Chapter 2

Noel Greer… it brought back memories.

10 years ago, she had woken up beside him in the hotel. He was asleep and with his eyes closed, dark lashes fell over beautiful olive skin stretched over defined cheekbones. His full lips were relaxed and full and Penny yearned to reach over and kiss him. His strong, lean muscled body was stretched out on the bed, reminding her of a powerful panther leisurely sunbathing under the dim lights of the room, the red bedsheets heightened the lure of his tanned skin. She bit her lip shyly allowing her gaze trail down his hard shoulders to the solid wall of the chest that had crushed her breasts while he thrust inside her several times that night. She blushed and her gaze trailed lower to the washboard abs and even lower to the thick cock that drew her gaze magnetically. Even flaccid, it was huge.

A blush crept up her neck and she looked away. She remembered thinking with excitement and guilt, Father would be appalled to know I was naked in bed with a complete stranger.

“How long will you keep staring?”

Her breath caught in her throat. Noel’s eyes were open and slate gray eyes stared at her with a hint of amusement in them. His eyelids were seductively hooded.

“I- I wasn’t staring…” she stammered.

He smiled and rolled to his side. His left hand coming up to caress the soft skin of her face, the look in his eyes was soft. A lump rose in Penny’s throat. No man ever looked at her that way, not even Evan, her ex. They were either afraid of her father or afraid of her. She was Daddy’s little girl after all and the best member of the “family”.

When his thumb came to rest on her mouth she held her breath. The pad of his palm was rough and callused.

“Kallos,” he spoke in a strange tongue, his perfect accent slipping to something foreign. “You are too pure for me. I am not the man for you.”

She touched his hand and squeezed, enjoying the hand feeling of him. “I am not pure,” her cheeks flamed as another blush flamed her neck and cheek. “Especially not after tonight.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She sensed him withdrawing when he dropped his hand leaving her cheek cold and wanting his touch again. “Tell me something, beauty, when you said you loved…”

The harsh ring of his phone interrupted the question. His eyes were apologetic when he rolled over to fish the phone out of the pocket of his discarded trouser gifting me a view of his sexy ass.

“What is it, Carl?”

Penny distracted herself with the sight of his powerful back, yearning to reach out and touch him. She couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation but suddenly his body turned rigid. He didn’t glance at her but his voice dropped.

“Are you sure?” he asked into the phone. “Good. I will be just in time for it then.” He paused again to listen to the conversation on the other side. “It doesn’t matter who it is. It’s time I let the past go and settle down. He has no choice but to accept my offer on this.”

 He ended the call and threw the phone on the dresser. For a moment he simply lay on his side thinking about what his life would be after that night. Then after a while he turned around to look at her. Whatever question he was going to ask was now forgotten. “I will be a married man tomorrow. I don’t regret tonight but I don’t want to pull you into the mess that is my life.”

Neither did she.

For as long as I live, she vowed to herself, I would never forget tonight.

 There were no virgin requirements on the contract to her unknown suitor when she signed it with father breathing down her neck earlier that morning so she felt no guilt about having the choice to give her body to whoever she wanted.

“But if you ever need anything,” Noel went on turning away from her again. He retrieved his shirt and took out a black business card which he laid gently into her open palm.

“Noel,” she recited the name written in bold gold font across the card.

He drew in a sharp breath. “I am an idiot to let you go,” he muttered under his breath. Once again he reached up to cup her cheek then clearing his throat he added. “Call my personal number. I have to leave now.”

“I understand,” she responded. After all, she couldn’t remain in the hotel room when she too was supposed to be married off. And if her father found out she lost her virginity to a stranger…

So when Noel Greer stood up to get dressed she did the same. He helped her get dressed but not before getting a wet towel from the bathroom to clean her up. They cleaned up every sign of their wild night.

 He was gentle and sweet and deep in her young heart she knew that he already spoiled her for any other man but still, she prayed and hoped that whoever she would married would help her forget him.

She lowered her head to hide her tears and thankfully he didn’t notice. When he handed her jacket to her, she took it without a word. It was only later she realized with surprise and pleasure that he had slipped the diamond tie tack into the pocket.

“Take good care of yourself, sweetheart,” were his last words before she walked out of the room knowing that no matter what she would always treasure the memory of the bar, the hotel and that mysterious man.

How naïve.

“Noel Greer. Who is this?”

He harshness of his voice jolted Penny back to the present, gritting on her nerves. Yet that voice in her ear…it hurt that forgetting was not so easy.

“I-,” she cleared her throat to speak louder. “It’s Penelope Quinn. I need your help.” Straight to the point, no need to beat about the bush.

The silence on the other side was deafening. For a moment she feared he hung up but the soft sound of his breathing assured her he was still on the other side.

“Well, are you going to keep mute, or are you going to tell me what you need?”

Fighting the urge to crush the phone in her fist while imagining doing the same to his face, she took a deep breath and related Nolan and Chantelle’s situation to him doing her best to keep a steady voice. Her thumb unconsciously caressed the diamond ring on the index finger of her right hand.

 She kept the diamond from that tie tack for many years before converting it to a ring. Even through the hurt of the past years, she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of it.

“So this friend of yours needs new construction workers?” he asked.

“Yes, he does.”

“Is he married?” was the next question.

“What does it matter if he’s married?”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“Noel, I don’t see what this has to do with anything!”

“You don’t?” he asked, amusement in his voice.

Her head spun as she wondered where the hell the conversation was going. “Are you going to help him or not?”

“You should be a bit more polite to the man you once tried to trick, don’t you think so Pen?”

She sucked in a deep breath struggling hard to keep calm. But with every second that passed driving her fist into the wall was seeming more inviting than talking to him. Biting the inside of her cheek for Nolan’s sake, she responded, “He is not a boyfriend, he has a fiancée which I mentioned and they really could use your help.”

“And what do I get if I chose to help him?”

She shrugged, warning alarms ringing in her head. “You should discuss that with Nolan Pierce.”

“Nolan Pierce? This should be good. But,” there was a long pause at the other end, even longer than when he first picked the call. And when he spoke again shivers went down her spine. “I don’t need anything from Nolan. What do you have to offer for my help?”

Once again grateful for the empty hall she frowned, her mouth dry. “What do you mean? I am not the one who needs your help…”

“But you are the one calling.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose to stall the headache threatening to attack, Penelope closed her eyes wondering how 18-year-old her had ever found this man attractive. Sure, he was good-looking and easy on the eyes, but beauty was indeed deceiving if you don’t know the cruelty behind the veil. “What do you want?” she finally asked.

“Not so quick sweetheart. You haven’t heard my deal yet,” he laughed. His laugh was warm, rich, deep, bringing back memories she would rather keep buried under layers of the past. But he had a way of sneaking past her defenses making her ache to feel his warm skin on hers again, his lips skimming the length of her body while his fingers worked wonders on her sensitive spots. In the past years seeing him across a hall at events or even from magazine pages was enough to send her back to longing for him. And he knew.

He was the master of her game.

“Whatever you want, Noel, name it.”

“Can I trust the words of a thief?”

The blow hit its mark. Thoughts about his skin and lips flew out the window to be replaced with anger. Then came the realization that he would never see her as anything more than a thief.

“Do I have your word, Penny?” he asked, his voice low.

“You have my word,” she struggled to say.

“Good. I will help Nolan.”

Grateful that at least that was settled she glanced back at Nolan and Chantelle who were talking and waiting for her. “Thank you. If you will set a date…”

“Now.”

“But…”

“I have just enough time to see Nolan today if he is desperate for my help.”

“Okay, then I’ll let him know…”

“Come along.”

“But,” she started when the dial tone pinged in my ear. The bastard cut the call!

It took a while to get over the hurt and pain of refreshed memories but after a while, she forced herself to calm down and joined Chantelle and Nolan and told them about the development hoping they would suggest another date to see him but they were eager to see him right away.

Within a few minutes, they were on their way to another part of town where men and women of power sat behind expensive mahogany desks to control the flow of business.

To the man she was once contracted to marry…