As the foreman kept her eyes cast down on the paper getting ready to read the verdict, Nick’s eye cast over the jury to see if he could read their faces to determine what was to come. Starting to perspire slightly, Nick tried to keep a confident, cool look as he awaited her next words.
As she began to speak, a hush fell across the courtroom and you could cut the tension with a knife. Clearing her throat, the forewoman squeaked out in a shaky voice, “We, the jury, find the defendant guilty for conspiring in the murder of Marianne Hall.”
Letting out a huge sigh of relief, Nick was instantly swarmed with handshakes and congratulations by members of his law firm and the family members of Marianne Hall. As the Senator was put into handcuffs and taken from the courtroom, Nick stood amongst his prosecuting team feeling higher than any drug could take him. He knew this case was his defining moment as a prosecuting attorney and with all the media coverage that surrounded the trial, his name would not be forgotten for quite a while. Snapping his briefcase shut, Nick thanked everyone for their congratulations and headed out of the courtroom to the awaiting TV reporters who were flocking there to interview him. It did not surprise Nick when, a few days later, Jim Stettler made him a partner with a sizeable salary increase.
***
Nick loved his work, but hated just about everything domestic except cooking. He had grown up in a family where both his mom and dad cooked. As a matter of fact, his dad, Wayne, did the grocery shopping every week. If Connie cooked, his dad did the dishes, and vice versa. It was no wonder that Nick learned how to whip up food without very much effort. But when it came to other domestic skills, he admitted to himself that he sucked. Holding the keys to the brand new home he’d just bought, Nick felt daunted by the task of making it his home. Up until now, he had been living in a furnished condo. But since his promotion and salary spike, he knew the best financial decision at this time would be to buy a home. Lucky for him, he found the perfect house in a suburb not far from his urban Providence law firm and he jumped on it. The only problem was that it was completely devoid of anything but appliances. The walls were stark white, the floors were put down with builder grade generic materials, and there was no personality to the interior structure. He was thankful that the kitchen had nice stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops, and the plumbing fixtures were stylish and updated.
Crap, Nick thought to himself as he walked through the empty house he’d just closed on. Pacing through each room, he wondered how the hell he was going to make this empty space a home. At the condo, those decisions had been made for him. Now he was going to have to spend time figuring out how he wanted to decorate it and where he was going to buy the furniture and accessories. As busy as he was with his caseload, he had no idea where he was going to find the time to do it all himself. Shaking his head in resignation, Nick shut and locked the front door and went back to his condo to get some sleep. Tomorrow he would get some advice from Gracey, his secretary, and devise a game plan.
***
Lyndsay was fortunate with her promotion that she no longer had to work on Saturdays. But when Allison called that morning and said two staff members had called in sick, she agreed to come in and help. Although Lyndsay needed the rest and wanted to just hang out in her sweat pants all day and work on some designs, she would never turn her boss down. Allison had taken her under her wing and given her so much professionally, that Lyndsay would do anything asked of her. Today she would pretty much be working the sales floor, as this was Deacon Nest’s biggest retail day of the week. After a busy morning, Lyndsay escaped into her office at lunchtime to eat the sandwich she had brought and take a few minutes to herself. As she took her last sip of soda and threw the wrapping of her sandwich into the garbage can, Jodi, one of the other saleswomen who was also a good friend, poked her head into her office. “Lyndsay, there’s someone here inquiring about our interior design services. Can you speak with him?”
Grateful to take a few more minutes away from the sales floor, Lyndsay replied, “That’s fine. Please ask him to come in.” Moving a few things to clear off her desk, Lyndsay prepared to hopefully bring a new client on board. In addition to her salary, she also got commission for landing design jobs. Although she would gladly do this part of her job without getting paid extra, the additional money helped toward saving for retirement and possibly starting her own business one day. As Lyndsay saw Jodi approaching her office with a man trailing behind her, she came around her desk in preparation to shake his hand and offer him a chair.
“Mr. Olson,” Jodi said. “This is our senior interior designer, Lyndsay Welch. You’ll be in great hands with her.” The moment Nick set eyes on her, his heart skipped a beat. Before Lyndsay could even open her mouth to say hello and welcome him to sit down, Nick was already completely taken with her. While he had dated many beautiful socialites at Harvard, he had never seen such a pretty and sweet looking woman in his life. He noticed she was petite with curly blonde hair and the biggest brown eyes he had ever seen. She was dressed in simple black slacks, a button down white blouse and very sexy heels. Her fashionable outfit clearly outlined her shapely body and her soft shoulder length curly locks framed a creamy complexion with soft features and lush, full lips. For every body part that was hard and chiseled on Nick was conversely soft and feminine on Lyndsay. While he was six feet tall, he noticed she was closer to five foot five. Seeing her hand stuck out in introduction, Nick finally came back down to planet earth and shook her hand and greeted her with his professional courtroom voice.
Taking his hand in hers, Lyndsay asked, “So, tell me what brings you here today, Mr. Olson, and how can we help?”
Nick answered, “Please, call me Nick.” Smiling, she waited for him to continue. As Nick explained that he had just bought a new home, he was honest with her about his utter lack of ability to decorate or furnish it. Lyndsay listened quietly and took notes, secretly thrilled about the possible opportunity of bringing him on as a new client. Not just because his looks took her breath away, but this was going to be a full home interior design, which would bring in big bucks to the store and a sizeable commission for her. Keeping as professional a demeanor as she could, Lyndsay carefully explained the process. “The first thing I need to do, Nick, is come to your home. I need to take measurements and ask you questions about your particular tastes.”
Listening to her speak, Nick’s mind went into the gutter as he thought, Oh, I’d like to show you my particular tastes all right. Mentally pulling himself back to reality, he listened as she continued.
“What you can do for me between now and when we meet at your home is to go through some magazines and pull out pictures of furnishings and accessories that you like. I have some magazines here you can take with you. This will give me an idea of what styles you prefer.”
Again, Nick lost his concentration momentarily, thinking of all the sexual styles he preferred and how he would be more than happy to show them to her.
“At that point,” Lyndsay continued, “I should be able to give you a budget on what it will cost and a timetable to get your house completely furnished. If all that sounds acceptable to you, we can go ahead now and set up an appointment. When would you like me to come?”
That last question almost did Nick in. I’d like you to cum right now all over my cock.—What was wrong with him? he wondered. Just looking at this sweet angel was getting him horny as hell and they were just talking about furniture! Not exactly a verbal aphrodisiac.
As she watched Nick reach for his phone to choose a date for her to come to the house, Lyndsay held her breath. She hadn’t made the sale yet, but she knew he was looking at his calendar on his cell phone and that would mean she was going to see him again. Observing his hands while he checked his phone, she saw that he wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, which threw her momentarily off balance, wondering why that made her so happy. Of course he could have a girlfriend, he could be gay, or he may not be attracted to her. But either way, if she was hired, she knew she
would be spending a fair amount of time with him over the next couple of months and that felt like a big glass of cold water for a very hot, thirsty girl. For just a mere moment, Lyndsay let her sexual fantasies for him run a bit wild until he looked up and suggested the following Friday at 3 p.m. With that appointment now arranged, all Lyndsay had to do was make it through the next week until she would see him again.
Chapter Four
As the next week went by, it was hard for Lyndsay to get Nick off her mind. She couldn’t believe her body’s primal reaction to this man she’d just met. She felt so blessed that she had gotten called into work that Saturday. Had two of the employees not called in sick, she would never have met him, let alone have the opportunity to be alone with him in his house. Finally, Friday arrived, and as Lyndsay got dressed for work that morning, she took special care choosing her outfit. She needed to be dressed appropriately for work and look professional, but she also wanted to add a little sexiness to her outfit for her 3 p.m. appointment with Nick. As she decided upon a black pencil skirt that hugged her hips and a red blouse that she could undo the top button after work to look a bit sexier, Lyndsay then chose a sensible pair of pumps for work but threw a prettier pair of sexy sling backs into her bag for the afternoon appointment. Satisfied with her outfit, Lyndsay grabbed her bag and headed off to work, counting down the minutes to 3 p.m.
Fortunately the day went by very quickly because she had to finish up a big project she had been working on for the lobby of a local hotel. The next thing she knew it was afternoon and her project was completed. Seeing that the clock read 2:15, Lyndsay knew she’d have to hurry or she’d be late for her appointment with Nick.
As she gathered up all of the things she needed for the appointment, Jodi poked her head into Lyndsay’s office and said with a wicked grin, “Heading out to see Mr. Hottie Pants?” Jodi was the one who had introduced her to Nick Olson last Saturday and because she and Lyndsay were good friends, she knew about the 3 p.m. appointment today.
“Hush now, you bad girl,” Lyndsay scolded. “I’m just going to check out his house, that’s all.”
Seeing that Lyndsay’s face was a bit flushed, Jodi further teased, “You need to check out more than his house, girl! That’s one fine looking piece of man. You need to tap that!”
As both women broke up laughing, Lyndsay countered, “Calm down, you horny toad. The only thing I want to “tap” right now is landing that account.”
Completely amused by her associate and friend trying to be all business-like, Jodi gave one last sarcastic parting shot before backing out of her office, “I hear ya. That’s one account I’d like to land, too!” Waving a dismissive hand, Lyndsay grabbed her tape measure, threw it in her bag, and went out the back door of the store to her car.
***
The day prior, Lyndsay had Map Quested his address. She was pleased to see that he lived in a very nice suburb of Providence that wasn’t far from the store. Before pulling out of the parking lot, Lyndsay switched her sensible shoes for the sexier ones and unbuttoned the top of her blouse. Although she was completely hot for this man, she didn’t want to come off like she was, in case he wasn’t interested. She would hate to lose this potentially big job if he thought she was coming on to him and it made him uncomfortable. Lyndsay knew she was dancing a very fine line and had to maintain her professionalism at all times. No matter how sexually aroused he made her, she didn’t want to make a fool of herself or hurt the reputation of the store. Although Lyndsay hated to admit it, she was not very experienced with men. She had dated a couple of guys in college but neither of them had done much more than clumsily grope her. Because of those less than satisfying sexual experiences, Lyndsay just gave up on dating and concentrated on her studies. She hung out with a great group of female friends all through college who were all boy crazy and talked constantly about their sexual exploits, but Lyndsay was the naïve and inexperienced one of the group. Her body had never felt anything like it did last week in her office talking to Nick, and although it was exciting, it also scared her a bit. Her body seemed to have a mind of its own when he was around but she had to secretly admit that she liked it. Taking the last turn onto Benton Street, Lyndsay was just moments away from his house and scanned the mailboxes for 321 Benton. In seconds, she spotted it and pulled into the driveway, parking behind his black BMW.
Taking a deep breath, Lyndsay grabbed her bag from the passenger seat, gave herself one last look in the mirror, got out of the car, and proceeded to his front door. So far, she loved the exterior. It was a two story brick home with a nice size lawn with a beautiful stone walkway leading to the house from the driveway. The landscaping along the front of the house had a nicely manicured selection of shrubs, plants, and blooming annuals leading to an inviting covered front porch. As she climbed the three brick stairs up to the porch, she could hear the front door being unlocked, and before she had a chance to ring the bell, the door flung open wide and there was Nick dressed in a gorgeous tailored suit. Momentarily thrown off balance at seeing him in his work attire, Lyndsay almost dropped her bag seeing how handsome, magnificent, and powerful he looked dressed up. When Lyndsay had seen him last Saturday at the store, he had been casually dressed in jeans, a button down shirt, and some hiking boots. The contrasting outfit he was wearing today made her come completely unglued and it took all of her concentration to give him a professional greeting.
“Come inside,” Nick invited, while stepping aside to let her in. “Can I offer you something to drink?”
Not trusting herself to sound coherent, Lyndsay shook her head and replied simply, “I’m fine, but thanks.” She could feel Nick’s eyes boring into her and she knew from the heat on her face that she was blushing. Damn it, she thought. I haven’t been here five minutes and the man has already turned me into a mess. Turning away from him so she wouldn’t embarrass herself further, Lyndsay asked, “May I walk around the house first, just to get a feel of the place?” When she heard his inviting response, Lyndsay walked from room to empty room, taking measurements, photos with her digital camera, and jotted down some ideas and thoughts about the kind of décor that would suit the newness and style of the home. Lyndsay could feel his presence behind her and she could sense rather than see his eyes watching her every move.
As Nick followed her around, he could feel the fabric around his crotch getting tighter and knew he was getting a hard on. Damn, she looks so sexy in that tight skirt, he mused. He didn’t know whether to look more at her voluptuous ass swaying or her shapely lean legs. Every so often when she would bend over slightly to take a measurement, Nick thought he was going to pop right out of his trousers. He was grateful that his suit trousers were pleated to better hide his growing erection. The last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable and decline the job. He already knew he was going to hire her and that they would be spending quite a bit of time together in the upcoming weeks. For Nick, it was going to be hard not to jump her bones, but he really needed his house decorated, so he would just have to keep it in his pants. He was sure looking forward to spending time with this beautiful girl with soft, golden curls, big brown eyes and a rocking body full of soft feminine curves, however.
Breaking him out of his reverie Lyndsay asked, “Nick, did you go through the magazines and pick out some styles that you like?”
Nick had almost forgotten to do that because he was back in court that week and didn’t seem to have a minute to himself. But at the eleventh hour, he had shuffled through the magazines she had sent him home with and had dog eared the pages that had furniture he liked and some styles he felt comfortable with. Going into the kitchen, Nick grabbed the magazines off the kitchen counter and handed them to her.
As Lyndsay looked through his choices, she could quickly see he had excellent taste and she loved everything he had picked out. For the next hour, she barraged him with all kinds of questions from what size bed he had in mind to what he envisioned for each room. Writing down copious notes, Lyndsay was
getting a very clear picture on a design scheme and she couldn’t wait to get started. Every so often when Lyndsay picked her eyes up from her notes, she would see him staring at her and it made her a bit nervous, but also excited. She had to constantly remind herself not to flirt with him and to remain professional at all times. Now that she had his decorating vision in mind, she didn’t want to blow the deal and lose this great opportunity. This was the project of a lifetime and as much as her body was reacting to his raw male sexuality, she was just going to have to put work before pleasure. Sticking out her arm for a handshake, she said in her most professional business voice, “Thank you for your time today. I think I have everything I need. I’ll be working on some basic sketches in the next week so you can see if I’m going in the right direction. If you like my initial designs and want to hire me, then we can go over our fees and the projected budget at that time. Does that sound acceptable?”
Nodding his head in agreement, Nick reached for her hand to shake it. God, how he wanted to pull her into his arms and ravish her with his mouth. She had the most full, pouty lips he had ever seen and he wanted to make love to those lips with his. Reluctantly releasing her hand from his, Nick said, “That would be fine. When you’re ready, call my office and set up an appointment with Gracey, my secretary. I’ll tell her that you’ll be calling.”
As he reached into his pocket to pull out his business card, Lyndsay was a bit disappointed that she had been relegated to calling his secretary versus calling him personally. Hiding her disappointment, she tucked his card in her bag, said goodbye, and pulled away.
Chapter Five
Legally Tied Page 2
