ROMANCE: Bear Naked Seduction (Billionaire Bear Trio Book 1)
Page 21
TO: Kylie Moran
FROM: Sean Simms
RE: FILLED YOUR PRESCRITION YET?
So, what do you say? I’m twiddling my thumbs in anticipation here…
She exhaled loudly just as she heard a knock on the door that made her look up to see her boss, Carl Stonebridge leaning against the doorframe.
“You look like you just saw a ghost,” he said and she forced out a smile.
“I might as well have,” she thought.
“I just have a lot on my mind, that’s all,” she said.
“Busy morning?” he asked and she shrugged.
“You could say that,” she said nodding.
“So you already heard?” he asked and she shrugged.
“Heard what?” she asked and Carl walked in.
“We are officially handling Mila Villefort’s campaign,” he started as he handed her his tablet.
“Wait. The designer?” she asked almost too excitedly and Carl nodded.
“We are talking advertising, branding…basically everything to create an international buzz before she launches her new line in four months.”
“Four…four months?” she asked shaking her head. “But that’s barely enough time to go through all fifty states.”
“I know. But she doesn’t care, you know celebrities. She has offered the company a generous bonus to make the project happen plus fifty grand to the project manager.” He looked at Kylie. “And as the head public relations officer of this company that would be you.”
“Fifty thousand dollars?” Kylie echoed in a soft voice.
“Fifty thousand dollars,” Carl said again. “That’s a good chunk of change.”
“It really, really is,” she said in a dreamy voice.
“So, are you going to take it? Or what is going to happen?” he asked and she shook her head. “Because the Christmas bonus checks are hugely dependent on your answer. But no pressure.”
“Seriously? That’s your idea of no pressure?” Kylie asked and he shrugged.
“I like to think of that as incentive,” Carl said matter-of-factly. “You know me and big unnecessary words.”
“Yeah I do,” she said as she exhaled loudly. “So in other words I have exactly three months to figure out a campaign in the Americas, Europe and Africa? Is that right?”
“Technically four months but yeah, that’s the gist of it,” Carl said nodding.
“The one month is not a factor. Everything will be moving too fast by that time for me to notice anything,” she said. “This is going to be really hard you know. I mean, Fashion Week is just around the corner and…” her voice trailed off and she smiled. “Fashion Week is just around the corner..: she said again.
“I don’t get it.,” Carl said looking confused.
“Fashion Week as the name suggest is the height of all things fashion and the New York and Milan Fashion Week are scheduled to happen in a couple of months. The right buzz can guarantee Mila launches her new Villefort line then. It will be bigger than Kanye’s weird homeless look line.”
“House of Villefort,” Carl said and Kylie raised an eyebrow over the other.
“What?” she asked and he shrugged.
“That’s the name of her label. House of Villefort,” he explained and she nodded. He looked at her and shrugged. “I’ll leave you alone to work your Fashion Month magic,” he said as he stood up.
“Fashion Week,” she corrected him and he smiled.
“See why I thought you were the perfect person for this job?” he said as he walked out.
A smile played on Kylie’s lips as she looked at her screen again. There was a new email from Sean.
TO: Kylie Moran
FROM: Sean Simms
RE: FILLED YOUR PRESCRITION YET?
Just so you know, I don’t give up easily. I’m still waiting unless of course you want me to show up at your office.
TO: Sean Simms
FROM: Kylie Moran
RE: FILLED YOUR PRESCRITION YET?
And how would you know where I work?
TO: Kylie Moran
FROM: Sean Simms
RE: FILLED YOUR PRESCRITION YET?
I got this little thing called Google. Heard of it? All I had to do was input your name and I found out that you are the head of public relations at Focus Entertainment. And to think I never really pegged you as an entertainment person.
Kylie stifled a laugh. She took a long deep breath and sighed. Maybe all this was a sign. Maybe she had been holding back a little too much. Maybe this was what she needed to get herself back out there. She was smiling as she began typing.
TO: Sean Simms
FROM: Kylie Moran
RE: FILLED YOUR PRESCRITION YET?
Fine, I’ll have coffee with you if you promise to stop stalking me.
TO: Kylie Moran
FROM: Sean Simms
RE: FILLED YOUR PRESCRITION YET?
No way, you kept me waiting too long. Now I demand dinner.
Kylie laughed and shook her head. It was clear that her new doctor was not someone who gave up easily.
TO: Sean Simms
FROM: Kylie Moran
RE: FILLED YOUR PRESCRITION YET?
Demand?
She waited a few minutes before another email popped up.
TO: Kylie Moran
FROM: Sean Simms
RE: FILLED YOUR PRESCRITION YET?
Yes, demand. I am a man who usually gets what he wants once he sets his mind on it and I have my mind set on you. So, dinner?
She drummed her fingers on her desk again and took a long deep breath.
TO: Sean Simms
FROM: Kylie Moran
RE: FILLED YOUR PRESCRITION YET?
Let’s just start slow. Let’s do lunch first and see how it goes from there.
She waited a few minutes before she saw the reply displayed on the screen.
TO: Kylie Moran
FROM: Sean Simms
RE: FILLED YOUR PRESCRITION YET?
Lunch it is.
Chapter 3
When she got back home that evening, Kylie’s heart was pounding hard and fast. Her day had not only been eventful but also surprising. She had just landed a huge project and what’s more, she had agreed to a date with Sean. But at the back of her mind, she was still not sure she had done the right thing. She was second-guessing herself like she had so many times before. And it was all because of Frankie… the asshole who ruined her for every other man out there…
Four years ago…
Life with Frankie had been everything Kylie had ever imagined. It was perfection in every sense of the word. Frankie, the stud who turned heads everywhere he went was actually dating her, the woman everyone thought was unattractive. She had never pictured herself with a tall, dark and handsome man like Frankie, not even for a moment and now it had happened. The last few weeks had been simply heavenly. Kylie had learnt what it meant to be loved, to feel loved, to feel desired…all emotions she had never thought she would feel.
On this particular day, she was feeling a little more excited than usual. It was her one-month anniversary with Frankie and she had planned the perfect evening. She would go to his place early and make him a romantic dinner before she spread some rose petals on the bed. He had always told her that he loved how she looked in lingerie so earlier that day, she had gone shopping in a plus size lingerie store. She had found the perfect satin and lace lingerie, something she knew that he was most definitely going to love. When she got to his place, she made his favorite – grilled steak and a side of baked potatoes. She even went as far as making a southern style gravy just as he liked it. When everything was set, she took a quick shower before changing into the lingerie. As she did her make-up, she decided to let her hair down. It looked so much more glamorous that way with all the wavy curls hanging loose. She was still looking at her reflection when she heard the front door open and close. A smile played on her lips and she felt an excited chill going down her spine.
“This must be the best welcome home party he has ever had,” she thought as she walked out of the bedroom. She was walking slow and seductively but her mood changed when she got to the hallway. She could not only hear Frankie’s voice but there was a woman’s voice out there too. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard the female throaty laugh echoing through the apartment.
“It could be anyone,” she tried to reassure herself. “It could be the house keeper…or his sister…or cousin…” She was now walking towards the living room where she could hear Frankie’s low voice every so often before the female throaty laugh echoed through the house again. But when she got to the end of the hallway, she froze in her tracks. The woman whose voice she had been hearing was not a housekeeper’s and judging from the way Frankie was holding her, she was no relative either. He was holding her so close and she was kissing on his neck a little too friendly to be any kind of relation.
“Frankie?” Kylie said in a soft voice and they turned around.
“Frankie, honey. You didn’t tell me you had such a fancy dress code for your help,” the woman said looking at Kylie from head to toe.
“I am not the help,” Kylie said as she slowly walked towards them.
“Oh really? Then who are you?” the blond woman asked.
“Frankie?” Kylie called out to him again.
“Melissa, this Kylie. Kylie, this is my girlfriend…fiancé actually, Melissa Barnes,” Frankie announced.
At that moment, Kylie felt as if her heart had been carved right out of her chest. The words Frankie had just said were echoing in her mind over and over again and she was trying to understand what was going on at that particular moment.
“Fiancé?” she asked as she looked at him.
“Listen just…” Frankie said as she turned to look at Melissa. “Give me a moment, will you?”
“Wait, this is her, isn’t she? The one who got us that very lucrative deal?” Melissa said and she began walking towards Kylie. “Why would you want me to leave you alone with her? I deserve a chance to know the person responsible for the hefty payout I got…sorry, what we got.”
“Payout?” Kylie shook her head. “Frankie what is going on? What is all this talk about fiancés and payouts and….what is going on?” she asked.
Melissa looked at her and then looked at Frankie.
“I can smell something delicious, I think your help made some dinner for us to celebrate,” she said, still looking at Kylie. “Why don’t you handle this and I’ll be in there waiting. Who knows, maybe her chef skills are as good as her corporate ones.” She turned around and walked back to where Frankie was before she slipped a hand around his neck. She looked at Kylie over her shoulder for a long second before she kissed him deeply making a tear roll down Kylie’s cheek.
“Kylie…” Frankie was slowly walking towards her.
“Don’t,” Kylie said as she took a step back. “Just…don’t.”
She held her face in her hands and took a long deep breath. Everything was suddenly making sense to her. Frankie had played her like a fucking song and she had let him worm his way into her life just like that. It was not about her. It had never been about her.
“All this time, Frankie? All you ever wanted was to get your foot into Lyon Fisk and Churchill?” she asked and he walked up to where she was. Even though she had tried moving back, she had not been fast enough for him. He held her close and kissed her cheek.
“Listen to me, Kylie,” he started in a soft voice. “You need to go. Right now. You need to leave,” he whispered into her ear.
“Let me go,” she said in a soft voice. She was shaking almost too violently.
“You need to understand that I never had any ill intention, baby,” he said. “I just wanted what was mine. That’s all,” he added and she shook her head.
“Just get away from me,” she said in a whisper.
Present day…
When Kylie thought of her history with Frankie, all she could do was just run the other way. Ignore the fact that she had accepted Sean’s offer to take her out to dinner. When she thought about it, she knew that it was probably a good idea for her to just move on from everything. After all, it had been four years. But it was not as if she had not been trying. She had. But it was not as easy as she thought.
She took her phone out of her purse and looked at the email log for the millionth time that day. She could not believe that she was the one who had actually gone ahead to accept his offer. She had half a mind to call her sisters but she was almost too sure of what they would say.
“Go for it!” This would be Kenzie.
“It’s about time!” Kristie.
“Yeah, time for Kylie to get her groove back,” Kenzie would say.
And eventually, their mother would find out and she would be the one whose excitement would blow the other two right out of the water. She walked up to her fridge and opened it before she stared at the contents. She pulled out a dish containing the leftover lasagna they’d had at Kristie’s the other day and a bottle of water. She stuck the container in the microwave and then sighed.
“Maybe I should just have some wine rather than water,” she thought as she waited for the food to get warm. “It is definitely one of those days where I should have wine instead of water.” She walked to her wine rack and pulled out a bottle of pinot before she poured herself a glass. After getting a fork from one of the drawers, she sat down at the kitchen counter and opened the container. Normally, the dead silence in the house would have bothered her but for some reason, she was okay with the silence on that night. She was all Zen, as far as she was concerned.
Chapter 4
After carefully picking out what she would wear to work on Monday morning, Kylie grabbed her purse and walked out of her apartment. She loved how comfortable she felt in her maxi floral print dress and sandals. She had her hair pulled up in a high loose bun leaving a few strands of her brunette hair to frame her face. She had called in late that morning and as she drove her Prius to Café Mundial, she found herself thinking of all the reasons she should have given not to show up.
“I’m feeling sick.”
“Something came up at work.”
She sighed. Those were too obvious and cliché. She needed something big if she was to call off the coffee date without seeming suspicious.
“I sprained my ankle…” she shook her head. That was dumb. How would she explain the absence of swelling or pain? Plus, he was a doctor. If anything, he would have rushed to her side just to nurse her to health.
“Just go…just go and be strong about it,” she thought to herself as she maneuvered the last corner before getting to the coffee shop. She had not even mentioned the date to her sisters. Basically, no one knew where she was. Her work diary shoed that’s he had to make a dentist appointment but that was that.
“Here goes nothing,” she thought as she pulled up in front of the café. She unbuckled her belt and pulled her key out of the ignition before she climbed out of the car. As she slowly walked into the café, she looked around and spotted Sean seated at a corner table. She was taken aback by how good he looked in a blue pinstripe shirt and black jeans. She had never really seen him in anything else apart from the official doctor’s coat he wore when he met her but she had always pictured him looking great in anything he wore.
He smiled and waved her over to where he was. She walked to his table and he stood up when she got there.
“Here, let me get this for you,” he said as he pulled her seat for her.
“Thanks,” she said in a soft voice.
“Just making sure I am treating you like the lady you are,” he said and she rolled her eyes. Thankfully, he didn’t see her. “I was beginning to think you were not going to show up.”
She smiled and shrugged.
“To be honest, I was having second thoughts about coming,” she said and he shrugged.
“What? You wanted to stand me up?” he asked with a smile and she laughed.
“I know it might have been a first for you,” she said but he shook his head.
“You would be surprised at some of my stories from junior high,” he said as the waitress came over to their table and handed them their menus.
“Thank you,” she said as the waitress walked away. “So, what are these stories that I should probably know about you?”
“Well, let’s just say that I didn’t always have an easy time. Socially speaking of course,” he said and she shook her head.
“Please, you? With the Captain America shoulders and perfect hair?” she asked. “You are an everyday Derek Shepherd and Mark Sloane rolled into one.”
“You are a Grey’s Anatomy fan?” he asked smiling.
“Okay, it is weird that you even know that those two are…were characters from Grey’s Anatomy,” she said.
“It is one of the few medically accurate medical drama shows on television. So, yeah, I like it,” he said. “Hashtag TGIT, right?”
“Wait, you are not only a Grey’s Anatomy fan. You are a Shondie!” Kylie said excitedly and Sean raised an eyebrow over the other.
“A what?” he asked.
“A Shonda Rhimes fan. Well, the word Shondie hasn’t really caught on but a few Shondies are trying to get the blogs talking about it so that it can be official.”
“So, why would you think I’m a Shondie?” he asked and she shrugged.
“The only way you would know about TGIT is if you actually tuned into all The Shonda Rhimes which coincidentally all air on Thursday. Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder…all on Thursday. Hence, Thank God It’s Thursday. TGIT,” Kylie explained and he smiled. “But you knew all that, didn’t you?”