A Valentine for Two

by Lia Davis

  He ran a hand through his dark hair, and my eyes watched every movement, fixated on it, remembering how his hair felt in my hands as his mouth had worked its magic on my clit. My body shuddered and tingled as the memory passed through me and I felt my face warming up – no doubt it was coloring as well. I hoped that Dominic wouldn't notice – or if he did notice, wouldn't realize why I was suddenly blushing.

  “So you studied Economic Policy, I see,” he said, looking down at my resume on his desk. “And what is it you want to do with your degree?”

  “Uhhh well,” I said, feeling coherent thought fleeing my brain as I grew moist, my panties getting soaked as I remembered how he'd once bent me over the very desk he was sitting behind and had fucked me good and hard. “I was hoping to get a few years of real world experience under my belt before going back for an MBA.”

  “Experience in what?”

  Against my will, my brain immediately reached for the naughty answer to his question – which caused my face to burn brighter and flush an even deeper shade of red, I was sure. I wanted to scream and cry. I couldn't stop the memories of pleasures from flooding into my mind even as he looked at me, a serious, all business expression on his face, waiting for my answer.

  “Uhh well, experience in business, of course,” I managed to get out – awkwardly.

  Stupid girl, I mentally berated myself. What sort of experience was I looking for? He wanted specifics. Wanted to know why I wanted to work for him, specifically? And I doubted he wanted to hear about how I always crushed hard on him and just wanted to work at his company so I could sit and stare at him day in and day out.

  No, this was business and he was conducting himself as a professional – which was a hell of a lot more than I could say for myself at the moment. He wanted to hear how I admired him, how I wanted to learn from him. And not just in the bedroom. Jesus, not in the bedroom at all, Eve! That can't happen again. Dad would literally kill me – and him – if he found out that I'd lost my virginity to his best friend when I'd been a stupid kid.

  No, it can't happen again. I couldn't let it. I needed to put all of that behind me – in the past, where it belonged.

  “I see,” Dominic said, writing something down. “And why my company, Eve? I know you know a lot about Weston Enterprises, growing up around it and all, but what about Weston interests you?”

  Aside from doing the boss, you mean? I found myself shaking ever so slightly. Never before had I been nervous in this man's presence – not even when we'd been intimate I had always found myself comfortable and relaxed with him. More relaxed than I ever was with the douchebag boyfriend I'd had back in high school or any of the guys I'd met at college. There was just something about him that brought me a sense of peace and comfort.

  So what changed? The answer was obvious – nothing. Nothing had changed. My feelings for Dominic were still there after all those years, even though I'd hoped that time and distance would help me get over him. Seeing him though and having the explosion of feeling I did – even after all that time – proved just how wrong I'd been to think such things.

  Dominic was still watching me closely, waiting for my answer. And I had an answer – somewhere in the convoluted recesses of my brain. I had a good answer too. I knew, because I prepared for the interview and had one ready to go. But as I stared at Dominic, all I could think about was how good it felt when his cock had been buried deep inside of me all those years ago.

  “Uhhh,” I started to say, somewhat surprised by how much I was stuttering. I never stuttered. I never sounded unsure of uncertain – at least, not until I was sitting face to face with Dominic. “Well, because I know you're wanting to go global, right?”

  “That's right,” he said. “We have already expanded to Canada and Mexico, with plans to move into Europe next year.”

  “I could maybe help you with that?” My response came out as more of a question than an answer, as if I was unsure of myself. “I mean, yes, I could help you with that. Having studied Global Economics and all...”

  Dominic nodded his head, wrote something else down and I waited, not wanting to rattle on and on anymore.

  I'd already made a fool out of myself. I knew I'd come across as uncertain and flaky – even though I knew the subject inside and out and was positive I could help Weston Enterprises grow internationally. I knew the industry well. Better than most. And I knew exactly what I was doing, even if it didn't sound like it.

  “Alright then,” Dominic said, looking back up at me with a friendly smile. “I think that's all the questions I have for you, Eve. I have a few other candidates coming in today, but once I have a chance to review everything, I'll be in touch.”

  That's it? He wasn't going to ask me how I would implement my plans or what I could offer the company? Not that I'd be able to answer him properly in that moment, I was sure. But the fact that he was already ending the interview before it officially got started made me think I'd royally screwed this up.

  With a growing sense of dread and certainty, I knew there was no way Dominic Weston was going to hire me now.

  “Thank you, Mr. Weston,” I said, standing up and feeling my face turn bright red again. “I appreciate your time.”

  “Please, we're both adults here, Eve,” he said. “Call me Dominic.”

  “Okay, thank you, Dominic,” I said softly.

  I felt defeated and like I was ready to cry. This was my dream job – even without my crush on Dominic, I had always wanted to work for a company like his. And there I was, walking away with my tail tucked between my legs, the knowledge that I'd blown it twisting my insides into knots. I'd completely blown it and I knew it.

  I turned to leave, Dominic rushed to open the door for me. He walked me down the hallway and back to the entrance – we barely spoke to one another as we made the short trip. I couldn't even look at him without feeling ashamed for how terrible it had all gone in there.

  All I could think about was how attractive he was and that one night when we'd blown through our inhibitions and let ourselves run wild.

  As he shook my hand, I remembered the way his hands had felt on my body. I so badly wanted to feel that again, but more than anything else, I wanted to work for him. I admired him for more than his body – even if it didn't seem like it sometimes. Dominic Weston was everything I wanted to be.

  He also happened to be everything I wanted in a man – just older and off-limits. Because he was daddy's best friend and had watched me grow up over the years. That hadn't stopped me before, I knew, but now that we were both adults – professionals – I knew I couldn't give into that temptation again.

  “You really do look great by the way,” Dominic said, his voice low.

  He couldn't look me in the eyes. For the first time since we'd been re-introduced, I had to wonder – had he also been thinking about that night as I sat in his office? Was that why he couldn't look at me? Why he'd chosen to shake my hand instead of hugging me – the way he used to when I'd been a child?

  “Thank you, Dominic,” I said. “You do too. I can tell you've been working out.”

  “Can you?” he said, a half-smile on his lips as he looked down at his own arms. “I mean, thank you. I took up cross-fit shortly after – ”

  He trailed off. Shortly after what? After we'd slept together? Why would us having sex lead him to working out? Had he wanted to look good – for me?

  “After Tabitha left,” he finished.

  And just like that, I felt like a balloon that had all of its air let out. Tabitha had been his wife – the wife he'd divorced right before we hooked up.

  “Well it's certainly paid off,” I said.

  “Thank you, again,” he said. “And you – wow, you filled out nicely. You've become a stunning young woman, Eve.”

  As soon as he said it, I could see he wanted to take it back. But it was too late. I knew that he'd been checking out my figure just as I'd been checking him out.

  We stood there, in silence, not daring to look
at one another, so much unspoken hanging in the air between us.

  “Well, I really need to get going,” I finally managed to say. “I'm meeting my parents for lunch.”

  “Tell your dad I send my regards,” he said. “And that we need to get together for a round of golf again soon.”

  “Of course,” I replied.

  “And you'll hear from me soon, either way, Eve,” he said. “I'm not the type to just leave you twisting. I believe in giving firm answers, whether they be good or bad.”

  Either way. So even if I didn't get the job, he meant to say. Which suggested I probably wouldn't – even with having the built in advantage of being his best friend's daughter.

  “Thank you, Dominic,” I said again, this time for the last time because I couldn't handle this conversation any longer. It took everything in me to look him in the eyes and smile. “Thank you for everything. I appreciate your time and consideration.”

  And I meant everything. He knew it too. He gave me a sheepish grin as he nodded his head.

  “Of course, Eve. And thank you too. For everything.”

  I turned and left, walking from his mansion and toward my car, mentally kicking myself the whole time. The entire time I was walking though, I felt his gaze upon me as he stood on his front porch, watching me leave.

  He was watching my ass. He had to be, right?

  Or maybe it was hopeful thinking on my part. Yeah, it was probably just a schoolgirl crush and a lot of hopeful thinking.

  Chapter Two

  DOMINIC

  Damn. What kind of goddamn idiot was I to think I could put the past behind me? What had happened with Eve the summer before she went away to college was a mistake. I knew that in my heart and had for a long time now. And for the most part, I regretted what had happened. The things we'd done. For the most part.

  Her father had been my best friend for more years than I cared to count. He would absolutely kill me if he knew about the things I'd done with his daughter. And in his place I couldn't say that I would blame him. If the roles had been reversed, I'm sure I would want blood.

  The only justification I had for what I'd done with Eve was that it had been a drunken mistake. Nothing more, nothing less. Of course, I'd been telling myself that same thing for a long, long time and even I wasn't completely buying that line of bullshit. But I continued trying to sell it anyway.

  But now, she wasn't the girl I remembered. Not at all. Eve was all grown up now and was a woman with curves. A stunningly beautiful woman. But beyond her physical attributes, she was smart as whip. A lot of girls out there would have been happy to ride on daddy's coattails forever. She could have been the next Paris Hilton – rich and famous for merely being the daughter of a rich man. But Eve wasn't going that route. She had that drive. That ambition. And when you put all of that together with her intelligence, she was a formidable woman.

  She was going to college, studying and working her way up in the world, all on her own. I had to admire that about her. It wasn't too often I had the chance to meet young women like Evangeline Bailey.

  I blotted my damp palms on my slacks as I walked back toward my office. My mind wasn't where it should be. Where it needed to be. As much as I wanted to, I knew I couldn't hire her. She'd be a distraction for me. Not to mention a horrible temptation. If I hired Eve, sooner or later, she'd get me in trouble.

  Back in my office, I dropped down in the chair behind my desk and rubbed my temples, trying to ward off the headache that was coming on. There were a million thoughts and emotions swirling about inside of me. Eve was an incredibly qualified candidate for the job. Probably one of the two or three best I'd interviewed to that point. I had no doubts that she could handle the job and handle it well.

  But even knowing that, I knew I couldn't hire her. I just couldn't. Sooner or later, one of us would do something stupid. I knew that with all the certainty that I knew my own name. Though I'd tried to put it in the past – as we both had – our brief little meeting made it clear there were still some unresolved issues on that front. Some lingering feelings.

  And if it ever came out that I'd slept with her – well before she went off to college, at that – all hell would break loose between her father, Charles Bailey, and me, Dominic Weston. It would make the Hatfields and the McCoys look like nothing more than a minor disagreement.

  “Hey dad, was that Evie?” My son asked, standing in the stairway.

  “Yes, it was,” I said and watched him turn utterly crestfallen. “I'm sorry, I should have let you know she was here. It was a business meeting and I wasn't even thinking about it.”

  My son, Xavier, always had a soft spot for Evie – or rather, Eve. I considered it a crush, and even as he was no longer a child – but a teen with pimples and an attitude – I guess that crush was still alive and well. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who hadn't been able to completely forget about Eve, despite all of the years that had gone by.

  He looked disappointed, but then he smiled at me. “So you're going to hire her, right?”

  “I'm not sure, son,” I replied, hating to trample his enthusiasm, but having little choice. “I have a lot of qualified applicants – ”

  “Dad,” Xavier said, rolling his eyes in typical teenage fashion, “it's Evie. You can't turn down Evie.”

  “She apparently likes to go by Eve now, just so you know,” I said, scratching my chin. “And you know I can't play favorites. That wouldn't be right.”

  “But it's Evie,” he said again. “And it's your company, so you can do whatever you want to do.”

  I'm sure even Charles thought that, when he'd sent her my way. It wouldn’t surprise me if somewhere in his mind, Charles was thinking that there would be no way I could turn her down. After all, she was my best friend's daughter and I'd watched her grow up.

  But it was more complicated than all that. A lot more complicated. And unfortunately, I could no more explain it to Xaiver than I could to Charles.

  “Are you really going to tell her dad you turned her down for someone more qualified? Because she went to Stanford, dad. How much more qualified can you get for an entry-level position?”

  He had a point. Most of my applicants came from USC. There were a few from UC-Irvine, and one from UCLA. All terrific schools, but none as prestigious as Stanford. It was one of the biggest reasons I'd chosen to go there, Charles had felt the same way too. And it's also why Eve chose it over all of the other fine schools she'd been accepted to.

  “I know, I know,” I said with a sigh.

  “Then why are you making this so difficult?” he said with a shrug. “Just hire her and be done with all this interviewing. It seems like a no-brainer to me.”

  He turned to go upstairs, happy with his little lecture because teens always know everything about everything. Normally I might have told him otherwise, but he was right. There was no logical reason I shouldn't hire her. She was an ideal candidate and I knew she'd be a fantastic asset to have on my team.

  Even if she wasn't my best friend's daughter, she had all the qualifications I was looking for in a new employee.

  But what my son didn't know was what happened all those years ago. What had happened after he was fast asleep and I'd had too much to drink. The night I'd bent her over my desk and fucked her. A night that was amazing, in so many ways, and one that truth be told, I still thought about from time to time.

  But it was also a night that had led to a lot of self-recrimination and regret. Because she was my best friend's daughter.

  You'd think the fact that she was a kid and my best friend's daughter at that, would have been enough for me to keep my pants on back then. But it hadn't been. And I was afraid I didn't have nearly the strength or willpower within me to stop me from doing it again.

  Chapter Three

  EVE

  I was already working out a way to tell my father that I hadn't gotten the job as I was driving down Pacific Coast Highway. And coming up with a plausible excuse for why I hadn't. The sun wa
s high in the sky and the ocean was on my left – a view that usually did a good job of calming me. Today thought, I got little comfort out of it.

  I tried a hundred different excuses and practiced them out loud, as I drove to the cafe in Newport Beach. I was meeting him and my mother for lunch and I knew they'd both be eager to ask me about the interview. My father thought I was a shoo-in just because of the connection I had. He'd always told me that it wasn't always about what you did, but who you knew. And knowing Dominic as we did, I was sure my folks thought he'd hire me in a heartbeat.

  How could I tell them both I screwed it up so badly?

  After pulling into the restaurant's parking lot, I handed my keys over to the valet. Valets were a staple in Newport Beach and common at most restaurants – but it was still something that made me feel icky. There were times I was embarrassed about growing up as I had and hated the perception that I was part of the pampered elite. I'd always considered myself to be a little more down to earth and level headed than all that.

  But the perception clung to me, mainly because of where I'd grown up and because it was my daddy's money allowing me to live the way I did. As soon as I had my own job, I could take care of myself – which would give me a sense of pride in it all. But for now, every dime I spent was from my father. And that wasn't the type of woman I wanted to be. That wasn't how I wanted people to perceive me.

  As expected, my mom and dad were already seated when I finally managed to get myself inside the restaurant. I was late, but at least I had an excuse. I was at an interview. Besides, I knew that they were there twenty minutes before we said we'd meet anyway. That's just how they were.

  Charles Bailey, my father, smiled at me as I came through the door. To many people, he was the man on the cover of Forbes magazine. The man who'd talked passionately about his rise from almost nothing to billionaire status – which was something I'd personally witnessed in my lifetime. Yes, I remembered living like regular folks – and we lived a frugal life as dad got his business off the ground. I recall there being a pretty thin Christmas or two in there. But most people didn't remember that about us. All they saw were the billions we were worth now and paid no heed to what came before. Like it didn't exist or something.