Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
I just hoped it was true.
14
Harper – Tuesday
I barely slept Monday night – I couldn’t stop thinking about Nico and the salacious phone call I’d made. From my office phone, nonetheless! I’d been so turned on talking to him that my panties had gotten soaked through.
I’d even contemplated going to the ladies’ to ... relieve myself.
I hadn’t, though. Getting caught with my hand in my panties at work was the last thing I wanted to happen, especially considering my reputation was already on thinning ice. Nell had made it clear that she was happy with the work I’d done with Nico and the first photoshoot, but I was still hoping to impress her and make up for my earlier awkwardness.
I should have been exhausted in the morning, but I practically popped out of bed, bright-eyed and bushytailed, ready to go take on the world.
And Nico, I thought as I dressed for the day, taking more care with my appearance than usual. I chose an emerald green satin bra and panty set under a black pencil skirt and a flowy blouse that made my boobs look amazing.
Even Ada noticed.
“Mommy pretty!” She chirped, clapping her hands together and then blowing a raspberry at me.
I smiled at her. “Thank you, honey,” I said. “Mommy has an ... well, a really important meeting at work today.”
Ada smiled at me, like she knew what I was talking about. I made her a quick breakfast of maple-cinnamon instant oatmeal and then put together a lunch for myself that I could eat at my desk after getting back from Nico’s office.
“Ready to go?” I asked Ada. She pouted and frowned – as much as she liked Dawning City, having my dad around so much had made her more than a little spoilt.
“I want Pop-pop,” Ada said. She crossed her chubby little arms over her chest and stuck her tongue out at me.
I sighed. “Honey, I know it’s no fun going out every day, but that’s what grown-ups have to do, too,” I said. “If Mommy didn’t go to work every day, we’d have to live with Pop-pop again.”
Ada’s face brightened considerably and I realized that I’d said the wrong thing. Changing tack, I tried again: “We love to visit Pop-pop, but living there wasn’t so much fun for Mommy. It’s good to be independent, and going to work every day is a part of that.”
By the look on my daughter’s face, she clearly wasn’t buying it. She clutched her stuffed bunny to her chest but reluctantly got to her feet and even let me fasten her My Little Pony sneakers on her small feet.
When we got to Dawning City, Stephanie pulled me aside.
“I hope you don’t think I’m overstepping,” she said. “But Ada is one of the brightest kids here – we’d love to enroll her in the pre-school program.”
I nodded. I’d seen the prices – they weren’t cheap, it was even more expensive than regular daycare – but part of coming back to New York had been because of Ada, and I wanted the best for her.
“Let’s do it,” I said.
Stephanie grinned. “Great,” she said. “It’s a half-day program, right here, and then she’ll be playing in the afternoon. Sound good?”
I nodded. “Of course.”
“I think she’ll do well,” Stephanie continued, watching Ada from across the room. “Your husband must be so proud!”
I blinked at her and nearly did a double-take. “Um, yes,” I said. “He just works so much, well, that I’m always the one dropping her off in the morning.”
“She’s such a cute kid, he must be really handsome,” Stephanie commented.
I swallowed hard. “He is,” I admitted. “He definitely is.”
At the office, the day was moving molasses-slow. Nell had come by my desk with several tasks for me to focus on during the morning and even though I was normally that fast at work, I’d finished everything by ten-thirty. Thankfully, none of the projects Nell had tasked me with had anything to do with Nico or the special bachelor edition of HAUTESCENE, so I sat there and let my mind wander.
It wasn’t a particularly sexy thought that talking to my dad and my brother was what had spurned me to contact Nico again, but there it was. I’d laid in bed for hours Sunday night, after my dad and brother had both left, and wondered what to do.
On the other hand, thinking about what was going to happen in just a few short hours was incredibly sexy, and I couldn’t stop myself from thinking it.
As much as I loathed admitting it, even to myself, it was true that Nico had once again lodged himself inside of my brain ... and my heart. I couldn’t even picture him without blushing and feeling my nipples tingle and stiffen inside my bra. Everything about him was so electrifying, so stimulating, so intense and perfectly sexy that it practically left me breathless. Nico was so charming, so different from American men. He was alpha and sensitive at the same time – something that I’d never realized until I’d recently heard him talk about growing up in Russia. Even with the insane privilege that came with growing up as the child of two diplomats, Nico had no doubt had things rough sometimes. The winters alone would have killed me – I’d always been what my dad called a “summer baby”.