Nick looked at her, observing her reaction and wishing he could tell her the truth rather than apologize for a kiss he had loved. If only he could tell her how he felt about her - he wanted to kiss her, hold her, and make love to her right then and always. He liked her so much more than was healthy, and he was prepared to do whatever he needed to do to get her to say yes to him.
“Apology accepted,” Sara said. “I'm flattered.”
Nick looked at her, her innocence overwhelming him. If only she knew how good she looked. Girls like her intrigued Nick, but they were hard to find. They didn’t see their bodies the way men saw them – beautiful and sexy!
"I’m not flattering you," he laughed. “Just stating the obvious. You’re beautiful.”
"Oh," she said, her face turning red. “Thank you.”
“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I keep doing that. My apologies again,” Nick said.
Nick could tell she was not she used to compliments, which was a shame for someone so pretty. Was she not used to being loved? If he ever got a chance to show her how much he cared for her, he would protect her with all his life, with all his money. He looked at her again, and all he could think of was her parted lips. He wanted so much to kiss her again, but he knew better than that.
"Thank you," she said simply.
SARA
I looked at the man who had just told me I was beautiful. Beautiful was a word I rarely heard but one I’d take. He was avoiding my eyes as if I’d caught him looking at me. I wanted to tell him how beautiful he was, but I was still mad at him and really needed go home. I had a couple of job resumes I needed to send out and hanging out here, playing friends with him, was not going to make my bills go away.
“So the necklace,” he said, taking the box I had given him earlier and replacing it in my hands.
I pushed the necklace toward him, sliding it on the table. "It's so gorgeous, but I can't accept it, unless you tell me every invitation card for all your guests was sent with a diamond necklace."
"What if I said yes?" he said.
I looked at him. One look into his eyes told me that wasn't true. "I'd know that's not true and you’re saying it to make me keep the necklace."
"I do want you to keep the necklace, Sara," he said, pushing it back to me.
"Why? We've never met. You don't know me. Why would I keep a necklace that looks like it cost a thousand dollars?" The necklace game was getting childish and I needed to end it.
"A million," he said casually.
"Excuse me?" I asked, hoping he hadn’t said what I thought I’d heard. Why would a person send a million-dollar necklace to a random girl? What if I had sold it and kept the money? I had no clue how expensive that necklace was, and if I had sold it, I'd have been cheated.
"Never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything about the price.”
"But you did, and I won't keep this," I said and stood. “I don’t know why you want me to keep this necklace so badly. It’s ridiculous. I don’t want to play games anymore.”
“I don’t play games,” he said coldly.
“Maybe not, but I need to go. I have a million job applications to complete. I don’t have the luxury of sitting in a penthouse entertaining men, women, whatever. I’m sorry, I have to go…”
“You’re hired.”
"Excuse me?" I asked, looking at him.
“You said you needed a job, so I hired you.”
“You just can’t hire me. You don’t even know what my major is or what I’m qualified to do.”
“That, Ms. Nolles, is wrong. I have seen your resume, and I did question why and how my company did not retain you after your internship.”
“Maybe so,” I replied, wondering how in the world the CEO of a multibillion company would have seen my resume. But he sounded so sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had done a background check on me.
“I make it a habit of knowing who I hang out with,” he told me, drawing closer to me. I was standing against a wall, and he was too close for comfort.
“I guess you did a background check on me?” I asked, my voice disappointing me. Instead of sounding confident, I sounded hollow and weak. Mr. Rich had a ridiculous way of making me hot and bothered.