Mr.arrogant(18)

Naomi smiled for the first time in three days. "You know what?" she  asked, reaching to hug her best friend. "You're right. I can do this. I  can do anything I set my mind to. I always have, and this is just a  challenge that I am going to find a way over or through, or whatever …   but I'm going to beat it. I'm going to keep the career right there where  I want to be working, and I am going to let go of the feelings I have  for Jonathon Cross, and things are going to be all business from here on  out."

Andrea squeezed her back and then pushed herself up off of the sofa and  walked toward the door. "That's my girl. I know you can do it. You just  let that emotion go and you keep Jonathon Cross as an employer, and if  it doesn't hurt too much, as a friend. You can do that. I know that you  can. You're going to be alright, honey. You call me if you need  anything, do you hear me?" she asked seriously. "And for heaven's sake  turn your dang cell phone back on."

Naomi nodded and smiled. "I will. Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too," Andrea said with a grin, "I'll see you soon." She  walked out of the door and Naomi sat back on the sofa and reached for  her cell phone, pressing the button on the side to turn it back on.  Andrea was right, she thought, she had a lot going for her, she had a  lot of strength and determination, and it might be difficult, but she  was able to do everything else in her life that she set her mind to.

She promised herself that she was going to make herself fall out of love  with Jonathon Cross, and she was going to keep her job and make a solid  career at Cross Corp. If anyone could do it, she could.

The screen on her phone lit up and she set it on the table by the sofa  and ran her hand through Harold's fur as he purred contentedly. She  looked out of the window at the city around her and felt a surge of  confidence. She had faith in herself and in what she could do, and that  faith came from meeting every challenge that had ever been put in her  path, and overcoming each one somehow, one way or another. She always  overcame, and this challenge was one of the biggest, but it wasn't  insurmountable. She was determined to succeed.

Her phone rang and she looked over at it and laughed a little. She'd had  it back on for little more than a minute and it was going off already.  She picked it up and looked at the caller ID. She didn't recognize the  number, but there wasn't anyone who had her number who shouldn't have  it, so she knew that she should take the call.

She slid her finger over the screen and lifted the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" she answered, wondering who it was.

A familiar voice answered her. "Naomi? It's Jonathon Cross. I'm downstairs in your apartment building."





Chapter6

Naomi's heart stopped in her chest and her eyes opened wide. "Jonathon?"  she spoke his name in a whisper, "You're …  you're here at my apartment?"

"Yeah …  I guess you've called in sick the last two days, so I brought you  some chicken soup and some Chinese takeout. I didn't know what you  like, so I brought a few different things." He answered her in a soft  voice.

She felt her heart start beating again, but it began to thud against the  wall of her chest. He was at her apartment. He was there, and she was  trapped again. There was no way out of seeing him or having to talk  about what had happened with him in the elevator.

"Naomi?" he asked hesitantly, "Would it be alright if I come up, please?  The food is getting cold … " he trailed off and she closed her eyes and  sighed. There was no way out of it or around it.         

     



 

"Yes, of course." She answered quietly. "Come on up. I'll call the desk  and let them know." She ended the call and laid her head back on the  sofa, looking up at the ceiling, wondering how she was going to get  through a visit with him. She stayed home just so she wouldn't have to  see him, so she could work through her emotions and not have to deal  with the awkwardness between them, and her avoidance technique had  brought him right to her door. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply and  then looked at her phone and called the front desk in the lobby to ask  them to send him up.

She went to the bathroom and checked her hair and makeup, and was  surprised to see that her two days at home had actually given her enough  rest and relaxation so that she looked really good. She heard him knock  on the door and drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and then  she went to the door.

He looked worried when she pulled the door open and stepped back to let  him in. She hadn't seen him look so concerned before. His dark hair was  slightly tousled and his green eyes searched hers and then swept over  her body; not for any other reason than to make certain that she was  alright. He stepped into her home and she looked down to see that his  arms were full of food bags.

"My goodness!" she exclaimed with a shake of her head. "I'm not dying."  She laughed a little more, and it was a bit of a release for her,  letting go of some of the tension and stress in her.

He shrugged. "I didn't know how you were really doing, so I took my  chances. I'm glad to hear that you aren't too bad off. I was worried."  He told her, looking closely at her still. He handed her the bags of  food and she took them quietly and walked into the kitchen, setting them  on the counter.

Her nerves were jangled and humming and her mind was going a thousand  miles an hour, trying to figure out how she was ever going to make it  through a visit with him. Andrea's words echoed in her mind, and she  knew she would have to get through every moment he was there. Then she  would have to go back to work and get through every moment of working  with him every day until she could either change her job to work for  someone else, or let all of her emotion go and get over him.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear him walk into the  kitchen and come up right behind her. When his hand touched her  shoulder, she jumped with a start and turned swiftly, looking up at him.  His eyes were locked on hers and she felt the tremendous pressure  between them in the very small space between their bodies.

He stared at her, and for a few moments he wanted nothing more than to  kiss her again, and the urge to wrap her in his arms and press his mouth  to hers was almost overpowering, but that wasn't why he had gone to see  her. It would defeat his entire purpose if he gave in to his desires.  He saw her struggling with her emotions and he realized that she must be  more uncomfortable than he had thought she was. He pressed his lips  together and took a step back from her, giving her some space and easing  the tension between them.

The effect on her was immediate, she seemed to relax and she took a deep  breath, as if she had held her breath in her lungs, and he saw all of  it. He knew then that he had gone much too far with her already. She  filled her lungs and exhaled slowly, trying to steady herself. "What are  you doing here?" she asked quietly, looking up at him in confusion.  She'd never had an employer come to her home to check on her before, and  after the way that they had parted, when she ran from him at the  office, she couldn't begin to understand what he was doing, standing  before her in her kitchen.

He hesitated for a moment and then pushed his hands down into the depths  of his pockets as he gazed at her. "I just wanted to come and check on  you …  you called in sick two days in a row. That just seems so unlike  you, and … " he hesitated again and looked away from her, and then raised  his eyes to meet hers again. " … and after what happened when I saw you  last, I just wanted to make sure that you were alright, and to tell you  that I'm sorry for kissing you. I never should have done that."

She stared at him. He was apologizing to her, and it caught her  completely off guard. "What?" she whispered as her heart raced and  pushed blood all through her.         

     



 

"I'm sorry …  I guess I must have just, got caught up in the moment. You  were there with me, you were upset, crying …  and I just …  didn't want to  see you cry. I guess I took comforting you to a place I never should  have. I don't want you to worry that it will happen again, and I don't  want you to feel badly about it.

"I don't want anything to be awkward or different between us …  and I want  you back at work. I felt so bad about it after you left like you did. I  haven't been able to get it off of my mind since then, and it's just  really important to me to make it right." He watched her eyes and tried  to gauge her thoughts and emotions.

It was true, he thought to himself, he hadn't been able to get her off  of his mind at all. He'd gone over and over the moments in the elevator  with her, remembering her tears, remembering the kiss he gave her, and  how he hadn't been able to hold it back any longer, how it had filled  him with fire and passion, and how when she had kissed him back,  something ignited in him that he had never felt before.