“Oh. Very sexy. I love it. You’ll need to wear your hair up. I have the perfect hairstyle that will look fabulous on you.”
“Thanks for coming on such short notice. I appreciate it.”
“No problem, sweetheart. Now sit down in the chair and let me work my magic.” He smiled.
After Jose pinned up my hair, he applied my makeup.
“All finished.” He grinned.
I looked at the time. It was four fifty. Nathan was going to be here in ten minutes. Getting up from the chair, I slipped into my short black dress and put on my stiletto black heels. Looking into the full-length mirror, I smiled.
“You look amazing, Fiona. Every man at that business conference is going to be wondering what you have on under that sexy dress.”
“Thanks, Jose. As always, you’ve outdone yourself.”
The doorbell rang and I still needed to find some jewelry to wear.
“That’s Nathan. Can you go let him in and tell him I’ll be down in a minute.”
****
Nathan
The door opened and instead of Fiona standing there, there was some tanned-looking guy with his black hair pulled back into a ponytail.
“You must be Nathan.” He stuck out his hand.
“Yes. And you are?” I raised my brow.
“Jose. Hair and makeup artist extraordinaire.” He smiled.
“Nice to meet you.” I shook his hand and stepped inside.
“Fiona said she’ll be down in a minute.”
Placing my hands in my pants pockets, I strode into the living room. As soon as I heard the clicking of heels coming down the stairs, I turned around, and instantly, my heart stopped beating.
“You look stunning.” I smiled.
“Thank you. So do you.” She smiled back.
Okay. This was a good sign. I didn’t sense an attitude from her. Jose followed her down with his suitcase in hand and gave her a light hug.
“Have fun at the ball, princess,” he spoke.
“Thank you, Jose. I will.”
“Are you ready?” I asked.
“I am.” She nodded.
I held out my arm to her and she dismissed it and walked ahead of me. Rolling my eyes, I sighed. Maybe the attitude I sensed was gone wasn’t. I climbed in the limo on the other side of her and offered her a glass of wine. She was gorgeous and my cock was misbehaving like a kid in a toy store. I couldn’t help but stare at her long slender legs as she crossed them, remembering what it was like when they were tightly wrapped around my waist multiple times.
She took the glass from my hands and took a sip, leaving a perfect lip print on the rim. Fuck. I wanted her so badly right here and right now.
“Lydia called and told me that Will invited her to come along tonight. He felt maybe she could drum up some business.”
“Yeah. He told me,” I spoke. “It seems the two of them have really hit it off.”
“Yep. She really likes him and he really likes her. That’s what he told her. It’s amazing how two people can get along when they express how they feel for each other. I mean, they haven’t known each other that long.”
“No, they haven’t.” I stirred uncomfortably in my seat.
“It must have been an instant connection,” she spoke.
I needed to change the subject and quick. She was itching to start something by saying what she did.
“Did you get the labels off to the printers?” I asked.
“Yes. They’ll be ready in a couple of days as well as the bottles. They’re being shipped out to Linden and as soon as he gets them, he said he’ll bottle up each brand and send it to me for approval.”
“Great. I can’t wait to see how they look.”
“Me either.”
As soon as we arrived at the Beverly Hills Hotel, I climbed out of the car and opened the door for Fiona before Jason had a chance to. Holding out my hand to her, she surprisingly took it and I helped her from the car. There was no way I was letting this night end without her in my bed. No way in hell.
Chapter 44
Fiona
Grabbing a glass of champagne from the tray, I saw Will and Lydia across the room.
“OMG, you’re gorgeous.” Lydia smiled as we hugged. “Damn, Jose did your hair and makeup perfectly.”
“Thank you. You look gorgeous as well.”
“Hello, Fiona.” Will smiled as he kissed my cheek.
“Hi, Will. It’s nice to see you again.”
Nathan walked over and placed his hand on the small of my back. I stiffened at the soft touch of his fingers. Fingers that made my body explode every time he touched me.
“Oh look, it’s Bryce and his wife. Oh, and Bryce’s wife is talking to his mistress. Interesting. I think a proper hello is in order.” I smiled.
“Fiona, don’t.” Nathan lightly grabbed hold of my arm.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be nice.” I winked as I walked in their direction and Nathan followed.
“Trudy, Celia. Hi.” I gave the biggest fake award-winning smile ever.
“Fiona. You look pretty.” Celia smiled.
“Nice to see you, Fiona.” Trudy hugged me. “It’s been way too long. I’m so sorry about your father.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“I was shocked to hear that you turned down the promotion Bryce gave you.”
Bryce walked up behind his wife and Celia with a frightened look upon his face.
“Fiona.” He smiled.
“Hello, Bryce. It’s so good to see you.” I lightly hugged him. “Your wife was just telling me how shocked she was that I turned down the promotion you gave me.”
“Umm. Yes. She was.” He glared at me as my lips curved upwards. “I told her that you were a great loss to the company and I’d wished you would reconsider, but then your father passed away and you took over his company. By the way, how’s that going for you?”
“It’s going great. Actually, I do have some business to discuss with you, so would you mind?” I cocked my head and gave him a look, telling him he had no choice.
“No. Not at all. Trudy, we’ll be right back,” he spoke.
“No worries, darling.” She smiled.
I led Bryce a few feet away from his wife and mistress and Nathan followed behind. I could see the look of worry across his face.
“What do you want to discuss?” Bryce asked in irritation.
“I want you to pay for Lydia’s insurance for the next eighteen months.”
“What? You’re crazy.”
“I’m crazy? You have both your mistress and wife here. Gee, Bryce, that’s really risky. I would hate for something to slip out of my mouth to Trudy about how I was passed up for the promotion and Celia got it because you’re fucking her.”
“Fiona,” Nathan spoke.
“Stay out of it, Nathan. This doesn’t concern you.”
“You wouldn’t dare. Because if you did, I would destroy you.”
I let out a light laugh. “You would destroy me? No, darling, I would destroy you. By the way, does Celia know about your little hotel visits with Samantha from the finance department?”
He looked around. “How the fuck do you know about that?” he spoke through gritted teeth.
“Just because I no longer work for your pathetic company doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on.” I smiled devilishly. “Poor Trudy. If only she knew what her husband was doing during and after business hours. Seems to me like you’ve dug yourself a grave, Bryce.”
“Fine. I’ll pay for Lydia’s insurance, but she cannot tell anyone. If word got out that I was doing that for her, then everyone I laid off would want it too and they could sue me.”
“You’re such a sweet guy for doing that for Lydia and her baby.” I placed my hand on his chest. “She’ll be so happy and I know she’ll promise not to say a word about it. You can trust both of us, Bryce.” I winked. “Enjoy the conference.” I walked away and Nathan followed.
“I’ve got
to hand it to you, Fiona. You never cease to amaze me. How did you know about the other girl?”
“I had Josh do some stalking after Bryce fired Lydia.” I smiled.
He just shook his head as he kicked back his drink. He went off to talk to some business friends of his and I went off to do some mingling and business talk of my own. It was a great evening so far and I was happy I decided to attend. I talked a lot about Fiona Rose Wine and even got some interested prospects who were excited to jump on board. I was doing this and I was proud of myself. I ended up speaking with James Henderson. He worked for a handbag company and I was in charge of their marketing. We had worked closely together and he was always flirting with me, trying to get me to go out with him, even though he was engaged to be married. Douchebag.
“It’s good to see you again, Fiona.” He smiled.
“Nice to see you too, James. How are you?”
He shrugged. “I’m okay. Wendy and I broke off the engagement and broke up. It just wasn’t working out.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I’m not.” He grinned. “So.” He lightly ran his finger up my arm. “How about going out for a drink?”
“We already have our drinks.” I held up my glass as I pulled my arm away.
“You know what I mean.” His fingers stroked my cheek.
“No, actually, I don’t, James, and I really think you need to stop touching me like that.”
“Come on, Fiona. I know you were always into me. The only reason you declined my advances was because of Wendy.”
“Not true, James. I declined your advances because I wasn’t into you.”
“One night with me and I can promise you’d be into me.” He smirked as he placed his hand on top of mine and I pulled away.
“Sorry, James. But it’s a no. I’m not dating anyone right now and that’s how I like it.”
“So what are you doing for sex? Wait, I bet you get yourself off every night. Am I right? That is so sexy.”
“Good bye, James.”
As I began to walk away, he grabbed my arm with force and yanked me back to him.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I snapped at him.
“I want you, Fiona. I bet you like it rough.” He smiled.
“Let go of me.” I tried to get out from his tight grip.
“Get your fucking hand off of her now!” Nathan yelled as he threw a punch at him and sent him to the ground. “Come near her again and you won’t live to see another day!” he spoke through gritted teeth as he reached down and grabbed hold of his shirt.
“Are you okay?” He looked at me as the crowd of people stood there staring at us.
“I’m fine!” I huffed as I stormed out of the hotel.
“What is your problem?!” he shouted as he followed me outside.
“I don’t need you to save me, Nathan! I could have handled him myself!” I climbed into the back of the limo.
“Yeah. It really looked like you were handling it.” He slid in next to me.
“You caused a scene in there in front of everyone!”
“He caused the scene when he grabbed you like that! Nobody, and I mean nobody, touches you that way.” He pointed his finger at me.
“Maybe I liked it! You may be part owner of my company, but you do not own me!”
He sat there in a rage, shaking his head while staring out the window.
“You liked it, eh?” he mumbled.
I didn’t speak another word the whole way home. I was furious with him for doing what he did. As soon as Jason pulled to the curb of my condo, I opened the door and got out as fast as I could. Fumbling in my purse for my keys, I unlocked the door and before I knew it, Nathan grabbed hold of my arm and pushed me inside, shutting the door behind him.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“You liked it? Is that what you want?” He grabbed my wrists with one hand and pinned me up against the wall, shoving his hand up my dress and pushing my panties to the side while his mouth devoured my neck.
“Nathan,” I spoke breathlessly.
His fingers dipped inside me with force and I let out a low moan. I couldn’t stop him. He was too strong. I didn’t want to stop him.
“Tell me to stop and I will.” He stared into my eyes as his fingers moved inside me. “Do you want me to stop, Fiona?”
There was something in his eyes that bothered me. It wasn’t rage but sadness. It was almost as if he was begging me not to tell him no.
“No. I don’t want you to stop.”
His mouth smashed into mine as our kiss deepened and our tongues once again welcomed each other with joy. My body tightened as the wave of an orgasm hit, leaving me gasping for air and wanting to collapse to the ground. Nathan let go of my wrists and brought my arms down and then picked me up and carried me upstairs, where he slowly took off my dress and panties. Kneeling down, his mouth explored my lower half as my hands raked through his hair. He stood up and quickly stripped out of his clothes while I pulled back the sheets and climbed into bed. He hovered over me, his lips gently touching mine before traveling to each breast, sucking and nipping seductively at my nipples. I felt no greater pleasure than when I was with him.
I let out a gasp and tilted my head back as he thrust into me, burying every inch of his rock hard cock deep inside. His low moans of satisfaction excited me. There was something different about the way he made love to me. He was slow and gentle as if he was savoring every stroke. His fingers interlaced with mine and he brought them over my head as my body released another orgasm. The soft subtle moans that escaped my lips held him in place as he came inside me.
“I’m sorry, Fiona,” he whispered as he buried his face into the side of my neck.
“For what?”
He didn’t speak a word as he climbed off of me and rolled onto his back.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I stroked his chest.
“I’m okay.” He looked at me and brushed my hair away from my face.
I needed to use the bathroom, so I got up and told him that I’d be right back. A funny feeling crept up inside me. I couldn’t explain exactly what it was. As soon as I was finished, I walked back to the bedroom and he was gone. Putting on my robe and walking downstairs, I went into the kitchen to see if maybe he went to get a drink of water and he wasn’t there. Looking out the window, the limo was nowhere to be seen. He was gone, and in that moment, I felt like I had died. For the first time in my life, I could feel the breaking of my heart. The physical pain was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. Tears started to fall down my face as I sat down on the couch and curled into a fetal position, holding on to the decorative pillow that sat next to me.
It felt like I had been crying for hours, when in fact, it had only been fifteen minutes. All kinds of thoughts raced through my head. The questions and no answers. Answers I desperately needed if I was going to make it through this. Getting up from the couch, I dried my eyes. My crying spell was done for now because I was angry. How dare he do this to me. Rage consumed me and gave me strength. I ran up the stairs to my room, went into the closet, and threw on a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. When I climbed into my car, I opened up the tracking app on my phone to see where he was. He was home and that was exactly where I was headed.
Chapter 45
Nathan
My biggest fear consumed me and that was the reason I left. I knew what I did would hurt her, and after what I had done, she’d never be able to forgive me and it would be the end of a friendship forever. I didn’t want to lose her, but I had to let her go. The fear that resided inside me was too strong for me to control.
I kicked back one drink after another, trying to drown my sorrows away. There was a loud knock at the door. When I opened it, Fiona was standing there, eyes red and swollen from the tears that I had caused her to cry. I should have expected this.
“How dare you!” She pushed me back and forced her way inside my home. “How dare you do what you did. Why,
Nathan?” she shouted.
I didn’t know what to say because she wouldn’t understand why I left. So I just stood there.
“Do you know how much you’ve hurt me? Or is it that you just don’t care? Is there one ounce of feeling in that heart of stone of yours?”
I couldn’t answer.
“ANSWER ME!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Seeing her like this broke me. I stood there, my fists clenched, battling the demons inside.
“I never want to see you again, Nathan Carter,” she spoke. “If you want my company, you can have it because I’m selling my shares and I’m moving as far away from this place as I can get. You have destroyed me and I’m not sure how long it’ll take for me to put myself back together. Maybe you don’t want to hear this, but I fell in love with you and I thought maybe you felt something for me too other than a good fuck. But I was wrong. Have a nice life, Nathan.” She stormed past me and headed for the door.
“You weren’t wrong!” I shouted to get her attention.
She stopped dead in her tracks, her back turned to me.
“I do feel something for you. Something so strong that it’s killing me! My father loved my mother so much and every day, even years after her death, I would see him sitting on the edge of his bed holding her picture and crying. Even after all the women who had come and gone out of his life, she was the one he couldn’t let go of. And it scares me. I’m scared to love you like that because if I do, I may lose you like my father lost my mother. I tried so hard to fight my feelings for you, but I couldn’t, and tonight, they became stronger than ever. I had to leave, Fiona, because I could already feel the pain of losing you.”
****
Fiona
I stood there and listened to him expel his deepest fears. A man who was always in control. A man who proudly held his head up high. A man who was confident in everything he did, and a man who had been broken inside since the day his mother died. He was scared and he was afraid to love because of loss.
I slowly turned around and watched him crumble before my eyes. The sadness and despair that crossed his face was something that I’d never forget. Could I deal with this? With him? His fears? His insecurities? Of course I could, because I loved him. I slowly walked over to where he was standing, looking down at the floor as if he was ashamed, and took his hands in mine.