The Owner of His Heart (11 page)

His heart cried out at the reprieve and he kissed her hot and hard, newly desperate to be inside her, to have her in his bed.

At that point he knew there was no use denying what he’d begun to suspect ever since inviting Layla to stay with him in the first place. He had tried to fight it with anger, with hostility, with sex, but it was too late now. He had already fallen back in love with her.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

TWO more weeks passed by in the blink of an eye. Or at least that was how it felt to Layla, considering she still hadn’t managed to find even so much as an address for Andrew Sinclair. Nathan had proven to be too distracting an alternative to her amateur detective hunt. How could she make digging around in her past a priority when her present held an extremely sexy man who she’d only be able to enjoy for a few more weeks? Also, Nathan had promised he’d tell her everything after she moved, and she believed him. He might not have been the nicest man on the planet, but he struck her as someone who kept his promises.

However, just like she’d been dragging her feet about finding Andrew Sinclair, with only a month to go until her contracted eviction from Pittsburgh, she still hadn’t figured out where to settle down next. Part of her wanted to move as far away from Nathan as possible, while another part of her yearned for him to let her to stay, to forget about his stupid contract, and continue on as they were, perhaps even going as far as to fall in love—

Layla pushed that thought out of her head. She couldn’t let her heart nudge her in that direction. As any simple Google search would tell you, Nathan Sinclair didn’t fall in love. He dated and ditched, and from what she could see, he had never had a relationship that lasted over a couple of months. Allowing herself to even think about the possibility of falling in love with him would lead to disaster. No, she decided the morning of their one-month “anniversary,” she needed to start planning for life after Nathan Sinclair, even if the thought of letting him go made her feel a bit weepy.

She bullied herself into making a to-do list for her future move on the bus ride to work. And during her fifteen minute break, she used the smartphone Nathan had gifted her with a few days ago to research Savannah, Georgia, a hip, southern city that might appreciate a business as quaint as a physical therapy spa. But a call from Nathan himself interrupted her surfing.

“Hi,” she said. “What do you think about Savannah for a physical therapy spa?”

“I’d have to research the market a little further, but if we’re just speculating, it sounds fine.”

“Well, then how about—”

“What are you doing for lunch today?”

The abrupt change of subject didn’t surprise Layla. As their time together decreased, so had Nathan’s willingness to talk about her move, even though he was the one who had forced it on her. “I was just planning to grab a sandwich from the vending machine.”

“How about coming downtown and having your sandwich here? I’ll have Kate order something for us.”

“You’re inviting me to lunch?” she asked. He’d joined her in Shadyside once or twice, but had never invited her downtown.

“I’m inviting you to lunch,” he said. “You know, I never did get to have you bent over my desk. I think you owe me a position.”

Her cheeks heated remembering the first time they’d had sex. But then she realized, “There’s no way I could get downtown on a bus and get all the way back here in time to start my shift.”

“Oh, I’ve already taken care of that. Go to the parking lot.”

“Did you send a car service again?” she asked, walking toward the lobby and out the glass doors. “My lunch hour doesn’t start until one today.”

“Do you see a red Mini?”

Layla found said red Mini in one of the closer parking spaces, gleaming under the August sun. It still had its dealer’s plates. Her heart stopped. “You didn’t…”

“I’m sick of you using that ‘no car’ excuse to squirm out of anything you don’t want to do.”

Layla ran out to look at the car, which happened to be exactly the one she had always dreamed of owning.

“I’ve never used not having a car as an excuse. I’d love to have lunch with you, but I can’t possibly take a car from you. It’s bad enough that you got me the new phone, because you said you wanted me to be accessible by email. Now you’re buying me a car?” But even as she said this, her eyes ran greedily over the delectable vehicle. She’d always had a thing for Minis. “A really nice car.”

“Layla, do you seriously want to fight me on this? Haven’t I proven how hard I am to say no to yet? What else do I have to do?”

He made it sound like he was the aggrieved party here, and Layla was just being difficult.

“Don’t be difficult,” he said, echoing her thoughts in his all-business tone. “I just want to ensure I see you in a timely manner not dictated by the Pittsburgh bus schedule.”

“Yeah, but how can I ever pay you back for this?” she asked, her voice small.

“Well, I do have this black-tie fundraiser for the Pittsburgh Opera next Friday. It’s going to be hellishly boring, but I have to go because I’m on the board. You could come with me. Then we can call it even on the car.”

Layla smiled into her phone. “I would have come with you anyway,” she said. “All you had to do was ask. No car needed.”

“I’ll remember that next time,” he said. “Kate left the keys on the front wheel.”

She groaned. “Please tell me you didn’t inconvenience her again for me.”

“I’m hanging up on you before you convince me to triple her holiday bonus just for doing her job.”

She bit her lip. “It doesn’t have to be triple. I’d settle for double.”

“Goodbye, Layla.”

“Or at least let me pick out something really nice for her Christmas present before I leave. It’s the least I could do.”

“We’ll talk about it when you get here. See you then.”

Before she could answer he hung up, leaving Layla alone with her new car and the feeling it was just going to become harder and harder everyday not to fall in love with him.

***

A couple of hours later, Kate buzzed into Nathan’s office. “Two things,” she said. “Layla’s on her way up.”

“Great, great,” he said. “Just send her straight in.”

“And your brother’s on line one.”

Nathan paused. At the beginning of the summer, he would have jumped at the chance to harass his brother to come back to Pittsburgh. Nathan had been handling all the negotiations with Matsuda along with the other global initiatives Andrew had abandoned. But with Layla on her way up to his office, Andrew was the last person he wanted to talk to.

He sighed. “New plan: keep Layla out there with you while I deal with him.”

“Yes, Mr. Sinclair.” Kate signed off.

He pushed line one and said, “Andrew.”

“Nathan,” his brother answered. “I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I can’t come home. Not yet. I’m going to ask Diana for a divorce, and if you don’t want me to do it before the ball, then I’ll just have to skip it. It’s dishonorable to be in the same room with her, when I know we’re only using her to host a party at this point.”

“You and your honor,” Nathan said, his thoughts going to Layla. “I’m sure Diana’s alimony check will more than make up for all of her hostess duties.”

“She’s a human being with feelings,” Andrew said. “Do you get that I’m about to ask her for a divorce? Our marriage has fallen apart. Why do always assume everyone can be bought off?”

Again Layla drifted into his mind. His parents hadn’t approved of her and Andrew’s relationship, but everyone else had. Their friends, the Sinclair servants, even strangers on the street had said they made the perfect couple. Jealousy burned through Nathan just thinking back to those days when he’d had to watch them afar, wanting what Andrew had so badly, but not being able to do anything about it.

“Fine, don’t come to the ball,” he told his brother. “I’ll handle it and Diana, who keeps on calling me, asking if I know anything about your whereabouts. I’ll let her know you’re not coming home until after the ball, because you’re oh-so-concerned about her feelings, which is obviously why you disappeared and haven’t given her so much as a call since you did. I’m sure she’ll come away from this all seeing how honorable you are.”

Then, for the second time that summer, he hung up on his brother.

***

Outside Nathan’s office, Layla twiddled her thumbs. She was experiencing a certain sense of déjà vu, sitting on the same couch as before, waiting for Nathan to finish up whatever business he was conducting behind closed doors.

“Do you know how long he’s going to be?” Layla asked his assistant. “I only have an hour for lunch.”

Kate didn’t look up from her computer. “I’m sure it won’t be long.”

Layla sat forward on the grey couch. “By the way, I want to thank you for everything you’ve done since my apartment door got vandalized. I loved all the clothes you sent over, too. You have great taste. And I really appreciate you dropping off the new car. I’m already in love with it.”

“No need to thank me,” Kate said.

An awkward silence descended once again.

Layla said, “You must need a really interesting skill set to get a job like this. One day you’re doing administrative stuff and the next you’re shopping for Nathan’s women friends. Plus you’re on call twenty-four-seven.”

“Mr. Sinclair asks very little of me outside of office hours, so I really don’t mind the few occasions when he does,” Kate said.

“Really? Very little? I mean all the stuff he’s asked you to do for me alone, not to mention the women who came before me—that doesn’t seem like very little.”

“Actually it is.” Kate finally looked up at her. “He’s never asked me to do anything for the other women he’s dated. Not so much as buying a Christmas or birthday gift. Just you.”

Layla shook her head. Surely, Kate was kidding. She couldn’t be the only woman Nathan had ever asked Kate to shop for. She’d thought for sure all the gifts and clothes were his usual M.O.

But before she could question Kate further, Nathan buzzed into the outer office. “I’m off my call. Send her in,” he said. His voice sounded clipped.

When she walked in, she found a table already set with gourmet sandwiches, an open bottle of Perrier, and a cheese plate on one side of the office, and Nathan visibly fuming behind his desk on the other.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

Nathan just stared into space, his jaw set tight.

“Nathan?” she said, real worry creeping in as she rounded the desk to go to him.

But then the cloud passed over his face and he said, “Bad business call. Somebody I was counting on let me down.”

She stroked her hand through his soft hair. “Want to talk about it?”

He smiled, but to Layla it looked a little sad. “No, I don’t.”

Then, like a robot come to life, he stood up and began to remove her clothes with rough, jerking movements. “I need you,” he said.

Once she was naked, he swept the desk and bent her over it, working two thick fingers into her wet tunnel. “Open for me,” he said.

Layla could feel her juices coming down, as if they were at his command. The heat building up in her was in direct contrast with the cold metal of his desk, which she rubbed her pebbled nipples on as she moaned and squirmed against his demanding hand.

Behind her, he said, “You’re ready for me.”

She couldn’t tell if this was a statement or a question, but either way, she answered, “Yes, please, yes.”

This time there were no sounds of a condom being taken out and put on. She’d started taking birth control at the beginning of their two months together, so when he entered her, there was nothing but delicious skin-on-skin contact.

One hand worked her clit and the other hand held her steady while he pumped into her faster and faster until they both came. Layla moaned as load after load of his semen flooded her, his cock pulsing in her afterlight.

Afterwards, he pulled her up from the desk and turned her around in his arms, kissing her hard as their orgasms finally receded.

“How do you do that?” he asked against her lips. “Make me want you like this? It feels like I can’t get enough of you.”

She could feel him growing hard again as he said this, and her own desire reignited, despite the fact that she had just come. “I was about to ask you the same thing,” she said.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

GETTING cleaned up for a black tie fundraiser turned out to be serious business. Layla had to take half a day off of work because Kate had jammed her Friday with so many beauty appointments: first, she’d gotten exfoliated and buffed from head to toe, waxed just about everywhere, with a mani/pedi to top it all off. Then she’d had to rush back to the loft to meet up with Mark and Jacob, a hair and make-up team. They’d worked on her in a whirlwind of gossip, fake eyelashes, and flat irons, which culminated with them zipping her into the light blue sheath dress Kate had picked out and guiding her to the wall of full-length mirrors in the home gym portion of the loft.

At first Layla couldn’t believe the vision in the mirror was actually her. The dress hugged her curves perfectly, making her body look more like a work of art than the bag of bones she’d had to drag out of bed that morning. Though Jacob had spent an hour on her make-up, she somehow looked fresh and dewy, like she’d just thrown some lipstick on and her face was always this big-eyed and gorgeous. And her hair—in the up-do Mark had fashioned, she could have passed for a glamorous movie star from the forties. No one looking at this version of her would be able to guess she was an overworked physical therapist in real life.

“You’re miracle workers,” she said to Mark and Jacob.

They just laughed, and complimented her for being such a wonderful palette. Then Jacob spritzed her with expensive perfume and they left in a flurry of upkeep instructions and air kisses. Before she even had time to catch her breath, the car service buzzed to say the limo Kate had arranged was waiting for her downstairs.

But all the trouble was worth it for the look on Nathan’s face when she walked into the lobby of the Pittsburgh Opera. He’d been talking to another man in a tux, but walked away from the conversation without a word of explanation as soon as he spotted her, not stopping until she was in his arms, her lips crushed beneath his.