Thank you for reading another chapter ❤️ I hope you still enjoy the story of Charlie and Aiden, and I hope that you will stay to find out how their story unfolds. I'm always grateful to read your comments and reviews. I'm also extremely grateful for every gem 💎😍 Thank you for your support!!!
He kissed me. Fine, it wasn't a full-on, toe-curling French kiss, but a tender joining of his soft lips with mine. Yet I swear that the sole touch ignited every nerve within me. He kept his lips pressed for a couple of my frantic heartbeats before leaning back and smirking."That was absolutely inappropriate," he purred, his deep voice wrapping my body with wicked need. "I shouldn't be kissing my secretary in the corridor."I swallowed and nodded. "Probably not," I agreed, my voice barely above the whisper.He stepped back and locked his eyes on me. "Next time, I will wait until we're in my office." He gave me a full-dimple smile, turned around, and walked away while I stayed still with my mouth open and my mind completely blank.I wobbled back to my desk and waited until my liquid brain turned into a solid mass again. I wasn't imagining things. This wasn't a one-sided attraction. The kiss confirmed it, and so did the erection in his pants. Whatever it was, it was dangerous, and it wo
The rest of the evening was a blur. I couldn't think. I could barely breathe, and all my sensitive parts were aching for attention. I needed someone who could disarm the pressure inside me, help me calm down, and reboot my brain. Unfortunately, Emily was still out of reach, and I could either use BOB—my Battery-Operated Boyfriend—or a cold shower. The latter won since my agitation quickly grew past the point where I could perform more complicated operations than entering the bathroom and turning on the water. I knew I should have transferred my attention elsewhere. I should have thought solely about the contracts signed by Caesar Hart and all issues related to them. I should have actively searched for other potential suspects and perhaps found out more about Caesar's most trusted ally in the company, Mr. Stone. But was I doing any of it? No! I kept my mind filled with images of Aiden, and how it felt when his lips touched mine. For the first time in four years, I felt wanted, and it f
It was the first time that I saw Aiden sitting behind the wheel. I didn't think that any man in the world had the ability to turn me on just by driving a car, but as I watched Aiden effortlessly maneuver his Maserati, I felt waves of heat crashing against me like I was in the middle of a firestorm. Fearing that no amount of coverage could help me hide the blush on my cheeks, I used every breathing exercise I could think of… It backfired. I inhaled his scent, and after less than a minute, I started to believe that I was turning into a starved cavewoman, and he resembled a delicious piece of meat.This was bad. I kept my eyes glued to the side window, pretending to admire the view while I bit my lip so hard it almost bled. I stopped myself just in time. I wouldn't look good with a swollen lip, not to mention that I might have stained the cream leather upholstery… or the silk dress.I almost screamed when Aiden's hand moved from the gearstick and found mine, one fisted on my lap. "You're
I had always been a good swimmer—not a good diver, but a good swimmer. But all my skills turned out to be useless when I fell into the water, completely breathless. My instincts told me to move, but the pain radiating from my stomach and the lack of air efficiently took away my muscle power. If it wasn't bad enough, those multiple layers of silk in my skirt cocooned me, thoroughly blocking my vision. I panicked. I was desperate for air, but no matter how fiercely I tried, I couldn't reach the surface. Instinctively, I opened my mouth as if I was trying to suck the oxygen out of the surrounding water. My throat burned from the helpless struggle. I vaguely heard noises distorted by water. Someone screamed. My vision darkened, and then I thought how stupid it would be to die in the pool during a VIP party. Would someone write an article about it? Would they call me a drunken, idiotic, rich girl who fell into the pool and drowned because she got stuck between a ridiculous number of layers
I wasn't sure what was in those pills I took, but I slept like a baby and woke up miraculously regenerated. By the time I opened my eyes, the fresh clothes—other than a swimsuit and a silk gown—were lying folded on the chair next to my bed. The whole suite seemed empty, and I was almost certain that Aiden left just to make me feel more comfortable.I crawled out of bed, covered myself in sheets, and slowly walked to the bathroom. I expected to see either a panda or a zombie in the mirror, but someone must have removed my makeup while I was unconscious. I made a mental note to find that person and thank her… or him, but now it was time to prepare myself to come back to the land of the living.I glanced at my stomach and saw a dark circle right beneath my sternum. It resembled the head of an alien, ready to pop out and blow my guts apart at any second. Either Mildred had practiced martial arts since she was a kid or she had been the luckiest drunken harpy on the planet, and I would have
That wasn't exactly how I imagined spending Saturday afternoon. I was in Aiden's office, staring at the laptop screen and desperately trying to control my rising panic. My moment of madness with Aiden in the Palais des Roses suite ended right after Logan's phone call. We packed and rushed back to New York City. Now I was sitting on the sofa with Logan beside me while Aiden stood by his desk, making his million-and-one call. The video of Aiden carrying me out of the pool was playing on the laptop's screen on repeat, and I just wished that someone had pinched me and woken me up from this nightmare.I wasn't sure what triggered Aiden's agitation, but I definitely knew why I was about to go frantic. My face was shown clearly in more than a few frames of this video, and of course, so was Aiden's. I couldn't have cared less if there had been only "civilians" who watched that damn clip. I wasn't a celebrity, and even if I had flashed my naked butt straight to the camera, I would have shrugge
I was sitting curled up on a sofa wearing my favorite loose Gudetama sweatshirt and black shorts. All the makeup was gone, and my chestnut hair was tied in a messy bun on top of my head. I had a mug of hot, dramatically oversweetened cocoa in hand and a half-empty box of mint chocolate ice cream lying next to me. On the table, there were open boxes of cream-onion, paprika, and barbeque-style flavor chickpea chips, pretending to be healthy snacks instead of more comfort food. Yes, I needed a lot of comfort. I needed to deal with the fact that I was an absolute idiot.I called Emily and Bastian on my way back home. Emily had an urgent meeting with her client before Monday's court trial—yes, her salary was worth sacrificing free Saturdays from time to time. I told her about what had happened, and she said that she would cut the meeting short and be back in our apartment in less than two hours.Calling Bastian required more courage, and perhaps I should be grateful that my phone woke him
"Oh. My. Fucking. God!" Emily was laughing so hard she couldn't sit on the sofa, whereas I might have lost my ability to breathe.We were watching another video from the Palais des Roses pool party, but this one had been posted from an anonymous account, which was deleted only hours after the video had begun to spread. Someone caught Mildred Harris smoking and later throwing her cigarette into someone else's champagne glass. There was also a scene where she and a friend of hers said rather nasty things about Angelica Butterfly and a few other actresses. In two additional scenes, well-known male models discussed liposuction and badmouthed one of the young designers, but the unquestionable star of this video was Mildred, aka the Bitch.The video was almost a five-minute-long record of shame, and its sudden appearance online was nearly too convenient for me and Aiden. People loved drama far more than sweet love scenes. Tabloid reporters loved drama even more than ordinary people, and thi