"About thirty minutes. He said he'd be back in an hour." I followed her eyes to a clock on the wall. 12:30.
"This is Ms. Nolles. She's here to see Nick. Make sure her needs are met until Nick returns."
"Yes, ma'am. But she doesn’t have an appointment."
One look from Ms. Saunders and Bev backed down, sat, and turned on her computer. "Then find her one."
"Right away, ma'am."
"Sara, it was nice meeting you. I will see you again. I’m Zia Saunders, by the way." She flashed me a smile - the first I had seen. She had a dimple in one cheek, just like her brother’s, when she smiled.
"Thank you so much, Ms. Saunders," I said.
"Call me Zia. I'll see you soon," she said with such certainty that I totally believed her.
NICK
When Nick returned from his walk, his eyes widened in shock. The woman in the waiting room of his office wasn’t supposed to be here. How did she get here? He had left specific instructions for the staff to only let people up to the penthouse with his or Zia’s approval. Had Zia already met Sara? Did all hell break loose?
So he took a couple of breaths and calmly walked toward her, willing his body to stay calm. She had the power to make him lose control even when she wasn’t trying, and now was no different. His pants grew tighter at the sight of the fishnet tights on her endless legs. She was wearing a red and black skirt and a really cute white top that showed off a little more of her cleavage than he was comfortable with. Keeping his hands off her was going to be a dare he didn’t know if he’d win.
Even though she wore a spring coat - a red coat that covered some of her outfit, he could sense her curves, and the knowledge of how good her body looked was driving him crazy. All he wanted was to run to her and hold her, kiss her and hope she didn’t run away. But he knew better than that. If he so much as touched her again without her permission, his ass would be fried for it. He was weak for her, but he didn’t want to go to jail for not being able to control his desire for her.
Someone was watching him watching Sara. He looked over at Zia’s office. She smiled and waved at him with two thumbs up. He knew she had authorized Sara to come up to his office. Even though Nick didn’t need Zia’s approval to date anyone, her approval of Sara only validated the fact that he could not give up on pursuing Sara until she became his.
He took quick steady steps towards his office, and as Bev saw him approach, he saw her look from him and to Sara, a look of helplessness in her eyes, like she couldn’t do anything to keep Sara away from his office.
“Ms. Zia said it was okay,” Bev said. “She has no appointment.”
"It is okay, Bev,” Nick said. He couldn’t be mad at Bev for something she couldn’t prevent. He knew Zia was tough to get around. Heck, he sometimes found it difficult to get around Zia once she set her mind on something.
"Sorry, sir," Bev said, shrugging her shoulders as she sat back at her desk
“It’s okay. I’ll take it from here,” he said, smiling at the woman who still looked worried.
"Ms. Sara Nolles?" Nick said as he approached her, holding his breath as he waited for her to turn around and look at him. Those lips. He dreaded seeing those lips again, but he had better self-control this time. He willed his body to behave and his piece in his pants to stay calm.
"Mr. Saunders. Sorry to disturb you at work, but I had to see you," Sara said as soon as she saw him. “It’ll only take a few minutes.”
“It’s a pleasure to see you,” Nick said. He wanted to say he was surprised to see her, but that would be a lie. He knew that as long as she had that necklace, their paths were going to cross; he just hadn’t expected to see her so soon after the kissing incident.
“Thank you for seeing me,” Sara said as she reached into her pocket to pull out the box before he could open his office door. “This belongs to you. I can’t keep it.”
Nick hesitated a little, then took the box from her.
‘It’s lovely, and I’m sorry. But I can’t keep it,” Sara said. “I hope you understand.”
“I do,” Nick said. He couldn’t force the necklace on her.
“Thank you,” Sara said. She rose to leave. “I better leave you to get some work done.”
“Wait,” Nick said. He needed to stall her. Once she left his office, she was gone forever from his life. He couldn’t let that happen.