“I was worried there for a bit, I wasn’t sure if you wanted to see me because I’d done something wrong,” she said and he laughed too, forcing himself to do so.
“No, of course you haven’t. I just wanted to check in on you because you looked quite nervous in the elevator earlier,” he replied and Belle licked her lips. She remained standing where she was, with her hands clasped together and she looked around the office.
“This is a wonderful office, you have a lovely view,” she said and he wondered if she was stalling. If like him, she too wanted to keep talking. He tried to push that thought out of his mind. She had a boyfriend, Devon had to remind himself of that again.
“Thank you, Belle. I like to keep it simple,” he said and she fixed her large brown eyes on him again. Devon could see her perfectly shaped pert breasts rising and falling under her white shirt, and he felt a movement in his pants.
“Hope you have a good first day, thank you again for coming in,” he said quickly and sat back down. He didn’t want her to remain in his office and make it any worse. Devon was certain now that it was more than just curiosity in an interesting person. He was attracted to her sexually, and he wanted to avoid feeling that way as much as possible.
Belle nodded, thanked him and then walked out of the office. At the door, before she left, she threw him a quick grateful look and then she was gone.
Devon sat back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair, and let out a huge sigh. Inviting her to a private meeting was a bad idea, he told himself. He should have just left it at that in the morning. There was no reason for him to interact personally with an intern.
He was annoyed with himself because he couldn’t believe that he hadn’t thought this through. Belle was a young, vibrant, beautiful and intelligent young woman. What were the chances that she didn’t already have a boyfriend? Besides, she didn’t seem to be the kind of person who would be interested in the things most women in New York were interested in. She wouldn’t be interested in Devon’s money or his power. And he felt like he was too old for her.
Frustrated, and at the edge of his seat, Devon picked up his personal cell phone and dialed a number. One he had been dialing less often in the past couple of months. On the third ring, she answered the phone.
“Alisha,” he said, closing his eyes.
“Devon, ah, Devon…I haven’t heard from you in a long time,” Alisha’s voice sounded groggy. He got the feeling that she had just woken up from her sleep. Devon had known Alisha for the past six years and he knew she was a late riser. A social butterfly, and with all her daddy’s money to spend, Alisha would have been up till the wee hours of the morning entertaining guests.
“I was wondering what you’re doing this evening,” he mumbled into the phone, ignoring her previous statement. Alisha laughed a cackling laugh, she was glad to hear him say that.
“I have a cocktail party to attend, but you know I would cancel that in a heartbeat for you,” she said.
“Great, I’ll pick you up at eight,” Devon said and hung up the phone.
His heart was racing, he was still too anxious to sit still. He knew he needed the distraction and Alisha would be the right kind. In the six years that he’d known Alisha, she had never pushed him to get into a serious relationship with her. If she had any stronger feelings for him, she never showed it. And he definitely needed some good old no-strings-attached sex, if he was going to get over picturing Belle Freedman naked.
Belle
Belle came back to her studio apartment, and found Jesse sitting on the couch, still in his boxer shorts. At least he had put on a shirt at some point, and he had a big bowl of popcorn on his lap which he was eating while watching ice hockey on TV.
“How was your day?” Belle asked, as she dropped her bag on the floor by the door and walked over to him. She didn’t want to comment on his laziness or the fact that he hadn’t done any cleaning up of the dishes or the apartment.
“The usual. I dropped my CV off at a few places,” he said, and looked up at her. Belle could see it in his eyes that he was lying. He hadn’t left the house.
She came over to him and sat down beside him on the couch.
“My first day was good. Devon Rymer, one of the partners called me into his office and said that I was doing a good job,” she said and reached for Jesse’s hand. He allowed her to hold his hand, but didn’t drag his gaze away from the TV.
“Oh yeah?” he said, popping some popcorn into his mouth. Belle couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his disinterest. It was like he just didn’t care.
“Aren’t you interested at all in how my day was?” she asked him, getting a little angry now. Jesse finally turned to her, with his lips pressed together.
“Of course I am. I’m just watching the game babe. And I already know you’re good at your job,” he said, forcing a smile on his face. Belle pulled her hand away and scrunched up her face. She was excited about how the day went. She couldn’t exactly tell Jesse how thrilling it was to talk to Devon Rymer, but she at least could tell him about the rest of the work she did. But now he was only pretending to be interested.
“What do you want to eat?” she asked him, deciding to change the subject so that she didn’t lose her temper even more.
Jesse looked at her apologetically.
“I ate already. Chinese takeout. Sorry, I was really hungry,” he said and Belle rolled her eyes again.
“You couldn’t even wait for me to come home!” she said and stood up with a jerk. Jesse stood up too and started following her to the kitchen area.
“I’m sorry, babe. I really am. I wasn’t sure how long you’d be. I figured since it’s your first day, you might be delayed,” he was saying, and Belle just shook her head. The frustration was rising in her chest. This was not the kind of relationship she had imagined for them. It was supposed to be an adventure, a romantic adventure in New York.
She started rummaging in their mini fridge for leftovers, when she felt Jesse’s hands on her waist from behind. She straightened herself up and whipped around. He was smiling at her apologetically and pulled her closer to him.