Negotiating Skills (7 page)

When he first stroked her cunt and
felt the slippery wetness there he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop
and after she gushed her release on his fingers he was sure that
she was on the verge of confession.

No woman could come apart like that
and not admit to the attraction she felt. He let her have her space
that night with the intention of resuming full speed at the
earliest opportunity, but the sneaky woman had managed to cancel or
post-pone every meeting he’d scheduled since then.

Victor was getting desperate and he
didn’t like the feeling. He’d never really had to work hard to get
a woman’s attention. He lived in a world where money was just as
strong of a lure as good looks and he was blessed with more than
his fair share of both. In all honesty he didn’t have to chase
Veronica, but there was something about her that drew
him.

She had a sharp mind, quick sense of
humor and never seemed afraid to speak her mind. But it was more
than just that. He’d seen her interact with the programming team at
Nile. She respected intelligence and always gave the junior staff
an opportunity to voice their opinions and suggestions. She was
also sexy as hell and it was driving him crazy.

He found himself imagining what it
would be like to come home to her every night and listen to her
quick retorts and snorts of laughter. He imagined sinking his cock
into her every night and suckling her breasts every morning and no
matter how many times he imagined it he never found a variation of
the scenes that bored him.

The truth was that Rossi simply wanted
her and didn’t care why anymore. He wasn’t going to let her ignore
the possibilities between them and giving her space was no longer
working for him.

Clenching his jaw, Victor
got out of his car and marched into the apartment complex. He was
tired of waiting for his woman to come to her senses. His steps
faltered as he replayed the phrase in his head,
his woman
. He liked the sound of it.
Whether she liked it or not Veronica James was going to stop
running and be firmly caught by him.

Damn, she felt like
shit
. Veronica sat in a miserable heap on
her couch surrounded by used tissues and empty bottles boxes of
Dayquil. She hated being sick and this flu had come at the worst
possible time.

The completion deadline for CLEO was
only a week away and she still had a few kinks to work out in the
code. She delegated as much as she could to the programming team at
Nile but there was still a lot left for her to do and as of five
minutes ago she officially had no more energy to spare. Not wanting
to fall behind, she had exhausted her supply of Dayquil and
continued to work hard into every night instead of resting and
giving her body the time it needed to get better.

Unfortunately her kamikaze work spree
had finally run its course and Veronica couldn’t even spare the
energy to crawl to her bed. She used her last store of pitiful
strength to close her laptop, walk to her couch and collapse on the
deep cushions. Her whole body ached and she couldn’t seem to stop
shivering. She thought fondly of the hot toddies her mom always
made when she was sick. She was exhausted and the thought of the
warm elixir was enough to make her tear up and curl up into a
ball.

The only good thing about being sick
was that it had kept her from thinking about Rossi. Well most of
the time anyway.

The man, unfortunately, was never too
far from her thoughts and that just pissed her off. She felt heat
rush to her face as she remembered the night in the bar and the
feel of his fingers stroking inside of her. She couldn’t believe
that she had let him touch her like that. More gratingly was the
fact that she wanted him to do it again.

Her steadfast rule of not mixing
business with pleasure was taking a decisive beating. Regardless of
her attraction to the arrogant prick, she wouldn’t let it go
anywhere. Rossi was a typical rich playboy. He had way too much
money and way too many women willing to kneel at his feet.
Veronica’s mind briefly flashed back to the sight of him
masturbating in his office and admitted to herself that she
understood why. The man had a mouthwatering cock.

Shaking her thoughts free of
Rossi and his assets, Veronica reminded herself that he was most
likely just interested in a quick conquest. She had seen men like
him work their magic in New York and she wasn’t about to be a
player in that game in Miami.
Sleep
, she thought.
I just need a few good hours of sleep and I’ll be
fine
.

Just as the thought flickered across
her mind she heard a loud knock at her door. Veronica ignored it.
She wasn’t excepting anyone and no lost delivery man deserved to
see her in her state of misery. She couldn’t remember when she last
showered and her hair had been in the same haphazard pineapple bun
on top of her head for days.

The person knocked again and Veronica
frowned into the room. Normally the delivery people for her
building didn’t bother with more than one attempt. They were
usually quick to rap on her door briefly and leave an annoying
“Sorry we missed you” delivery note stuck to her door.

“
Go away,” she managed to
croak out.

Her voice was barely louder than a
whisper. The person knocked again. Louder this time and Veronica
realized that the sooner she got rid of them the sooner she could
get some much needed sleep.

Hopefully the site of her would be
enough to scare them away.

She struggled to swing her legs over
to the floor and slowly stood up. The room blurred for a brief
second then righted itself and she made her haltingly to the door.
When she finally reached the door she paused briefly to lean
against it. The short walk had been enough to drain her.

Standing on wobbly legs she opened the
door ready to blast whoever was behind it. Her breath caught in her
throat as she stared up into the eyes of Victor Rossi.

“
What the hell are
you
doing here,” she
demanded, her voice coming out in a scraggily growl as a deep scowl
dug into her face.

Victor looked down into Veronica’s
frowning face and couldn’t hold back a smile. Her hair was a
disheveled mess with straggled curls sticking out everywhere. She
wore a white t-shirt that read “I Heart Dr. Who” and a pair of neon
pink beach shorts. Her face was glowing with sweat and he was
pretty sure her nose was running. She looked absolutely
adorable.

“
I missed you too sweetie,”
he said grinning at her.

She moved to slam the door in his
face, but seemed to fumble when she shifted her weight from the
door. He reached out quickly to catch her before she
fell.

“
Are you okay,” he asked
with concern creasing his face.

He cradled her against him and felt
the heat of her skin sear through his shirt.

“
Jesus, you’re burning up,”
he exclaimed. He pushed her forward into the apartment and closed
the door behind him.

“
I’m fine,” she mumbled
against his chest.

“
And I’ll be even better
once you leave, so why don’t you just go,” she said
weakly.

“
That’s cute,” he said
scooping her limp body up into his arms.

“
Pretending to be all
ferocious when you’re a limp noodle,” he said. He glanced around
the small apartment and began to stride down her single hall
searching for her bedroom.

“
Put me down,” she
demanded.

“
Give me a second,” he said
as he headed to the end of the hall and shoved open the
door.

“
Have I told you how much I
hate you lately,” she groused at him.

“
No,” he said as he
deposited her gingerly on her bed.

“
You’ve been too much of a
chicken to speak to me at all remember,” he asked
teasingly.

Veronica’s mouth fell open in shock.
She hadn’t expected him to be so damn blunt. She clicked her mouth
shut and firmed her lips into a mutinous line.

“
Hmm, no response to that
huh,” he said.

“
Go away,” she said,
repeating her earlier request.

“
Sorry, that’s not going to
happen. How long have you been like this,” he asked as he leaned
down and felt her forehead.

“
I’m fine,” she
said.

“
It’s just a little
cold.”

“
Veronica, you’re burning
up. This doesn’t feel like just a little cold.”

“
I don’t have a fever,” she
said. “I’m freezing ergo it must be a cold.” She looked at him as
if he were an idiot.

“
I’m sorry to break it to
you, but you most definitely have a fever,” he said.

“
Listen. All I need is a
little sleep and I’ll be fine. So why don’t you just leave so I can
get some rest,” she said as a shudder racked her body. She
attempted a wobbly smile hoping to cajole him into
leaving.

Victor stared down into her upturned
face and just shook his head.

“
That was just pathetic,” he
said, “You’re going to have to give me more than that pathetic
excuse for a smile before you can convince me to leave,” he
continued as he pushed her back to lie on the bed.

Veronica opened her mouth to argue
further, but her words turned into a shriek of outrage as Victor
began to pull her shirt up her torso.

“
What the hell are you
doing,” she cried out, her voice coming out in a high pitched
screech.

“
What are you? Some kind of
pervert, getting your rocks off on defenseless miserable women,”
she demanded struggling against his hands.

Victor struggled to hold back a laugh
at her accusations. She continued her ranting and he just chose to
tune her out.

The truth was that he had no
qualms about fucking her in whatever state she was in. He couldn’t
imagine not wanting to be inside her regardless of her current
state. However, he doubted voicing his opinion would help him at
that moment. Instead he continued to undress her despite her
struggles. She was so weak he was able to strip her of her shirt
and shorts quickly. He bit back a groan when he saw that she was
wasn’t wearing a bra or panties.
Good
God she is fucking
beautiful
, he thought as he stared down at
her.

His fantasies had not done her body
justice. The baggy shirts she favored hid a spectacular pair of
breasts. They were big enough to spill out of his large hands and
tipped perfectly with dark purple nipples just made for sucking.
Her hips flared out from her waist in rounded invitation and her
toned legs led up to the prettiest, most lush pussy he’d ever
seen.

His mouth watered as he stared at her
cunt until her ranting eventually filtered back into his hearing.
She was screeching things about what she planned on doing to his
body parts that were enough to dampen his libido. At least long
enough to take care of her.

He leaned forward and flipped her limp
body over his shoulder and marched into her adjoining bathroom. He
leaned her against the bathroom wall and reached into the standing
shower and turned on the water.

Veronica continued to blast him with
her caustic tongue until he finally just covered her mouth with his
hand and lifted her into the warm shower. She glared at him over
his hand.

“
Stay here and clean up. The
steam should help with the congestion and runny nose. I’ll be back
in a few minutes. I’m just going to get you something to eat. Then
I’m going to help you to bed and you can get some sleep,” he said
gently.

Veronica stared at him suspiciously
for a few moments. He saw the moment she made her decision because
her shoulders slumped forward and it looked as if all the fight
left her at once. She nodded her head weakly.

Standing in the spray of the shower
she looked like a pathetic drowned rat. A sexy rat he amended as
his gaze flicked down her wet body. Clearing his throat he looked
up and removed his hand from her mouth.

“
I’ll be back in a few
minutes,” he repeated and left the room.

VERONICA DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO THINK of
Rossi. She stared at his retreating back not knowing what to make
of him. She saw the heat in his eyes when he looked at her body,
but he hadn’t tried anything. Instead he seemed to be helping her.
She wrinkled her brows in thought.

What game was he playing? She closed
the shower door and leaned weakly against the shower wall and tried
to clear her head.

The way he had stared down at her body
earlier left no doubt of his attraction to her. Veronica let the
steam from the shower seep into her. She didn’t understand why he
was there.

Admittedly, she had been avoiding him.
She didn’t like being manipulated and his play at negotiation still
grated on her. A tiny voice at the back of her mind occasionally
questioned whether she was avoiding him out of anger or fear at her
lack of control around him.

Her response to the whispered taunts
was to place a mental ball gag on the voice and shove it back into
the proverbial closet. Unfortunately the little mental tart was
well and truly free now and pestering at her and the hussy no
longer seemed content with sly whispers. Instead all of the truths
she’d avoided for weeks were hitting her in loud full
force.