“W-what compa-” Aira cut herself off as she glanced behind vincent who was practically framing the door for someone who was trying to tell her that there was someone else there.“Hi, Dane! How are you today?” She asked as she sidestepped Vince to talk to her neighbor who was holding a wine bottle, clearly heading toward her apartment.“Hi! I’m fine. I was thinking about inviting you to drink with me. I got my hands on a good bottle and thought we could share it.”Vincent was immediately behind her his hand on her lower back. Not so much for not wanting to intimidate her neighbor.“Oh, sorry. We were just going out,”“Yeah. Maybe another time,” Dane said with a cocky smile,“Yeah, maybe all of us can get together. All of us,” Vincent responded instead and Aira wanted to groan. He was playing his role too well.“Oh, right! How can I be so rude!” Aira exclaimed, “Dane this is my fiance Vincent. Vincent, this is my neighbor Dane.”“Vincent Valory, nice to meet you,” Vincent said leaning f
“Okay. Something is going on with you tonight,” Vincent said “What?’ Aira asked “You seemed down since I picked you up earlier. Is everything okay?” He asked,Aira looked down from his steady gaze. Was he concerned about her? She wondered if she was being this obvious all the time. To the point that he could see that she was concerned about something.“I didn’t realize it was that obvious,” Aira responded “It isn’t. I just noticed that you’re a bit preoccupied this evening.” he answered, “Is it something that you can’t tell me?”“No. Not at all. It’s not something worth mentioning that’s all,” Aira respondedVincent reached out across the table and took her hand in his squeezing a little bit.“If it’s enough to make you worry then it is worth mentioning,” He said with a soft tone that made her heart melt, “Aira, we’re going to be partners for the next three years. If we can’t stand by each other in times like this, it’s going to be much harder to deal with everything that we’re go
“Hi mom! Sorry for calling this late. I just wanted to talk to you as soon as I heard the news!” Aira said as soon as her mother responded on the phone.Okay. That wasn’t her high-pitched voice on the phone with her mom right now. No way!“It’s wonderful honey! Your father was so happy when he came back home. Ian is over the moon too. Poor thing must have been feeling guilty,”“That’s great! But, is it a done deal? I mean, is it sure that they won’t change their mind?” Aira asked.She was not able to bring herself to ask her mother the question she’d been wanting to hear from her.“Yes! They signed the papers and everything this afternoon. Although I wonder if it’s going to be okay with you, honey,” Her mother said“Why wouldn’t it be?” Aira asked her heart falling.What was going on?!“Well, your father’s new business partner is someone you know,” Her mother stalled,“Who is it? Jace?” Aira asked“God no!” Her mother said immediately, “We would never do that to you, honey,”“Then who
Aira opened the door to her apartment and threw her arms around Vincent’s neck hugging him tightly. “Woah,” He said barely stepping back from the impact and circling his arms around her waist hugging her back, “To what do I owe this pleasure?” He said stepping inside her apartment with her still in his arms and closing the door behind them.“Thank you,” She said burying her face into his chest while her nose was being assaulted by his woodsy soothing cologne, “My family called me yesterday. They told me everything,” She leaned back enough for Vincent to put her back on the ground and face her while his hands still held her waist.“You’re welcome,” He said with a smile, “I told you I was planning to go through with the deal anyway,”“But, this was going on long before this. Even before you spoke to me about marriage!”“Yeah. I kind of had always been a fan of your work. This is why Meghan had to come scout you before I stormed into your apartment and demanded a chance for my projec
“I thought I knew you from somewhere,” Ian said standing up, “Hi, I’m Ian. Aira’s older brother,”Ian said standing up to greet Vincent as her father got busy making him a drink. Well, this was a much warmer welcome than she expected, seemed like the hero thing worked.If only her future private conversation with her mother would go well.Her family was a private one. Like what happened with Jace, incidents with people looking to have some kind of connection with her grandmother and sometimes her mother weren’t common but they did happen from time to time.They tried to live away from the spotlights as much as possible. So when it came to welcoming new people there was always a certain degree of distance.If Vincent had been just a business associate, he would have been treated as such, he wouldn’t even have been invited to dinner with the whole family.But Vincent was a wild card, he was both a business associate and her boyfriend. Which meant there was no telling how this evening wo
They say personal assistants rule a busy man’s life. Vincent wasn’t humble enough to pretend that he wasn’t a busy man. Because he was. There was one rule he tried hard to never break, and that’s to never puss off Carter no matter the circumstances.But now, as he sat on the sofa with Aira beside him and a very angry-looking Carter and Meghan standing in front of them and glaring dowm. Vincent knew that he screwed up. And this time with two of his PAs.To be honest he felt alone right then because Aira would always have a choice. She could fake something to slip out of this situation any moment. He couldn’t because there wasn’t a situation that he could fake that would fool two competent persons who managed his schedule from the moment he leaves his house until he goes back to it.He was trapped. And he didn’t like the feeling.“Care to explain?” Carter said as he held his ever present tablet in front of them with the picture of them having dinner and laughing.To make it worse, it w
Aira turned her phone upside down after turning it to silent mode. This was getting annoying.“Aren’t you going to get that?” Meghan asked as she sipped from her Ice Americano.Aira still had no Ides how her friend could stomach that stuff. Watered-down black coffee would taste better than that.“No, it’s annoying,” Aira said“Who was it this time? Will? Your mom? Or was it someone new?” Meghan asked“It was my brother,” Aira responded, “He wants to talk about something, but I don’t feel like hearing his lecture about Vincent. I’m going to have to put up with it enough when I have to tell him that we’re engaged,”“I don’t see any ring, when did you get engaged?” Meghan asked jokingly and Aira threw her a glare.She was strung up enough without her friend mercilessly teasing her.“He’s picking it up today. You know how observant Paul can be, We can’t meet him without covering our bases.”“He is. Damn him. Last summer all he could talk about was how plump I looked after the few pounds I
Meghan's POV Meghan wiped her face one final time before reapplying her make up. She couldn’t believe that she let herself cry like that. Not that she never cried in front of Aira before. Her friend was on tear duty whenever Meghan broke up with a boyfriend of had another birthday too soon realizing that she was growing old. Hell, Meghan even had a crying party when she gained too much weight that her favorite suit was starting to look tight. But crying in a cafe and being caught by Carter and her boss was a bit too much. She needed to get a grip! She touched up her lipstick and gave herself a final hard look and a pep talk. She exited the bathroom wondering if Aira and the others were still waiting for her. And they were, one of them waiting a bit too close for her comfort. Carter stood by the door looking up from his phone and readjusting his sexy glasses back on his nose while looking at her. “Hey,” He said softly, “Uh- Hi… What are you doing here?” Meghan asked “Ah, uh,