I wake up the next morning and check into Claire's room to see her still sound asleep. I sigh, walking down to the kitchen to find Louis busy making omelettes and he smiles as he sees me.
'Good morning, sir. How was your dinner with miss Claire?' he asks and I raise my eyebrow at him.
'It was fine,' I say and he studies me as I sit down. He places my breakfast in front of me and sighs dramatically.
'I'll have to make miss Claire some ice cream then. She wanted so badly to please you,' he says as he takes out his home-made ice cream from the freezer and I freeze.
'Why would she want to please-,' I stop as she walks in rubbing her eyes and grimacing.
'You were right, chef. I put way too much liquor in that mousse,' she groans, putting her head on the cool marble and blushes when she notices I am here. I look down at my food and the Chef places a large bowl of ice cream in front of Clair.
'This will help with the headache. It's caramel and chocolate, your favourite,' he encourages, and she moans at the taste, sending blood to my groin from the sweet sound. I watch her eat and shake it off as I notice Chef smirking at me.
'I wish I made food as nice as you do, Louis. It always tastes amazing,' she compliments Louise and I smile.
'You think she is wrong?' Louis challenges and I shrug as I smirk.
'From what I had last night, Claire could give you a run for your money,' I say, and he gasps as Claire starts giggling at his drama. I smile as she laughs wholeheartedly, and Greta walks in smiling at the scene before her. Brigit comes in with her new child and I watch in awe as Claire quickly takes the child into her arms. Seeing her with the child yesterday made my heart skip a beat but watching her coo and making the little bundle giggle made me want to give her one of her own.
'It must be amazing to know you and Luke made this bundle with your love. I envy you so,' Claire says and the other three look at me with smiles before Brigit replies.
'It is quite extraordinary,' Brigit says and I clear my throat. Claire turns, smiling at me with the baby in her arms and I give her a small smile in return, scratching at the back of my neck.
'I have been invited to an event tonight and thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce you to the business world,' I say and she gently rocks the child while looking at me.
'Would I need a dress?' she asks and I nod.
'If you need to go purchase one, here is my card. I have to go to work,' I say as I hand her my credit card and kiss her forehead before walking away. I sit behind the wheel and freeze as I realise what I just did. I shake it off and drive to work.
Claire's POV
I freeze in shock after his lips touch my forehead and I watch him walk away as nothing happened.
'Pay up, Louise,' Brigit says and I look back to see Louise handing her a few pounds. Greta chuckles as I blush and she takes the baby from me.
'Best you go find a nice dress for the event, dear,' she says and Brigit smiles at me.
'Get a few, then model them for us to choose the best one. I bet he'll be taking you to more events,' she says and I am shooed out of the kitchen. I decide to go dress for the town and then start driving towards town as soon as I finish. I drive to the large shopping mall and find out where all the boutiques are. After three hours of unsuccessful window shopping, I come across a unique store selling dresses that catch my heart instantly. The old lady tells me it's her daughter who had just finished studying fashion design and I decide to purchase four of the dresses, finding out that it was quite cheap considering the work she had put into it. I decide to take the stores number and quickly bought two pairs of heels to go with the dresses. I decide to bring lunch to Dominic at his office and give him his card back. I walk into the entrance and stand by the reception counter.
'Good morning, I'm here to see Dominic Wanton,' I say and the secretary looks me up and down before calling upstairs.
'Sorry to bother sir, but there's a lady here saying she's here to see you,' she pauses and looks at me, 'Name?'
'Claire Willows. If he's busy then it's alright. I just wanted to bring him lunch,' I say and she relays the message before putting the phone down.
'Take the elevator on the left to the top. He seemed excited,' she says and I nod, trying to hide my blush with my hair. I step into the elevator and press the highest button. The doors open after reaching the fourteenth floor and I see Dominic on the phone at his desk. I slowly walk towards him and feel him watch me as I place the food down on his desk. He hangs up and looks at the food I spread out.
'What's all this?' he asks with a small smile on his lips and I sit across from him.
'I thought you might be hungry and I wanted to give your card back,' I say, sliding the car towards him but he shakes his head.
'Keep it, it's yours now,' he says and I shake my head, but he puts the card in front of me again.
'Let's eat then,' he says, ignoring my protests and I shake my head at his stubbornness.
'I got a few things because I didn't know what you'd want and it all looked good to me,' I say and he picks up a chicken and mayo sandwich. I take the other half and sigh at the taste.
'You look hungry,' he states and I nod, swallowing my chewed bite.
'I hate shopping. You won't believe how many overpriced boutiques there are in one mall,' I sigh as I take another bite and he chuckles at me.
'You're the first woman I know that hates shopping. My exes jumped at the chance to use my card,' he says and I giggle.
'That's because you have a terrible choice in women, Dom. You try to find substance out of women who were raised to be trophy wives,' I say and he studies me before nodding.
'Well, I'm putting off finding another wife for a while. I'll have my hands full with you,' he teases and I stick my tongue out at him, making him chuckle. We eat and talk about business strategies, stealing glances at one another. After lunch I clean up his deck, bending over a bit to get everything and he clears his throat, looking away. I blush, realising I had basically exposed my cleavage to him and I straighten up.
'I'm sorry,' I whisper, and he clears his throat before speaking.
'It's alright. I've known you long enough to know that you did that unintentionally…' he trails off and I look at him to see him looking away. My heart twists painfully at the thought of him being disgusted and disappointed in me and I bite my lip to stop from crying. I take my bag and clear my throat, not looking at him.
'I'll be going. See you tonight, Dominic,' I say walking away quickly, ignoring his calls and I quickly step into the elevator. I calmly make my way to my car and get in, driving off towards home. I park in the garage and carry my dresses up to my room, avoid everyone's eyes. I decide to wear the orange and purple dress with pale gold heels. I take a soothing shower, mentally pep-talking myself into behaving well and making a good impression with the people Dominic introduces me to. I shave and crème my body, enjoying the subtly scented jasmine. I mousse my hair to give it a wet look and only put on a small amount of makeup to accentuate my features and give me a subtle glow. I put on the teardrop earing that Dominic gave me for my eighteenth and slip on the bright orange thong that the old lady said I should wear with the dress. I blush at her bluntness of saying it'll make any man's blood race as I put it on and I can't help but wonder what Dominic would do. I put on a bit of gloss and look at the time to see that it's already a quarter past seven. I turn as my door opens and Greta gasps as she sees me ready.
'You look so beautiful, my dear. All grown up,' she exclaims tearfully, and I giggle, wiping her tears away.
'Don't fret, Greta. It's just an event. We'll be back by midnight sometime,' I say and she scoffs, looking me over again.
'Alright, alright. I came up to tell you that Master Dominic is waiting downstairs for you,' she says and I nod.
'I was just on my way,' I say and she nods, walking out. I swallow my nerves and slowly make my way to the stairs, towards the unnerving man that my heart has grown too fond of.