“Well, that’s a nice sight to see,” Luc said, walking back into my office with a light grin.

“Do you always check up on your interns this way?” I crossed my arms over my chest and asked him with a chiding tone.

His grin widened. “Of course not, I came to see if your loud mouth cousin left…” he laughed.

Brad was talkative I’d give him that.

“What was causing that nice smile when I walked in here?” Luc asked, taking a seat in the chair Brad had just vacated.

“I was thinking of my family,” I admitted, feeling the pain of loss mingled with happy memories.

“It’s nice that you have good memories, Vicky, you should hold on to them,” he smiled softly.

“I know, Bryce stood me up for lunch and sent Brad instead. It was good to meet Brad, but I felt a little disappointed and somehow my mind drifted to my mother. She came to New York to tell Bryce she was pregnant, but after learning about his social status she never contacted him. I wonder if she knew so young that life with him would have been lonely?” I sighed thinking of my beautiful mother.

“Vicky… Bryce is a good man, he really is, but he’s a billionaire. He was born to one of the richest families in North America and he’s on the board of probably one too many Fortune 500 companies. But he also does a lot of philanthropic work, he supports a lot of organizations that distribute aid to those in need all over the world after natural disasters and the list goes on,” Luc explained, sounding like he was trying to sell me on Bryce. The thing was whether I understood it or not he was my biological father.

“What are you saying Luc?”

“That the man is one of the good ones, but he’s human and he has his faults. He is married to his job, which leaves little room for other things,” he continued to explain, and I could tell he really looked up to Bryce, like a father almost. His own father sounded evil, so I could understand why Bryce’s qualities appealed to him.

“I understand, I was just thinking that my mama may have understood that which is why she took me away from here….” I sighed as my mind drifted to my mother again. I thought of how much I missed her. “How about you, Luc? Are you married to the job like Bryce?”

Luc shook his head. “No, Vicky, I don’t even have half the responsibilities that Bryce has and I am happy with that. I don’t need to be a business mogul. I am passionate about my work and that is what is important to me, and right now I am passionate about you,” his voice dropped to a low husky tone sending delicious ripples of lust through my body.

My phone beeped but my eyes were glued on Luc.

“Are you going to check your message?” he asked, pointing his head toward my phone.

“What? Huh…ya…” I stuttered dreamily. I picked it up from my desk to see a text from Nessa. She had arrived.

Me: I left the key for the apartment with the doorman.

Nessa: Thanks babe.

I was excited to have her here. As I pulled my gaze from the phone, I noticed how Luc was watching me closely. He looked turned on.

“You’re beautiful.” He smiled.

“So are you.” I smiled back.

“Can I take you out later?” he asked and his eyes look heated, like he had only one thing on his mind.

“Is that a good idea?” I asked, knowing that he intended to rip my clothes off. Then chided myself for questioning such a delicious idea.

“I’m only offering dinner, Vicky,” he feigned innocence.

“Really?” I cocked my head to the side.

“No….you could be on the menu.” He grinned then he blinked his eyes and his tone became serious. “Let’s go to dinner. Your friend can come, and then you are mine for the rest of the night.”

My cheeks flushed from the promise in his words.

“Luc,” I breathed out as moisture pooled in my panties.

“I promised you professional, I should keep to it,” he said, standing from his chair and adjusting the front of his pants. Was he hard? I am drooling…

“I can give you a ride home,” he offered and he noticed my hesitation. “Why do you have to be a difficult girl still? I thought we had everything worked out. I thought we understood each other.”

“Why are you calling me a girl again?” I squinted my eyes at him playfully. “I’m not trying to be difficult. I’m the new girl on the block. I don’t want people to think I am screwing the boss. As it is, Bryce gave me a nice office and this job,” I said, leaning back in my chair.

“I understand, Vicky, although technically you aren’t screwing the boss, yet, but that’s about to change,” Luc responded, leaning forward across my desk and placed a soft kiss on my lips. A part of me wanted to crawl up on the desk, grab him by the tie and seduce him, but I urged my libido to calm the fuck down. He seemed light and happy and it warmed my heart to see it. He deserved happiness and it made me happy to think that I had something to do with it. He walked around the desk and touched my chin with his finger before he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. His movement was soft and tender, and my eyes closed reveling in how close he was to me. That he even wanted me or trusted me enough to do this with me. Then he pulled away.

With my eyes still half-mast and my lips tender from his kiss I said, “I will see you later.”

Luc nodded his head in agreement and walked out of the office. My eyes followed his long built body in his suit and my chest tingled with excitement. So this is a crush…

After tidying up my desk, I grabbed my purse and walked over to the elevators. It had been a pretty good second day and I was hoping to visit the plant soon to see the construction of the cars first hand. I sent Nessa a quick text that I was on the way home.

I quickly caught a cab and as I stared out the window at the setting sun and the evening traffic jam, I realized that New York was doing something to me. Once again, I blamed Mama’s letter. Is this why she wanted me to come here? Did she see this place as filled with opportunity for me? She never told Bryce about me but something inside told me that she was sure he would accept me or else she would have never sent me here. Even from heaven she was looking out for me.

Ten minutes later the cab pulled up to my new home. As the elevator rose up the levels my excitement to see Nessa grew. At the twenty-third floor, I exited the elevator and quickly unlocked the front door as Nessa turned the handle opening the door and throwing her arms around my neck.

“Nessa, uh….your hair,” I muttered, pointing to her head like an imbecilic idiot. Her hair had been jet black since the day I met her. I figured she was a brunette and dyed it black to emphasize her bad girl persona. “You’re….you’re…. blonde. Not just blonde, almost white blonde,” I stated, still dumbfounded. It was such a drastic difference.

“Ah, yeah, I’m actually a natural blonde Vick,” she said, twirling a tendril of hair. I slowly made my way into the apartment and Nessa bounced on her heels following me. It felt good to have her there. She had become like my family and now this place was feeling more like home.

“No way… I would have never guessed…” I admitted feeling foolish. I felt like I knew her better than anyone else, how did I miss this about her? Seeing her as a blonde had softened her features and made her look like a different person. I fell back on the couch and let out a long breath, it’d been a long day.

“Why did you dye your hair so black then? It’s a pretty drastic move, don’t you think?” I tilted my head assessing her. She seemed antsy, I always knew that there was more to her story than being left alone at a young age when cancer took her mother.

“Come on, Vick, you know I’m a drastic person and now you’re here in New York and I felt alone back in Canada…” she explained with a frown. “Everything was good before I met you.” She squinted her eyes at me but her tone was laced with humor. I came barreling into her lonely life and she may not have realized that she needed a friend before she met me but she took the job of being my friend seriously and has always had my back. “I was used to being alone and then you went and changed that on me.” Her head tilted down and her plump lower lip darted out. “I suddenly didn’t like Thunder Bay without you,” she admitted with brutal honesty. That’s one thing I’d always admired about her; she was a straight shooter. Only now sitting here and looking at her I felt like she was a complete stranger and not the person who saved me from drowning when my mama got sick. This girl didn’t look dark and haunted, she looked like Malibu Barbie all bright and sparkly.