No Strings Attached

by Diana Nixon

  I rolled my eyes. “Even too smart, I would say.”

  “And you hate being brought to light, right Oliver?”

  I smiled down at her. “Good to know that we are finally on a first-name basis.”

  Surprisingly enough, she didn’t respond to my comment. Which was a good sign, considering how much I hated her calling me Mr. or Sir. Coming from her lips, it always sounded more like a scoff.

  To my relief, the things that my mother wanted to discuss with Father George didn’t take long, and the three of us were on our way back home in no time.

  “Would you like to join us for dinner, Jillian?” Mom asked.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Altier, but Oliver and I have a lot to do today. Maybe next time.”

  “I bet Dominick and Scarlett are all nerves now. Thank God, they have you two helping out.”

  “We make a great team, right Jill?” I winked at her.

  She took a deep breath and nodded, smiling politely at my mother. Knowing Jillian, I bet it took all of her self-control to not start calling me names right at that second.

  “Thank you for the ride, kids,” Mom said. “Have a good day!” She got out of the car, and Jill sped away from the house and back to the city. She was clearly ready to finish the rest of our errands and be rid of me for the day.

  After we were done with the flowers and the rest of the wedding plans we got stuck with, we stopped by another café to have a snack before getting back to our respective workplaces. Jill needed to go back to the office, and I… Well, I needed a cold shower, or at least a glass of a cold drink to cool off a little. Who would have thought that non-sex discussions with a woman could have been that exciting?

  “So how long has your little sister been living with you?” I asked, trying to switch my attention to topics that wouldn’t put my mind back into one dirty fantasy, involving Jill.

  “Two weeks or so. But it still feels like freaking forever already. I know after spending just two weeks with her that I sure as hell am not ready for kids.”

  “How old is she?”

  “Sixteen.”

  “Well, it doesn’t sound like a kid to me.”

  “Trust me, Anna can be worse than a two-month-old baby. I can’t believe she can be so naïve living in a world like this.”

  “You are worried about her.”

  “Of course, I am! Until tomorrow morning, she’s my responsibility. So whatever happens to her while our parents enjoy their honeymoon, will be my fault. And I don’t even know how to tell Mom that she has a dog now. A dog, not a new pair of shoes, and not even a boyfriend, but a damn dog!”

  “I can see that you love shoes a lot.”

  Jill smirked. “Even more than men.”

  I laughed. “It’s only because you haven’t met the right one yet.”

  “Oh yeah? And what do you think a right man means? Flowers and coffee in bed?”

  “Well, and that too. But the right man is first of all a man who knows how to-” Jill’s phone rang in her purse.

  “Hold that thought,” she said, answering the call. “Hello? Jeremy? Why the hell are you calling me? Yeah, I got the shi…stuff you sent me. You know I love roses. But we broke up about a year ago, remember? Do you also remember the reason for our break-up? Have I missed the part where you switched your attention from boobs and butts to roses and chocolates?”

  I smiled mentally. Apparently, the guy had no idea what he had lost and now he was trying to get her back. Well, good luck with that, poor thing.

  Jill sighed irritably, rolling her eyes. “Fine. We can talk. But no more than that. Tomorrow will be okay. Bye now.”

  “Your ex?”

  “Fucking bastard. He has some nerve to call me after a year of silence. And now what? Does he think that I have been dying to see him for those twelve months? That I would sit around and wait for him to grow up? That I would be destroyed and broken forever? Far from it!”

  “Why did you two break up?”

  “Did you hear what I said? Fucking bastard meant that he couldn’t miss a single skirt, sleeping with every more or less pretty girl.”

  “Well, that sounds-”

  “Familiar?” Jill shut her eyes for a moment. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

  “No, you are actually-” Right, I thought to myself.

  “Never mind, so what were we talking about?”

  “The right man,” I said, all of a sudden dying to finish this conversation as soon as possible. I don’t know what exactly went wrong, but I couldn’t wait to get away from the cafe, Jill and her accusing tone and words that I could still hear ringing in my head. Fucking bastard, familiar…

  “Um, can we talk about it later?” I said. “I forgot, I need to be somewhere else. Now.”

  She looked a little surprised, but only nodded, saying, “Sure. No problem. Do you want me to take you home or somewhere else?”

  “No, thanks. I can take a cab.”

  “Okay, see you later then.”

  “Yeah, see you.”

  I forced a smile, left a twenty on the table and went out into the street, welcoming the fresh air filling my lungs. Of course, I lied about the meeting. I just needed to put some distance between Jill and me. Never in my life had I thought about women crying because of me, or telling their friends what a jerk I was to sleep with them and then ignore their calls. Never in my life had someone else’s opinion bothered me. Until now. Now everything felt somehow different, and I wondered if it was some turning point after which I didn’t know who I was anymore, and it scared the hell out of me…

  Chapter 3

  Jillian

  “Jillian, could you make me a cup of coffee please?”

  Please? He actually knows how to ask, and not just to give orders, politely even? Well, that was great news. Damned shame it doesn’t happen to me more often.

  “Sure, it will be ready in a minute,” I said into the speakerphone.

  “Thanks.”

  What? Was my boss trying to impress me with the amount of manners he possessed, or was pretending to possess today?

  “He’s just trying to be nice,” Scarlett said, entering the reception.

  “No, really? It looks like I need to mark this day as a day of the Altier brothers trying to be nice.”

  She smiled, knowingly. “Was the ride with Oliver that bad?”

  “No. It was actually… okay.”

  “Okay?” I always hated that questioning look in her bright-blue eyes that just said it all. She didn’t buy it.

  “Yes, why not? You are marrying Dominick, which means he has something other than just sexiness that attracts your attention.”

  “Are you saying that Oliver has attracted your attention? Now, this is getting interesting.” She smirked.

  “Why don’t you tell me more about your wedding dress instead? When is the final fitting?”

  “You are shifting gears, my dear friend. And knowing you, I’m sure you are hiding something. So pray tell, what is it? Did Oliver ask you to sleep with him?”

  I stared at her, puzzled. “What? Why would you think that?”

  “Well, because I saw you watching him in the conference room this morning, and just let me say… Damn girl, I know that look, and you’re not fooling anyone. You have that look of a sex-kitten in heat, ready to devour the man right in front of her; I know that look, I have seen it many times, lady. And second, I saw Oliver watching you. Which is also interestingly bad news.”

  “None of what you are saying is true. And no, he didn’t invite me to bed. Though yes, he insinuated a couple of things that made me think about the possible development of that kind of events.”

  “You are unbelievably decent today. What the hell have you done to my best friend? My best friend would have just came out and said I want to fuck that Frenchie,” she said and paused thoughtfully. “So what happened today?”

  “I’m still your best friend, and if you wish to discuss Oliver’s dirty offers in more detail, I would gladly hav
e some margaritas to make the conversation more interesting, and definitely more open. What do you say, you up for it?”

  “So there is more to talk about? Then, I’m definitely in, minus the margaritas. You know I swore I would never drink them again.”

  “Fine. We will order you something else instead. Now, if you excuse me, I need to take this coffee to your fiancé.”

  “Tell him I love him.”

  “No freaking way!”

  “I’m kidding.” Scarlett laughed and headed for her office.

  ***

  “Thank you, Jillian,” Dominick said, taking his coffee.

  “You are welcome, Sir.”

  “Seriously, Jill, how long are you going to treat me like a piece of crap?”

  “I didn’t know that being polite meant treating you like that.”

  “Every time I hear you calling me Sir, I feel like I’m about to be stabbed in the back.”

  “Sounds creepy.”

  “It also feels creepy. So please, I’m almost begging you to stop calling me that. Do you really think I don’t deserve a second chance?” He smiled the brightest smile I had ever seen on his face.

  I rolled my eyes. “Do you really think I can do that much work, and still treat you as a friend, and not like one hell of a boss?”

  “Oh… Sorry, I didn’t realize I gave you too many things to do in a day.”

  “Well, hello there! I get to work earlier than anyone else and leave when the security starts checking the building with the flashlights. Do you think I get much pleasure from that?”

  “I thought you simply liked your job.”

  “I do, I love my job. But not that much!”

  “Okay, how about I give you an extra day off then?”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, why not?”

  “Then I will hate you even more, because I will have to stay even later during the night, just to be able to do everything you leave for me to deal with.”

  “Would you like to have an assistant?”

  “Is there even a position like that? A secretary’s assistant?”

  “You are talking to the head of this company, remember? Even though you hate me to death, I can also be very helpful sometimes.”

  “Sometimes is the key word here.”

  Dominick laughed. “Okay, I get your point. I will find someone to do a part of your job for you, happy now?”

  I could hardly hold back my smile. “Almost.”

  “Ugh, you are one insatiable woman, Jillian.”

  “You know… There’s one thing that could help my opinion about you change.”

  “Really? And what is that?”

  “I’ve heard about the Department of Foreign Affairs looking for a new manager.”

  Dominick’s mouth opened and closed, as if he was too shocked by my audacity to say a word.

  “Foreign Affairs? Can I ask you why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Well, you know, it’s one of the hardest positions to get in this company. So I wonder if you have some special talents that I have missed; I have been working with you for about a year now.”

  “Maybe if you were not such a self-centered jer… person I mean, you would have read my personal history to know that I have two graduate degrees, one of which is International Business. I can speak French and German almost fluently, and I started working at this company hoping that one day I would get the mentioned position.”

  “Wow, that’s impressive.”

  “It sure is.”

  “I think you are right, I should have read your file months ago. So what do we do now?”

  “You find yourself a new secretary — if you can find anyone of course; poor thing will have to sign a death sentence, because there’s no other way to call working with you — and I become the manager of the Department of International Affairs.” I gave him the most evil self-satisfied smile I was capable of. Maybe now the asshole, I mean Dominick, would start treating me differently?

  “I always liked people like you, Jillian.”

  I smirked. “You have a very special way to express that.”

  He nodded, smiling. “Sometimes I can’t help myself. I like things to be done my way.”

  “And that makes two of us.”

  “I’ve already figured that much. Okay, I will see what I can do about your new job, and you will think about calling me Dominick, deal?”

  “Deal.”

  “Good, now I think we can both call it a day.”

  Just about time.

  “Great idea, Sir.”

  “Hey, I thought we’d made a deal!”

  “Yes, but I’m still your secretary. And the deal was about a new job.”

  He laughed, shaking his head. “I don’t think I will ever be able to gain your approval.”

  “Well, it depends… Good night, Mr. Altier.”

  “Good night, Jill!”

  ***

  “You did what?” Scarlett and I were sitting at the bar of The Black Rose, that to our mutual surprise, had become one of our favorite places to visit.

  “I asked him to promote me,” I said, sipping my second Margarita. Nothing could be better than a drink after a long and exhausting day.

  “Yeah, I get that, but why didn’t you ever ask me to promote you?”

  “Well, I didn’t want to use our friendship to get a promotion.”

  “So you thought that using Dominick’s hard efforts to become friends with you was a better idea?”

  “Exactly.”

  She laughed. “I will never stop admiring you, girl.”

  “Thanks, I love you too.” I waved for the bartender to refresh my drink, and when I was about to move to the dance floor, my sister’s name flashed on my cell’s screen.

  “I need to take this,” I said, heading for the hall, where I could talk. “Anna? What happened?” I asked, closing one ear with my palm. Even in the hall, it was too loud to have a normal conversation.

  “We had a water leakage in the bathroom, and I couldn’t stop it. Now the owner of the house says we need to move out until it’s fixed.”

  “What?” I truly hoped she would take her words back, but luck was so not on my side tonight. “What about my things? Please, don’t tell me they are all ruined.” I groaned at the thought of losing my clothes and shoes. Thank God, there wasn’t anything else valuable in the damn place.

  “I managed to rescue some of them. But the biggest part got totally wet.”

  Fuuuck…

  “Where were you when the leakage happened?”

  “In the bathroom, washing Robin.”

  “Did it happen because of him?”

  There was a pause on the other end of the line.

  “Anna?”

  “Well, he was playing with a rubber duck and accidentally bit some hose and the water started flooding the entire space around me, and I-”

  Anna started sobbing, and I realized that screaming at her was as pointless as trying to save my drowned shoes. After all, she was still just a kid.

  “Okay, don’t cry. We will come up with something,” I said, hoping Scarlett’s apartment was still empty. Since the day she has moved to Dom’s, no one lived there.

  “A friend of mine said I could stay overnight at her place.”

  “Do I know that friend?” Not that I didn’t trust my sister. But I sure as hell didn’t want to get into more trouble because of her.

  “Yes, it’s Katy.”

  “Oh, okay. Do you mind if I call her parents to make sure that it’s okay for you to stay with them?”

  “I don’t mind. Oh, Jill, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that buying a dog would become such a disaster!”

  “Well, maybe next time you will think twice before doing something so stupid.”

  “I know you are angry at me, and I swear, I will pay you back for all the ruined shoes.”

  I smiled, shaking my head. “Thank God, at least you are okay. The rest hardly matters.”
<
br />   “Thank you, Sis. You know I love you more than anything.”

  “Love you too, my little troublemaker. See you tomorrow then? I’ll pick you up before work and take you back home. I hope Mom and Dad will be too excited talking about their trip to ask about the dog running around their house.”

  “He’s so cute, my heart will break if I need to give him away.”

  “Yeah, I’ve already heard this very same thing before I left this morning, remember? We will talk about it tomorrow, okay?”

  Anna wished me sweet dreams, I ended the call and leaned tiredly against the wall behind me. I was homeless now.

  Un-fucking-believable…

  “Is everything all right?” Scarlett asked, seeing my sour expression.

  “Not even close. My house has drowned.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There was a water leakage and all of my stuff and half of my shoe collection, if not more, is irreparably ruined.” I picked up my Margarita and drained it dry.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry, dear. Is Anna all right?”

  “Yeah, unlike my shoes, she’s shaken but unhurt.”

  “Don’t worry, we will buy you plenty of new shoes. Especially if Dom gives you that much-desired promotion.”

  “Amen! Can I stay in your apartment for a while? Crap, I need to find a new place to live.”

  “It’s all yours for as long as you need.”

  “Thanks, Sweetie. You’re a life saver.”

  “Now, don’t you think it’s time to go home and get some sleep? Tomorrow is only Tuesday and we both need to be at work on time.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think I want anything but a hot bath now. You have a bath in your apartment, don’t you?”

  “I do, just don’t fall asleep there. I’m sure you wouldn’t like your boss to tell you off for being late again.”

  “Damn true.”

  We paid for our drinks and headed out to find a taxi.

  ***

  “See you tomorrow,” I said, getting out of the car.

  “See you!” Scarlett waved through the taxi window and left.

  I went to the fifth floor of the building where my new home was, opened the door and collapsed on the nearest chair, kicking off my shoes and taking off my jacket. I hoped Scarlett had some clothes left in her old wardrobe. I sure as hell couldn’t go to work wearing the same outfit two days in a row.