Andrew looked at his sons, who looked quite excited. “Nick, Layla, if you don't mind, I'd like to be able to talk to my sons for a moment,” he asked his hosts politely, and they promptly left. Andrew sat down across from Richard and Elliot, his boys, even though they were in their late twenties, and held up his hands. “What do you think?” he asked. “We should steal her from the Bennets,” said Elliot. “What for? We don't have a design studio. We're distributors,” his brother reminded him. “Well, we could have a company of our own. Everyone starts with something and that girl... is an excellent designer,” Elliot replied. “That's right, but we should ask her if she has more of that. That collection alone is not enough to launch a good lingerie line, we need more,” added Richard. “Dad, would you ask her? I get the impression you're the only one Nick respects enough not to choke on the spot.” The three of them laughed knowingly. “Yeah, I think there's a weird vibe between Nick and

He could have made a thousand excuses for what he was doing, but the truth was that that woman made him desperate. She drove him crazy; he wanted to spank her ten times for the simple fact of breathing, let alone for taking off her clothes in front of others. He tangled his fingers in her hair and forced her head back against him. He invaded her mouth with desperation as if kissing her was the worst of punishments and yet he could not avoid it. He played with Valeria's tongue. He felt her eager and as desperate as he was. His hands gripped her hips as Valeria's arms went around his neck. His kisses trailed down the soft line of her jaw, down her throat. He heard her moan in pleasure and smiled inwardly, for just that sound was the one he wanted to rip out of her. He closed his hands over her buttocks, like claws, and pulled her closer to the edge of the table, against him, as that fierce erection made contact with her sex and was evident above his clothes. He could feel the heat gus

Nick held back the urge to punch Andrew Davies full in the face, but they had just signed the company's most important contracts in several years, so he stopped himself. “I'm not so sure I'll let Valeria go,” Nick replied. “Well, that's not entirely up to you, is it? We'll see what happens in the next few months,” Andrew smiled before saying goodbye. He watched him go to Valeria's office and give her a tentative and very brief hug that made him fume to the roots of his hair. He hadn't finished leaving when Nick was already bursting into Valeria's cubicle like a lion fresh out of the cage, not caring that people were watching. “What was that about you not being easy with the first guy who passed you by?” Nick hissed, slapping his palms on her desk, causing her to raise her head. “What was that about you not being jealous of me?” she replied, raising an eyebrow in amusement. “Don't change the subject, Valeria! What was all that hugging about?” he demanded. Valeria closed her eyes

All the stupid things he had said, the way he had prejudged Valeria, the way he had used Alice and Alice's father to annoy her... Christ, it was almost better to open a hole in the ground and throw himself in rather than face Valeria now that he knew the truth! “Do you like my sister?” Alice asked point-blank. “Eh? What?” “Do you like my sister?” Alice was already doubting his intelligence when Nick seemed to wake up. “Yes,” he admitted, “I like your sister, but I don't think I've been very nice to her.” “I know that. She's cried more since she went to work at your company than she has in the entire last year,” Alice blurted out. Wow, no filter! Nick thought, but he got a knot in his stomach just thinking about it. “I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to make her cry,” Nick muttered. “I know that too. You're just like me,” said the girl, going back to her ice cream. “Oh, yeah? How's that?” “You’re emotionally atrophied,” said Alice, and Nick winced in annoyance. “Hey, who to

Nick had never been an impulsive man when it came to women, perhaps because knowing that his father had killed himself for one made him think twice before involving his feelings in the matter, but with Valeria it was different. That little troublemaker was his personal drug: after tasting her it was practically impossible not to get addicted to her. “Nick... wait...” Valeria begged him. But Nick had already slipped his hand under her skirt and was making her shudder with that wonderful ride. Valeria felt that heat rising up her legs and lodging in her sex, asking for much more than a couple of rubs. “Nick!” “Shshshsh…” Nick controlled that tongue with his own. He spread her legs and slipped one of her knees in between and slipped a finger between the skin and the elastic of her panties. He felt her shudder and continued down until he found that tiny pearl that made her cry out. Nick smothered her moaning with his kisses and massaged that spot until Valeria closed her eyes and bit h