CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE

Rowan

“Mr. Preston, a Miss Nora Wilde is asking to speak with you. She said you’d see her, if I mentioned her name,” my assistant, Amanda, calls over my office intercom.

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger in an attempt to fight off the brewing headache.

It seems Nora just won’t give up, which is unlike her. She’s never pushed back against my decisions before, so this is different. Sure, she likes to push my buttons, but she’s never fought me on something once I’ve put my foot down. Why is this Anti-Valentine’s Day business so important to her?

“Mr. Preston?”

“Let her in, Amanda.”

I drop my elbows to my desk and run my fingers through my hair. I don’t bother to look up as the door opens, then shuts quietly. The soft patter of footsteps announces her progress across the room.

I wait for my feisty sister to start her tirade and curse me out for being the villain she’s made me out to be in her head, but…nothing.

The silence has me opening my eyes and looking up. My breath catches in my throat as my gaze meets that of the woman standing on the other side of my desk.

Dressed in jeans and an “I hate love” t-shirt, is the angel from earlier. Her hair is still tied up in a messy bun with a few more strands falling into her face.

She’s real.

Her cheeks flush a soft rosy hue, and she looks down, hiding her pretty green eyes from me.

“You’re not Nora,” is the first thing out of my mouth. Very few people know that Nora and I are related, but it’s not because I am ashamed of her. Quite the opposite. She and I may argue a lot, but we’re incredibly close, each the only family the other has. Her decision to stay away from the publicity my life brings is one I respect and guard jealously. Nothing is more important to me than my sister’s happiness and safety.

“No,” the angel mutters, forcing me back to the present. Her voice is sultry enough to have my dick throbbing in my pants. “I’m sorry I lied, but this was the only way I could get you to see me.”

“You work for Nora?"

“Uhm, yeah, but that’s not why I am here. You see, Nora is my best friend, and she helped me when I was in a tough situation. I don’t know…well, I have no idea how much of her life you know about but…”

“I’m well aware of Nora’s recent troubles,” I interrupt. “If not for my intervention, she’d have a lot more than a broken heart right now.”

She bites her lower lip and looks up, but doesn’t say anything.

I suck in a sharp breath when her eyes meet mine. They are warm and seductive. I find myself suddenly wanting to give her whatever she asks of me.

Do anything, if it gets her to keep looking at me.

“What?” I ask, my voice husky and unfamiliar to my ears.

“Right. Well, I think this Anti-Valentine’s thing she is planning will help her heal. It’s the happiest I’ve seen her in a long time, even before the breakup.”

I watch her watch me and question whether or not she realizes the effect she has on me.

Is that why Nora sent her?

“The coffee shop,” I start, trying and failing to push my needs to the back of my brain, so I can have a rational conversation, “is a business. It’s a bad idea to involve personal feelings in business, Miss…”

“Willow Shepherds, but you can just call me Willow,” she hurries to say. “And I know that you are a businessman; you prefer numbers to sentimental words, so I brought the numbers to you.”

I don’t say a word as she opens her bag and takes out a stack of papers. As she leans over to put them down in front of me, I catch a sweet cherry scent. I don’t know if it’s lotion, perfume, or bodywash, but whatever it is, it’s intoxicating.

“What’s this?” I ask, briefly glancing at the stack of papers before looking up at her.

“Well, it’s everything. I spent all evening working on it. There are all the estimated profits, the feedback we’ve gotten from people, and everything that you need to convince you to approve the Anti-Valentine’s Day idea.”

I watch her lips move, but I find it hard to follow what she’s saying. It’s so hard to concentrate on her words, when all I can think of is how close to me she is. This close, I can see the curve of her breasts, the way they move as she gestures with her hands.

Willow is drop-dead gorgeous with an elegance about her that draws me in.

“Mr. Preston?”

I push away the lust-induced daze and lift my eyes to find her watching me.

She’s mine.

The sudden thought surprises me, but the idea solidifies in my head when our eyes connect. There is something about her that screams innocence, that begs me to claim her right here and now in my office.

“So, what do you think?” she asks.

I want you. Something tells me she’s not ready to hear my thoughts out loud just yet, at least not on this particular subject.

“You are wrong, Willow,” I say, getting up from my chair and stalking around the table to her side.

“W-wrong about what?” There is a tremor in her voice, and her eyes widen as I close the distance between us.

“About your customers. Typically, I would ask for numbers, but I have been in this business long enough to know that what Nora is planning will not work.”

I step right in front of her, and she sucks in a sharp breath, backing into the desk. Her hands fall on the papers and send them flying to the floor, but neither of us pays attention to them.

I want her.

My body pulses with a need unlike anything I have ever felt before. I want to reach out and trace my fingers over her freckled nose, but I restrain myself.

It takes everything in me not to back her further into the desk, push up her dress, and thrust into her warmth until my body isn’t vibrating anymore.

“I—”

“You see, Willow,” I whisper, forcing my eyes to stay on hers and not stray to the cleavage peeking through the V-neck of her t-shirt. “The idea of Anti-Valentine’s Day sounds unique and catchy, something for all single people to do on a day littered with couples, but what you don’t get is that even single people crave romance. Even they will choose the traditional Valentine’s any day.”

I watch her like a predator would prey, with as much restraint as a hungry wolf, but she makes no move. I take a step back to give her space, but she reaches out and grabs my forearm.

Her touch burns its way through my shirt and into my skin. The animal in me threatens to claw its way out if I don’t take possession of her body, but…

I can wait.

“I…when I came here, I promised myself I wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Her eyes flash with heat, but it’s gone so fast, I almost think I imagined it.

“Are you sure?”

“Tell me,” she whispers, visibly swallowing before taking a step forward. “Tell me what I need to do to get you to agree, Rowan.”