Stubborn Love - A Contemporary Romance: Falling for Him (Falling for Him Contemporary Romance Series Book 6) (6 page)

I’m acting like a complete asshole!
Nigel looked at Clara sitting across from him with her head down and her shoulders moving as if she was taking barely controlled breaths. He let his gaze connect with Sara’s and knew he wouldn’t get out of having to explain himself.

He leaned back in his desk, when Sara asked Clara if she’d please give her a few moments alone with him. Clara readily agreed and left the conference room as if the hounds of hell were on her heels.
Way to go, Nigel! You’ve just managed to destroy the only woman in years that actually made you smile and want to be a better man! Idiot!

Sara waited until Clara had exited the room and then she narrowed her eyes at him, “What is wrong with you? This girl is clearly talented and you pick on the tiniest details?”

He looked at her and tried not to let her know how accurate her assessment had been. “She’s not…”

“Oh, don’t give me that line of bull crap!” Sara told him, pointing a finger in his direction. “She would be a perfect fit for your team and you know it.”

Yes, she would be a perfect addition to his team.
But I can’t employ her because she’s the woman of my dreams. I don’t mix business and pleasure.

“Nigel?”

He shook his head, “I…”  he paused, not wanting to go into a lengthy explanation about the last time  he had gone out with an employee.
What a disaster!
She hadn’t loved him; she just had used him to her advantage. To sleep her way up with the boss. When he’d broken up with her, she had then tried to blackmail him with sexual harassment.
She’d almost succeeded too!
He had vowed after that incident to never make that same mistake again.

Nigel took another breath, stalling, “Sara, I appreciate you recommending her, but as you can see, her work isn’t quite up…’

“…to what? Your standards!”

He looked at her and wondered how he could get her to drop the subject and move on. He absolutely couldn’t tell her he was falling for Clara. She wouldn’t understand. Sara had met her first husband, a man who had died over a decade earlier, at work. She loved workplace romances and saw nothing wrong with them.
That’s because she’s never been played by a co-worker!

“Sara, I need someone with experience for this position. I’ve already taken orders for the new line. You don’t really expect me to give a job like this to a newbie like Clara?”

The light of battle entered Sara’s eyes, “Actually, Nigel, that is exactly what I expect. Don’t forget who gave you your first break. Remember you were nothing. A nobody. Just another man who thought he deserved a chance. Without my help, you’d still be looking around for your first designer job. Now is the time to give back!”

He inwardly cringed because she was right with every word. Without her mentoring, he’d be nowhere. And he knew her good enough to recognize she wouldn’t let him off the hook any time soon.

“Fine. But I’m not hiring her as a fixed employee.  I’ll hire her, but only as an intern. Three months, and not a moment longer.”

Sara opened her mouth to argue with him, but closed it again and nodded. She turned towards the door and waited until she caught Clara’s eyes. Waving her back inside the room, she gave Clara a smile of support as she retook her seat.

As Clara sat back down, Sara looked between the two of them and then adopted a crazy grin. Nigel tried to ignore it, but that was rather hard as she was grinning from ear to ear. Her grin captured Clara’s attention as well.

Sara chuckled softly, before saying, “It looks like you’ve met each other before.”

Great!
He met her gaze and realized that he would never be able to maintain this pretense now. He couldn’t lie to her face! “We’ve actually met at the airport where I was clumsy enough to spill coffee all over Miss Bradford’s suit.”

Sara turned to address Clara, “It seems you weren’t off to a good start with Nigel, but I can assure you he’s a nice guy. His biggest fault is believing he has to separate business from love.”

He shot darts with his eyes in Sara’s direction. What is she doing sharing his personal life with Clara?

Sara pretended not to notice his glare, instead adopted her most innocent smile.

Nigel was desperate to end the meeting, and fixed his gaze back on Clara. Taking a breath, he rushed to gain her attention, “Clara, I can offer you a three month internship. Is that something you would consider accepting?”

Clara was shocked. Confused. Hurt.

She needed to know what happened. “Can I speak with you in private for a moment?”

Did she see a look of triumph in Sara’s eyes? Perhaps it was her imagination. She waited until Sara had excused herself from the room and then she fixed him with a stare full of anger and hurt!

“What is going on here?”

“I have offered you an internship with my company. Isn’t that why you’re sitting in my office right now?”

Clara shook her head, “Yes, but I don’t understand why you’re acting this way. Last night…”

“Last night is not something that will be repeated if you work for me. I have a strict policy in place for myself: no flings or flirting with employees.”

She didn’t understand why he had adopted that policy, and she resented the fact that she had to make a tough decision: him or her career.

This internship is a chance in a lifetime. Take the career!
She was torn. Her career was very important to her, and she reasoned that she’d only met Nigel a few days ago. It wasn’t like they had this longterm relationship going on.
Why should I care that he won’t date me any more if I work for him?

Her heart was breaking; she’d never felt so much emotion for a man. She wanted to beg him to be the romantic wonderful man from the night before, the one who showed her pleasures never before experienced. But he was a different person today. A cold and distant person.

Fine!
She could do the same.
My feelings for him were probably a fluke anyway.
She decided to stop having feelings for him. Right now and here. If he wanted to play this game, she could as well.
Nothing has happened, right? We’ve only gone out once.

But it was fantastic! She remembered the boat tour to the Statue of Liberty…
Stop that! Keep your mind fixed on work!

Nigel watched her with shielded eyes. She met his gaze and nodded her head, “Fine. I can handle that.”

“Excellent. Come along and I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

Just like that? No more discussion or compromise or anything?
She followed him from the room, seeing Sara sitting in the waiting room and giving her a small wave. Sara smiled back and gave her a thumbs’ up signal.

Nigel introduced Clara to her direct boss, Kaylee Jennings. She was the senior designer at
Bella
and had the juniors and interns working below her. 

He left her in Kaylee’s capable hands with the words, “Kaylee, please make sure that Clara gets on track fast.“

Kaylee nodded to him with a sweet smile and then gave her a stare meant to put her in her place. She made it very clear from this first moment, who’s the boss. Clara needed less than thirty seconds to see through that woman.
Kaylee is a bitch!

She had the perfect looks, and like many of the in-people she had indulged in quite a few “enhancements.” Her boobs were just as artificial as her dyed hair, silicone enhanced cheekbones, and botox injected lips. Stunning yes, but oh so artificial. She had probably been a beautiful woman, with her blonde hair, blue eyes, and tall willowy body, but now she looked like a plastic Barbie doll. Totally fake.

Kaylee was typical of the fake people who pretended to care and be your friend while you were looking at them. But turn your back, and you’d be in for a nasty surprise. These people are dangerous and thought nothing of spinning lies and rumors behind a person’s back.
I can’t believe I have to work for this woman!
Maybe it was a mistake to take the job
.

Clara saw Kaylee watching her, and did her best to hide her dislike from the woman. She made a conscious decision to think of her career first. She determined to make the most out of this internship and learn as much as possible. Even if it meant having this horrible person as boss.              

During the next few days, she discovered that Kaylee always criticized those around her. Everyone. Her criticisms were rude, harsh, and even hurtful. Kaylee considered herself the best and nobody was able to hold a candle to her – at least in her opinion. She let everyone feel her superiority.

Aside from Kaylee, Clara got along great with her other coworkers, especially with one girl named Phoebe. As the end of her first week came to a close, Phoebe even invited her to join her and some of the other employees for a Friday night celebration. 

All of them still single, they liked to party it up. Clara readily agreed to join them.
A little party and some fun is just what I need.
She didn’t need Nigel to be happy! She was thankful for the opportunity to work at Bella, and was determined to be happy, despite him.

Most of days it was easy to put Nigel out of her mind. The only time their paths crossed was during the staff meetings. He did his best to avoid her, and she could certainly understand why. Even after he had broken her heart with his behavior, each time she saw him, the attraction between them flared to life.

Clara even secretly watched him. And several times she caught him watching her from across the room. Desire in his eyes.
Why was he so stubborn?

Nigel heard her voice before he saw her, and he did his best to appear uninterested as she and several other employees entered the office.

I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up!
Every time he saw Clara he longed to touch and kiss her. Feel her again. Brush his fingers through her soft hair. Smell her exhilarating scent. But then he reminded himself about his policy not to mix business and love. He kept telling himself it was for the best. His and hers.

He watched as she smiled and laughed and pondered the idea of firing her and then helping her get another job in the industry. That would solve all his problems!
But once you fired her, would she forgive you and happily explore a private relationship with you?

Clara had readily agreed to his rules, and if he were to fire her, he would have to figure out a way to make things right for her. After some more contemplation, he realized that firing her would be very unfair to her. He couldn’t do that.
I have to get her out of my head!

The next days were super-busy and most of the time he managed not to think of Clara. A huge publicity event had been scheduled to take place during Clara’s second week on the job in the flagship store. This event was super-important for the company and every single employee was busy with preparations.

Most of the buying agents of the East Coast were invited. Even Sara had agreed to attend and feature the event and his new women’s line in her magazine. His employees had been working late for the last few nights, excited and anxious to give their best. He was proud of everyone.

The day before the event, Kaylee got sick. She came to work, trying to disguise her miserable condition. But when his secretary found her in the ladies’ room puking her guts out, he had to send her home. There was no way she’d be able to attend the event.
Now what? I cannot manage the whole program for the evening by myself! I absolutely cannot bring in an outsider at this late date. There’s just not enough time to train a new person.

He spent several hours going over his choices, and realized that everyone who worked for him was already busy with important tasks for the function. All of his employees were carrying their weight and then some!

Nigel called a staff meeting and was stunned when Phoebe suggested that Clara take Kaylee’s part for the evening. Clara had been assigned to help Phoebe, and she didn’t have any tasks of her own. 

This change meant he and Clara would moderate the entire program together. They’d have to be close to each other the whole evening and even sit at the same table. She would essentially be his “date” for the night.
I’m not sure I can handle this.

He attempted to argue against this action, but everyone else thought it was a great idea. Clara knew the company and Phoebe assured him repeatedly she could easily manage her part without Clara’s help. The other employees agreed to pick up the slack here and there to support Phoebe and Clara in her new role.

Nigel pondered the idea. His employees were right. There wasn’t another feasible option at this late date. He took a deep breath, steeled himself against the whirlwind of confusing emotion and said, “Ok. Let’s do it. Clara, please meet me in my office in 15 minutes, we have to go through the entire program.”

When Clara stepped through his door a few minutes later, he wasn’t prepared for the blow that hit him. At all. Her sweet scent took his breath away. He stifled a groan. This would be much harder than he thought.

They spent the rest of the day together going through the program, making sure Clara knew all the details of the moderation. This was shear torture to him. On the one hand, he needed to focus on work, but on the other hand, his feelings for Clara were pushing to get out.

It was late when Nigel finally said, “Clara. We’ve gone through everything a million times. We should get some sleep now. Tomorrow will be an exciting day.”

Clara nodded. She was extremely tired. The details of the moderation spun round in her head and she needed a time-out. Nigel noticed her exhaustion, and offered to take her home. He told himself, it was just to make sure she’d be ok. It wasn’t safe to be out at that hour for a woman.

After only a token protest, Clara agreed. He was surprised at how relieved he was. He wanted to be near her. Smell her. Sense her presence.