Chapter 7

Bonnie

There was a knock on the door just as I opened my mouth to say something.

“Come in,” Nash said in a commanding voice, and I turned to look.

A woman walked in, her high stilettos clicking the marble floor as she moved in our direction.

“Mr. Montgomery asked to send these files over to you, sir,” she said confidently. I noticed immediately the way her hips swayed in her tight pencil skirt. She had a thin blue silk blouse tucked into the skirt and her waist might as well have been non-existent. She looked too good to belong in a workplace.

“Ah, thank you. Bonnie, this is my secretary Sera,” Nash interrupted my thoughts, but I continued to follow this woman’s walk as she passed me and walked straight up to Nash. She stopped very close to him, with her back turned to me, as though she was trying to ignore my presence in the room.

“Hi,” I said, forcing a big smile on my face.

Sera turned her head over her shoulder, just an inch, to give me one quick glance. “Nice to meet you, Bonnie,” she said and then turned back around to Nash. She had thick chocolate-brown hair that she had tied in a messily loose chignon to one side of her head. A carefully constructed delicate look. And what was her problem with me anyway?

“Thanks, Sera. And please feel free to patch Bonnie through to me whenever she calls,” Nash said, and then looked at me with that same knowing smile on his face. He was still on the same subject. He wanted me to sleep on his job offer. Was he actually being serious about this whole thing?

“Of course.” Sera gave me another dismissive glance before looking back at Nash with her large innocent dark eyes.

Nash smiled at her and then looked at me again. “In fact, Bonnie, are you available to accompany me to a charity event tomorrow evening?” he asked, surprising me even further.

“I thought I was going to that,” Sera was quick to say, even before I had a chance to process that information. My eyebrows arched up. I was detecting some serious hostility from this woman, who was still standing facing Nash, with her back turned to me. Wasn’t she just his secretary?

“Yes, you were, but now you’re relieved of your duties, Sera, if Bonnie agrees to come with me.” Nash smiled at her and then at me. Was he unaware of the way Sera was staring at me? At the obvious fact that she wanted to go to this event. That she wanted him to take her and not me.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll go,” I said without thinking, mostly because I wanted to see the look on her face when I said that. Sure enough, the daggers had come out. She turned to me fully now. Her bright red lips were stretched to a thin line, which otherwise were plump and luscious. But she was too mad at what was happening to remember to look beautiful.

“Great, I can visit my folks then,” she said, and I detected a hint of sarcasm. Something told me that visiting her parents was the least of perfect Sera’s concerns. Nash Preston was more on her radar than her family. But she had composed herself. I was the only one to be privy to her agonizingly angry looks. She turned back to Nash, and I saw the wide toothy smile she flashed at him. God! Even her teeth were perfect. A few loose strands of dark hair fell messily over her face as she leaned across him, reaching for a stack of papers on the far side of his desk.

I raised an eyebrow as I watched her. She could very easily have walked around him. But she chose to stretch her body across the desk, sticking her big round butt up in the air, for full display.

Nash didn’t seem to notice, or at least he pretended to not notice.

“That’ll give us a chance to discuss the position. And you’ll get to meet some of my employees who could become your colleagues very soon,” Nash continued casually, as though there wasn’t a sexy woman leaning right in front of him, with her ass directly in his face. I still had my eyebrows arched. Either he was used to this, or he just didn’t care. He had probably banged her anyway. She wasn’t anything new to him. Typical Nash Preston.

I couldn’t control the jealousy coursing through my veins. Perhaps more so now because he had just kissed me. I wasn’t crazy, right? You don’t just touch someone’s breast because they’re an old friend and you’re glad to see them!

I cleared my throat and nodded. “Of course, yeah, sure thing.” I was fumbling with my words, because it had just struck me. I had agreed to see him again, when I should be staying as far away from him as possible. Working for his company? That was out of the question. I didn’t need to sleep on it to know that it wasn’t happening.

But the look on Sera’s face, when Nash asked me out and I agreed, was priceless. I would have done it all over again, just for that.

Sera had straightened and was lingering beside Nash, seemingly shuffling through the pages in her hand. Nash had stuck his hands deep into the pockets of his pants and was looking at me like he had nothing more to say. He was still smiling though. Nash Preston was always on point.

“All right then, I’ll see you later,” I said, taking in a deep breath.

“See you tomorrow. I’ll pick you up,” Nash pulled out the chair behind his desk. Sera was still lingering beside him, like she wanted me to leave so that she could spend some time alone with Nash. I nearly giggled from watching her make such a fool of herself. Hadn’t she figured it out by now? Nash Preston wasn’t that kind of guy.

“In fact, would you mind leaving your phone number with Sera, so that I can call you if there is a change of plans?” he asked, settling into his chair. He said it off handedly, like it was just a business transaction.

“Sure thing,” I said and smiled at Sera, who looked visibly upset. This would mean that she would have to see me out, and she might not get the alone time with Nash that she was hoping for.

I felt slightly victorious as Sera walked past me, leading me out of Nash’s office. I followed her with a glow on my face. My body was still reeling from the kiss and having Nash’s lips on me, but I was also having some fun with Sera’s anxiousness.

“Bonnie, good seeing you,” Nash said again, just as I was at the door. I turned and found him sitting behind his desk, watching me walk out.

“See you tomorrow,” I said, recovering my voice finally, and then I was alone with Sera in the hallway.

“Write it down on a piece of paper and I’ll hand it to Mr. Preston’s chauffeur,” Sera said immediately, walking ahead of me and not bothering to turn as she spoke. I was following her; my gaze instinctively dragged to that big swaying butt. She had the most perfect hour-glass figure and she walked like she was a ballerina, with a ramrod straight back, her head held delicately on her shoulders like it was a prized possession. She had to be terrible in bed.

“Where can I find this piece of paper?” I asked as we came to a stop at a desk several feet away from Nash’s office. It had her name on a metal plaque. Seraphine James. Even her name was fuckable, I thought, and rolled my eyes.

“Here,” she said, handing a small sticky note to me and a pen. I smiled at her, winningly, and then scribbled, wondering how much money I could bet Nell that Sera would pretend to have lost my information.

“All done, have a good day, Sera,” I said and walked off before she had a chance to say anything else. Even without looking, I could sense the intensity with which she was glaring at the back of my head. But as I walked away from her and toward the elevator doors, I was realizing more and more that I needed to think long and hard over the events of this absurd day.