Free Whatever He Wants by Eve Vaughn Page B

transgression. “Maybe I’d rather listen to my heart instead of my
head. You’re the one who said I should go out with him in the first place but
now you’re telling me to leave him alone. Is it because he looked my way
instead of yours? Simone, men fall over their feet when you walk by but one guy
wants to be with me and you have a problem with it?”
            “He doesn’t want to be with you. He wants
to fuck you!” Simone snapped and then immediately covered her mouth in surprise
as if she couldn’t believe she’d actually said that. “Noelle—“
            Noelle held up her hand. “Save it. Good to
know what you really think of me.”
            Simone grasped Noelle’s hand to keep her
on the couch when she tried to get up. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. I
just think you’re better than this.”
            Noelle yanked herself out of her cousin’s
grip and stormed out of the living room and didn’t stop until she was out the
door. She walked a few blocks to cool off. Simone had never been anything but
kind and supportive for as long as she could remember. She shouldn’t have
implied her cousin was jealous but being told someone was only interested in
screwing them would rub most people the wrong way. Maybe Simone was right and
James really was just using her for sex, but if she didn’t take this chance,
she would wonder what if for the rest of her life. Besides, if she didn’t go
for it, Noelle might as well admit Aunt Frieda was right: that she was
incapable of being loved.
            Simone was thankfully absent when Noelle
returned to the apartment. On the nightstand in her bedroom was the business
card James had handed her. She picked it up and studied the name on the card.
Stella Martin.  Before she lost her nerve, she picked up her cell phone
and quickly dialed the number.

Chapter Seven
     
            Noelle barely managed not to pinch
herself. This place was unreal with its cathedral ceiling, grand spiral
staircase, a large modern kitchen with all the latest amenities and three
bedrooms all with grand terraces. The square footage of the living room alone
was larger than the entire apartment she’d shared with Simone. While her new
living space was not ostentatiously decorated it still screamed money. She was
almost too scared to touch anything for fear of breaking something.
            “This is mine?” she asked the man standing
behind her.
            “While you reside here it is.”
            Noelle stiffened as the gravity of her
choice suddenly hit her. Her knees grew wobbly and she took the closest seat
which was on a leather arm chair. She wrapped her arms around her body in a
protective hug. “I’m not the first woman who’s stayed here, am I?” she asked
softly without looking in the direction of James’ EA. Shortly after her call
with Ms. Martin, she was contacted by Paul Atkinson. He’d been straight to the
point, shooting off a handful of instructions and necessary appointments she
needed to make. That had been two weeks ago.
            Noelle and Simone had barely talked in
that time until the movers came to remove Noelle’s belongings. Simone had
tearfully begged Noelle to reconsider but she’d already made up her mind. It
was for the best. She’d always felt as though she was mooching off her cousin
because Simone had paid the bulk of the bills.
            Paul didn’t answer Noelle’s question right
away and didn’t seem as if he would. “I’m not am I?” Noelle persisted.
            The blond man who had been all business
moments before seemed to soften a bit. “I’m sorry but I’m not at liberty to
discuss my boss’s personal life.”
            Noelle chuckled humorlessly. “I am his
personal life.”
            “Be that as it may, I can’t answer that
question, Miss Greene.”
            “I understand. And please call me Noelle.
Miss seems so formal.”