d.a.m.n him!
By some force, she got herself together and into her SUV, her foot lying heavy on the accelerator. Adrenaline pumped through her body as she sped down Elgin Street. There went her Zen. Fabian had ruined her Zen twice. Given the chance, he might ruin other things for her too. She turned left on Montrose until she"d reached the underground garage of her high-rise residence.
Over and over, the conversation they"d just had played over her mind. What an arrogant a.s.s! The man"s nerve had no boundary. She should have fired him right on the spot for suggesting she see his "sweet pad". How many other women had he invited to his bachelor pad? And what about Camille Carano? Not that Toni cared about any of that. Especially Camille Carano. Or any other girlfriend. G.o.d, she couldn"t stop obsessing. Toni wished she hadn"t have sent Mary home. She needed a bubble bath and a cup of chamomile tea.
And she needed a man.
The last time a man had touched her was so long ago. Over a year ago. Though she was with Stephan, their intimacy had dwindled to nothing just before he ended the engagement. She"d been picking out flowers for their wedding reception and he was picking out a new girlfriend. Sorry, babe, I"m just not into this anymore. That was what he"d said to her as she decided on peach roses for her bouquet. What kind of a person says that? To your fiancee, no less?
Her life had been bleak for the better of a year until she started her fake position at Robuchon Investments. But nothing was fake about it. The more time she sat in that executive chair, the more she started to believe she could actually be the CEO. The real CEO. One day. For now, she was going to prove herself as more than the trophy wife her mother always told her she would be.
In her living room, she tossed her rolled up mat on the 1920s fainting couch. Much of her apartment was decorated in art deco antiques. Toni fell on the pintucked wingback chair, sighing as she sank into it. Her gaze fell upon her fingers resting on her still bare stomach. She was sure she"d left a sweat stain on the delicate upholstery, but couldn"t care in that moment. Fabian came to her again, filling her thoughts. A slight remembrance of him as a kid came to the forefront of her mind. Not the soccer one, though. He was walking with his dad somewhere. He wore jeans and a white polo shirt tucked in. How she remembered something so specific when she didn"t remember much else was beyond her.
He seemed different then. Or maybe he wasn"t. Perhaps everyone was different in childhood. By the time she returned to Houston from boarding school to enter Rice University as an undergrad, he was already at Harvard. Now here they were in the same city again.
A blast from her cell phone yanked her out of her thoughts. She jumped off the chair and raced to answer the ringing phone, noting it was her best friend from college, Melina Martin, calling.
"Hey, Mel!"
"Wow! I can"t believe you answered." Melina"s voice rose a few octaves with her apparent surprise.
Toni sank on the couch, squeezing the mat as she spoke. "I know. I"m sorry about that. I"ve been out of pocket for a while."
"Try six months."
Had it really been that long since she"d spoken to her BFF? Toni did the math in her head. Yes, it had been six months. Last time they"d spoken was at a New Year"s party. Stephan had shown up with the women he"d left Toni for. Needless to say it was disastrous, and Toni wanted to forget that event. "Wow."
"I thought you needed some s.p.a.ce, which is why I didn"t hound you. But, I"ve been worried about you. Are you okay? Rumor has it you took over your mom"s position. Is that true?"
Her heart stilled. Toni didn"t want to talk about her mother or her position. The position of being in chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. She stuttered, "Yes, I did take over. Just temporarily, though."
"So, I have to ask you something else." Toni"s insides knotted up. Had Melina found out about her mother? "Is it true that Fabian Pallis is your a.s.sistant?"
Not what Toni expected Mel to ask by her serious tone. Nothing about Fabian warranted a serious tone. "Where did you hear that?" Also, how could the rumor mill have started about his employment anyway? He"d just been hired for G.o.d"s sake.
"A girl he is dating-I use that term loosely-goes to my Pilates cla.s.s. Her name is Camille Carano. Do you know her?"
Ugh. Not that name again. Toni closed her eyes, pressing the s.p.a.ce between them with her free index finger. A headache threatened to further ruin her night. "No, I don"t know her. But I know of her."
"So ... is it true then?"
She paused. Fabian was her employee now and she should get used to talking about it. "Yes, it"s true. However, it"s just a temporary thing until he goes to work for his dad."
Melina laughed. "That man is seriously hot! As in movie-star hot. As in I-might-consider-cheating-if-I-had-a-shot-with-him hot."
Toni tightened her lips. "I find him annoying and a bit rude, which detracts from any good looks he might have." She needed to get away from that topic. If she went on, she might admit she thought Fabian was movie star hot too. Refocusing, she continued, "Seriously, Mel, you would never cheat on a boyfriend if you had one. Wait, do you have one?"
"I know." She laughed. "And no, I don"t."
Toni fought with herself not to say another word about Fabian. She failed miserably. "Fabian is also the c.o.c.kiest man I"ve ever met."
"Yeah, what do you expect? He"s just like every other hot, rich player in Houston."
Like Stephan. "True."
"Speaking of which, I heard Stephan cheated on that woman. Once a cheater, always a cheater, huh?" Mel always knew the current gossip. For better or worse.
A hot ripple ran through Toni at the sound of his name. She could have done without that information. "Stephan can go to h.e.l.l. If I never see him again, it would be too soon."
Silence filled the receiver. "I know," Melina said. "You know what? Let"s go out. Yeah, party it up like we did in college. It"ll be fun."
"I"m pretty sure I didn"t party it up, Melina." Toni laughed, remembering she didn"t dare take a drink until she was exactly twenty-one. Following the rules was one of her strong points.
"Oh, right, that was me." She giggled. "Still, let"s do something on Friday. A girl"s night out downtown. H Bar is perfect for a little dancing and drinking. What do you say?"
A part of Toni wanted to, but the antisocial part didn"t want to go out or meet new people. She actually wanted to work more on her proposal for the medical device company. Hesitating, she weighed her options. If she went, she"d at least get to chat with a good friend whom she hadn"t seen in a while. And she"d be able to wear one of the many couture dresses hanging in her closet with the tags still dangling from them. What did she really have to lose? "Sure. Why not."
Melina squealed. "Yay! I"ll pick you up at eight. We can get a drink somewhere beforehand."
"I"ll have Miles drive us. We"ll pick you up." Toni started to feel good about going. She was also sure they would need a chauffeur after all the drinks she intended to have.
Chapter Six.
When Fabian walked in Antonia"s office the next day, he caught her staring out the picturesque window, holding herself, completely unaware that he watched her. Head to foot, he admired her. Her dark hair was pulled back again into the high ponytail he liked. His gaze fell over the delicate curve of her neck, lingering there for a moment before he continued down to the rest of her body. Black cropped pants fit perfectly against her rounded a.s.s. Jesus. He bit his bottom lip, thinking of all the things he wanted to do to that tight a.s.s, and promptly feeling guilty for thinking those thoughts. The fact that he felt guilt about admiring an a.s.s, which he"d done on many occasions, concerned him.
She turned, her dark eyes wide with surprise. "What are you doing?" Her gaze fell to the coffee cup in his grip. "Oh..."
He glanced at his watch. Eight-fifteen on the dot. "Your coffee, Miss Robuchon." A smile parted his face. She didn"t smile back at him, though. What would it take to remove the permanent frown from her face?
"You didn"t have to buy me a coffee..."
"I can afford it." He winked, and that only made her frown harder. "I also want to apologize for last night. I shouldn"t have suggested you come up to my condo. That wasn"t professional."
A sculpted eyebrow quirked up. She didn"t believe him. "O-Okay..." A confused look crossed her face.
She took the coffee cup from his grip, her fingers brushing against his for a second. Though she pulled away, he chose to fixate on the sensation of her skin on his. She, on the other hand, acted as if there was no touch at all and lifted the cup lid to peer inside. She sniffed, making him laugh. Particular was the best way to describe her coffee tastes, which amused him.
"I promise it"s organic milk," he said when she sniffed a second time and still didn"t take a sip.
She glanced away then. At least her frown was gone. Then would have been the time to tell her about Stephan. But, he decided against it. All night he"d gone back and forth about it. Why it was such a big deal, he had no idea. He rationalized there wasn"t an ethical issue with not telling her. In truth, the coffee was more than his duty as her a.s.sistant, it was his potential peace-offering for not telling her.
Finally, she sipped, a look of disdain creased her forehead when she removed the cup from her red lips. "This is not French roast!"
And that was why he didn"t tell her about Stephan.
Icy, demanding, and ent.i.tled wouldn"t win him over. She was entirely too d.a.m.n beautiful to be acting that way. He grunted, pushing away the attraction he had for her before. None of it was his problem anyway. "I"m so glad you"re as appreciative as I thought you"d be." He stepped toward his adjacent office.
She pressed her free hand to her tiny curving hip as if he was the issue, not her.
Liking her wasn"t necessary, so he was grateful she acted like a complete brat. His father said she was off limits, and she was doing a great job keeping him at bay. If she kept up that c.r.a.ppy att.i.tude, his only mission would be to get the h.e.l.l out of RI as fast as he could. Without looking back at her, Fabian strode to his office. He hoped she watched him leave.
Waiting in his office was the stack of invitations he needed to go through. He shook his head at the pile of envelopes, feeling like a complete chump. I"m going to kill my dad. RSVPing to invitations was not a job for a person who"d graduated from Harvard-twice. He sighed, sitting at his desk, picking up the first envelope. The first was the Museum of Fine Arts gala and silent auction. Every year Pallis Engineering had contributed a sizable amount to the event. Pallis Engineering also always sponsored a private dinner beforehand.
As he worked through the invitations, he"d come across a manila folder labeled NeuRx Proposal. With interest, he opened the folder and scanned the pages inside. An executive order had been stamped Denied, though a sticky note adhered to the sheet read Do More Research. It might have been Toni"s handwriting. It also said, in neat cursive What Do I Know? Next to it was a question mark and a sad face. This compelled him to continue to read more.
After reading through Toni"s file on neurostimulation technology for ten minutes, he researched the startup requesting funding for a clinical study. He hadn"t used his bioengineering skills since undergrad, but he"d understood everything as if he was a working engineer. About an hour later, he closed the manila folder. His gaze moved over to the wall. Toni had something. More than that, she had something really good. Why had the execs denied NeuRx? Despite his petty differences with Toni, he completely agreed with her a.s.sessment.
With a tight grip on the folder, he crossed into Toni"s office. "Hey-"
"Excuse me." She looked up from her desk, annoyed with the intrusion. "You"re supposed to use the intercom if you want to come in my office."
He was taken aback. "Are you serious?"
Eyebrows rose to the middle of her forehead. "Um, yeah. Dead serious." They were now reduced to siblings going at it so easily.
He clenched his jaw, careful to contain himself. "Okay, but, I"m here now. I"ll remember for next time. Okay?"
"What is it?" She leaned back in her chair, both arms crossing over her chest.
"This." He put the folder on her desk.
Her eyes grew wide at the sight. She scanned her desk as if she"d lost something. "Where did you get that?"
"It was with the invitations you asked me to review. I guess took it by mistake."
She s.n.a.t.c.hed the folder, quickly slipping it in her desk drawer. "Thanks for giving it back." Her gaze fell to her desk as she shuffled around papers and irrelevant things in obvious attempt to avoid his eyes. Still not looking at his, she asked, "Have you looked at the invitations?"
Perplexed as he was about her reaction, he pressed on regardless. "I think NeuRx is a good investment too."
Their gazes met. Her eyes had softened to something he"d not recognized in her. She"d always been hard to connect with up until that point. "You read my proposal notes?"
The uncertainty in her eyes was disconcerting to him because all she"d ever been since he"d met her was completely sure of herself. He nodded, his tone softer. "Yeah, I did. I think what you said about users wanting a product with longer battery life is spot on. There"s nothing else exactly like it on the market now. I don"t understand why the executive team denied it."
Glossy eyes stared back at him and for a moment he thought she would cry. He even braced himself for the waterworks, which wasn"t something he liked dealing with. Women"s tears made him run for the hills. Every time. She didn"t, though.
Toni shrugged, her voice deeper when she spoke. "None of them are bioengineers." Something else happened that he thought she"d never do in regards to him. She smiled. But it all faded too fast. Her frown emerged. "This was private, Mr. Pallis. I wish you hadn"t pried."
Completely stunned at the change of pace, he hesitated, looking for the right words. He found none. "Okay..."
By then her wall was up again and he knew he wouldn"t be able to reach her. Without bothering to look at him, she said, "I appreciate your a.s.sessment."
"Anytime." They were done. Fabian didn"t know how to reach her again. He"d gotten a glimpse of her soft side, and hated that it went away so fast. How could be bring it back? He simply had to figure out a way. "I can help you with the technology part of the proposal. I understand how it"s supposed to work."
No response. Their conversation about the proposal was over. "Any updates on the invitations?"
Nice, soft Toni was gone. He rubbed the back of his neck. "The Museum of Fine Arts gala is a definite RSVP. Pallis Engineering is holding a private sponsors dinner. I think this would look favorable for RI."
"Oh, right. We do like that event. Is it too late to be a sponsor?"
"It might be closed, but I"m sure we can pull some strings. I know the person in charge." He winked, trying to get things lighter again between them. In turn, she gifted him with an eye roll. They were at their baseline of communication. Still, an awkward silence expanded between them, giving him the perfect opportunity to change subject back to the proposal, despite his knowing he needed to let it go. "Hey, I didn"t mean to pry by reading your proposal. I just thought it was really good. You"re extremely smart."
"And you don"t think women can be smart, Mr. Pallis?" she snapped, glowering at him.
"No, I didn"t say that at all-"
"You p.i.s.sing off my girl, Pallis?" The voice came from the other side of the room, interrupting him. Both Fabian and Toni turned their attention to Stephan Bradley standing at the door.
Toni blinked once, and then a second time to make sure she was seeing properly. "What the h.e.l.l are you doing here?" In effort to sound angry, she ended up sounding winded.
Her heart raced as realization sank in. Stephan was in her office. The cheating b.a.s.t.a.r.d she"d once wanted to marry more than anything else was in her office.
"Didn"t your secretary tell you I was coming today?" Stephan glanced at Fabian, his lips curled up in a smirk.
"I"m not a d.a.m.n secretary," Fabian barked, his jaw clenching.
"Did you know about his?" She stared at Fabian, her blood was boiling. How dare he keep that information from her!
Stephan interjected, "Last night I saw old man Pallis and Fabian at Hugo"s. I told him I would come by for a chat." His sparkling blue eyes turned to Fabian. "You didn"t tell her, man? Not cool, bro."
"I"m not your bro or your messenger." Fabian"s lips pressed together. Why was Fabian so angry? Toni suspected there was more to the story, but she couldn"t get pa.s.sed Fabian keeping this information from her.
Toni pinned Fabian"s stare in place, her heart pounding faster with each second. "But you"re my a.s.sistant, Fabian."
"In business matters, not personal." He had her there. Still, why wouldn"t he give her a heads-up? The deliberate withholding made her furious. What was even more infuriating was watching Fabian turn to walk back to his office without another word. She clenched her fists as the sound of the closing door echoed through her office.
Dear G.o.d, how was she supposed to deal with Stephan alone? As ridiculous as it sounded, she wanted Fabian back for protection. She glanced at the picturesque window, wondering if there was an escape route from that high up. Jumping out of the window was more appealing to her than saying another word to him. She hadn"t antic.i.p.ated ever seeing Stephan again, in person anyway. They hadn"t as much as b.u.mped into each other since the New Year"s disaster.
"Someone has a crush on you," Stephan teased, moving his large athletic body deeper into the office.
She jerked around to face him. "That"s absurd."
Before she could position herself to be on the offense, he was in her personal s.p.a.ce, touching her shoulder with thick tan fingers. "What"s absurd is that I haven"t talked to you in way too long."
His touch singed her skin and not in a good way. "It hasn"t been that long. I could go longer."
He laughed that same smooth laugh she used to love. Used to. "You know, this weekend would have been our wedding. Do you ever think about that?"
She turned away. She vowed never to show emotion in front of him ever again. He didn"t deserve that from her. "No."
"Come on, baby. I know you do." He grabbed her hand, lifting it to his lips. The kiss he pressed on her palm shot waves through her body. But they weren"t waves that made her stomach flutter. They made her want to vomit. "You"re still so beautiful."