“Of course you had to come,” Nora protested, hugging her again. “What about your internship?” she asked, pulling back.
Valerie shrugged. “It’s too late to get one now. I’ll just have to get one next year.”
“Stay here,” I announced.
Both women looked at me.
“What?” Nora asked.
“I’ll give you an internship at Ansoft. You can stay here with Nora.”
Valerie lurched to her feet. “What?”
Getting up from the couch, Nora came toward me. “Really?”
“Sure. We could use the help, and I’m sure you’d like having a friend here.”
It might make all the assholes whispering behind your back easier to bear.
“I can’t let you do this,” Nora said quietly, a meaningful look in her eyes.
Great. Did this count as some of her fantasy shit? “I didn’t ask for permission.”
Her blue eyes narrowed, and it made me a little excited.
“Oh, come on, Nor!” Valerie pouted, reminding me we weren’t alone. “If I don’t do this, I’ll never get a job after graduation.”
“It’s not a paid internship.” I cautioned. Just because I was paying Nora didn’t mean I had to pay Val, too. Besides, I was letting her stay in the condo.
“I don’t care!” Val insisted. Rushing over, she grabbed Nora’s hand. “Pleeease, Nor! Then I can stay here with you. Summer in Miami!”
“We’re here to work!” Nora exclaimed, sounding like the good girl I knew.
Val divided a look between me and her friend. “You must have worked really late last night.”
I laughed.
Nora snatched her hand away and glared.
Relenting, Valerie apologized. “I won’t say anything else about you two. I swear.”
Nora rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”
Valerie must have heard something I didn’t because she squealed and hugged her while bouncing up and down. Nora laughed. Then Valerie rushed over, throwing her arms around me for a hug. “Thank you! Thank you, Mr. Fantasy.”
“His name is Carter.” Nora scolded.
Valerie pulled back. “Right. Carter.”
“Mr. Anders at work.” I reminded her.
“Of course.” She agreed.
“You can start tomorrow.” I wondered what Bryan would say about this. Turning toward the bedroom once more, I declared, “I’m taking a shower.”
“Thank you, again!” Valerie yelled after me. “And I forgive you for looking better in white jeans than most women ever will!”
Nora made a choked sound, and I laughed.
I was tugging on my shirt when Nora let herself into the bedroom, pushing the door shut behind her. “Carter?”
“I’m right here.” I turned, a smile breaking over my face when I saw she was standing just inside the room with her hand over her eyes.
“You’ve already seen it.” I reminded her.
“That was different,” she explained. “That was the fantasy.”
Chuckling, I went to her, moving so close I knew she could feel my body heat. Tensing, she moved to take a step back, but I grasped her wrist, holding her in place.
“Are you naked?” she whispered.
“Why don’t you look and see?” I whispered back.
“I can’t!”
This girl was so amusing. “I can assure you I’m just as good in reality as I was in the fantasy.”
Her deeply indrawn breath was very satisfying.
Allowing my hips to guide, I went closer until my body brushed along hers. At first, she stiffened, but realizing I was fully dressed, the hand not covering her eyes shot out and patted my shoulder and chest, confirming I was wearing a shirt.
Two of the fingers covering her eyes shifted, and her blue irises peeked through.
“You have an odd sense of foreplay.”
“I thought you were taking a shower,” she said, exasperated.
“I’ll just shower at home. I have to change for the office anyway.”
“You’re leaving?”
“My apartment is on the top floor.”
Her eyes rounded. “You live in this building?”
“Did you think I would move you anywhere else?”
She blinked. I could see the wheels in her head going full speed. Leaning down, pressing my lips to her forehead, I murmured, “Stop overthinking.”
“Carter.” Her head fell back, lips drifting closed.
I kissed her briefly before pulling away. A small sound of protest vibrated the back of her throat.
“Wait for me. I’ll walk to work with you.”
“‘Kay.”
Right before I left the room, her arms wrapped around my waist from behind. Freezing at the unexpected embrace, I glanced down, watching her hands lock together while feeling her body press against mine.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely. “For what you’re doing for Val.”
“Just for Val?” I asked.
“For me, too.”
“You’re welcome,” I answered, gruff.
Valerie was in the kitchen, pouring a mug of coffee, when I left the bedroom and headed for the door. “Want some?” she offered.
“I’m going home to change for work.”
“I really appreciate what you’re doing.”
“It’s just an internship,” I replied, feeling awkward about all the thanks I was getting. Girls were emotional. And noisy.
“Not for me.”
Halting at her tone, I turned back.
“For Nora. Thank you for coming back for her.”
Is that what I’d done, come back for her?
“Alan messed her up for a while. Then she spent that night with you…” She stopped talking for a moment, clearing her throat. “Anyway, she deserves to be happy, and I think you could do that for her.”
Seeing her cell lying on the counter close by, I picked it up and handed it to her. She unlocked it and handed it back without another word. Quickly, I typed in my number, saving it to her contacts.
“Call me if you ever need anything. Or if Nora does.” Pausing, I added, “Especially Nora.”
Val gazed at me as if she were trying to solve an equation. “You like her, right?”
“Would I do all this if I didn’t?”
Shrugging a single shoulder, Val replied, “Maybe this is just some kind of game you rich boys like to play.”
“The only kind of games I play are the ones I create.”
“All right, then.” Val conceded, turning back to the coffee.
The front door was almost closed behind me when I felt it tug out of my grasp. Stopping in the hall, I turned back. Valerie was standing there, her eyes still red from crying.
“One more thing.” She smiled. “I might have let the man who harassed me off the hook, but don’t think I won’t come for you if you do her wrong.”
“Fair enough.” I shrugged.
I waited to smile until she shut the door. Having Valerie here might take some getting used to, but I was grateful Nora had an ally.
Nora
I was at my desk when the design team manager poked his head out his office door and yelled my name.
Everyone in the room looked at me with varying degrees of interest. Clearly, it wasn’t every day the manager bellowed for someone.
Standing up and smoothing out my skirt, I answered, “Yes?”
“CEO wants you in his office.”
The buzz of whispers and gasps of wonder nearly made me dizzy. “I’m sorry, what?” I asked, hoping I’d heard wrong.
“The CEO called down. He wants you to go to his office.”
A million responses formed on my tongue:
But why?
What in the world does he want now?
I told him not to talk to me at work!
He’s doing this on purpose!
I didn’t say any of those things. I was a pillar of respectability and composure, so naturally, all I replie
d with was, “Yes, sir.”
The second our manager disappeared inside his office, I was swarmed.
“Why’d he call for you?”
“I’ve never been up to the top floor.”
“Did you know Mr. Anders before coming to work here?”
“What did you do wrong?”
Tucking my cell into the pocket of my skirt (seriously, pockets in skirts are the best!) and slipping around my curious co-workers, I started for the elevator.
“She’s totally sleeping with him,” one of the women whispered as I walked away.
My abrupt turn startled the gossipers, and they all glanced up. “My personal life is none of your concern,” I stated coolly. “And since this is an office and we are within working hours, I would assume that whatever it is the CEO wants is work related.”
Composed and respectable Nora – 1
Nosy, loose-lipped Molly – 0
PS: Her name isn’t actually Molly.
“Of course.” Jerry quickly agreed, taking in everyone else standing around, including the women wanting to know about the state of my sex life. “I’m sure she will tell us the work-related news when she comes back. Everyone back to work.”
Suppressing an eye roll, I went on my way.
Fuming the entire way up to the top floor, I practiced exactly what I was going to say to Carter and how I would march confidently into his office the second I stepped out of this box.
Ding! The doors slid open to reveal a very modern, sparkling executive floor. All my bravado must have stayed with loose-lipped Molly, because the I walked carefully across the lobby while gazing at the giant Ansoft sign behind the large counter.
The assistants looked up. Both had their hair pulled back and both wore a headset.
Seeing me, their eyes widened and they stood.
“Ms. Williams,” the one on the right greeted. “Mr. Anders is waiting for you.” Using her arm, she directed me as if we were on some tour of the White House instead of heading down the hall where my boyfriend sat.
Wait. He is not my boyfriend.
A man in a black suit with a black dress shirt beneath stood outside Carter’s closed office door. I recognized him as one of the men with Carter when he’d met me in the downstairs lobby.
He was just standing there, hands clasped in front of him, staring at the wall. My God, he must be bored out of his mind! Is that what he does all day long?
“Hello,” I said, giving him a little wave.
Startled, his eyes slid to me, and I smiled bigger.
“I like your suit. Black is a good color on you.”
He looked like a deer caught in a pair of headlights, eyes round and expression blank yet slightly panicked. Putting a fist to his lips, he cleared his throat. “Good morning, ma’am.”
“Nora.” I corrected.
The assistant made a noise, reminding me she was there. Glancing at her, I noted her displeasure that I was talking to this man. What a stodgy tour guide.
“The CEO is waiting,” she prompted, as though I were farting around out here and not following along behind her.
“I’ll just go in.” I started forward, but she clotheslined me.
Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic. It’s not like I fell, but I could have!
Gasping a little, I stared at her. “Didn’t you just tell me to hurry up?”
“I’ll need to make sure he’s ready for you,” she retorted, prim.
She had to be in her late twenties, but she was acting like a sixty-year-old grump.
Some of my composure was beginning to slip. People were seriously testing me today. “I’m pretty sure he’s ready since he’s the one who called for me.”
The security guard snickered, which made the assistant bristle, shooting him a dirty look. Instantly, the snicker turned into a cough.
She turned away to rap on the door twice. The guard winked at me.
Opening the door so only she could walk through, she made sure I was stuck behind her. “Ms. Williams is here,” she announced.
“Carter, why did you call me up here if I was going to have to jump through all these hoops to get in the door?” I yelled around the woman.
Deep laughter rolled through the office. At my side, the security guard snickered some more.
“Let her in, Meghan,” Carter’s smooth voice directed.
Meghan turned, giving me a full smirk. My eyes narrowed. Marching past her, I gave Carter a look. It was a good intimidating one, because he called the assistant back.
“Yes, Mr. Anders?” she replied sweetly, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye.
Oh, so before, it was CEO, and now it was Mr. Anders, was it? Someone was trying to prove hierarchy with the boss here.
“Whenever Ms. Williams comes up here to see me, there’s no need to escort her. She can come and go as she pleases.”
Meghan’s red-painted lips dropped.
Glee rang through me.
“But, Mr.—”
“That will be all.” He dismissed her swiftly.
Meghan turned to leave, shooting daggers at me the second her back was turned to the boss. I smiled sweetly, resisting the urge to stick my tongue out.
The second the door latched behind her, I dropped the smile. “Just what do you think you’re doing calling me up here like this?” Planting my fists on my hips, I scowled.
Damn, he looked good sitting behind his desk. The sun was at his back, making him look like some kind of dark angel, and the smirk on his face only made me want to sit in his lap.
A deep laugh rumbled from my left, making me spin.
“Oh! Hi,” I said timidly.
The man stood from the leather club chair, and something seemed very familiar about him.
“Have we met?” I asked.
“This is Aaron. He was on the boat the night we fished you out of the ocean.”
“Well, this is embarrassing,” I muttered, glancing away while trying to will my face not to turn bright red. Remembering what Carter said about Aaron this morning and that they were roommates, I forgot about my previous embarrassment. “Wait, Aaron the butler?”
Aaron seemed to find that pretty funny. “The butler?”
“Well, you brought me tea. And food.” I defended. Looking around at Carter, I asked, “Didn’t you call him the butler that night?”
Aaron raised his brows. “Did he now?”
Carter quickly said, “You hit your head that night. I think you aren’t remembering correctly.”
My lips parted so I could tell him he was full of baloney, but Carter spoke first.
“Aaron is my right-hand man and head of security,”
“That’s how you explain our relationship?” Aaron put a hand to his chest. “I’m wounded.”
“He told me this morning that you live together here in Miami.”
“Roommates!” Carter barked. “I said we were roommates!”
Both Aaron and I turned away from Carter completely.
“Who exactly are you, then?” I asked. Then, without thinking, I added, “Why did I think you were much older than you are?”
Aaron threw back his head and laughed. “Like what you see, do you?” His eyes twinkled as he teased me.
“Ah, that is… umm,” I stuttered. “That isn’t what I meant.”
“When I told you to get a love life, I didn’t mean to step into mine,” Carter intoned, dropping an arm over my shoulders.
“That night on the boat is such a blur. I guess when Carter called you a butler, I just pictured someone…” Not finishing the sentence, I glanced away.
“Old?” he teased.
I looked up at Carter for help. His dark eyes were filled with amusement. “Aaron works for me, but he’s family. Get used to his face. If you ever need anything and I’m not around, go to him.”
Aaron nodded immediately, all humor leaving his demeanor. “Nice to officially meet you.”
I murmured a greeting, then glanced toward the door. “You
’re head of security? So is that man outside the door one of your guards?”
Carter nodded, then yelled, “Knox, get in here!”
The man dressed all in black slipped into the room. “Yeah, boss?”
“Come meet Nora.”
“We met outside.”
Knox’s lips tugged into a smile. “Much to Meghan’s displeasure.”
“Was I not supposed to talk to you?” I asked Knox. “Does she think this is the palace in England, where the guards can’t even blink?”
All three men laughed.
“I’m being serious,” I muttered.
“She runs a tight ship,” Carter explained.
If that’s what he wanted to call it….
“Nice to meet you, Nora. I hope we get to see more of you around here,” Knox told me.
“Why are all of you hitting on my woman?” Carter spat, irritated.
“I’m not your woman.” I reminded him.
“Make him work for it,” Aaron whispered.
“Get out!” Carter bellowed. “Everyone out!”
Knox and Aaron shuffled out, not affronted in the least by Carter’s rude tone. After a moment, I shuffled along behind them, wondering why I had to come here at all.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Carter asked.
I pointed at the door. “You just told everyone to get out.”
“You aren’t everyone.”
“Oh.”
Carter’s long legs closed the distance between us so easily. The closer he got, the more uneven my heart thumped. Sliding his arm around my waist, he continued until my back came against the wall and he was leaning into me, braced on one arm.
“You interested in Aaron?” His voice was throaty and low.
That darkness in his stare was practically bottomless. I felt I could tumble through it forever and never hit bottom. He had this way of looking at me like he somehow swallowed me whole and there was nothing in the entire universe but him and me, together.
“W-what?” I asked, realizing he’d spoken.
Even though his head tilted, his eyes remained focused, hypnotizing me. “Aaron,” he drawled slowly.
Blinking, I tried to focus, pulling my eyes away from his. “All I wanted to know was how old he was,” I answered, exasperated.
“He’s thirty. Too old for you.”
“I’m not interested.”
His free hand stroked over the side of my head, fingers dragging through the length of my hair. He leaned so close his nose nudged my cheek. “Did I tell you how pretty you look today?”
Mr. Fantasy: (A standalone romance) Page 13
