Bound By His Desire (11 page)

For a few hours Pam thought she was like the other woman, dressed in a gorgeous designer gown. Out on the arm of a gorgeous man. Living a fairytale. In the cold light of day, she knew fairytales weren’t real. She wasn’t a princess. She was plain, boring Pam. Instead of wearing one of her new outfits, she’d gone back to what she was comfortable in. Her sensible navy blue skirt with matching jacket. The proper attire for an executive assistant. The complete opposite to the dress she’d worn yesterday, something she imagined the girl from last night who had been waiting for Nick downstairs, would look dynamite in. No, today, in the clothes she had on, she felt moderately in control of herself and the way her life was heading.

‘Morning.’

Pam looked up as Nick entered the room carrying his laptop bag. Dressed in a black suit with a pale blue shirt and dark grey tie, he looked sophisticated and breathtakingly handsome. She wanted to walk over there and put her arms around him. The look in his eyes stopped the urge quickly. He looked so hard and untouchable, it made her think he regretted touching her last night. Maybe he felt guilty he had his hands all over her when he was already spoken for.

Pam hated feeling like this. Feeling like she was the
other
woman, the woman responsible for other people’s heartache. Making her as bad as the woman who’d broken up her parent’s marriage. She had always promised herself she wouldn’t get involved with a man who was in a relationship; clearly, she’d done exactly that.

Well, it didn’t mean she had to be that person. If Nick wanted to play it cool then she’d play it cool too. She would be his perfect assistant. That was her role.

‘Good morning. If you give me a couple of minutes I’ll be ready to leave.’

He nodded his head, moved to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup. ‘About last night.’

Pam held up her hand. She didn’t want to discuss last night. She’d had an evening where she’d experienced almost every emotion possible. She had no desire to relive each and every one as Nick told her how it had been a huge mistake to kiss her. To take her to the event, when he could’ve taken his lovely girlfriend. She didn’t need him to try and let her down gently. She’d landed already, and it was with a great big thump of reality.

‘There’s nothing to talk about, Nick. I’d rather put it down to the excitement of seeing the city and leave it at that.’

She got up from her stool and moved over to the sink, where she dumped the remainder of her juice down the sink. As she moved past him, he stopped her progression with a hand around her wrist.

She froze as, with that slightest touch, her body was back remembering what it had felt like to be in his arms. To feel his lips trailing soft kisses over her jaw. To feel his hardness against her belly. At the time she’d thought it was because he desired and wanted her. Now she knew it was something completely different. It wasn’t desire, it was simply a man’s natural reaction to kissing a woman.

‘Please, Pam, let me explain Caroline’s presence downstairs when we arrived home.’

She didn’t want to hear about Caroline. Caroline was probably the daughter of a rich billionaire who went to all the right places, said all the right things and dressed all the right ways. Complete opposite to Pam. Pam, who dressed in sensible clothes. Pam, who’d never made love to a man before. Pam, who was drowning under a mountain of debt with no end in sight.

‘I don’t want you touching me again, Nick. Please let go of my hand.’ Her voice was an octave above a whisper. But the meaning behind it was clear. Nick dropped her wrist, and she continued on her way out of the kitchen to her room.

Somehow she’d get through the rest of the time they were in New York sorting out this deal. The moment it was finalised, she would bring into play the clause he’d had written into the contract and leave this position.

Last night had been an eye-opener in many ways. After experiencing the buzz of Times Square she wanted to see more exciting places, and she couldn’t do that while she owed so much money. As much as it would kill her to lose the home that had been in her family for generations, she knew she had to sell it. It was the only way she could live her life. If she didn’t, she’d never have financial freedom. She’d made the decision to contact the real estate agent to instruct him to sell her house. Once the house was sold she’d pay off her mortgage and her mother’s medical bills. The debt collectors would be off her back and she would be free to do what she wanted.

It was time to take control of her life and not let people like Nick Rhodes think she was something they could play with. For so long she’d done what her mother had told her to do. When she should’ve been experiencing life, she’d been looking after her mother.

For the first time in her life she could do things for herself. She didn’t need to answer to anyone.

It was time to find who Pamela Bishop really was.

Pam curled up on the couch with a slice of pizza and flicked through the channels on the television. Nick was out again and she hadn’t asked him where he was going. Ever since their night at the Empire State Building, he’d pretty much gone out and left her by herself. The first couple of nights he was out hadn’t bothered her, she was still adjusting to the time difference and full-on workdays, so she’d been happy to order from whatever takeaway menu she found in the junk drawer in the kitchen. After she’d eaten, she’d curl up with a book and fall asleep. She had no idea what time Nick came home. Many times she’d expected him not to come home, but he was always in the kitchen before her every morning.

Now it was Friday night, she’d been in New York over a week, she was full of energy and she didn’t want to sit around. She wanted to go and try the nightlife.

Turning the television off, she put the pizza box in the fridge and walked to her room. She would speak to Rob and ask where the best and safest place for a single woman to go to. She figured he would probably try and talk her out of it, but she wasn’t going to be swayed. She was following through on her earlier declaration that she was going to find herself. She’d emailed the real estate agent and told him to put her house up for sale instead of rent. She could cover the mortgage for a couple more months, and had emailed the debt collection agency advising them she was placing her house on the market so she would be able to pay them in full in a couple of months. She’d also included a copy of the sellers contract with the real estate agent so they knew she wasn’t lying.

For once they’d been open to her making a small payment to keep them happy until she’d sold the house and could finally pay them in full. She hoped the agent sold it quickly.

Pam pushed thoughts of her house and money problems away. She was going to put on her cute cocktail dress and have some fun.

Nick walked into his apartment building, thinking about taking a shower after yet another after-work gym workout, trying to ignore the guilt gnawing at his gut. He had left Pam home alone again, just as he had since their night in Times Square. He’d hoped his workouts would tire him out so when he got home he wasn’t tempted to knock on Pam’s door. They hadn’t. He’d lain awake for most of the nights knowing that Pam lay only a few feet away from him.

‘Mr Rhodes, I’m so glad you’re back.’ The doorman rushed up to Nick the moment he walked through the door.

He immediately went on alert, his instincts telling him something had happened to Pam.

‘Is Pam all right?’

‘I don’t know, sir.’

Nick tried not to shake the other man. ‘What do you mean you don’t know?’

‘She wanted to go out to a popular nightspot. I tried to talk her out of it but she was adamant she was going out and if I didn’t give her location of a good, but safe, place to visit, she’d find one herself.’

Through his anger, he had to admire Pam for her assertiveness. He’d seen it the couple of times she’d raked him over the coals for the way he’d treated her. Over the last week, he’d been nothing but polite and she had been the same to him. They might as well have been strangers, with the amount of conversation they’d shared. He should be happy with their situation. After all, it was what he had been striving for, total professionalism between them and nothing more. But he couldn’t help feeling if Pam got hurt tonight it would be his fault because of his need to keep her at arms-length.

‘Where is she?’

‘I told her the best place to go to was The Loft on Fifth. I know it’s one of the safest nightclubs for young, single women to go to by themselves.’

Nick knew the place well. He’d been there with quite a few of his dates and he’d given the owner some financial advice, so he always had a standing invite to attend the club. Out of all the nightclubs in the city, Rob was right, it was one of the safest, and Rob was probably aware that Nick knew the owner, hence his recommendation to Pam. But still, she was new to the city; she didn’t know how the city or clubs worked. She’d mentioned she’d been caring for her mother for a couple of years, inhibiting her ability to travel and explore the world. He had a feeling she hadn’t experienced a lot of life. The thought gave him pause and he wondered just how much experience she’d had with the opposite sex.

Nick shook his head. He didn’t need to think about what experience she’d had. He needed to get down to the nightclub to make sure Pam was safe.

‘Can you arrange for a cab to be here in fifteen minutes to take me there? I’m going to go upstairs to shower and change, and then I’m going to get Pam. Thank you for telling me, and for looking out for her.’

‘My pleasure, sir. Miss Bishop is always friendly when she comes home in the evenings. I have to admit I’m quite partial to her, maybe it’s her accent.’

Nick laughed. He had the same accent as Pam; somehow he didn’t think Rob was quite as ‘partial’ to him as he was to Pam.

Nick returned downstairs in ten minutes, a yellow cab waiting at the kerb through the glass doors.

He walked over to where Rob was standing and reached into his pocket, pulling out some money and handing it to him. ‘Thanks again for everything.’

‘All part of my job, sir.’ Rob replied, pocketing the money as he walked over and opened the door for Nick to leave.

Nick strode out and gave the cab driver the address. He hoped he wasn’t too late and nothing had happened to Pam. He hadn’t even given her a damn mobile phone so she could contact him in an emergency. Not that it was likely she would, the way he’d frozen her out all week. But it was for the best that he’d kept his distance.

When they pulled up to the nightclub, Nick once again handed over cash to the driver, telling him to keep the change.

He stepped up to the entrance of the club, bypassing the long queue of people to get in. When the doorman saw him, he unlatched the thick red rope that closed off the entrance and Nick walked through, nodding his thanks to the man as he went past.

He made his way through the dimly lit entrance to stand at the opening of the nightclub. The music thumped a bass rhythm in his ears. People were talking loudly to be heard over it. Trying to find Pam amongst all these people would be a challenge. He was confident he could do it: failure wasn’t an option. He surveyed the room. He had no idea what she was wearing. He should’ve asked Rob if he remembered what Pam had on. He was pretty sure she wouldn’t be wearing the blue evening dress she’d worn the other evening, and if she wore one of the usual black suits she wore to the office, finding her would be difficult. Maybe she was wearing that dress she’d worn the first day. His body stirred in remembrance of how the dress hugged and accentuated her curves.

A figure in a white dress caught his eye. He could only see the back of the dress, which was scooped low, showing a generous amount of skin. The dress finished about mid thigh on killer long legs encased in strappy silver sandals. The straps curving around her slender ankles like a lover’s fingers. What would it be like to gently undo those straps and caress the instep of her foot? The dress hugged her bottom and his hands itched to smooth over the gentle swell. The woman’s hair colour was hard to distinguish in the subdued lighting of the club, but he could tell it wasn’t blonde.

His feet wanted to move in her direction. He wanted to get close to see if the skin of her back was as soft to touch as it looked. He had so many fantasies going through his mind it shocked him. He was here to find Pam, not to hook up with a random stranger. The woman who’d captured his interest turned her head to the side and he caught her profile.

Pam.

She looked carefree, tossing her hair and laughing at something the man to her right said in her ear. Now he knew why his body went into desire mode the moment he saw her. His body recognised a potential mate in Pam and he had to finally acknowledge he wanted her in the most basic of ways. The way a man wanted a woman, under him, writhing as he drove into her. Right at that second he didn’t care that Pam was his assistant. He’d been denying his need for her all week. He could deny it no longer. He wanted her and he would have her. Rules be damned.

He threaded his way through the crowd, his eyes never moving from his prize. He could see the front of her dress, shocked by what he saw. After seeing the back he’d expected the front to be as low-cut. He couldn’t have been more wrong. The straight neckline of the dress was even more tempting. It hinted at what lay underneath the fabric.

He finally reached Pam’s side as she was about to head to the dance floor. Her hand was in another man’s. He didn’t plan on letting that stop him getting what he wanted. He wanted to take Pam home.

He slipped his arm around Pam’s waist, the fabric of her dress silky beneath his fingers. He tightened his hold when he felt her pulling away. He sent the other man a look that told him to back off. He was smart enough to take Nick’s hint.

‘Nick! What do you want? I’m about to go for a dance.’

Her tone exuded her displeasure at his interruption. As he looked down at her, he noticed her eyes were glassy. He wondered how many drinks she’d had, and hoped none of the people she was keeping company with had decided it might be fun to slip a little something in her drink. If he found out they had, heads would roll.