Page 9 of Yours, Truly

“I have already had the pleasure,” he smiled, looking in my direction, that subtle flirtatious tone, just like he did this morning. His deeper meaning to the wordpleasuremade my hands a little clammy. At least this time I actually looked presentable; blue jeans, a white knitted jumper, my hair pulled into a ponytail with subtle makeup, He raised an eyebrow for a split second.

“Are you sure Dad will be okay with this?” He whispered, looking up to his mother, I could feel the controlled exterior he held every other time he had been in my orbit becoming a little disorientated, kind of an uneasy feeling.

“Leave your father to me, my sweet boy,” she whispered, stroking his cheek and kissing the top of his head. Mark sighedand continued to eat his dinner, as Carol brought a clean plate for Nate before returning to hers.

After dinner, Carol and Ivy cleared the table and went to do the dishes. Mark left the room quickly to watch a game, leaving Nate and I alone. Tension between Mark and Nate was a little high and anyone within a twenty-five-mile radius could feel this; it was like a radiation minefield. I think for the sake of the anniversary and me being present, no words were spoken between them.

I reached for my glass, trying not to make any eye contact with Nate. I didn’t know what to say or how to act. I had questions, but I was also afraid of the answers, or of Ivy overhearing us. He made the first move; he placed a hand on the small of my back and leaned his body into me so he could talk in my ear. His scent suffocated me, making my brain foggy. My breathing hitched at the touch of his hand, the touch I had desired since that night was real.

“Mr Barcelona,” he chuckled. “Creative,” he smirked, before pulling back, studying me. I fought to keep my composure.

“You’re Ivy's brother?” I whisper shouted, still annoyed that this was the situation. I took a breath, regaining my self control after my outburst. “How did this happen?” It was more of a statement than a question, but this perfect, egotistical specimen answered it anyway; sarcastically.

“With a lot of alcohol, kissing and you know the rest,” he teased, flirting, his eyes roamed my face as he twirled the curl of hair that rested by my face in between his fingers.This wasdangerous.

“This isn't funny, Nate,” I said, getting annoyed and slapping his hand away.

“I find it hilarious! I finally gotyour name,” he smiled, pushing himself away from the table as he leaned over, whispering in my ear. “I like the way you saymy name.”

Composing himself, the gentleman façade, he cleared his throat, straightening that damn suit before going to help his Mum and Ivy in the kitchen. As he walked past me, his energy consumed me, his scent lingering over me, forcing me into a trance. My heart hammered in my chest, my cheeks flushed and my breath hitched. The memories of that night were triggered by the familiar comforting scent of his cologne, taking me back to the night of him kissing my neck.Get it together Gi! Nate was affecting me more than I wanted him to and I needed to put a stop to this. This was wrong.

Thankfully the day was over. I collected my things as Ivy excused herself to go and pick Jude up from Heathrow Airport. Mark and Carol said goodbye, thanking me for coming. Not long after, Nate decided to leave too as he had an early meeting.

“I'll walk you out,” Nate offered, taking my overnight bag from me. I didn’t want to argue so I just smiled and gave in with a small nod of acceptance.

“My son is such a gentleman,” Carol praised, as she kissed his cheek goodbye, she pulled me in for a hug after Nate got the door open. “It was lovely to see you again, Gi. You're always welcome here.”

She closed the door behind us before joining her husband. The walk to the car was silent; it was a little distance up the stoney driveway, to the small green parking area. His matte black Porsche was parked perfectly beside my white Audi. I paused when I caught sight of the car; recognising it from the other day.

“Itwasyou at the office the other week,” I said, surprise in my voice, I hadn’t gone insane. I was right and, in a way, I was relieved that my sanity was still intact but I was also annoyed.

“Yes, and you chased after me,” he smirked, arrogantly.He did notice me.

“Not intentionally,” I said defensively, crossing my arms over my chest. I was mad but also a little impressed that he had paid attention. I didn’t want him to think I did it because I wanted him, I just needed to prove I wasn’t crazy.

“Are you sure?” He asked, backing me up against my car. Even in the moonlight, a hint of mischief twinkled in his eyes as they switched from light, to dark and hungry. My breathing had picked up, he was dangerously close and I kind of liked it.

“I had to see if it was you,” I stuttered nervously. He examined my eyes before pushing the strand of my hair he teased me with earlier behind my ear. Again, he leaned towards me, revving my body up, arousal washing over me. He dove his head towards my ear, moving my head to expose my neck feeling his breath become heavy matching mine.

“Are you satisfied?”

8

MR DALTON

Chaos erupted at work due to the slight complication of the client’s lawsuit. The rumour of being sued caused a lot of disruption in the office. Talks of having to downsize our staffing after a few clients got wind and decided to pull out of our business, meant we had to make cuts across the board.

Angelina was working day and night, both on and off site, which meant Jennifer and I had to step up, deal with damage control for both colleagues and clients, while keeping the company running as smoothly as possible. It was Jennifer's day off today and Angelina was at an offsite meeting with our legal team which meant I was in charge. Angelina wanted to try and keep the lawsuit as far from the office as possible. She would regularly take meetings at head office to avoid adding more fuel to the fire.

With that, I had permission to work in Angelina's office on my projects, handling any business calls or client concerns in her absence. It was rare for Jennifer and I to do this as Angelina typically took care of all this despite it being in our jobdescription. Angelina was a bit of a control freak and ran a tight ship, so it gave Jennifer and I time to be more face to face with clients and carry out individual projects rather than taking a more managerial side, which I loved, but sometimes Iwantedthat managerial side; to progress.

Today seemed to flow and calls to my work phone exploded this close to Christmas, with changes to campaign drafts and new ideas from my clients. Currently, I was on the phone to a client discussing a vision draft for his skincare range that we were in the process of starting, ready for the launch in the new year; my new focus now that the ‘Wild’ fragrance campaign was approved and ready to go. I was disturbed by a gentle knock on the door.

“Andrew, I'll get those details drafted up ASAP and email it over by Monday morning. Talk soon. Bye.” I jotted the final notes in my notepad along with the agreed deadline before putting the phone down and peering up to notice who I was inviting in. Gradually, the door opened to expose him. Nate.

Frozen, I admired the beautiful man before me and my pulse began to race as it always did when I saw him. I had only seen him a couple of days ago at Ivy’s parents’ anniversary dinner. He looked as confused as I did before it faded into a flirtatious smile, he marched in shutting the door behind him.

“You're not Angelina,” he jested, my heart twinged as he addressed her by her first name.

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