Chapter One

ALEXIS

I am furious—completely and absolutely livid. You would think I would be used to it by now, but somehow, I manage to get angry and hurt every time.

I saunter toward the bar in the dinner hall we currently are and flash a strained smile at the middle-aged bartender who has become my only friend in this little palace in a corner of the world, he is the same person who works the bar on the ground floor which I have found myself frequenting more than usual.

He walks over to my side, smiles, but pauses when he sees my face.

"Eve again?" Eve is my co-worker at FunDeets, a fin-tech company which creates programs and applications that help other companies monitor their financial growth and indices. She is a sales representative just like me but she is nothing like me! 

We came for a conference together in an exotic resort on one of the cut off islands just off the west coast. The conference is one with a bunch of financial moguls and an award ceremony at the end of it. 

In the last few days, her name is perhaps the only reason why I have racked up so much in bar fees. 

"YES! I am so angry, I get a client, and I am trying my possible best to remain professional and sell our products. Suddenly she steps in with her gravity defying bosoms and starts talking him up about similar projects and sure enough, he is following her like a dog and getting credit for the account, building on the background work I have done. She always waits until I have explained the complicated parts that her dumb brain cannot handle. Make it make sense!” 

We both got a shared position as salesperson of the first quarter, though everyone swears it should have been a landslide victory for me. Simply because she is always using her feminine wiles with some of her clients who pump money into her accounts.   

"Whisky?" That’s one thing I have come to love about Bruno, he lets me run my tirade, and only offers advice when I ask for it. Otherwise, he just lets me rant, which usually feels great. 

"Nope, something stronger." “I am so done with all this bullshit.” He sets a drink in front of me and I down it in one gulp. The burn is great and has me closing my eyes for a few seconds as I feel it slide all the way down.

"No, baby girl, I can tell you love your job and enjoy it." He gives me a knowing smile. I respond with a sheepish one.

"I do, but that doesn’t mean I am not done with the bullshit." Slamming my glass down, I get to my feet.

“Let’s go kick asses once again” I give a wry smile and smoothen the creases on my dress, it is a silver long sleeved dress with a boat neck and a completely bare back except for 2 black chains at the nape of my neck and my waist line. I feel a bit uncomfortable, but my best friend and roommate who lent me the dress would not hear otherwise. 

She insisted I needed something to gain an advantage on Eve and that it should be this dress, I could lie and say it doesn’t look great, but she was right, it really does look great. It especially sits better on me as I am curvier than her, causing it to fit like a second skin. 

“Keep my tab running, I am very sure I will be back” I snatch a flute of sparkly champagne from a waiter passing by. 

I take a walk around the room, making my way to my table towards the back as I scan around for potential clients. I spot Eve sitting with Mr Luke Walken, the owner of BusyCrop, a fast-rising agrobusiness that started out some years back producing vegan friendly meat alternatives, they were considering diversifying into fintech products for their company, which was the discussion we were having together before she hijacked him.

I give her the death glare, when I see them cozied up, she gives a signature laugh which sounds like a dolphin baying and places her hand with long red nails on his arm, it is the fakest move I have ever seen. I wonder how the guys don’t see it. 

She notices me looking at them from a corner in the room and gives me a smug smile, running her hand up and down his arm, she gives his muscle a firm squeeze as she turns back to him and lets out another dolphin laugh.

“Is it the guy or the girl?” A deep baritone male voice comes from the person standing beside me

“I am sorry what?” I respond unconsciously without turning

“Which one of them are you killing off in the most gruesome murder CSI could ever come up with in your head. Are you a disgruntled ex of Luke’s or a jealous admirer”  

I wonder briefly if it must be about the man before I turn to the uninvited guest standing beside me and I am gobsmacked. I am first hit with his cologne that smells like forest and male dominating pheromones. I can feel the dominance pouring off him in waves, but what is perhaps the biggest reason for the slap in the face is his face. 

He has the face of a demigod, with dark bushy eyebrows and deep blue eyes, that look like they can see through your every thought coupled with a chiselled nose that the clients of the botched show would die to have. 

His lips are a perfect bow shape which expand into a slight smile, I blush slightly and cast my eyes down to avoid his penetrating gaze but I can’t stop myself from taking a quick look at his body which is adorned with a suit that looks like it was carved out solely for him. I have to raise my eyes to look back up at him as he is over 6ft tall. Even with my heels, I barely reach a height of 5ft 6 inches. 

The attraction is instantaneous and has my body flooding with need, I don’t know what it is but I have never felt this way with any guy, which is why I am probably still the oldest virgin alive at twenty-six. Most twenty-six-year-olds are definitely not acting this way with men they barely know. 

I take an unconscious step towards him and catch myself quickly before I start to hump him. I take a too-quick step back and then step on the tail of my dress, I realise very quickly that I am about to fall and prepare myself quickly for an unflattering landing.

Suddenly feeling a hand grab my naked waist and pull me towards him, I look up at my saviour and can’t help but feel relaxed and safe in his arms. The part where his hand is making contact with me sears into my skin and has me pulling myself upright. 

“Thank you, I am sorry about that, I am typically not so clumsy, I just tripped on the dress, the tail is too long, you see, so I-” I wiggle against his body in attempt to leave the enclave of his arm, even though my body is screaming at me to stay, and dwell there.

He tightens his arm around my waist and gives a sharp command

“Stay” the response is instantaneous as my body stills. I look up in his arms and barely catch his head falling on to my shoulder. I am in a slight panic before I feel his nose in my dark red hair, he runs his face through my curls before taking a deep sniff at my neck. 

He lets out a little growl when I try moving away once again. 

“Please stop moving Bella, I am trying very hard to control myself”

I stop instantly, and wait. Someone taps him on his shoulder and he lets out a snarl before looking back. I look up as well and see Luke and Eve., she has her hand tucked into one of his.

“Maxwell?”

I take the slight distraction to step out of his arms quickly and run towards the bathroom. I can’t believe I almost mauled a man I didn’t know. No matter the attraction between us, I know I definitely behaved inappropriately. 

I step out of the bathroom but not before splashing a little water on my face and retouching my make up, I check the morror to ensure I don’t look frazzled and give myself a little pep talk about how I am a woman in control of my urges and I am going to go home very soon and never see him again, So its not worth it. 

I turn the corner sharply, making up my mind to hightail it out of there, before I go back to find Maxwell and make him take me up against the wall, virginity be damned.

I skid to a sharp stop when I catch him leaning against the wall on the path out of the bathroom area, it seems like he is waiting for someone. I let out a silent excuse me as I try to pass by him.

He grabs my waist again, pulling me into his body, My body floods with heat once more

“Running somewhere Bella? I have been waiting for you”

“What?” I look up into his eyes surprised at his confession. I can feel the arousal leaking from my body, I might be making a mess on the floor. All the thoughts of being a strong independent fierce woman disappear completely as I flush to the tip of my ginger haired- roots. I have never reacted like this to any man. 

He lifts his head and sniffs the air before turning his hot searing gaze on me. Hearing him whisper a short curse that sounds like ‘Dios mio’ from my limited knowledge of Italian; I look up in surprise at his actions wondering what necessitated the calling of God kn this situation. He lets out a small growl before bending his head and taking my lips in a searing kiss and I literally burst into flames.