Chapter 3

Ace opens the door to his Lamborghini and helps me into his car. I can tell he is annoyed, but he's trying to stay calm for my sake. We drive away from the building and I place my hand on his shoulder.

'It’s okay, Ace. It could have been a lot worse.' I frown.

'A lot worse! Zurielle, they implied you were a prostitute. Who the hell would say such a thing?' He asks himself.

A few minutes of silence goes by.

'You are very quiet, is there something you know that I don’t?' He asks.

'I may have gotten into an altercation with one of your receptionists a while back, who suggested I slept with you for the job, and that I was here for your... pleasure. I was so angry and hurt, that I threw my cold tea in her face. It wouldn't surprise me if she contacted the media.'

Ace is quiet for a moment. I can’t bring myself to look at him; his knuckles on the steering wheel have whitened from gripping the wheel in anger.

'Her name?' He asks, sternly.

'C-Carol.' I stutter.

'Part of me always knew Carol would be trouble at some point. She is close friends with Grace. She may have instigated this for firing Grace. And because Grace tried to set me up with her last year and I turned her down. I will fire her first thing on Monday.'

'Are you sure that’s a good idea? Not that I want her working for you either. I just don’t want her to cause you or the company more issues out of spite,' I point out.

'We will sleep on it and I will decide whether or not to fire her when I speak to her,' he suggests. I nod in agreement.

Monday morning, we arrive at work together holding hands. As usual we can’t keep our eyes off each other, and the staff can’t stop watching us either.

Inside the elevator, it's just us two. As soon as the doors close, Ace pins me up against the wall and seductively kisses my neck and bare shoulder.

Jumping up, I wrap my legs around his waist, our kiss becomes more intense and more passionate. Ace's hand fumbles with the buttons until he finds and presses the Emergency Stop Button. The elevator comes to an abrupt stop, along with our intense kiss as we breathe for air.

Ace has a mischievous look on his face, his fingers trail up my legs, and he pulls my dress up around my waist. We keep eye contact and he pulls my underwear off and places them in the pocket of his jacket.

   Kissing again, my hands make their way to Ace’s belt, and I unbuckle his pants and pull them down as quick as possible. I'm just as desperate as he is to have him inside of me. Ace unzips the back of my dress and pulls it down exposing my breasts.

He thrusts himself inside of me and my fingernails dig into his back, and he thrusts harder and faster. Our eyes are ablaze with passion, we both release, and I moan, helplessly.

Both panting, he tucks my hair behind my ears and kisses my lips. I caress his chest and enjoy the moment we are having. I unwrap my legs from around his waist and pull my dress back on. Ace fixes his clothes, I retrieve my black lace underwear from his pocket and put them on.

Once we’re neat and tidy again, he puts his hand around my waist and presses a button to activate the elevator. The doors ding open, and we find June standing there with a confused look on her face.

'I thought the elevator was broken. I have been pushing the button for the last ten minutes, but it seems to be working now,' she shrugs. We try to contain our laughter.

'I'll make sure to put it in the maintenance log,' Ace says nonchalantly. As soon as we close his office door, we both laugh and sit at our desks and begin our work.

An hour later, June enters the office with paperwork for me. Ace stops her before she leaves the room.

'June, can you find Carol for me, and send her up here for a meeting, please?'

'Yes, Mr Brightly,' she nods and leaves the room.

'How about you go make yourself a coffee, while I deal with Carol?' Ace suggests. I nod, stand up from my seat and leave the room.

In the kitchenette, I make myself a coffee. Carol exits the lift and walk towards Ace’s office. Twenty minutes go by and she is still in there. Tapping my fingers on my coffee mug, I decide to walk around and chat to my colleagues.

It's a good idea because I end up fixing some computer problems that some of them are having. Most of them congratulate me on my performance at the show and tell me how cool it was that I performed in Nessa Knight’s place.

'I watched the interview on the news. You’re so lucky to have a man who literally took a bullet for you. I never would have believed in a million years that Mr Brightly, who used to be so cold and arrogant would ever do such a heroic thing for another person. How did you do it? How did you change Mr Brightly? And make him care, and love?' Ally asks.

My colleagues look at me, curious for my answer. Did everyone really once think so harshly of Ace?

'Mr Brightly was always caring and loving. The problem was, no one gave him a chance. Everyone was cold and arrogant to him. He eventually just gave what he received, lost faith in humanity, and closed himself off. If people nurtured his kindness from the beginning, he wouldn’t have put on a cold, heartless front. All I did was bring what he already had back to the surface, and I intend to keep it that way.'

Everyone is taken back by my words; a lot of them look away in guilt. They had all purposely ignored him or avoided him before I came along. I used to hear them whispering negative untrue rumours about him, before I was properly employed here. They, and his family are all guilty to a degree, of making him that way. I can see their regret in their eyes.

'Maybe next time you walk past him, say hi and smile for a change. Or stand in the elevator instead of scattering away like mice...' I frown. Some of them nod, and Carol finally leaves Ace’s office.

'Anyway, I’ll see you around. I need to get back to work.' Closing Ace’s door behind me, I walk around his desk and sit on his lap.

'How did it all go?' I ask.

'At this point in time, she is not fired. I’ve given her a warning. She denied spreading the rumours to media. She was extremely nervous and couldn’t stop stuttering,' he frowns.

'Well at least she is aware you know about it. That will be enough to stop her spreading false rumours around.'

'True. It’s lunchtime, and I am famished for you.' He whispers in my ear, nipping my earlobe.

'Ace.' I giggle, take his hand, and pull him from his seat.

'Let’s go have a proper lunch.' I smile.

As we leave his office, he scoops me up.

'Ace, put me down.' I giggle.

'We are going out for lunch!' He yells, beaming, while everyone looks on, humoured. In the elevator, he gently places me down, and I slap his shoulder.

'Did you have to do that in front of everyone?' I giggle.

'Yes, and I intend on doing it again, sometime,' he grins. I roll my eyes.

'Where are we going for lunch?' I ask.

'Cafe Charm,' he smiles.

'Great! I’d like to see Hailey and Mr Fulton.'

'I thought you would,' he smiles.

Hailey’s face lights up when she sees me enter the cafe; she runs up to me and almost knocks me over.

'It’s sooo good to see you,’ she smiles.

'I’m happy to see you too.'

'Hello, Mr Brightly,' she smiles.

'You know, you can just call me Ace,' he frowns.

'Yeah, but it sounds so much sexier when I say Mr Brightly. Does Zurielle call you that in the bedroom?' She asks.

'Hailey!' I growl, and Ace tries not to laugh. My cheeks are flushed with embarrassment. I turn to face Ace.

'Don’t encourage her behaviour by laughing,’ I growl at him, and he instantly contains his laugh and tries to stop smirking.

'That’s better...'