I’d like you to meet Heath, Ian, and Sebastian,” Nick said.
“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Heath said, stepping forward with hand extended. His accent was British and very upper-class.
“It’s good to meet you. We don’t stand on formality here. You can call me Lydia.”
Ian and Sebastian introduced themselves, and Lydia shook their hands. The young men were impeccably dressed and exuded an aura of old money and fine breeding. Lydia decided she’d find out later how they were connected to the company. Internships were only given to the young men and women who could somehow benefit the company by who they knew.
Caleb knocked on the open door, then stepped in. When Lydia looked at him, she felt her heart do a summersault in her chest. He was always a handsome man, but he was particularly enticing in well-washed Lee jeans that hugged his trim hips and taut buns, a red and black checked shirt, and black cowboy boots.
“Anybody in the mood for lunch?” he asked. “Lydia, let’s take the interns to The Cattleman’s Paradise. I think the company can afford to buy the new guys some sizzling steaks.”
“Not for me. I’ve got too much to do,” Lydia replied. “You men can go without me.” She saw the disappointment in Caleb’s eyes. “Without me you can have a manly lunch and tell those stupid jokes you know I don’t like.”
“We’ll keep it clean if you come along,” Nick said quickly. He put a hand over his heart. “Scout’s honor.”
Lydia laughed, told the interns to believe only half of the stories they’d be regaled with over lunch, then stepped out of the office, wishing like hell that she could ignore the fact that being in the same room with Nick and Caleb had caused her panty to cling moistly to the lips of her cunt.
Chapter Seven
Nick was standing in his office, staring out the window, ostensibly watching the traffic moving by several floors below on the streets of New Oslo. His eyes were open, but he wasn’t seeing the cars or the new construction underway, or even the oil rigs with their pistoning arms that were making him a wealthy man. He was trapped inside his own mind, lost in his memories of Lydia. Had any woman in his entire life so thoroughly entranced both his mind and his body?
No, he thought, of course not. Lydia was in a league all of her own. A true one of a kind. A one and only.
A thousand times he wished he’d never started that silly, erotic game at the hotel tavern in Mumbai, where he’d pulled the D/s routine and she’d gone along with it, responding just exactly as he’d hoped she would. That’s when it all got started, when the work relationship evolved into a sexual one.
But somewhere along the line, his heart got involved. That was something he hadn’t expected. And it damned sure was something he hadn’t intended.
It was the worst luck he could imagine.
Every time he saw her at the office, it felt like someone was stabbing him in the heart with an ice pick. Every time he closed his eyes, her face flashed across the surface of his mind. So beautiful, so sophisticated, and at thirty-five, at the absolute height of her beauty. She didn’t realize that, thinking she was old, but Nick knew better. She was more beautiful now than she had been at eighteen or twenty-five. Like wine, she’d only gotten better with time.
I never, ever should have touched her. Damn, I’m old enough to know that only idiots have office romances. And she’s a damned Amberson! I work for the company her family founded. What a complete fucking idiot I am.
He turned away from the windows and glanced at his wristwatch. It was twenty minutes to five. At exactly five, he intended to close and lock his office door, get into his Cadillac, and drive to The Cattleman’s Paradise. If ever there was an evening where he needed several glasses of whiskey on ice, this was it.
The whiskey will be delicious, but what I really want to taste are Lydia’s kisses. The thought made