Yours Book 1: Losing My Innocence (16 page)

G
etting
ready for work with Nick in the morning was surreal. I don’t mind at all waking to my man in gym shorts with a towel around his neck and a bare chest. Especially when he is holding breakfast for me while said bare chest is dripping with sweat from his morning workout.

A part of me wishes he would have woken me so that I could watch him work up a sweat. The other part of me is glad he didn’t so that I didn’t have to embarrass myself if he asks me to join him.

We shared a breakfast of berries, toast, and my favorite tea that first morning. He admitted to me that he actually text Kimmie to find out what I preferred. I thought it was such a sweet gesture. What was sweeter was when we arrived at the FLI building and Nick had Winston drop him at a separate entrance so no one would see us arrive together.

He was really thinking about my feelings and my career. Each morning I have entered the office with the biggest smile on my face. I have really clicked with my team and started to easy into my role at FLI. I have still had none stop meetings, but I am finding my stride and I love it.

My team is the best, they have stepped it up and we have been completing projects ahead of time and with better results than expected. I am determined to show Nick I can do this and my team is determined to please me. We are a winning combination. Things have been going great.

So you will understand my confusion when I return to my office on Wednesday from my morning meetings to find Nick in my office with a scowl on his face. He is sitting on the edge of my desk with his arms folded, looking the most intimidating I have ever seen him.

“Close the door,” he clips out as I step into the office. I start to run my morning over in my head to see what I may have done wrong.

I close the door and notice that he has already drawn the blinds. I turn back to him and wipe my sweaty palm down my sleeveless teal sheath dress. I start for my desk and place my tablet down next to him. My purple suede platform Mary Jane’s suddenly are very interesting to me as I try to think.

I’d been a little aggressive in my last meeting, but I was sure no one could have reported me so soon. One of the older executives sat in on the meeting and tried to take over as if I wasn’t there. I had to stand my ground. At the time I thought Nick would be proud of me. Now not so much.

He reaches out for my waist and pulls me between his legs. His stony expression is unreadable. He closes his thighs in on my sides effectively trapping me in place. Despite feeling like I’d done something wrong, heat starts low in my belly from his nearness.

Placing his fingertips under my chin he lifts my head to meet his eyes. “Tell me my little butterfly, why is it you have not talked to your mother or Luke about me as of yet,” he says shortly.

“Oh,” is all my brain filter can come up with at first. I wanted to wait to have that conversation with my mother. As far as Luke is concerned, I have been too busy to return his calls. I’ve been sending him text messages that I will call him back when I have time. “I was going to talk to Mother, umm, later.”

Too bad I don’t even believe my words. My mother can be difficult and I do not need her telling me how wrong I am for Nick and how he can do so much better. I don’t know how to make him understand this.

“Well repercussions have come with your actions. Get your things, we are both going to lunch with your mother so you can see what your actions have caused,” he demands.

“But I have a meeting,” I look at my wrist watch.

“Regina has rearranged your schedule. Bring your laptop and things. As well as anything you may need over the next couple of days,” he says curtly.

“Wait, the next couple of days?” I ask feeling confused.

“Yes,” his eyes soften a little as his hand knead my back. “We’ll be working from home for the next few days.”

“Oh?”

He nuzzles my neck. “Get your things. We need to go so we aren’t late for lunch. We wouldn’t want to keep your mother waiting.”

Trying to pull my thoughts together, I reluctantly pull out of his arms and gather my things. My mind is spinning from his warm breath ticking my neck and his large hands soothing my back, not to mention I am trying to think of what not telling Luke and mother about us could have caused.

Nick stands holding my office door open for me once I have my things. As we step out of my office, he places his warm palm to the small of my back. I nervously scan the office to see if anyone is watching. Nick’s possessive gesture is just that and anyone seeing would read it for what it is. We are half way to the elevator when Norman rushes up to us.

“Miss. Emilsson,” Norman looks nervously between me and Nick. Nick moves his hand to my waist and pulls me into his side. Norman clears his throat to continue as I try not to show that I am flustered. “Regina asked me to sit in on your two o’clock. I’m familiar with the project. I just wanted to know if you had any notes for me that you wanted addressed.”

“Oh yes, sure. I have them on my tablet, I will shoot them to you as soon as I get in the car,” I nod.

“Okay, thanks,” Norman then turns to hurry away.

I looked up at Nick, then search the office with my eyes warily. “What are you doing?” I murmur.

“You gave up the right to privacy when you failed to tell your family that you belong to me,” Nick says before bending to take my lips in a kiss too passionate for midday in the middle of the office. He leaves me breathless.

I am completely stunned as he pulls away and places a kiss to the top of my head. The blush I had been fighting is in full attack. I look up into his face trying to see if he has lost his mind. He just gives me a warm smile and leads me to the elevator. As we wait for the elevator’s arrival, I go from stunned to pissed.

We step into the elevator and Nick pushes for the main floor. He reaches for my bag, taking it in his hands and then places his other hand on the small of my back again. I can’t hold this in. I thought he understood how much it meant for me to have my coworkers respect me for my hard work, not because I am sleeping with the boss.

I spin out of his hold to turn on him. “How could you do that to me? I don’t want people to think I got this job because I slept with you. Everyone already knows how hard you pursued me to take the position, what will they think now?” I hiss.

Nick closes the space between us, pushing my back into the elevator wall. “What they will think is that I hired you as a business decision. What they know is that you have been here less than a week Sephora and your team has the top production rate of any department.

“Your teams’ financial contribution numbers have tripled and we are only midweek. Forty percent of your teams’ projects are completed or ahead of schedule. You have out ranked all of my execs and I am sure you will continue to do so. So I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks.

“They all work for me and your performance shows why I hired you. I won’t hide what belongs to me any longer. Following that plan has not worked for either of us and I will not continue with it,” and once again his mouth is taking possession of mine.

It is the mark of the end of the discussion and his seal on a promise. He meant to let everyone know I belong to him. I lose all my fight and melt into his chest. The elevator bell chimes and he nips my neck just before the doors open.

I am a bit giddy as his words start to sink in. I know my team is doing great, but I didn’t know we were functioning above everyone else. I have to fight against a fist pump as we climb into the back of the SUV.

The ride to the restaurant is quiet as we are both lost in our own thoughts. Nick is mostly focused on his phone sending text messages and answering emails. Once I forward my notes to Norman, I try to focus on some work on my tablet, but I am too nervous as my thoughts travel back to my office. Nick mentioned consequences of my actions. I can’t for the life of me figure out what that could mean. Whatever my actions had caused had him pretty pissed off.

I turn my attention to Nick as he loosens his tie, removing it and loosening the top three buttons of his crisp violet shirt. It doesn’t escape me that he has been matching his wardrobe to mine the last few days. The tie he removed had been a deep purple like my shoes.

I lick my lips as his tanned skin peeks through the gap in his now open shirt. I am so distracted by his body that I don’t notice when Winston pulls in front of the restaurant. When I hear Winston’s door open and close I snap out of my ogling and release my seat belt that I always wear now upon Nick’s insistence.

Just as I move to slide out of the car Nick’s snakes his arm around my waist pulling me flush against him. With his fingertips he turns and lifts my face to his taking my lips in a ravishing kiss. “Mine,” he breathes when our lips part.

I leaned into him nipping his lower lip, then drawing it into my mouth. “Mine,” I gave him his word back as I look up at him through my lashes.

“That, my little butterfly, is what you are here to prove,” he replies tersely.

I furrow my brows in confusion as Nick gently nudges me to get out of the car. As I step out, I notice Luke pacing in front of the restaurant with a twisted expression on his face. I am surprised. I wasn’t expecting to see him here.

Upon seeing us he stops pacing and comes over to me to plant a kiss on my cheek. “Lilla du,” he murmurs, then turns tensely toward Nick. “Lincoln,” he says with a curt nod at Nick.

Nick chuckles and shakes his head, but reaches out his hand to shake Luke’s anyway. “Lucian.”

I sigh at Luke’s behavior. I’m not a baby and it is my decision who I choose to date. This is ridiculous, this is his best friend. Why can’t he see that we are happy together and just get over it.

“Let’s get this over with shall we,” Luke says before a look passes between him and Nick. I am sure that I am missing something here.

We enter the restaurant and the hostess leads us right to our table right away. As we approach the table I notice a few things right away. One, the hostess has a bust boy rush an extra setting to the table. Second, I notice Nina, Ettie, and Andrew. Lastly, I notice the extremely pretty white woman standing next to my mother. She is tall and thin with light brown hair that frames her beautiful face. She looks to be between Luke and Ettie’s age and she is staring at Nick like he is on the menu.

All at once things began to click into place. I understand what has Nick so pissed off. It is clear that my whole family has been invited to this lunch, excluding me, had Nick not taken the liberty.

I round the table to greet my mother kissing her on both cheeks. “Hello mother,” I force out as cheery as I can manage.

“Sephora, I had no idea you would be joining us. What a delightful surprise. You look lovely, dear. Clarice, I don’t know if you remember her, but this is my youngest, Sephora,” My mother introduces me to the woman that is still ogling my man.

“Hello, so good to see you again,” Clarice responds in a breathily voice.

Oh great, she sounds as beautiful as she looks.
I narrow my eyes at Nick, whose eyes are locked on me. A smug smirk tugs at the side of his lips. He is enjoying this.

Before I can respond to Clarice, my mother moves on to finish her introductions. “Nicholas, sweetheart,” my mother purrs as he moves to kiss her on both cheeks. “You look as handsome as ever. I want you to meet Clarice. She is the daughter of a close friend of mine. Clarice has just returned from Paris. She has been modeling over there for the past four years.”

“Nice to meet you,” Nick says nodding at Clarice, who looks as if she is ready to drool all over him.

“The pleasure is mine. I have heard so much about you. From Faraz of course, but your business reputation is quite notable as well,” Clarice purrs as she reaches out eagerly for Nick to take her hand.

Nick shakes her hand briskly, then leads me around the table. Nina and Luke are to the left of my mother, Andrew and Ettie are to the left of them, leaving two vacant seats between Ettie and Clarice, who are on mother’s right. Nick pulls the chair next to Clarice for me to sit in and I sit as gracefully as I can.

“Oh, Nicholas,” mother frowns so quickly I may have missed it if I were not watching her face. “I thought it would be best if you sat next to Clarice.”

Nick sits smoothly in the seat beside me. “I’ll be just fine here,” Nick says giving my mother one of his heart stopping smiles that no woman is immune to.

I flip my hair over my shoulder, drawing Clarice’s attention away from devouring Nick. For a moment, I thought she was actually going to ask me to switch seats with her. She gives me a friendly smile like we are old friends, but truth be told I can’t remember her from anywhere. I start to wonder if she is really the daughter of a close friend.

“Oh, Sephora, that necklace is just divine,” Clarice says with a sparkle in her eyes.

My hand automatically rises to my throat to rest on the butterfly pendant. “Oh, thank you, it was a gift.”

“That would look lovely on a slender neck like yours,” my mother says to Clarice.

Nick reaches under the table and squeezes my knee as his jaw works under his skin. My brother is wearing a similar look on his face, but I am sure that if I don’t say something soon it is Nick that is going to erupt.

“That was really sweet of Kimberly Ann. She and Sephora have been roommates since their freshman year in college.” My mother says to Clarice.

“Actually, it was a graduation gift from my boyfriend,” I say into my lap. Nick pushes his hand further up my thigh under my dress and squeezes again. I look out of the corner of my eye to see his smirk back in place.

“Your boyfriend,” my mother spatters with her wine glass now frozen midair, on its way to her lips.

“Oh mother, Sephora is a woman you know,” Ettie rolls her eyes at our mother. “How is work going, Sephora?”

“Oh, it’s great. I love it,” I say with a genuine smile.

“Yes, something else you didn’t think to tell me about,” my mother says dryly. “Sephora works for Nicholas at FLI.”

“Oh wow, it must be a real treat to work for such an amazing man,” Clarice beams as she looks lustily at Nick.