Kindle Edition
Category:
Romance
Publisher: Romance Radio Network
Copyright: 2012
ISBN-13: 2940044225718
Price: $2.99 (eBook)
Amanda recovers from an almost fatal automobile crash, scarred along her left side. When reconnecting with her high-school sweetheart, she hides her heart behind her deformities.
Excerpt
The Ice Queen
Natasha stood and looked over the cubicle wall separating her from Carolyn Meyers and waited until Carolyn finished and looked up. Absentmindedly, she thrummed her fingers on the top of the wall and looked at the pictures Carolyn pinned above her desk. After a minute Carolyn looked up, first at Natasha’s fingers and then at her face.
“Do you have any plans for the weekend?” Natasha asked.
“No, I’m free and clear, hoping the weather holds so I can get some sun. I can’t wait to lie on a chaise with a cold drink and a book. What about you?”
“Alex and I are going to take Alex Junior to a movie and out for pizza. It’s his seventh birthday.”
“He’s seven? I can’t believe it. I remember when you brought him home.”
“How soon are you leaving today? Do you want to stop for a quick drink at Carlo’s Pub before going home?”
“I wish I could. I need to get this sales report out before I go, and the Ice Queen wants to see me at four-thirty.”
“Uh, oh. You know what happens when you’re called into her office late on a Friday afternoon!” Natasha said, drawing her finger across her neck.
“I’m not concerned. We’re not laying off anyone, business is good, and I haven’t done anything wrong that I know of.”
“Still, no one goes in her office and comes out the same, especially after being Cooperized. Her laser beam eyes will cut you apart and she never shows mercy. You’re in trouble, kid!”
* * * *
Carolyn knocked on the door frame. “You wanted to see me, Ms. Cooper?”
“Come on in and sit down. I’ll be with you in a minute,” Amanda Cooper said, saving a file on her computer, then looking for some papers buried in a pile at the edge of her desk.
Carolyn looked around the office. Amanda sat at a glass desk supported by a white, wrought iron frame, holding a laptop computer, three piles of papers, and a mug of stale coffee. In front of the desk were two white leather wing-back chairs. As she walked toward the desk, she saw a round table and chairs seating up to five people on her left. On the right side, against the wall, she glanced at a black leather couch, two matching leather chairs, with end tables between the chairs and the couch, and each of them had a copper-clad lamp. The coffee table, centered between the setup, held only a small remote control for the sound system, hidden inside the shelving, behind Amanda.
Amanda found what she was looking for and got up from her desk. “I invited Diedre in to meet with us… Gosh, don’t look so nervous, there’s nothing wrong.”
“I hope not, but when the President and Vice President want to see you, late on a Friday afternoon…”
Amanda smiled and stopped in front of Carolyn. “Don’t worry, you’re not getting fired. This is going to be a good meeting. Here comes Diedre now.”
Carolyn got out of her chair to welcome Diedre, who motioned for her to sit back down but pointed to the other side of the room to the table and chairs.
Each of the women differed in style from the other. Amanda, dressed all in black, her favorite non-color, wore her auburn hair shoulder-length, styled with soft curls, complementing dark and naturally-tanned skin. Diedre, the President of Malcolm & Cooper, smiled perpetually with her fair skin, and wore a dark skirt and crème-colored silk blouse. Carolyn’s natural blonde, long, wild, curly hair drifted down to her mid back. Today, she wore a navy blue, charcoal gray pinstripe suit, picked up from the tailor yesterday on her way home..
“I called Natasha and told her we need to see her before she leaves, in case we run late,” Diedre said, closing the office door behind her.
Once they were seated at the table, Amanda started the meeting. “Diedre and I have decided to make some changes, one of which includes you. Our little company has grown over the past year to where we’re not so little anymore. Are you aware of the sales this year over last?”
“Seventeen point percent, as of the end of last month,” Carolyn said.
“Diedre leaned forward. “Do you know the revenue difference?” she asked.
Carolyn looked up for a second, then back at Diedre. “Again, as of the end of last month, we took in a little over two point three million—two million, three-hundred-twenty-six thousand, to be exact—this year over last.”
“I’m impressed!” Diedre said. “How do you manage to remember everything?”
“I need to have the numbers at hand when Ms. Cooper calls, but to be honest with you,” she blushed, “most of what she asks for regularly, I have written on a card, pinned above the telephone. Since I started here, I’ve kept track of the company’s growth, so I have all the figures for the past five years charted. I can’t remember everything, but give me a few minutes and I’ll find the information.”
Diedre looked at Amanda and nodded, “I agree with you, she’s the one.” Carolyn looked back and forth between them, with both curiosity and concern.
“I’m the one what?” she asked. “What’s going on here?” She straightened in her chair and looked furtively between the two women.
“Relax,” Amanda said. “I’m offering you the new Assistant Vice President position, reporting to me. Your job is to back me up, be my right arm, and work alongside me. When can you give me your answer?”
“Can you tell me more about the position, please?”
Amanda put her pen down and leaned forward on her forearms. “Your new office is beside mine, the empty one to the right. Later, next week, we’re having a door put in between us. Your main tasks are to go wherever I go, meetings, business trips, anywhere. You’ll need to make all the travel arrangements, but, mainly, I want you to take notes and listen. Before any meeting, you’ll gather all the needed material: files, charts, any data you feel necessary. I don’t know how else to explain it, but you and I will work side by side. Do you think you can stand in the shadow of the Ice Queen?”
Carolyn’s hand covered her mouth and her eyes widened at the reference. “Oh, you don’t think I know what they call me?” Amanda smiled. “When can I have your decision?”
Carolyn got up and walked to the window, folding her arms across her chest. She stayed looking outside, in thought, for a few minutes, determining whether she wanted the added responsibilities and whether she could work with Amanda. Turning around, she said, “I’ll accept your offer, but who’s going to assimilate the sales and expense data—my old position?” She sat down in her chair.
“Natasha Wyatt, if she accepts the offer,” Diedre said. “I’ll call her in now.”
Minutes later Natasha walked into Amanda’s office, looking confused when she saw the three women waiting for her. She relaxed seeing the smiles, sat at the table, and captured a quick wink from Carolyn.
“Thanks for staying and meeting with us,” Amanda said. “Carolyn’s position is available, if you want it.”
Natasha smiled and looked again at the three women. “Of course.”
“Good. Except, we’re expanding the position to include customer oversight. You’d have to go to a client’s site when there are problems. While travel is required, it’s sporadic and rarely more than a day, but sometimes, I have to tell you, it may be more than that.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem for me.”
“Will it be a problem for your family?” Diedre asked.
“I don’t think so. Alex works from home and he’s there when Alex Junior gets off the bus.”
“Can you ask him tonight?”
“I’ll do better than that.” She opened her cell phone and called home, nodding her head as she talked to her husband, then smiled and said goodbye. “It isn’t an issue.”
Amanda sat back, looking at her two employees, gave a brief smile and leaned forward again. “I’d like the both of you to come to my house tomorrow around ten, so we can talk in some detail. Plan on spending a full day. Natasha…”
“Please call me ‘Nish.’”
“Nish,” Amanda said, nodding to accept the change, “please feel free to bring your husband and son, and dress causal. Also, bring your bathing suits so we can relax around the pool.” She looked at Carolyn. “If you have anyone you’re seeing, please invite them, as well.”
“There isn’t anyone.”
“Didi, you’re bringing Jack and Charlie, aren’t you?
“We’ll be there.”
Trial By Fire
“You’re hurting me.”
“I’m almost there,” he said, panting and pummeling her pussy.
Jeffrey grunted and held her hips, driving his cock into her, pushing against her ass and pulling back until his cock was outside, then driving forward again, slapping her wet skin. He thrust forward one last time and then he held still, deep within her and grunted, spurting his seed.
Amanda didn’t move, allowing him to finish, waiting for him to pull out so she could clean herself and get dressed. He gave one more grunt and fell on her back, most of his weight on her, and she collapsed to the bed on her stomach. She gave a little push and he rolled off. Then, she rocked to her side, propped herself on her elbow, and looked at him.
“Feeling better?” she asked.
“Much, thank you. I needed that.”
“I’m going to take a quick shower and get dressed. What time do we need to leave here to get to the dinner?”
“I need to be there by seven, so you have about 45 minutes. Is that enough time?”
“Plenty. Do you want me to wash your back…your sexy back?”
Amanda smiled at him and patted his arm. “No, I want to get in and out. Rest.”
She let the shower massage her neck for a few minutes, her tension slowly diminishing. Well, it’s better than nothing. She soaped herself and sighed, disappointed at not feeling aroused.
After the shower, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her auburn hair, still wet, hung below her shoulders. The natural, rich color accenting her tan skin and her large, light blue eyes with her long eyelashes looked back at her. Why don’t I feel better…happy?
She shivered, as if a chill passed through her, and set about putting on her minimal makeup, allowing her natural colors to shine through. She stopped to look again at herself, comparing what she saw to the image of who she wanted to be. Maybe I can lose five pounds. She turned to the side and back, examining her figure, lifted her breasts to see what they looked like if she were to wear a bra with more support and lift.
Finished with her makeup and styling her hair, she pulled on her new, black, bikini panties and adjusted them. She put both hands on her stomach and pushed in, turned to the side again to see herself in the full-length mirror.
Back in the bedroom, she stepped into her strapless emerald green dress, the silk bodice shimmering, catching the light. Jeffrey walked into the bedroom. She looked up at him, then down to slip on her matching green three inch heels. I’d like an inch taller, but he doesn’t like it.
“Please zip me,” she said.
He pulled the zipper up, fastened the eyelet at the top, and patted her on the shoulder, then reached to the back of the chair and pulled his black suit coat off, folding it carefully over his arm.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
Amanda looked at herself in the mirror, twisted this way and that to ensure all was in order, turned to him, and nodded. He led her out the door to his car and got in to wait for her.
* * * *
On the way inside the hotel ball room Jeffrey stopped, handing the two invitations to the woman at the door, and escorted Amanda inside. They stopped once to look over the hall, ambled over to the bar, Jeffrey saying hello along the way. The large hotel barroom, with an open center, had two rows of columns, one along each side, stretching to the thirty-five foot ceiling.
After getting a couple of drinks, he introduced her to a few people and talked shop, leaving Amanda bored and a little upset he wasn’t including her in his conversations. She excused herself to go to the powder room and, once there, made an attempt to fix her makeup, which needed no maintenance. She wanted to kill some time before going back to stand next to Jeffrey while he ignored her.
She sighed, deciding to accept her role as arm decoration, and left to find him. Scanning the room, she saw him to her right, near the bar. As she walked in his direction, Amanda watched an attractive blonde come up to him, put one arm around his waist and her other hand on his chest, scratching her fingers lightly, while engaging him in conversation.
Jeffrey looked furtively through the room, not seeing Amanda, and turned to give his attention to the blonde. They talked and laughed and Amanda shied towards one of the columns, hiding behind it, but still keeping him in sight.
The blonde leaned up on her toes and kissed Jeffrey on the lips, holding her mouth on his, while they gave each other a more than chaste kiss. She gave him a pat on his chest, then started to walk away, allowing Amanda to come out of hiding. When she got closer, she heard the blonde say, “Call me tomorrow, okay?” Jeffrey nodded. He put his hands in his trousers’ front pockets, bunching his suit-coat around his wrists Looking down, he glanced at the floor, but not seeing.
“How soon is dinner, I’m starving?” Amanda asked.
Jeffrey startled and turned towards her. “Just a few more minutes.”
She wanted to see if he felt guilty about sharing the intimate moment with the blonde. “Hold it a minute, you have something on your lip,” she said and used her thumb to wipe a non-existent smudge. Immediately, he rubbed the back of his hand over his lips and Amanda’s heart sank.
Throughout dinner and the awards, she didn’t talk much, her mind mulling what she saw and heard, and also remembered how treated her for the past few weeks.
* * * *
The windshield wipers beat their cadence, accompanied by the swish of the tires, rolling over wet pavement. Light smeared on the side window, but she saw nothing but the blonde’s intimate caress. For the last few minutes, there were no sounds other than the thumps from the wipers..
“Who was that blonde hanging all over you?” Amanda asked.
“Just a friend I know from work. No one special.”
Amanda knew by the way the blonde had touched him; friendship wasn’t all between them. She turned her head to look back out her window, closed her eyes for a few seconds knowing she had to ask, but not wanting to hear the answer.
“Are you fucking her?” He didn’t reply. “You are, aren’t you? You’re fucking her,” she said, looking back at him and seeing his jaw clench, and his eyes darting to her and then quickly back to the windshield.
“Why not? You and I are fuck buddies. Remember, no commitments.”
Amanda stared at him and knew, without any doubt, the conversation’s destination. She pulled herself more upright in the seat and adjusted the seatbelt to lie between her breasts.
“We started out that way, but a few months ago we decided to make our relationship special and be only with each other. I thought we were more than just friends with benefits.”
“That was your decision, not mine.” His statement hurt and, with a flash of insight, she realized she knew his infidelity all along, but pushed it aside to blindly follow hopeless hope.
“Thanks for letting me know. At the very least, you could have told me we were sharing your dick.” He didn’t say anything. “Is she the only one?”
“No.”
“No! Oh, God. I’m afraid to ask. How many more are there? One? Two? More than two?
“It’s none of your business who I sleep with.”
“It sure is my business.”
“Look, Amanda, we’ve had some great sex, you and I, and we enjoy it. There’s no reason to get upset about this. We’re good together”
“We’re done. If you can’t keep your zipper up—” she said.
He turned to look at her, the oncoming headlights illuminating her face. Although he saw Amanda’s tears, he understood this is the end. “It’s just sex and I don’t want anything more than that.” Looking directly at her, he waited to see what she would say.
“Look out! Look out!” she yelled, seeing Jeffrey had drifted over into the oncoming lane.
He swerved to avoid the car coming at him, lost control, skidded back into his lane and side-swiped another car, sending their car careening back across the pavement, spinning out of control. The centrifugal force pushed her head towards her side window and she looked away to keep her face from the glass. She saw lights looming beyond Jeffrey’s head a split second before the pickup truck hit his side of their car. She couldn’t stop herself from being pulled from her seat, the belt and airbag reversing her trajectory, pushing her back. She saw only the white airbag, before blacking out.
Seconds later, she opened her eyes and brought her hand to her forehead, wiping whatever was dripping over her. Pulling her hand down, she looked and saw her fingers covered in dark liquid, but confused as to what she looked at. The clicking of the cooling engine got her attention and she looked towards Jeffrey; seeing him roll his head back and forth. Amanda heard a whoosh and saw the fireball bloom over the front of the car, covering the windshield. When the flare diminished, flames rushed at her through the broken windshield and seeped from under the dashboard.
The fire grew quickly, leaping towards her as if it were magnetic. She screamed, putting her hands over her face briefly, then tried to brush away the flames licking at her, trying to extinguish them.
“Help me! Oh, God, please help me!” she cried. She watched part of her dress melt into her skin and felt the searing pain travel up her hip, onto the left side of her chest. Amanda screamed continuously, panicked and attempted to remove her seatbelt, but couldn’t find the latch. Her fingernails tore with the effort, so she pulled at the belt away from her chest to get it off and it ratcheted tighter, now holding her firmly to the flaming car.
Amanda pulled the door latch over and over again praying for it to open. Now she couldn’t breathe, the heated air, drawing precious oxygen to feed the fire, the smoke burning her nose and choking her. She leaned towards Jeffrey as much as she could, drew her knees higher and used her legs to kick the door open, each thrust less explosive than the next, her body failing. The uselessness of her actions fed her fear and she sat upright again, waiting for death’s numbness.
Suddenly, the glass next to her head exploded inward, followed by a hand reaching for her. In her panic, she fought the hand, and then her rescuer crawled partially through her window, unlatched the seat belt, and dragged her back through the window, scraping small gullies into her skin.
As soon as she lay on the ground, she leaned over and vomited, then sucked clean air into her lungs in between the racking coughs. Twice she tried to talk and heard nothing but dry rasps. Someone put a water bottle to her mouth and she greedily sucked at the opening, wanting more than what could flow. She poured a little into her eyes and looked around for him.
“Jeffrey! Get Jeffrey!” she yelled. Amanda heard him screaming, the car now fully engulfed, and then, mercifully, she heard only the sound of the fire.
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