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  “Yes, but not any gift card.” She beamed. “One with one thousand American dollars and a dozen of roses.”

  What in the hell?

  “A thousand?” I gasped as I rose from my seat and rounded the desk.

  My secretary’s head bobbed up and down with a knowing and resounding yes.

  “Is he crazy?” I snatched it out of her hand.

  “No, he’s dreamy.” She was back to smiling. “Oh, and he’s coming to take you to lunch. So be ready and don’t keep the man waiting.”

  Ohhh!

  “I see how it is.” I said with a nod. “He’s got you wrapped around his finger, so you’re Team Noah.”

  “I’m that man’s biggest fan, and you better not do anything to jeopardize or hurt him. Ya hear!” She snapped and left my office.

  Slick bastard.

  Around noon, Gladys paged the office, “Noah is here for lunch.”

  Pressing the black button, I responded, “Thanks.”

  Truth be told, I was ready and waiting for him to come. As the hour neared, my anxiety leveled continued to rise as I thought about him, well, us. Gladys was right, the man was dreamy.

  “You look smashing.” Noah greeted me as I emerged from my office.

  He was perched near the main office chatting with Gladys. A few others had ventured out to hear the London man talk and charm his way through my office staff.

  Damn.

  “You look pretty dashing yourself.” I replied.

  “Ready, Love?” He pulled me into him, effectively bringing his lips to my forehead for a peck.

  Yup, dreamy.

  “Yes, I’m ready.” I told him.

  We went to the pita place near the gallery, which had made a major transition over the past two decades. Noah and I were in full discussion about me trying escargot when someone interrupted us by booming, “Bloody hell, it’s Noah Wolfe!”

  “Crikey! Spencer Rolls!” Noah hissed. “Even in America.”

  I looked between the two men and didn’t see a resemblance, but it didn’t mean they weren’t brothers. They were engaging as if they were but neither had introduced themselves or me.

  “Fancy seeing you here, mate.” The wiry man held his hand up, gesturing to Noah. “In the Americas, no less.”

  “Not fancy seeing you.” Noah snapped back before moving closer towards me in a protective gesture.

  His large hand landed on my thigh, and he squeezed mildly. It wasn’t enough to leave a mark, but probably a temporary indent of his fingerprints. My eyes tried to meet his, but he was glaring at the man standing on the other side of the table. Since he was gorgeous, the scowl made him look hotter, if that were even possible.

  “Still bitter about that mishap?” The man’s eyebrows drew together. “It was ages ago.”

  His British accent wasn’t as thick, but there was definitely a hint of it lingering on various words and pronunciations.

  “Leave us.” Noah snapped.

  Damn!

  He was not mincing words. He never did but this was just rude.

  “Noah?” I whispered in a warning.

  He sliced his head sideways as if to signal to me that this was not the fight I wanted.

  “Get over it, already.” He turned his lip upward. “She’s not even a part of the equation.”

  On the note, Noah abruptly stood up and sent his chair flying across the floor. I moved quickly and stood too, putting both hands on his chest.

  “Noah, sweetheart?” I called. “Not here, okay?”

  It was then that his eyes met mine, and they temporarily softened.

  “Please?” I smiled.

  All eyes were on us, but at that moment, it was just me and Noah in our own zone.

  “My lady and I are eating in silence. If you don’t leave, I will be forced to remove you.” Noah told the frightened man without moving his gaze from mine.

  A few moments later, I felt the tension leave his body and Noah smiled at me. When I turned around, I saw that the man was gone.

  “What was that about?” I asked.

  “It’s old news.”’ He nodded towards my empty chair. “Let’s finish lunch, so I can meet you for dinner. And then eat my dessert.”

  “Noah, you were about to have an all-out fist fight. The news can’t be that old.” I told him.

  “Love, it’s a long story. I’m with you right now, and before I have to go...” He leaned in and pecked my lips. “I want to cherish that.”

  Hmm.

  “Okay, we’ll drop it now, but if you want me compliant this evening, you’re going to need to spill.” I told him.

  His eyes pinned me with a look, but I wasn’t hindered. Instead, I gave him my own.

  “Hell!” He hissed. “Extortionist.”

  “Says the man who wants me to change his mom’s review.” I smirked.

  “Touché,” he laughed with a nod of his head. “Touché.”

  Noah walked me back to the office, where everyone, including the secretary of steel, seemed to be waiting outside of the building. He dropped me off with a kiss including his tongue and mine intermingling on the downtown streets of Philadelphia. Up against the building no less. No one couldn’t say the man meant exactly what he said and staked his claim.

  How I felt about that claim was still out for deliberation; but everything seemed to be going fast, though what Noah said was true. It had been four months. We spoke or connected with each other on a daily basis. We’d been flirting with the blushing emoticons but nothing beyond that. It could be because he was in London and I was in Philadelphia. Either way, it was four months later and I’ve slept with him twice.

  To say the man was generous is an understatement. It was only after those toe-curling orgasms that he even entered me. Maybe it was to get me hot and heavy or to prepare my body for his thick girth.

  One erotic scene that played in my mind was him stroking his cock while kneeling over my body as I lay stretched out. Noah was thick and long and the fact that he knew what to do with a lethal weapon like his dick was a wonder to London and America. Simply thinking about it had my panties wet as I worked through the arousal.

  One hour before Noah said he would pick me up, my phone rang, and it was no other than Zora Black. The actual woman herself, queen of basketball that took the Semi-Pro and Pro Women’s basketball by storm. She introduced herself, but I cut her off and said, “Yes, yes. I know who you are.”

  She laughed and said, “Oh, great. No need for the long introduction. I’m calling on behalf of my husband. I hear that you are doing a hell of a job with turning businesses around and helping owners make their franchises more customer friendly and that they are receiving the return on the investment in your company.”

  Wait, what?

  I wanted to respond, but I was semi-speechless. She heard about me and my company Always Right was doing these amazing things.

  Holy shit!

  “Hello?” She called.

  “Oh God! Yes. I mean, I’m here and that’s amazing that you heard that.” I clarified.

  “Well, it’s coming from a few different sources, and I’d like to meet with you and Harvey to discuss this further now that he owns the Philadelphia Titans. He’s doing good, but we want to make it great, and we know that in order to do that, tickets have to sell and customers must be happy. We cannot have one without the other.”

  “Yes, that’s what so many businesses fail to understand. It’s an old-school ideology, but it still works. People talk with their money.” I noted in agreement.

  She hummed an umm, hmm in the phone.

  “What does your availability look like?” Zora asked me.

  “For a consultation, that can take a half a day, but the preliminary meeting is about one hour. I have some time tomorrow or if you want to hold off until things are settled, then we can meet next week.” I realized the tempo of my words was rushed due to my excitement.

  We settled on meeting tomorrow for the preliminary, just Zora and I, and then
she’d bring Harvey to the table after she had a full understanding of what I did. After wrapping up our conversation, I closed down shop and went downstairs to meet Noah at the front. He looked quite dashing. His accent was wearing off on me, I thought as I approached him. His head was down with a frown that turned his face into a ball of confusion.

  “Hey handsome,” I called as I reached within arm’s distance of him.

  His face softened and he smiled before saying, “Love.”

  That made my heart pang every time. I should be wary of that feeling, but it felt oh, so good. Four months of pleasantries and one damn nickname had my heart skipping beats.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “I’ll explain over dinner.” He pulled me in, so my face was inches away from his. “What did I request before?”

  His voice lowered and each word could be felt on my lips.

  God, this man.

  I tilted my head up to him, but he didn’t meet me, so I stood on my toes and kissed the man in the middle of the lobby. Tongue and all. There wasn’t a care in the world because Noah was right there with his arms wrapped around my middle, pulling me into his hard body. My panties never dried from thinking about him earlier, and they became wetter with the way he took over the kiss that held the promise of much more.

  Noah pulled away what felt like minutes later and said, “Let’s go eat, so I can have you all to myself later.”

  I hummed and let him loop his arm into mine as we made our way out to the streets. The shark dinner was different but delicious; however, it was the scene Noah created back at my place that had me sweating, coming, and nearly passing out.

  We did not make it to the bedroom, just the kitchen where he laid me out on the counter and began to lick me until I came in his mouth. He was so greedy, but I was hungry for him. So, I flipped over on the counter and swung around, so my bottom wasn’t hanging off, but my head was now at his crotch.

  “Maxine,” he growled as I licked my lips.

  With that, I held out my tongue to show that it could reach the bottom of my chin and holy fuck, those green eyes of his turned a shade darker. Immediately, he loosened his belt, kicked off his pants and stood before me naked as the day he was born.

  “I want to taste you too,” I told him.

  “My pleasure,” he said in a strained whisper as he moved closer and held his dick out for me to latch on to.

  I wrapped my mouth around the head and let my tongue slide up and down the slit, just to drive him crazy. It was working because he had a white-knuckle grip on the countertop. Also, the feral groans that he was releasing spurred me on to take him further.

  “Oh fuck!” Noah hissed as I began to pull him in more.

  Sliding further off the counter, I began to engulf him for as much as I could take with his thick dick hitting back of my throat, causing me to choke. I kept going and Noah was seconds away from losing his damn mind. The goal was to send him over the edge and he was close. Adding teeth to the mix, had him gripping my hair with both hands and growling, “Going to fuck your face, Love.”

  Oh shit.

  The man began to piston in and out of my mouth, with the head of his dick hitting the back of my throat, as he spurred me on. “Swallow my cock, Love. That’s right. Yesss. Down your throat. You’re beautiful.”

  I would take him more and more, as he pushed me to the brink and each cough or choke, he tried again. Pride was the feeling that had me pushing to achieve the next level. That and pleasing this man. I wanted him to be happy. With me.

  As he continued to fuck my face, I eventually began to massage his balls and Noah lost his shit.

  “Maxinnnnneeee,” he growled with a tighter grip of my hair and sporadic thrusts. “I’m cumming, Love.”

  And he did, right down my throat. The goal was to swallow every drop, but where it began to slip out the sides of my mouth, my quick tongue captured it all. Noah was leaning on the opposite counter, looking like he was seconds from collapsing or going for round two with the size of his eyes on my mouth.

  With a satisfied look and spin on the counter, I jumped off and the man was right in my face as soon as my feet landed.

  Noah’s eyes were trained on me, but it was something else happening as he openly stared at me. I smiled and asked, “What’s wrong?”

  He blinked as if he were coming back to the present and then he full-on kissed me. Nothing but tongue, teeth, lips and heavy-ass breathing. My ass ended up back on the counter, but this time he wasn’t fucking my face, but fucking me. Oh so goddamn good.

  My meeting with Zora Black went so well that she invited me and my significant other to dinner that evening with Harvey. The woman actually called her husband up and said, “You need to meet this person. We’re going to the Butcher and Singer. Meet us there at seven.”

  I was so stunned by this, my mouth remained open as I asked her, “How’d you know I had a significant other?”

  She smiled a knowing smile and said, “It’s weird, but you can tell. It’s almost like a glow, especially new love. I don’t know. It just seems like you’re happy and not just high off of life or your job, which is something that makes you smile. But if not, I’m sure a business partner would suffice too.”

  I couldn’t help but smile and nod my head at her assessment. This woman didn’t know me from Adam, and it was apparent to a stranger that I was in something. It could have been a projection but a nagging feeling told me it wasn’t.

  I texted Noah that I had a work dinner that evening and asked if he could join. He immediately responded back.

  Of course, Love.

  That brought another smile to my face, in which Zora stood and said, “I thought so. I’ll see you tonight and thank you so much. Harvey will love this. If not, I’ll have to make him.”

  We laughed and then I said, “He is putty in your hands.”

  She smiled, the one that showed agreement but also a secret.

  “It goes both ways.” Zora replied. “We’re a good team.”

  “That’s for sure.” I nodded. “Looking forward to finally meeting him in person.”

  “Until then,” she said and whisked out of the office with her black pants suit, shoulder length hair, and classic mid-size heels.

  That was Zora’s signature outfit; hell, more like a uniform. It wasn’t until Harvey took her out on the red carpet that the world saw that Harvey brought out the lady in Ms. Zora. Then, when he was on bended knee before the Lady Vikings game, the world saw how Zora brought the man out of Harvey Black. Greatest story I’ve ever heard, honestly. That was one for the books.

  By the time Noah and I arrived at the restaurant, Zora and Harvey were already there. We shook hands, made pleasantries, ordered wine and appetizers.

  Harvey picked up Noah accent and asked where he was from. This sparked a sense of recognition in the man’s eyes because he asked, “Noah Wolfe of the Wolfe Group?”

  Noah nodded and said, “The very one, mate.”

  “Good shit!” Harvey nodded. “I’ve seen what you’ve done with the business. You enlisted ARC into that transformation?”

  He asked this by nodding towards me. I went to shake my head in the negative, but Noah said, “Yes, I’ve recently employed her services after she insulted my mum’s restaurant with a one-star review.”

  “Noah.” I hissed and hit him on the arm.

  He turned towards me and smiled. “Love, is it not true?” He turned back toward Harvey. “Plus, mate, she won’t take it down.”

  My mouth was opened wide, but both Zora and Harvey were laughing without any inhibition and leaning over the table. It was a contagious one, but I was still mortified. Therefore, I stepped on his foot. The man had the dirty nerve to yelp and pleaded, “Don’t hurt me for telling the truth.”

  “Some truth.” I shared. “Tell them how the woman almost had me stranded in London. Gave me the wrong order and called me a stupid American. Tell them that truth.”

  He acquiesced by nodding his he
ad and said, “That’s true too.”

  This caused another round of laughter from the couple, where I just shook my head. That cut the proverbial ice because Harvey asked, “So, you two are together? After the review, bad service from his mother, and now you’re helping him take his hotels to the next level?”

  “Something like that.” I said as Noah answered, “Yes.”

  “What a story?” Zora laughed.

  “Yeah.” I sighed as Noah pulled me closer to him.

  “Well, what kind of changes will happen in the hotel?” Harvey asked.

  Noah gave him our preliminary outline and some of his own assessments, which made the bearded man give an approving nod. Zora was already in agreement, but her head was nodding with additional support.

  By the end of the dinner, Harvey said, “Maxine, I value my wife’s opinion, and she highly recommends you. Noah, who has done a lot to turn the Wolfe hotels around, has even employed you. I like what I’m hearing. What are you both doing tomorrow? I’d like you to come to a game, and we’ll do a walkthrough. What do you think?”

  My insides were jumping up and down. The opportunity to work with a pro league franchise in the NBA, well that was just the cake.

  I cleared my throat and said, “Yes, that sounds good.” Then, I looked at Noah, who already had his eyes on me. “Are you free?”

  “Yeah, Love. Anything for you.” He whispered against my lips after ducking down to get into my space.

  Oh boy!

  “Well, it’s settled.” Harvey clapped. “Now, we have to get home, so I can see my baby girl. Won’t see her tomorrow.”

  “I know,” Zora chimed in.

  Both of them had a longing in their eyes. I forgot they had a daughter, who was absolutely gorgeous.

  Once we parted and I was in the vehicle of the cab with Noah, I squealed and Noah laughed out loud as he pulled me into his arms.

  “Love, this is it,” he said with so much pride.

  Without a care, I straddled him in the cab and said, “Oh my God! Did that just happen? Noah, did that just happen?”

  “Yes!” He said as his hands settled on my ass. “That happened and I was a witness.”

  “Oh my God!” I squealed again, but Noah just laughed and held me.