Love Never Fails (6 page)

I didn’t even acknowledge his compliment and definitely didn’t blink an eye.  If I could throw something at him, I would have.  As he looked right into my eyes, Damien definitely had an idea about how angry I was.
“I’m sorry about all of this.  If you knew who I was from the beginning, nothing would have happened between us and that wasn’t acceptable to me. I felt something, a connection from the beginning with you,” explained Damien.
“I opened myself up to you, I did things that I wouldn’t have done with anyone, especially my Boss.  I can’t believe this is happening.” I just put my head down for a second.
“Princess.”
“Don’t you dare call me that!  This changes everything.”  I can’t believe the man that occupied my thoughts and dreams has now become my Boss.  How can I have a relationship with him?  I’m so disappointed about the whole situation and in myself.  Oh my God, how I responded to him came crashing down around me.  Sensing that Damien was standing in front of me, he grabbed me by the arms.
“I don’t regret for one single moment what we shared together.  You have been in my thoughts and my desires all weekend.  I don’t give a damn that we work together, we can get around this.  I need to know more about you, all of you Selina. Just give us time.  I’m so sorry to make you feel that I betrayed you.  I had my own selfish reasons to keep my identity from you.  Look at me Selina.”
Raising my eyes up to his, I saw the stormy blues of his eyes boring into mine.
“I will not lie to you any longer.  I want you.  I want you so much that it hurts.  I want to bury myself deep inside you and make you cry out my name.  I want to make you forget your fiancé and be mine in every way possible.  And I will not stop until I have you.”
Pulling my arm from his, I reached up to slap him in the face but didn’t make it.  He stopped my hand in mid slap and pulled me up against him.  Slamming his mouth on top of mine, his lips devoured me.  Biting my lower lip, I opened my mouth as he drove his tongue into mine, twisting and teasing me.  It was just like it was on the plane.  This man ignited something deep within me.  Pulling his mouth from mine, his lips traveled to the pulse beating wildly in my neck.  Hearing a moan escape from my lips, I begged him to stop.  I knew I had to get my thoughts in order and get away from him before it was too late. 
“Please Damien, stop.”
Looking at me, I couldn’t stop my lip from quivering. 
“I’m so sorry to have lifted my hand to you.  It will never happen again.  And this can’t happen again.  Not now.” Damien stopped and dropped his arms from mine.  Walking to his jacket, he picked it up. 
“Ok Dr. Harrison.  Be ready for dinner tonight at 7 o’clock.  It’s a business dinner with Tom and Steve. They will be bringing their wives so you will be comfortable with us. I will come around with DT to pick you up.  Don’t be late.”
Frowning at Damien, I saw him shrug back into his suit jacket and straighten his tie.
“That is all.” 
Feeling definitely dismissed, I gathered my things and exited the conference room to the safety of my office. 
Chapter 17  The Fallout

“Hey, is it safe to come in?”  Steve stuck his head in the conference room.  “Looks like everything’s in place in here and you aren’t sporting a black eye.”  He couldn’t help but chuckle.
“It doesn’t mean that she didn’t try.  She did apologize for trying to hit me but I caught her and then kissed the Hell out of her. Where this woman is concerned, I have no boundaries or control.”
“Well that is attraction and love my friend. How did you end it?”
“Selina begged me to stop and I dismissed her.  Pulled the “Boss” act like I knew I would have to.  I told her to be ready by 7 o’clock tonight with you, Tom, and your wives. Then I told her she was dismissed.”  I stood by the window and ran my hand thru my hair.  If it’s at all possible, my attraction to her was even greater than it was three days ago.
“Ok my friend.  At least Selina knows now.  Give her time to process everything and we’ll try to smooth things over tonight.  I hope you don’t mind by I told Denise about this. Maybe she can help from a woman’s point of view.”
“That’s fine Steve.  Can’t be any worse than what it is now.”
“I wouldn’t count on that. Denise can’t believe you did this and was quite vocal in her objections about it. I’ll have her calmed down by the time you pick us up but I’m sure she will say something to you.”
“No doubt.  At least the worst part is over and now I have to work on winning Selina back.”
Hearing the door opening, the Board and my senior staff started coming back in the room.  Selina wasn’t needed for this part of the meeting so her chair was vacant.  Wrapping my head around what I needed to do now, I started this meeting and got thru it before lunchtime.

Now with Selina...
Standing by the window, I touched my fingers to my lips, still feeling where he touched me.  In an instant, my world tilted on its own axis.  The man of my dreams is my Boss.  Wow. And He knew the whole time.  I was going thru my mind everything that happened on the plane.  Damn, right down to DT.  He knows too. Damien had this all planned out.
Hearing a knock on my door, I saw Mike smiling at me.
“Come in Mike. Thank you so much for your assistance this morning.”
“Selina, you were brilliant.  I learned so much from listening to you.  I got more out of this than when my professor teaches his lesson.”
“I’m sure your professor is just fine but thank you. I’m glad it’s over and now I can get down to work. By the way, where can I get something to eat for lunch?”
“Right on the fifth floor.  There is a restaurant and also a deli.  Take your pick.”
“Ok, I’ll head out in an hour.”  As Mike headed back to his desk, I had ocean floor charts to go thru.  I wanted to get out to the drill site tomorrow so mapping this out now would be a smart thing to do.
Picking up my Iphone, I sent a quick text to Julie.
Hey Jules. You are not going to believe this.  The gorgeous man on the flight that things got a little out of control, well, he turned out to be my BOSS. Yes, that’s right, Damien is Damien Stone, CEO and owner of this firm.  I just found out right before I had to give my report.  He knew the whole time who I was. He apologized right after the meeting and just before I tried to hit him in the face.  OMG.  I’m mortified that I tried to hit him and what happened on the flight.  Now I’ve been ordered to be ready for dinner tonight with the CFO, VP and their wives. 

Hey Sel, Wow. That’s insane.  He must have his reasons for keeping his identity a secret. He definitely brings out the emotions in you too.  I don’t ever remember you ever acting like this over a man.  Why don’t you relax and just go with it?

He did tell me that he isn’t giving me up. 

Listen Sel.  Give him a chance.  It’s understandable that you are upset and felt that you were lied to.  It’s kind of romantic that he would go thru such lengths to be with you but Yes, that doesn’t excuse how he did it.  So why don’t you have fun with this.  Torture him a bit, that is if you want to pursue a relationship with him.  Make him earn you.

I don’t know if I can do that.

Sel, you are gorgeous without trying.  Look what he has done so far to be with you. Have some fun with it.

Ok, I’ll think about it Jules. I’ll let you know what happens.

Listen, you’re attracted to him, right?

Yes, I can’t stop thinking about him.

So, what’s a little fun? Sounds like he is into you.  Make him earn you and it!  I can’t wait to hear more as time goes on.  I live such a boring life in Jersey.  Keep me posted Sel, ok?

I will Jules.  Thank you for always being there. Love you.

Love you too Sel.

Make him earn it.  Hmmm. Just might work but first I have to decide what I want from this possible relationship.  Right now, I have to get to mapping out the site.  I put Damien in the back of my mind and just focused on the work at hand.
Before I knew it, an hour had gone by.  My stomach let me know that it was lunchtime, so grabbing my notes, I figured I can work while I was eating to keep ahead of my work. Making my way to the fifth floor, I walked into the deli area and ordered a salad.  With what happened almost two hours ago still had me reeling a bit so something light and quick was perfect. 
As I started into my research, I heard Damien’s familiar voice coming into the deli.  I was happy that I was sitting in a slightly darkened corner as he walked in with a blonde.  She looked very friendly with him and he had his hand on her back escorting her in.  Some speech he gave me in the board room.  He must have several different women at his beck and call.  Why wouldn’t he?  I’m such a fool when it comes to men.  I tried not to let this bother me but it did.  Oh damn.  He is sitting five tables away from me.  It would only be a matter of time until he saw me sitting here. Seeing the blonde put her arm thru Damien’s, I knew I had to get out of there. I can’t stand looking at them together. Gathering up my notes, I stood up a little too quickly that my salad crashed to the floor.  Damn it, now this will get people’s attention.  This was really not my day.  As I bent down to pick up the bowl and put the lettuce in it, a familiar masculine hand was helping me.
“Selina, let me help you with this.”
“I don’t want your help or to keep you from your lunch date.”
As Damien held my hand in his, I couldn’t help but look up at his face. 
“She is not a lunch date.” It seemed that for a brief second, it was just us together in that deli.  Shaking myself from my dreaming, I pulled my hand from his.
“Well, what have we here? And why are you holding her hand Damien?” Asked the blonde.
“Enough Lauren,” growled Damien.
“Who are you?” Asked the blonde.
“I’m Dr. Harrison,” replied Selina with a bit of edge to her voice.
“Lauren, go sit back at the table and I’ll be right there.  This isn’t any of your concern.”
“Damien baby, you don’t have to be this way.  I just wanted to meet your friend.”
“It’s either go sit down or leave.  Take your pick.”  Damien’s voice lowered to an octave that I’ve never heard before as he stared at Lauren.  Lifting her head high, she spun on her heels and walked back to their table. 
“I’m sorry about Lauren,” said Damien.
“She is not my concern.  Well, I have this and I won’t keep you.” Using my napkin to clean up the rest of it, I tossed everything in the trash.  One of the workers came over to me with a mop. He assured me that he would take care of the rest of the mess and not to worry about it.
Looking at Damien, I wished him a good lunch.
“Enjoy your lunch Mr. Stone.  See you tonight.”
I felt his eyes staring at me as I walked to the elevators.  I had my pride but it had a big crack in it right now. 

Chapter 18 Dinner Date: Damien’s story

The five of us were in the limo on our way over to Selina’s.  Looking at my two friends, Tom and Steve, I didn’t say a word while gazing at their angry wives, Denise and Theresa. 
Running my hands thru my hair, I sat there waiting for the interrogation to begin and I knew it was going to come first from Theresa.
“So Damien, is that a new Armani suit you are wearing? I love the no tie look.” Theresa sat there with her arms across her chest.
“Here it comes,” muttered Tom under his breath.
“Theresa, just say it.  We’ve known each other a long time.”
“Ok, as much as what you did was pretty shitty, I understand why you did it.”
Both me and Tom said “You do?” at the same time.  It was almost comical.
“Yes, I do.  Selina would have never opened up to you the way she did had she known you were her boss and you are in love with her.”
“What?”
“Yes Damien, you are feeling a strong connection to her. If it’s not love or the beginning of that, then I don’t know what it is. I can see that.  Denise can see that, don’t you Denise?”
“Yes, but you have made a damn good mess of things Damien.  You lost her trust. So Theresa and I have thought things thru.  If you want to win her back, you are going to have to grovel.”
Both me and Steve said at the same time, “Grovel?”
“Yes, plenty of it.  You need to win her trust back.  That means apologies, kind words, gifts, thoughtful gestures; you have to be on her mind 24/7.  Do you understand?”
“It’s not going to help when Selina saw you with Lauren today too D,” said Steve.
“I thought you got rid of her,” said Theresa.
“She showed up today right when I was going to the deli for lunch.  Selina was there and saw us.  As she got up to leave, Selina dropped her salad on the floor.  I got up to help her.”
“Did she brush you off?” asked Denise.
“Pretty much.”
“You have a bit of work to do Damien.  If Selina is even remotely interested in you, you basically have to earn her trust.”
“Ok, ladies, I’ll be the King of the Grovelers.”
“Oh this is going to be something to see,” laughed Steve.
“She is worth it guys.”
The limo came to a stop right in front of her building.  No Selina.  DT heard our whole discussion and while he would never interject into the conversation, he always had my best interest at heart and knew exactly what needed to be done.
“Hey Boss, I’ll go ring her. Be right back.”
Watching DT speak to security, I just sat back in my seat.  I’m wondering if she is going to defy me and not show up.  DT gave us thumbs up thru the window. 
“Don’t worry D.  It’s going to be just fine.  We are here to help.” Denise tried to reassure me.  Oh, that’s precious. The ladies are going to help me.  I looked at Steve and Tom.  The three of us started laughing.
“Oh good, here she is,” announced Denise.
As I looked over at the main entrance, I see a flash of magenta and two gorgeous legs in about three inch heels walking over to security.  DT held the door open for her and if I wasn’t sitting down, I would have fallen down.  The magenta dress looks like it was poured on her, form fitting and stunning with her dark hair, olive skin and those topaz colored eyes.
“Hey D, close your mouth.  Remember grovel, not drool,” smiled Denise.
As I watched Selina walk towards the limo, she smiled up at DT over something he said to her. I have to admit, I was jealous that gorgeous smile wasn’t directed at me. I’m losing it big time. I hope by the time the evening was over, she would be on her way to forgiving me.  I don’t know what I would do if she didn’t but pushing that thought aside, I have my ways to win her back.  I opened the limo door and got out to meet her.  Walking over to her, I offered her my arm which I was glad that she took. Leaning close to her ear, I caught the sexy cologne that lingered on her neck and hair.
“I know I shouldn’t say this but you look stunning.”
“No you shouldn’t.” As she stopped on the sidewalk, I motioned DT towards the driver seat.
“Let’s make something clear Mr. Stone.  You are my boss and I am your employee. What happened a few days ago will not happen again. I would appreciate that we keep this professional so I can do the job that I was hired to do.” Moving her arm from mine, she walked the rest of the way to the limo on her own accord. Damned if I didn’t want to grab this woman, throw her over my shoulder and basically have my way with her.
Now I know that this wasn’t going to be easy but I love a challenge. Selina looked so adorable when she was angry but I let her think that I was agreeable to her demand when I didn’t say a word. As she got into the limo, I heard the girls introducing themselves to her as I climbed in right after her. My eyes caught Tom and Steve’s in an understanding of my task at hand as the girls wanted to know where Selina bought that dress. Hearing the name of Selina’s favorite boutique, I filed that away for future gifts for her.  I plan on making this a mission with this groveling thing.
I was taking everyone out to the Midnight Garden for dinner, drinking and some dancing.  Noticing that the guys were holding their wives hands, I put mine across the back of the seat behind Selina and made sure my leg was lightly touching hers.  She kept moving it over but really didn’t have any room unless she started touching Steve’s leg, so I had her there.  Seeing her look up at me, I kept my eyes averted from hers.  I could feel the annoyance radiating off of her.  I’ll let my little Princess have her day with her anger attitude towards me but my patience was starting to wear thin.  By the end of the night, I plan on this attitude being a thing in the past.  Bringing my mind back into the conversation, Denise congratulated me on finding someone like Selina to do amazing work in the company.  Besides Geology, I found out that Selina loved the water, had her scuba diving credentials and planned on doing several dives with the team at Stone.
“That’s not necessary,” I blurted out loud.
“Excuse me?”  Selina responded back to me with an edge to her voice.  “This is what I do Mr. Stone. It’s part of my job so I can see firsthand what is going on at the rig.”
I saw Theresa and Denise both stare at me with matching frowns on their faces.  This night wasn’t going well for me right about now, I need a drink and to fix it.
“Let me explain Selina.  I didn’t know that you would be part of the dives and I have a complete team that handles that work for us.  Forgive me for watching after your wellbeing.”
“I can take care of myself Mr. Stone and have already connected with the team’s Captain.  I’ll be doing my first dive with them tomorrow.”
“Now that sounds exciting Selina,” gushed Denise.  “It must be an incredible world underwater.  Now I am very envious of your job.”
“I love excitement of diving, the serenity of the underwater world and the creatures that inhabit it.  It’s very calming.”
“Well, I can see how you look forward to it,” said Steve. “Our team is one of the best.”
“I look forward to learning from them.” 
Listening to their conversation, I saw that we had arrived at the Midnight Garden.  I made a mental note to be on the rig tomorrow when she was doing the dive.  I wanted to be on hand if God forbid anything happened. I couldn’t help but feel responsible and protective towards her.  Now if I can only win her over.
DT opened the door and I moved out of the limo first.  Reaching my hand towards Selina, she made a slight hesitation before placing it in mine.  As I helped her out of the car, I gave her a little smile and squeezed her hand.  She was clearly not happy about the diving conversation.  Now it’s another error that I have to correct.  Just as I suspected:  Selina is strong willed and stubborn. I’ll add in intelligent and incredibly sexy. Waiting for everyone to exit the limo, I told DT that we would probably be done by midnight but would text him if we were finishing up earlier.
Watching the women all go to the door together, Steve, Tom and I just stood there admiring them.  The blonde, brunette and a redhead; all stunning women who had several other men just watching them enter the restaurant.  I thought of Charlie’s Angels as they walked ahead of us. I wouldn’t put it past these three being able to run a country.
“We are lucky guys,” said Tom.
“Yep,” said Steve.
“I hope so,” I added. “Let’s go before some others move in for them.” 
Laughing together, the three of us walked into the restaurant.  I saw several women looking at us too.  I could care less.  All I could think about was the sexy woman in the magenta dress.