A Designed Affair

by Cheryl Barton

  Loren busied herself around the office trying to turn off thoughts of Mike with other women. She knew his reputation with the ladies and knew he never lacked female companionship. Jealously wasn’t something she was often associated with, but in this case, she was jealous of the women who got to feel him in an intimate way. She had a feeling his kisses were electrifying and his lovemaking would surely quench every thirst she had. She’d heard stories about him just as she had about her brother and their other best friend, Tyrone. Mike, from what she heard, never left a woman unsatisfied. Oh, to be one of those women, she thought.

  She had agreed to meet him at a super club in downtown Atlanta. She was glad about the location of the meeting because that gave her extra time to leave the office, go home to change and still get to the restaurant since she didn’t live too far away.

  Even though her day had been exhausting, it had also been productive. She’d finally interviewed and hired new assistants and soon she’d be able to relax a little more and turn over a lot of the assistant type work that he and her receptionist were currently doing.

  Her first hire, Kyle, a recent college graduate came highly recommended and Loren could tell he would be a perfect fit. She also hired another young man, Monroe, who had plans to one day open his own design firm and wanted to learn the business from the bottom up. Loren was more than happy to show him the ropes. She could tell from his resume that he was a hard worker, he didn’t mind extensive travel and the moment he walked in and Loren checked out his attire, she could tell he had an eye for flair when it came to coordinating. She was sold. They would both be starting in two weeks. In the meantime, Loren needed to go over dividing up the current projects to have each one of them shadow her in order to get their feet wet. That would have to wait because tonight, she was having dinner with Mike. She smiled catching herself turning business into just dinner.

  “This is business,” she said out loud to herself. She needed to remember that in order to keep herself in check.

  Her thoughts wouldn’t be so focused on Mike if she had some type of private life going on for herself. She had done some casual dating, but nothing serious. At first she thought the issue was that she was so focused on work that she didn’t have the time to commit to any type of relationship.

  Having this quiet time to herself while closing up the office for the evening, she took the time to really assess the issue and not having the time wasn’t it at all. No matter how much time work took, there was always time for dating and relationships. She just didn’t do it. She would love to have a fulfilling, loving relationship, but the definition of relationships these days certainly was not monogamous. It seemed to her that not only did men no longer value being in a relationship with one woman, but women didn’t value it anymore either.

  Her last serious relationship ended badly because her ex didn’t understand that his penis was not like an ATM machine. He shouldn’t give access to every woman who smiled at him looking to make a withdrawal. She would continue to hold to her morals until her prince came along. Until then, no more dating frogs.

  Loren thoughts again turned to Mike. He was certainly no frog, but she also couldn’t let go of his history with women. He was so good looking that women seemed to instantly drop their panties as soon as he smiled at them; a smile that was as bright and gorgeous as a hundred watt bulb. She had never known him to be involved with just one woman at a time and never anyone seriously. She had deep rooted feelings for him that she knew would never turn into anything special. If she didn’t know him so well she didn’t think she’d like him at all.

  On the surface Mike was a true player, but Loren knew the real Mike. He was kind, considerate, generous and just an all-around good person. He just couldn’t keep his zipper up around women and Loren hated that. She hated that in all men. She didn’t want to put them down because of their amorous appetites, but she found it hard to find the kind of relationship she really wanted because casual relationships seem to be the norm, just not for her. As much as she loathed his behavior, she still could not suppress the feelings she’d been harboring for him for years. She was looking forward to seeing him, though she wasn’t ready to handle the reaction she would have to seeing and being around him again. Tonight was about to be a real test for her and her will.

  ~~~

  Loren tried on dress after dress for her dinner meeting with Mike. Her phone rang as she was busy getting herself ready. She noticed it was her best friend, Gizelle calling. She and Gizelle had been roommates in college and had been inseparable ever since then.

  “Hey Gizzy,” she said, using Gizelle’s nickname.

  “Loren, girl, hey. So tonight is the night right? Your dinner with Mike?”

  Gizelle was the only person Loren told all of her secrets to. She had confided in Gizelle years ago, the out of control feelings she had for Mike. Gizelle was the first person she called when Mike invited her to dinner, well for business of course.

  “Yes, it’s tonight and I was in the midst of trying to get ready when you called.”

  “Okay, so what’s the outfit for the night? Is it bold and business, or daring and sexy? My vote is for daring and sexy, but that’s just me.”

  Loren shook her head at her friend. If it were left up to Gizelle, she would recommend Loren go in just a thong.

  “I’m going with business sexy. How’s that?”

  Loren could hear Gizelle thinking loudly.

  “I guess that’ll do. Just make sure you wear some very sexy lingerie underneath just in case you lose your panties tonight.”

  Loren almost choked from laughing.

  “Girl stop. I am not losing any clothing tonight. This is just business.”

  “Loren, this is me. Remember me? Your best friend in the whole world? This may be business, but you and I both know you want it to be more and just in case he wants that too, make sure you’re ready. Oh, and wear your hair up and no bun. You should have let me come over to do your hair and make-up. Having a best friend who owns a beauty salon is a plus for you.”

  Gizelle owned one of the hottest salons in Atlanta, but Loren didn’t want to make too much out of tonight. She didn’t want to be disappointed if she went overboard only to discover Mike still saw her as Duron’s little sister and nothing more. No, she would keep this as professional as humanly possible.

  “Gizzy, my make-up is fine and you just did my hair a few days ago before my last business trip and it’s still holding up nicely.”

  “Alright, I’m going to stop playing mother hen and I’ll let you get back to your preparations. I want every single detail though. Call me tomorrow.”

  Gizelle hung up before Loren could get a response in. Typical Gizelle, Loren thought.

  Loren wiped thoughts of Gizelle from her mind and got back to what she was doing.

  Getting ready for a meeting about business had never been this frustrating, but this was Mike; her crush. He was the star of many, many fantastic dreams, asleep and awake. She selected an ensemble that was both sexy and businesslike. She would love to wow Mike, but she didn’t want the intent to be one sided so she made sure the sexiness of her outfit was subtle.

  She looked at herself in the mirror as she changed into her favorite Steve Madden royal blue and green high heels that went well with her conservative yet mildly sexy royal blue dress.

  ~~~

  It was Friday and Mike was preparing to head out of the office early. His thoughts turned to how he would soon be sitting across the table from Loren to discuss business. He was glad had Loren called him back about the house in California he needed her to work on for him.

  He had decided to make the move to the west coast to open up and run the new branch of their architecture firm. He, Duron and Tyrone, his two best friends and business partners, had been tossing around the idea for a while and they had finally decided to do it. He didn’t mind being the one to move to the west coast since he had a lot of family there and he was ready for something new. He also knew
that it would take him away from seeing Loren all the time, but since he’d finally realized he was never going to have her, he had no problem moving. He hoped the move would help him get over his desire for her. To keep the peace with his best friend, who would not be happy with the thoughts that went through his mind daily about Loren, he needed to back off and the move would give him the space he needed.

  Mike didn’t know what possessed him to call Duron to inquire about Loren working on his house. He knew it was a mistake, especially since he knew he needed to stay away from her, not come up with ways to be around her more often. Forgetting about the repercussions, he threw caution to the wind and went for it. The end result was he was about to sit across the table from his every day crush. He smiled at the word crush. Who would have thought at his age that he still had crushes. His norm was always about the lust and the sex, but with Loren his feelings were much more than that. Lust and sex was definitely on his mind when he thought of her, but he also knew she was so much more than that.

  He remembered the brief conversation they’d had when they’d made plans to discuss the house over dinner. He could tell that he’d caught her off guard when he mentioned how he had been waiting for her. It’s true he had been waiting for her to call, but the statement had an additional meaning for him. He couldn’t help saying it. When he heard her voice on the phone, the reaction his body had to hearing it had gone straight to his groin. He didn’t want to come on too strong, but at that moment, he couldn’t resist saying what was on his mind, even in the indirect way that he had. At least he was honest. He was waiting for her, not just for her to return his phone call, but he was waiting for HER.

  Mike got up from his chair and walked around. He needed to get his thoughts in check. This was Loren. He wanted her, yes, but he needed to be careful. His desire for her could blow up in his face. He needed to pull things back a bit before he got to dinner. It was time he got out of the office and changed for his meeting with Loren at his favorite supper club, a spot owned by a very good friend, Jason, whom they all called Jase.

  He had just walked out of his office when he spotted Duron heading towards the elevator at the same time.

  “Hey D. You heading out early tonight too huh? Hot date?”

  “Yeah I have plans. I told you about Taija, the woman I met through Loren?”

  Mike remembered who she was.

  “Right, from the bachelor auction?”

  Duron knew Mike was trying to be funny. Both of his friends had ribbed him for days about his participation in a bachelor auction, but he didn’t care. The amount of money raised would benefit a lot of families and charities in the Atlanta area and he was happy he could help his sister with her sorority’s fundraiser.

  “Don’t start Mike. The business side of the auction is over and I happen to like her, a lot. We’re just hanging out tonight. What are you up to?”

  Mike didn’t want to show any excitement about his evening with Loren.

  “Oh, not much. Just planning to grab a bite to eat at Jase’s supper club with Loren to talk about the house.”

  “That’s right I forgot you wanted her to work on your house. I’m glad she finally called you back. I know she’s been tied up with business. She is on her way up these days. Loren told me about all the new clients she’s been taking on. I talked with her earlier and she finally hired some new assistants to help take some of the load off and it’s about time because she really needs the extra help.”

  Mike knew Loren’s business had really been picking up since she worked on the interior designs of their office and on each of their current homes.

  “Yeah. She’s been very busy and tonight was the only free time she had, so I took it. I’m hoping she’ll have time to squeeze my little project in, especially since it would mean several trips to the west coast. She said it wasn’t a problem so that eases my mind of one less thing to worry about. Now I can just focus on getting the office up and running and I’ll turn everything about the house over to her.”

  The elevator came and they both got in.

  “Speaking of the new office, you, Tyrone and I need to talk early next week more about logistics,” Duron said. “I know we had tossed the idea around, but now that we’re making this happen, I want to talk about the projects we’ll do out of that office as opposed to this one. I’d like for all three of us to fly out to do the interviews for the staff of that office since we’ll all have to work with them. I also received an inquiry about a new project I want to run by you both. I think it’s something Tyrone may want to handle, but we need to jump on it. This one involves some speaking engagements and one is in Texas. I think he should handle that, but we can talk more about it soon.”

  Mike knew they had a lot of business coming in and that they were each being pulled in many different directions. They needed to do more prioritizing in order to not let anything slip through the cracks.

  “That’s cool with me.”

  They reached the garage level and headed to their cars.

  “Mike, tell my sister I said hello and I’ll talk to her over the weekend.”

  “I will and good luck with your date.”

  “Man, you know me. I appreciate the good luck, but I won’t need it,” Duron said laughing and walking away.

  Mike laughed at his inflated ego.

  “Jerk,” he said to Duron as he walked away.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Duron replied and made his way to his car.

  Chapter 4

  Loren was glad that she’d arrived at the restaurant before Mike. She didn’t want him to see her walk nervously over to him. She chose their friend Jason’s super club to have dinner because it was a place they were both familiar with. She loved the atmosphere and the food was the best in Atlanta.

  She had just been seated by the hostess when she looked up to see Mike enter. He was wearing a gray dress shirt opened at the collar and gray tailored slacks that swayed with his long, strong strides. When he reached her his bright smile lit up the room. She couldn’t help but smile brightly back. She stood to give him a hug and she relished at how good it felt to hold him tight. She got her quick sniff and was pleased at how good he again smelled. She could get lost in his scent.

  “I hope you haven’t been waiting long for me?” Mike asked as he took the seat opposite Loren.

  “No not at all since I just sat down myself.”

  “You look lovely Loren.”

  Her heart flutter. That voice of his was going to be the end of her. She had to tell herself it was just a simple compliment and that there was nothing more to it.

  “Thank you.”

  She watched as Mike took his seat across from her. The man was simply gorgeous and she could tell from the looks of other ladies around the restaurant who couldn’t help but stare at him, that she wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

  “This place is packed tonight,” she said, ignoring the jealous looks of other women. It’s a shame, she thought, for them to waste their jealousy on a situation that was all friendship and nothing more.

  “I know. This is definitely becoming one of the most popular spots for dinner, music and dancing.”

  “I don’t think I’ve been here since the night we celebrated the last big contract you, Duron and Tyrone acquired. It’s been a while for me. My business has picked up since I did work for you guys. I don’t get the chance to get out too often for pleasure at places like this.”

  Mike was listening as Loren spoke, but he found it hard to concentrate on anything other than the shimmer of the lip gloss that coated her lips; lips that he thought were perfect for kissing. Down boy, he said to himself.

  Loren reached for her glass of ice cold water the waitress had just brought for them boy did she need it. Her body was already burning up from the inside out, starting at the intimate spot between her legs and making its way to other hot spots. If she had this reaction to him after only a few minutes, how was she going to survive the rest of the evening.

 
“I know Duron told you we’re opening a west coast office. I’m planning to get that office up and running, so I’ll be moving to Los Angeles in a few months to oversee the construction of the office there. It won’t be as big as our office here in Atlanta, but it will still rival any other firm in the area. The house should be ready for final inspection soon. I was wondering if you could fit me into your schedule and work on decorating all of the rooms for me. I love what you did with Duron’s house and thought you might have some great ideas for mine as well. I need someone who knows me well to do it. I like the color scheme you created in my condo and I want to expand on that, using the same colors throughout.”

  Loren loved the sound of his voice and she tingled a little when he said the word, need.

  “I know it’s asking a lot considering it would involve you taking a few trips to California, but I’ll cover all of the expenses. I’ll email you photos as much as I can so that you won’t have to take a lot of trips, but for some of it I’m sure you’ll have to see things for yourself. Just send me an invoice for your expenses along with the costs for what you buy and I’ll take care of it.”

  Mike was looking Loren over as he explained everything to her. He was talking business, but his thoughts were far from anything that had to do with the house or the business. He couldn’t help but notice how stunning she was tonight. Blue was definitely her color.

  “If it’s too much, I understand, but I couldn’t think of another designer I would trust with knowing what I want.”

  Loren already knew she’d do anything for Mike. She couldn’t wait to put her professional touch on his personal residence.

  “Of course I can and I can’t wait to see this new house. Duron joked that you were trying to outdo the house he purchased. I swear, you boys have to stop trying to be so competitive and play nicely,” she joked.

  They both laughed.