‘So let me ask you this, Mr. Kingston. Do you have a wife?’ Clara decided the direct approach was the way to approach Rowan since he was being brazen about his intentions.
‘No, and no girlfriend either, I would like to date you if that is possible,’ he was getting straight to the point as well, forgetting that Max was with them. He was eating his meal calmly like he was having a normal conversation, and he was not trying to piss off Clara.
‘That’s flattering, but I have a boyfriend already, Mr. Kingston. I hope that doesn’t prevent you from considering our business.’ she had been waiting for this chance to let him know she had a boyfriend all day. And she was glad that she could finally get it out.
‘I know. You’re with Sebastian Colfer from the Navio shipping company, right? But you’re not married yet, and I thin
Max rambled on as soon as he got into their hotel room. ‘My God, Clara, what is up with you and the CEO of these companies? Everyone we signed up with seems to be half in love with you before they even get to know you, and they’re very aggressive about it. Do they know how bad-tempered and impulsive you are? That you eat too much and you snore?’ ‘Oh shut up, like I have a choice about who we met at that convention.’ She throws him a pillow. ‘I don’t snore, doofus!’ He laughed out loud. ‘That’s what pissed you off?’ The door to the bathroom closed, then opened again. ‘By the way, we’re having dinner with Rowan tonight, and he expects you to be there. Maybe I should skip it and let you have a romantic candlelit dinner with him by yourself. After you walked out on me, he went back to a regular business executive. I say give him a chance. He was probably overwhel
In the cab, Max drapes his arm around Clara. He knows that in her mind, there was a war going on. Her mind is fighting whether she should have backed down, accepting his invitation for dinner to show that arrogant fool that he did not really scare her. But on the other, she felt she did the right thing, avoiding him as much as she could. She would swallow her pride and do what was good for the company, but she would not let misogynistic men like him win. She leans against Max and sighs, ‘Max, did I do the right thing? It kind of scared me to accept his invitation, that if he took me to dinner, something else might happen. He looked like he would have been capable of taking drastic measures, of taking me against my will. What if I’m not as strong as I thought I was? If I couldn’t fight him back…’ He hugged her closer. ‘It’s okay sis, he’s just another cl
Rowan was not ready to give up. He had found the perfect woman for him, and he was going to do everything in his power to make Clara his. ‘Rowan, this is not a good idea. I really love Sebastian, and there is nothing you can do to sway me.’ She turns around and runs around her table to get away when she feels her ponytail getting pulled behind her. ‘Owww!’ she screams as Rowan pulls her against him. ‘You are mine! I found you first. That rat stole you from me,’ he said as he caged her arms, preventing her from escaping or using her elbows on him. Clara struggles out of his hold. But because he was bigger and stronger, he subdues her for a few seconds. She then tries to stamp on his foot, but he expected what she wanted to do and used his foot to kick hers away. ‘Stop struggling. I will not hurt you,’
Sunday It has been 4 hours since the SST team started their journey, and what started out as a new adventure was beginning to feel like “the trip from hell." They still had 5 to 6 hours of driving before reaching San Diego, but the truck had broken down twice already. They had an excellent breakfast 2 hours into their trip, and that’s where everything started. First, they had a flat tire. It was nothing they couldn’t fix, except for the fact that the spare was also flat. Whoever used the rental truck did not report the issue, so now they had to deal with it. They had to wait for the rental company to bring them a new tire, and they said they would have to get it from the main office, almost as close as to where they came from, and it pushed their schedule back another 2 hours. She should have relaxed
By the time the entire team arrived, everyone was too tired to work on anything. And Sebastian, being the gracious host, had ordered the group food for dinner. Pizza, chicken wings, and beer to take the edge off. And to Clara, that was a plus for being thoughtful and attentive to their needs. Sebastian was ticking off a lot of boxes on the boyfriend list. Clara didn’t have one, but if she did, Sebastian would have all the standards for what a boyfriend should be. He even offered to fly everybody home on his private jet because he knew Clara would not ride with him and let her team suffer on the commercial flight. It was an excuse to spend more time together and maybe cuddle with her on the plane. During dinner, they talked about who was sharing rooms at the hotel. Clara had the hotel room to herself, and th
‘Well, Lexi, I guess you are on your own today, but we’ll see what I can do,’ Clara said, winking at him. ‘Get me the menu copies, then we’ll talk.’ Then she turns to Heather, ‘Why don’t you sit by Jeremy? He said he needs you for something right now,’ wiggles her eyebrows and smiles. Heather shakes her head but stays rooted to her spot. ‘Okay, back to business.' Clara thought as she asked Heather to hand out the IDs and placed trackers on them, so she would know where her team was at all times, especially Max because he was acting very suspicious. ‘To finish the installation faster, you will need to decide if it would be better for you to split up in groups of 2 or 4. To tackle each floor per group, or you can pick one floor to concentrate on and finish it fa
The lunch briefing had gone well. And everybody was there except for Max, who people started to notice was missing a lot during the day. She was getting suspicious. Her fingers were getting itchy to know who Max was dating in San Diego and why he was keeping it from his siblings. Sooner or later, they’d learn of the women he’s dating, but not this one. Why now? The team was able to finish two floors that day. Sebastian’s floor, and the rooftop area, where they had a lounge and lunch section. There was such nice weather up on the roof that everybody came back in a good mood. Clara made Sebastian’s floor a priority just in case something happened. The fire that transpired weeks ago was still under investigation, and who knows if he might be the next target. The security team had installed additional temporary cameras in his office and added security patro
The adrenalin rush they got from sparring made them impulsive. Baz and Clara kissed each other roughly like they were still dueling. He picked her up to carry her to his bed, but when she wrapped her legs around him, he almost lost reason. He wanted to take her right there on the floor, almost forgetting where they were. The need to possess her right now was consuming him. And as he came up for air, he remembered they were in his office. ‘This is what you do to me. You drive me insane all the time, and I can’t get enough of you,’ he helped get herself back on her feet. His hand was on her bare breast and her shirt unbuttoned to her navel. How that happened in such a short time baffled both of them. So he buttoned her shirt up to bring back the semblance of normalcy. ‘We should do this somewhere private, where I can take all of this off, and not worry if