Valeria left Alice at her desk at school and kissed her head before leaving, earning a smile from her. She arranged her hair and went out to hail a cab just as she had planned. Luckily, she was on time. Mr. Davies had given her the address to a restaurant where they would meet at nine in the morning, and Valeria had plenty of time to get there. Already in the cab she made sure that her clothes were discreet and elegant, no fancy corsets. The purpose of the pieces was fulfilled and it was important that Mr. Davies saw her as a designer; she did not want any misunderstandings. At nine o'clock she entered the restaurant and was told that Mr. Davies was already waiting for her. The magnate greeted her courteously and the conversation ran smoothly from there. Andrew modified some important points in the concepts of the collections, always explaining to Valeria what he was looking for. “It's not just about design, they also have to be apt to sell well, and I think with these adjustments
Nick held back the urge to punch Andrew Davies full in the face, but they had just signed the company's most important contracts in several years, so he stopped himself. “I'm not so sure I'll let Valeria go,” Nick replied. “Well, that's not entirely up to you, is it? We'll see what happens in the next few months,” Andrew smiled before saying goodbye. He watched him go to Valeria's office and give her a tentative and very brief hug that made him fume to the roots of his hair. He hadn't finished leaving when Nick was already bursting into Valeria's cubicle like a lion fresh out of the cage, not caring that people were watching. “What was that about you not being easy with the first guy who passed you by?” Nick hissed, slapping his palms on her desk, causing her to raise her head. “What was that about you not being jealous of me?” she replied, raising an eyebrow in amusement. “Don't change the subject, Valeria! What was all that hugging about?” he demanded. Valeria closed her eyes
Nick looked around. The apartment didn't have a speck of dust in it, and he made sure that the lady who usually cleaned used odorless products. He took a bath before leaving and didn't put on any perfume. He took the van out that day, which was well cleaned, and drove to Valeria's apartment after telling her by text message that he was on his way to pick them up. He had no idea why he was so nervous, but he reached the third floor climbing the steps two at a time, and when the door opened, he had to swallow dry to avoid saying something stupid. Valeria was wearing a strappy dress, floor-length, and so soft it looked like it would fly off in the first breeze. Her hair was loose and a very thin headband held it up. “Hello,” he said. “I'm here.” “Hello,” Valeria smiled briefly and called Alice. The little girl arrived next to them with a rather calm expression. “Baby, this is Nick. Nick, this is Alice.” He waved his hand in greeting because he knew she didn't like to be touched. “N
All the stupid things he had said, the way he had prejudged Valeria, the way he had used Alice and Alice's father to annoy her... Christ, it was almost better to open a hole in the ground and throw himself in rather than face Valeria now that he knew the truth! “Do you like my sister?” Alice asked point-blank. “Eh? What?” “Do you like my sister?” Alice was already doubting his intelligence when Nick seemed to wake up. “Yes,” he admitted, “I like your sister, but I don't think I've been very nice to her.” “I know that. She's cried more since she went to work at your company than she has in the entire last year,” Alice blurted out. Wow, no filter! Nick thought, but he got a knot in his stomach just thinking about it. “I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to make her cry,” Nick muttered. “I know that too. You're just like me,” said the girl, going back to her ice cream. “Oh, yeah? How's that?” “You’re emotionally atrophied,” said Alice, and Nick winced in annoyance. “Hey, who to
Valeria responded to the greeting respectfully, then focused entirely on Alice while the woman talked to Nick as if she were talking to Zeus on Olympus. She found it funny that Nick didn't want to introduce her as his ex, though she definitely looked like the type of woman he liked. But if the CEO of Bennet Designs was expecting to encounter a fit of jealousy on her part, he soon realized that Valeria wasn't even paying attention to him, so he cut the conversation short and said goodbye to Miranda. Only Valeria, who was facing her when he sat down, could see the gesture of contempt and displeasure Miranda Jones made in her direction—well disguised, of course—but finally she couldn't quite hide the fact that she felt her territory had been invaded. They returned to the apartment after nine o'clock. Valeria thanked them both and sent Alice off to get her things to leave. “Wait... what do you mean you're leaving?” Nick protested. The weekend had been too short for him. Was it really Su
Nick had never been an impulsive man when it came to women, perhaps because knowing that his father had killed himself for one made him think twice before involving his feelings in the matter, but with Valeria it was different. That little troublemaker was his personal drug: after tasting her it was practically impossible not to get addicted to her. “Nick... wait...” Valeria begged him. But Nick had already slipped his hand under her skirt and was making her shudder with that wonderful ride. Valeria felt that heat rising up her legs and lodging in her sex, asking for much more than a couple of rubs. “Nick!” “Shshshsh…” Nick controlled that tongue with his own. He spread her legs and slipped one of her knees in between and slipped a finger between the skin and the elastic of her panties. He felt her shudder and continued down until he found that tiny pearl that made her cry out. Nick smothered her moaning with his kisses and massaged that spot until Valeria closed her eyes and bit h
Nick rolled up his shirt sleeves again while looking around. He'd been trying to hire a moving truck all week, but Valeria hadn't let him, arguing that his truck was more than enough. And seeing that there were only enough boxes for two trips in the truck, Nick realized that the girls really didn't have much stuff. “That’s it, we’ll get another box in and on the next trip I'll take the rest,” he said to Valeria, and the girl shrugged. “On the next trip we can all go,” she murmured, hanging on his neck to kiss him. “I'll be back soon.” Nick gave her a gentle spank before leaving, and Valeria smiled watching him get off. It was strange to see him so happy after always seeming angry. But the last week had been simply wonderful. They would sneak into any corner of the company and kiss like two teenagers. Not even forty minutes had passed when Valeria heard the door open again. “How did you come back so fast—” But when she turned around she found a face she wasn't expecting. “Alan?”
That Nick was a possessive man didn't surprise her. After all, she was used to seeing him take things to extremes, but that she was turned on by the way he was possessive of her, now that she hadn't expected. “I think... I think I'd better go...” she barely murmured. “Do you want to go, Val?” he asked, his voice full of innuendo. “Why?” “Because you woke up too sexy and I woke up too weak. And if I don't leave now, I'll end up doing what I swore and swore I wouldn't do!” she answered, feeling her legs turning to Jell-O. “And what would that be, Valeria?” asked Nick, resting a forearm on the door, over her head, and leaning over her. “You know what it would be, because you'd be right on top of me!” she growled before giving him the most violent and quickest kiss ever and almost running out of his office. She really looked like she was going to fall over at any moment and her heart was pounding in her ears. What had that been? Why had Nick done that? It couldn't be just because he