Alyssa blinked twice yet she found Nicholas still there, right in front of her nose. When did he creep up so close to her? Clarissa cleared her throat and looked from one to the other, clearly at a loss for words.
“Umm, Alyssa, this is Nicholas Donnelly, sir’s best friend but I guess you know that already. Please wait here for sir. He’ll join you in a minute,” she mumbled uncomfortably and made a dash for the door, eager to escape the room. Despite her lengthy speech not once did their gazes waver as they stared at one another for what seemed like ages.
“I know you’re indebted to me but staring isn’t a way of thanking me,” he pointed out with an amused grin on his face. Alyssa blinked and looked away, her cheeks flushed at being caught staring. Who wanted to stare at him anyway? He was the one who had the skills to hypnotize her. He seemed to have mastered the art to catch her red-handed every time.
“Why should I thank you?” she shrugged impatiently, walking over to the door to get out of the room. With the se*ual tension in the air between them quite obvious, it was best that she escaped. There was no knowing what Nicholas would force her to do, kiss him or hug him! She could come back later when it was safe and Mr. Clyborne was present.
Nicholas followed her and caught her arm, refusing to be ignored after everything he did to get her a job here. “Won’t you hear what you should thank me for? I was the one who got you this job, not Luke. I was the one who pulled the strings!” he admitted, his eyes searching her face, watching her jaw-dropped stare fixed upon him. “So? What are you going to give me in return?” Alyssa opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish, unable to come up with anything.
“Oh, why did you help me?” was all she could say although it wasn’t the answer he was expecting.
“I wanted something in return. Why else?” he admitted impatiently, wondering how she could be so dumb. Didn’t she still get it that he wanted not one but a lot of things with her? Of course, they were only to take his revenge upon his brother and had nothing to do with the attraction he felt for her.
“What did you need in return? Let me make it clear to you that I’m not kissing you and neither am I giving you a hug.” Nicholas was now in a soup. Those were exactly what he wanted!
“There are others for those. I wasn’t asking for them, anyway. You have such a dirty mind, Alyssa. I was asking for a date, just one date! You have to go out on a date with me as compensation for getting you this job.” Alyssa didn’t know how to react to that since she wasn’t at all expecting him to ask her out. “No, questions asked. We will go out on a dinner date tonight at 6:30 sharp.” Before Alyssa could protest or say a word, the door opened and her employer stormed into the room.
“Hey, Nick! When did you come in? Sorry to keep you waiting. I had a conference but I guess you were nicely occupied,” he said, glancing in Alyssa’s direction. “Alyssa, join us for lunch.”
“No, thank you, sir. I’ll come back later after lunch,” she said, eager to escape. Maxwell nodded and she rushed out of the room, acutely aware of Nicholas’s gaze fixed upon her. His words played in her head like a broken record and she wondered how she would go out on a date with him without Alexander’s knowledge. The guy was impossible! He didn’t even give her an address she could sneak out to.
She went to the cafeteria and grabbed a sandwich to munch on but her mind was on the dreadful dinner date. How did she manage to get herself into such situations? “Hey, Alyssa! It’s strange to see you here, having your lunch all by yourself. Didn’t Maxwell sir offer you?” laughed Stella from her table. Alyssa turned to see nearly everyone from the accounts department there with her, laughing at her stupid jab.
“Why wouldn’t he? I declined because I’m here only to work unlike some people who can’t keep their bitchy mouths shut.” She turned and ate her food, knowing how effective her retort had been. It quietened Stella who hadn’t expected her to be able to stand up for herself. She was Alyssa Van Every whom even her dominating brother couldn’t control, so who the fu*k was Stella Campbell?
Aware of the hushed whispers going around in the entire cafeteria, Alyssa finished her food and walked out with her head held high in the air. She knew she had to stick around to learn the tricks of the trade and gain some experience. When she had enough experience, she would surely look for a better job opportunity. Going back to the cubicle, she had a strange sensation of being watched. The hair at the nape of her neck stood up and she felt extremely conscious of herself. Looking around discreetly, she found nothing amiss. Most of the employees had returned from the cafeteria and resumed work. So who could be watching her? Surely it would be her imagination playing games with her mind.
Soon Mr. Delaney summoned her and she was busy in his office as he pointed out the mistakes she did in her work. It was a great learning opportunity and Alyssa was an eager and hardworking student. She didn’t have any airs about herself where her work was concerned. She knew that it was the only way to escape this place. She diligently corrected all her mistakes and resubmitted them to Mr. Delaney. Too busy with her work, she hardly noticed when Nicholas left his friend’s office.
It was 5:30 in the evening when Mr. Delaney released her. She climbed into her Ferrari and drove out of the building complex towards the door. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noted Stella and the entire group who were mocking her, standing and gaping at her as they trudged towards the nearest bus stop.
She reached home in record time, crossing her fingers that she didn’t meet Alexander tonight. As she unlocked her door she wondered if Nicholas was serious about the date or joking! Thankfully she hadn’t met Alexander on her way inside. Eva too wasn’t there at home and she wondered if she had night duty today as well. It was six o’clock and she didn’t have much time at hand in case Nicholas was serious about the date. She rushed into the washroom to take a shower first. After washing the whole day’s tiredness and grime off herself, all she wanted to do was hit the bed but she had to get ready in a record time of twenty minutes.
It was sheer torture when she hardly knew where to go to. What if Nicholas was just teasing her? What if he had reached home and had fallen asleep? She would look like a fool getting ready for him!
However, the sudden pealing of the doorbell had her jumping out of her skin. It was just 6:10 now. Who could have come over at this time? Was it Alexander? Or was it Eva? Wrapping the bathrobe tightly around her, she tiptoed towards the door and peered through the eye hole but to her surprise, the eye hole was blocked. It seemed as if someone had blocked it with his or her hand! She muttered curses at Eva. This wasn’t fun.
“Wait till I teach you a lesson,” she grumbled and yanked the door open to yell at Eva.
“Eva, this isn’t funny..” she started but stopped seeing a smirking Nicholas at her doorstep. Her jaws fell to the floor and she looked around to see if anyone saw him or not. Thankfully no one was around.
“Nicholas, w-what a-are you d-doing here? Have you g-gone crazy?” she whispered, grabbing his hand and pulling him into her apartment in case someone saw him and reported to her brother. He had spies everywhere! Nicholas looked amused by her antics but his eyes darkened to a shade similar to a turbulent sea as he gazed at her. With the toweling robe clinging to her damp body like a second skin, he was already aroused seeing her curvy and smolderingly hot body.
Alyssa leaned against the door and clutched at her rapidly beating heart to control the panic she felt at seeing Nicholas here at her doorstep. Had the guy gone crazy? Why did he have to come here? A soft caress against her cheek made her eyes fly open to see Nicholas’s face inches away from hers while dark eyes wandered to her lips, going down to her neck and breasts.
She blushed to the roots of her hair realizing what she was wearing!