by Kira Blakely
“I really can’t accept this, Nash,” I said immediately.
He was smiling at me, his gray eyes sparkling. “It looks lovely on you, Bonnie. Really, keep it, please.” His voice was earnest, more gentle and humble than I had ever heard it before. What was going on? Did he feel guilty for buying my company? Did he want something else from me? I couldn’t wrap my brain around it, which only made me more nervous.
“It doesn’t matter how it looks, Nash. I just can’t accept a thing like this,” I continued, still speaking in a hushed voice. People were turning to look at us, and I didn’t want to make a scene.
“Bonnie,” Nash said and placed a hand on my waist, “stop worrying about things. I know you detest this world, but it’s for a good cause and it’s a gift. I don’t expect anything in return; you can be sure of that.”
I gulped as I stared into his clear gray eyes. How could I accept this necklace from him? How had all this happened? I wanted to take his word for it, that he wanted nothing in return, that he wasn’t just playing a game.
“Forget about it for a bit, and lets just enjoy ourselves for the night,” he said, pulling me closer to him. And he was right, it was so easy to forget about everything else when I was with him.
Chapter 17
Nash
Bonnie wore that diamond necklace with grace and elegance, and it suited her personality, too, glittering, standing out in the crowd. I wished that she would forget her moralistic views for one minute and just enjoy the beauty of my gift. And thankfully, slowly, as we walked around arm in arm, she was calming down.
I still couldn’t stop thinking about the balcony. Bonnie Calhoun’s breasts; I’d had my fingers inside her. I wanted more, because nothing had ever felt so good. I had never wanted a woman so badly, and she was such a tease.
I got a whiff of her strawberry-scented shampoo as she walked beside me, and I closed my eyes to enjoy that moment. She had always been this fresh, fiery and full of life. It was always a battle with this one; she kept me on my toes.
“So, you just drink lots of champagne and shop for diamonds at these things,” she was saying with a smile on her full lips as she took a sip from her glass.
I chuckled and shook my head. “C’mon, Bonnie, you’re enjoying yourself,” I said, staring at the way her tongue shot out of her mouth to lick her lips. I wanted it in my mouth, I wanted that mouth on my cock. Everything about Bonnie had the capacity to make me come. Every part of her body was a minefield.
She threw back her delicate blonde head and laughed. “I didn’t say I wasn’t,” she said, with a twinkle in her large blue eyes. Her eyelashes were naturally thick and dark, making her eyes look even larger and more innocent. I knew there was no innocence there. This lady was a minx. I’d seen the way she pulled her dress down and played with her nipples. I was already getting hard again just thinking about it.
“Hello, son,” my father boomed from behind me, and I turned in surprise. I had assumed he wasn’t coming; he had never enjoyed spending his money at these events. But he always did, because he was expected to, and also to keep the family image intact. I noticed the woman on his arms. I didn’t recognize her, and she looked only a few years older than me. My nostrils flared, and I clenched my fists.
“Hello, Father, I didn’t expect to see you here,” I said, trying not to look directly at the woman who appalled me. We were at this event in the memory of my mother; the least he could do was show her some respect.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, would I?” Father said in his usual cold-as-glass voice, turning his gaze to Bonnie.
“And you are Bonnie Calhoun,” he said, extending a hand to her.
Bonnie smiled graciously and shook his hand, and immediately I wanted to take her out of his presence. He controlled every other part of my life; I didn’t want him meddling with Bonnie.
“And you are Nash’s father,” Bonnie said, slipping her hand away from my arm. I could see that she had suddenly grown self-conscious, and she tucked in a few strands of her golden hair behind her ears.
When I turned to Father, he was eyeing the diamond necklace on Bonnie’s throat, which was resting delicately in the dip of her impressive cleavage. I wasn’t sure what he was going to say next, but I could tell that he was preparing for some cruel outburst.
“I don’t suppose my son socializes with all his business partners in this fashion,” Father said, with a rude twinkle in his eye.
Beside me, Bonnie continued to smile. Surprisingly, she was keeping her calm quite well. I was the one cracking under the pressure of my father’s scrutiny. The woman on his arm wasn’t making matters easy either.
“She’s an old friend, like I said, Father,” I replied, trying to draw his attention to me, rather than keep his stare on Bonnie. But Father didn’t budge. He continued to look at her, like she was beneath him. Like he was ashamed that I had chosen Bonnie to accompany me to this gala.
“Of course, an old college friend. And you have given her a marvelous gift of friendship, too,” he said, dropping his gaze to the diamond necklace again. I could sense how uncomfortable that comment had made Bonnie.
“It is a stunning piece of jewelry, isn’t it?” I said, in a rigid voice, hoping that he would get the hint to stay out of it.
“And I’m very grateful for it; in fact, I was telling Nash how I can’t accept it.” Bonnie looked at me with strained eyes. She looked like she was very close to just tearing the necklace off her neck.
“No, you should keep it, my dear. I’m sure Nash feels guilty enough already,” Father interrupted her, and I could feel my jaws clenching again.
“He shouldn’t feel guilty. It was a business transaction, I sold my company willingly.” A soft chuckle escaped Bonnie’s lips as she spoke. She was trying her best to maintain her composure. I didn’t want Father to say anymore. I wanted him to shut up and walk away.
He gave a deep laugh, which I knew was a mark of his cruelty. “Yes, you did. And now we will have to tear the building down and convert it into a digital showroom for the new line of electronic products flushing in from China,” Father said, and a deathly silence descended on our group.
The smile on Bonnie’s face dropped instantly. “A showroom?” she asked and I recognized a tear in her voice. I hadn’t mentioned it to her for a reason. Her office building was a representation of her life’s work. I had led her to believe that her ex-employees would continue to work there, on the same coding projects as before. She wasn’t expecting to hear this, from my father of all people.
“Yes, didn’t he tell you?” Father asked, his gray brows arching up in mockery.
Bonnie turned to look at me and I stared back at her, begging her with my eyes to just hear me out.
“And your codes are going to be used for online games that we are going to start marketing to teenagers,” Father continued.
“Are you serious?” Bonnie spat out. She had lost all sense of propriety by now, and I couldn’t blame her. “Those codes were written for building cyber security. I worked for two years on them,” she said, her voice raising.
“We have no use for it, my dear. We’re taking it apart and using it for our games,” Father said, chuckling now.
“That’s enough, Father,” I said, as harshly as I could. But he wasn’t even looking at me. He had eyes only for Bonnie, and for some reason, he was on a mission to make her miserable.
“No use for it? Those codes are worth a lot more than your company paid me.” Bonnie’s face had gone red by now. I could see the thick angry vein in her neck as she spoke to Father through gritted teeth.
“Nobody was willing to shell out that kind of money, were they?” Father said, his face still filled with a smile.
“That’s enough, Father. There is no need for this,” I said and stepped in between Bonnie and him.
“We’re just having a chat, son,” Father said, completely unconcerned that his words had just destroyed my chances with Bonnie. That had probably been his
intent.
“Leave, now. I’ve made the donation. Your work here is done. Take your whore and get out of here before I drag you out myself,” I growled under my breath. He looked small, leathery and old, and I was mad enough to want to physically hurt him.
“I’m your father, Nash,” he said in a prideful voice, staring up at me.
“You’ve reminded me of that a million times. Now get the fuck out,” I said, and the woman pulled at his sleeve.
“We are going to talk about it in my office tomorrow morning, Nash,” he said through gritted teeth, leaning in toward me.
“It’s my office now, Father. And no, I will not be paying you a visit in your retirement home tomorrow morning. You can forget about it,” I snapped at him, just seconds before the woman pulled him away from me.
When I turned around, I found that Bonnie wasn’t behind me anymore. A wave of memory hit me when I saw her weaving through the crowds, hurrying away. Only this time, she wasn’t wearing a shimmering red dress, and she was definitely running away from me.
Chapter 18
Bonnie
A showroom? They were going to tear my building down and convert it into an electronics store? And my code! The code I had spent so much time writing, perfecting, with a clear aim in mind. They were going to use it for stupid online games?
I didn’t know where I was going; all I knew was that I had to get away from Nash. Where were my employees going to go? What degrading work were they going to make them do? They had bought us out to destroy us. Not to continue our ideas. I was ready to break down and cry. I should have known all this was too good to be true. I should have known that Nash Preston was always going to be a big mistake.
The cool night breeze slapped my face as I burst out through the back doors of the ballroom. I realized I was out in the garden, which was unlit and noisy with the sounds of crickets. I kept running, not sure of where my feet were carrying me. This was too surreal. I had made a huge mistake by putting my faith in Nash. Once again, I was left humiliated and insulted, running away from him.
“Bonnie, stop!” I heard his voice behind me, but I didn’t stop. I wasn’t just going to do whatever he wanted. I was panting now. My chest felt tight with emotions. My mind was spinning from the events of the night. I had been so foolish.
“Bonnie, just stop!” he cried out again. He caught up to me and whipped me around to face him.
“When were you going to tell me? Huh? When were you going to tell me what you had planned?” I spat out the words.
He looked so handsome in the moonlight, and despite myself, I felt goose bumps on my flesh. I knew I was weak around him, which was why I wanted to get away from him. I didn’t want to look at him ever again.
“Just give me a moment to explain. Stop running,” he said as I tried to wriggle out of his grasp.
“Let me go!” I hissed at him.
He dropped his hands away from me, raising up his palms and taking a step back. “All right. All right. Just don’t run again, okay?” he said in his usual calm steady voice. What would it take to make Nash Preston lose his cool?
I glared at him, with my breasts heaving. I had forgotten about the necklace and suddenly I tried to snatch it away from my throat.
“God. Bonnie! Just keep it on for now. You can take it off later if you want to,” Nash said, focusing his deep gray eyes on me. I was still panting, and I gulped, flaring my nostrils at him.
“What could you possibly explain to me, Nash? What excuse are you going to come up with? Your father is right. You invited me here, you bought me this necklace because you’re guilty about what you’re doing,” I snapped.
Nash stood with his feet apart, clasping his hands in front of him. He didn’t take his eyes off me once. He did a good job of not portraying himself as the guilty party. “First of all, Bonnie, I invited you here because I wanted you here. And I bought that necklace because I had to buy something. I was going to donate three million dollars to the cause anyway, and the necklace looked like a good bargain for it.”
“Why did you give it to me? Why me?” I blurted out, rage coursing through my veins.
“Because I wanted to. Not out of guilt, not to appease you, but because I wanted the necklace to belong to you,” he said with a straight face. It still wasn’t making any sense to me.
“Forget the necklace, Nash. When were you going to tell me about your little plan?” I lashed at him, and he took in a deep breath.
“Never. I didn’t intend on ever telling you,” he replied, in a quiet calm voice.
“Excellent. You were just going to seduce me, throw me away and then never tell me what you were going to do with my company,” I said, shaking my head at him in rage and disbelief.
“No, I wasn’t going to tell you because I’ve changed my plans,” he said, dragging his words out as he watched my reaction.
Nothing he was saying made sense to me. I was confused and dizzy and also slightly drunk by now. I had no idea what to think of anything he was saying, or whether to believe him.
“What do you mean you’ve changed your plans? What plans?” I asked, my voice relaxing a bit. A glimmer of hope was dawning, but I didn’t want to be too quick to make assumptions. Look at where all these assumptions had led me.
“Those plans. About the showroom and the online games. I’ve change my mind. I don’t want to do any of them.” He took a few steps toward me, but I stepped away from him. I needed to think clearly, and I couldn’t do so as long as Nash remained close to me.
“But your father said that you had no use for any of it, any of my codes.” My voice had dropped to a whimper. I was so close to crying. Every time I heard Luther Preston’s voice, his laugh in my ears, I was ready to collapse from outrage and insult.
“My father doesn’t run the company anymore, Bonnie, I do,” he said, and our eyes met again. He was studying my face, and I was studying his. I didn’t want to trust him just yet, I didn’t want to fall for his charm again.
“So, what will you do instead?” I managed to ask, very close to tears again. Did I really want to hear what he had to say now? I could only expect the worst.
“Like I said before, I want you to come and work for me,” Nash said flatly. He still wasn’t smiling though and thankfully he was keeping his distance from me.
“Work for you? How does that solve the problem? This isn’t just about me. It’s about my company and my employees, too,” I screamed. I was so volatile that I knew every little thing he said could set me off.
But Nash remained calm, regarding me with a steady gaze. “Work for me, and work for your company. Do the same thing you’ve been doing,” he replied and now I could see how his eyes danced. He was excited with his own idea, and he expected me to react accordingly. But honestly, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Just minutes ago, I was convinced that Nash Preston’s family business was ready to destroy my old company.
“You want me to just carry on as before?” I blurted out, and my hand flew to my mouth.
“You were doing good work,” he nodded, “and I want you to keep doing it. As long as you get your final sign offs from me, you’re free to operate as you did before.”
Nash Preston had just complimented me for my good work. As much as I enjoyed his mouth on mine, his fingers deep inside me and watching him come, I still didn’t expect to see this side of him. In college, I was attracted to the bad boy Nash, the alpha male. That innate instinct to turn a bad guy into a good guy was probably what drove all my fantasies. And was it actually happening now? Was Nash turning a new leaf suddenly? Or had I always just misjudged him?
I gulped, still in shock. I wanted to burst out laughing, because again, this was too good to be true. But Nash looked serious. He looked like he meant business.
“And what about… the showroom and the—” I began, but he interrupted me.
“Those were my father’s ideas, and I went along with them at the time. But now I’ve changed my mind. I want to go down a d
ifferent route,” he said and stepped closer to me.
I didn’t step away, because now all I wanted to do was throw my arms around his neck and kiss him. He had made me happier with this than any diamond necklace could make me. And this offer I could definitely accept.
“And I get to keep all my employees? And my office building?” I asked, biting down on my lip excitedly. I was like a kid in an amusement park, and when Nash nodded his head, I cupped my mouth with both my hands. There were fat happy tears in my eyes and Nash was smiling, too.
“I can see you’re happy. Do you accept my offer?” he asked, drawing closer to me. I looked up at his face, smiling wide at him.
“Yes, of course I do. If that means I get to keep doing what I was doing, work on my code, work with the others… there’s nothing more I could want,” I said, in a rushed anxious whisper. My heart was beating fast again, this time out excitement and joy.
“Good, you should bring Peter back, too,” he said, laughing at me.
I nodded my head and smiled. Peter would be so happy to hear it. His family would be so relieved.
“And what about your father? Won’t it piss him off?” I asked, my brows furrowing as I looked into his face.
Nash looked calm and composed on the outside, but I knew it couldn’t be easy for him. To go against his father. I had seen firsthand the kind of control his father had on him.
“Fuck him. He forced this on me, and I’m going to do what I want with it,” Nash said, leaning closer to me.
I laughed and threw my arms around his neck. He drew me closer, kissing me. Our lips met and electric current ran down my spine. This kiss was soft and gentle, like we were kissing for the first time, like we were teenagers. I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn’t know what he wanted. His tongue was in my mouth as I kissed him back. Then he drew away from me.
“Maybe we should get out of this place,” he said, staring into my eyes.
I was falling for him again, falling for him hard. Nash was good at convincing me to trust him.
