Mr.arrogant(13)

Her stomach tightened, but before she could respond, she felt a solid  wall of warmth and strength at her side, and she turned her head to look  up and see Jonathon standing right next to her. His hand went to her  waist and he pulled her toward his body slightly. Everything in her  rushed wildly and she sucked in her breath silently and sharply at the  feel of him against her. She tried to appear outwardly as if it was a  familiarity between them that happened often, and not something that had  affected her so deeply in the moment.

"I see you found my right hand lady!" Jonathon said with a smile and a  hint of possession. "I couldn't do anything without her. She's  absolutely vital to me in practically everything I do. I have no idea  how I ever managed before she came along."

Shane looked up at him and blinked in surprise, and then his eyes moved  slowly from Jonathon to Naomi, and his gaze fell to Naomi's waist where  Jonathon's hand was clamped. Realization came into his eyes and his face  fell as he stepped backward a pace, and nodded.

"Yeah, she's pretty great," he agreed shallowly. He looked around them  and then back up at Jonathon. "You haven't seen Anthony, have you? I was  hoping to talk with him about your business proposition."

Jonathon's eyes narrowed slightly for a moment and he turned one corner  of his mouth up slightly. "Certainly. He's over there talking to Phillip  and Vincent. I'm sure he'll be there a while."         

     



 

Shane nodded and then turned to look at Naomi and she saw desire flame  up in his eyes. He leaned forward toward her and kissed her cheek softly  as she stood there with Jonathon's arm around her. She felt his hand  tighten on her waist as Shane leaned back again.

"Call me soon, and we'll go have dinner and finish what we started." He  gave her a wink and then turned and walked away from them. She let out a  huge breath and turned to face Jonathon as she sighed.

"You have impeccable timing. Thank you." She told him as she looked up through her dark lashes at him and gave him a smile.

He let his hand stay on her waist as she turned to him, and the feel of  her body as it moved against his made him catch his breath as he gazed  down at her. "I hope I didn't overstep a boundary there. I know you went  out on a date with him while we were at the hotel."

She shook her head, her eyes locked on his as she lost herself slowly in  their dark green depths. "No, it's fine. He was coming on to me again  and I didn't want him to. I feel like I can't tell him not to be like  that with me because of the business deal that we're working on with  them, and it bothers me," she admitted to him.

Jonathon was sure he felt his heart swell in him to nearly twice the  size. He had never asked her about her date, but if she didn't want to  be close to Shane, then it couldn't have gone far and it couldn't have  gone well, and that knowledge gave him immense relief.

"Well, let's just say that I would prefer it if you two kept your  relationship just business, and Naomi, no matter what we have going on  with anyone at any time, if you feel uncomfortable, then say so. You do  not ever need to compromise your dignity or comfort for the sake of  business. If Shane or anyone else makes you uncomfortable, including me,  then say something and stop it. You should never be made to feel that  way." His face and his voice were serious, and she was relieved and glad  to hear him say it to her.

She shook her head slightly and let her gaze fall to his mouth for a  moment as her breath caught in her chest and she tried to remember  anything besides what it felt like to be so near him. She raised her  eyes back up to meet his and spoke softly.

"You don't make me uncomfortable at all," she breathed. His eyes grew  sharper and his lips parted slightly. He looked as if he might be about  to lean closer to her, but just then a light airy voice filled the air  around them and Jonathon was pulled from her abruptly.

Naomi blinked and drew in a breath as she looked around; the world  suddenly rushing back in to her and waking her up to reality. There was a  woman standing at Jonathon's side, her arm linked through his, a look  of ownership on her pale face.

She was extremely pale with long straight reddish orange hair that hung  to her waist. She had big hazel eyes and thin lips. Her face was rounded  and slightly chubby. Her small chin was pointed out, like the tip of  her nose; both of them had a sharp look to them, while everything else  about her was round, from her shoulders and elbows to her thick waist  and short legs. Her eyes were even sharper than her nose and chin, and  she had a look about her as if she was not more than a moment from  snapping out at whoever might be around her.

At that moment, her eyes were locked on Naomi's. She stood there with  Jonathon in her clutches and her gaze dared Naomi to get close to him  again. Naomi looked from the woman up to Jonathon and she blinked in  surprise.

He sighed and his shoulders dropped slightly. Without really looking at  either one of them, he introduced them quietly and Naomi heard a hint of  regret in his voice. "Susan Grayson, this is Naomi Bradshaw. Naomi is  my assistant. Susan is Vincent Grayson's daughter." He spoke quietly and  the women shook hands, although Susan's grip was tighter on Naomi's  hand than it needed to be.

"Good afternoon." Naomi said with a slightly forced smile. She couldn't  say that it was nice to meet Susan. It didn't feel nice to meet Susan.  Susan nodded and repeated the greeting back to her.

"I see you've kept my Jonathon busy for a while with work. I think it's  high time that he and I spent some time relaxing a little." She leaned  up and kissed Jonathon's cheek and Naomi saw his lips press together  slightly into a thin line before he sighed in resignation.         

     



 

Naomi wasn't sure what was going on between Jonathon and Susan, but it  was quite clear that they were more than familiar with each other. She  wondered suddenly if he and Susan were seeing one another, and the  realization gave her a hard jolt to the stomach.

"Well, actually we were working on a business deal that we were hoping  to bring to a soft close here." Naomi found herself wanting to take  Jonathon back from the redheaded woman before her.

Susan raised one eyebrow slightly. "He can go back to it later. We have  some things to take care of and talk about. Goodbye." With that, she  turned both herself and Jonathon around and took two steps with him  before he looked over his shoulder at Naomi and stopped in midstep.

"No, Susan, she's right. We are working on a very important deal that I  want to get taken care of today," he said sternly, his eyes reaching  back to Naomi.

Susan lifted her sharp chin and glared at him with her wide eyes. "You  and I have some things to discuss with our fathers. They are waiting for  us. Now, you come with me and let's not keep them old men waiting,  shall we? If you want to work on your business deal, you can do it  later. Come with me now," she insisted.

He frowned and his brows furrowed as he sighed and nodded. "Naomi, I'll  be back." Then Susan tugged on his arm and hauled him off toward Vincent  and Phillip.

Naomi watched him go and as she saw Susan taking him; her arm locked in  his, her grin beaming up at him as she looked to him and spoke while  they walked, she realized that Susan must be his most serious  relationship. It made sense. Their fathers were best friends. The couple  reached the old men and both of them greeted Susan with a kiss on the  cheek and Vincent reached his hand out to Jonathon's shoulder.

Naomi saw that they were all four very close, and she saw Susan lean up  on her toes and kiss Jonathon's cheek again as she wrapped her arm  around the back of his waist and held him close to her. It became very  clear to Naomi then. Jonathon was with Susan. She had just never known  it because he kept his personal life out of their business life. Naomi's  cheeks felt flushed with the fires of humiliation and embarrassment.

She had let herself believe that his attentions were for her, that there  was something strong and deep between them, but it had been her  imagination all the while. He had never been anything more than a friend  to her, and as Naomi saw his familiarity with Susan, she understood  that he had never been that way with her, and that it was painfully  obvious that she was the only one who felt anything other than their  working bond friendship.

Her throat tightened and though she felt rooted to the spot, she somehow  found the strength to turn away from the scene playing out before her.  She walked swiftly to the house and was out of the front door with her  driver in minutes. He tucked her into the back seat of the car and all  the way back to her apartment, she felt as though her lungs were  suffocating from the pain and sorrow that she could barely contain.

She was determined not to cry in front of the driver. Instead, she  stared out of the window and acted as though she was looking at  everything that they were driving past. The countryside raced past the  windows, and then the city passed them by, and an eternity later, the  car was at the front of her apartment building and she was out of it and  riding up in the elevator to her front door.