked quickly.
“The same thing we told your brother,” I replied nonchalantly. “They were actually rather disappointed about the whole thing.”
“They would be,” she said with a sigh. “My mother is convinced that I should get married soon. She wants grandkids.”
“Why don’t they go to your brother for that? He’s older,” I said with a laugh.
“I think she’s just always really liked you. I don’t know,” she said with frustration ringing through her tone. I knew how overbearing Lisa could be, and I was sure it was one of those things her daughter really didn’t know how to handle.
After all, the two were getting old, and neither of their children had any kind of serious relationship going. Of course, marrying me would have given Lisa what she wanted for her daughter, but it just wasn’t going to happen that way.
“Well, enough about all that. Do you think we should go out tonight and celebrate the engagement?” I asked.
“Sure” she said. “Let’s ask David if he wants to join.”
“I’m sure she’s going to want to bring Candice,” I told her. “From the sounds of things, the two of them have been spending a lot of time together.”
“Tell me about it,” Liz said. “He doesn’t bring her over here, but I’ve heard plenty of it through the grapevine at work. Not to mention the fact he’s not here that much these days.”
“It’ll be fun anyway,” I said. “We’ll grab dinner and a few drinks. Make a party out of the whole thing.”
“Sounds fun,” she said. “Pick me up around five?”
“It’s a date.”
I had to admit; there was a part of me that was surprised to hear David liked Candice as much as he did. Though the girl had been employed at my company for a couple of years, I never really gotten along with her if I spent any significant time around her. She was good at her job, but kind of a pain in the ass otherwise.
I hadn’t wanted to say anything to David about it when he started dating the girl, but I always thought she was too flirty toward me. Of course, I couldn’t tell him that. I didn’t want him to think he was going to have to compete, or that anything had happened between the two of us in the past.
She had just been a little too touchy. Too nice at times. She loved to lean forward, revealing her cleavage any chance she got. I hoped it would have all changed about her when she started dating David, but it didn’t take long on our double date for me to see that she was just like she’d always been.
David and Candice sat on one side of the table, while I sat on the other with Liz. I wasn’t sure if Candice knew the truth about the situation I had going on with Liz, but the fact of the matter was, she was with David now, and she was still shamelessly flirting with me.
It started out subtle, and I refused to acknowledge what she was doing. But it got worse. I could see Liz noticing, too. If David noticed, he wasn’t letting on that he did, though I got the impression he was doing his best to get her to turn her attention on him, and not as much on me.
If she were less blatant about it, it wouldn’t have nearly been so awkward, but by the time the two of them left for the night, I knew Liz had had enough.
“Well, that was an adventure,” I said.
“If you want to call it that,” she replied tartly.
“Did you have fun? It was hard to tell over how much Candice was talking. There were a couple of times I wanted to tell her to come up for air so someone else could get a word in edgewise,” I said.
“I noticed she had a lot to say to you,” Liz replied, still with the same attitude.
I laughed.
“If I didn’t know any better, I might think you were a little jealous of what went down tonight,” I teased her. I watched her carefully for a reaction. I knew she was jealous, and I shamelessly enjoyed that fact. It made me feel good to think of her as being territorial over me, even if we weren’t a real couple.
She had to be feeling things much deeper than what she was letting on if she was having that response to the situation.
Then again, she might not like the girl because she was taking up so much of David’s time. She and her brother had been close forever, and now David was spending most of his time with this girl he also worked with. Or it could be that she didn’t like seeing the girl her brother was clearly into flirting with another man right in front of him. The two of them had always been protective of one another.
On the way home, I couldn’t help but bring it up to her again. “Admit it; you were a little jealous.”
“No, not at all,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t care who she talks to. Or you either, for that matter.”
“No,” I agreed, “But you do care about how she talks to me, don’t you?”
Liz was silent on the other side of the car, and I laughed. “Come on, you can say it. You were jealous of the way Candice was flirting with me.”
I had to press her for a while longer, but she was going to cave. I could see it in her face. I was reading her like a book, and I knew I was right. She could try to tell me – and herself – something different, but we both knew that I was right.
Finally, she snapped. “Alright, yes! I was jealous. A little. Not a lot, but a little! I don’t think she should be acting that way around you when she’s with my brother, and you have a fiancé!”
I laughed again. I could see how pissed off Liz was, and it felt even better knowing she was jealous over me. It wasn’t just a business arrangement for her after all.
We pulled up in front of her apartme
nt, and I grinned at her. She gave me a look, and I leaned over, putting my mouth right against her ear. “But she doesn’t have an ass sent straight out of heaven, and I don’t want to fuck her brains out, either.”
Liz looked at me, speechless. I laughed as she got out of the car, then I winked at her before I drove off. She lingered on the sidewalk, watching me drive up the road. I knew I left her full of want, stirring in her a new need for me. It wasn’t going to be long before I had her again, I knew that without a doubt in my mind.
I’d have her under me, my cock deep inside her. And tonight, I’d be thinking about that as I climbed into bed.
Chapter 13
Liz
I got to work in the cab, as normal, but I didn’t want to get out. I wished David had come home the night before and we could have gotten to work together, but he had spent the night with Candice once more, and I had to get there myself. I tried to act natural, but I didn’t want to deal with the chaos that was unfolding in front of me alone.
There were dozens of reporters swarming around the front of the building. I would be safe when I got inside, but I didn’t want to deal with them on my way through the door.
They were so full of questions, and many of those questions I didn’t have answers for. The number one they kept throwing at me was how the most eligible bachelor in New York City had chosen me.
What was so amazing about me to reel him in like that? Why did he want me? As if I wasn’t worthy of him. It was intimidating and irritating all at the same time.
They wanted to know about my past, my life. What was I like? Where did I go to school? Where did I come from? The questions were thrown at me all at once, with all the microphones shoved in my face, or with recorders or notebooks being used.
It was overwhelming, and I wasn’t used to that kind of attention. I felt like the entire world had turned its attention to me, and I was supposed to be the next greatest thing. I was supposed to have the answers, and I was supposed to step into the role of being a celebrity.
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