Page 13 of At Your Service
“Dad’s probably not going to feel that way. You know how he is about loyalty. That was the crux of the whole family feud that almost threatened Riley’s happiness.” He sighed heavily, reliving how his sister’s plunge into love a couple months ago had only made his decision to move on to other things in his career another sticky family issue to cope with. “But I’m through thinking about that. It’s what I’m doing, so they can either accept it or disown me.”
“You know Mom’s never gonna let him disown you. She didn’t let him disown Riley.”
Major stood and took the sneakers into his closet. “That was never going to happen, I don’t care who she slept with. Dad would have seriously considered shooting Chaz and Tobias before he’d ever thought about firing Riley.”
Even though the news of his sister’s affair with Chaz, whose uncle Tobias King was head of King Designs, had spread like wildfire through the industry, bringing old assumptions about the Gold/King feud back to the surface. While Major secretly hoped his engagement façade would help take the residual bad press from Riley’s saga away, part of him knew that the subsequent announcement of his leaving RGF to run Brand Integrated Technologies would fuel its own fire.
“And look at them now,” Maurice said. “Riley and Chaz are inseparable. When he’s not at her place, she’s at his. He’s at Sunday dinner with the family and she’s seen out at parties with him and Tobias. They’re really in love, whatever the hell that is.”
Oh yeah, in addition to being the twin who actually loved going on dates with different women and getting attention for it, Maurice was the one who hated, loathed and despised the wordlove. Major didn’t let the word get that deep under his skin, although he didn’t imagine himself feeling it any time soon. His new company, as well as continuing to help with RGF’s technology development, were his priorities right now. The one time he’d ventured to believe he might be feeling something like love, Stacia Hudgins had given him a hard-and-fast lesson—love wasn’t worth a damn.
“I gotta get home. If we don’t get ready, Riley, Chaz and the rest of the family are going to be at the cocktail party before us,” Maurice said.
Major stood and was about to walk toward the bathroom when he looked back at the clothes on the bed. “I still can’t believe Riley picked out clothes for me.”
Maurice eased his tall frame from the chair, tilted his head back to swallow the remaining dregs of beer from the bottle and then shook his head. “You know Riley’s in control of everything that concerns the Golden Bride line. Whether or not you gave her permission to be involved with your fake fiancée, she was going to do it. And she’s damn sure gonna make certain she controls everything you do and say regarding this engagement.”
Major groaned. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
No, what Major Gold was actually afraid of, an hour and a half later when he stood near the bar at the Midtown Loft & Terrace and glanced toward the door, was swallowing his tongue or otherwise making a fool of himself as Nina Fuller walked in.
She smiled when she met his gaze and began walking toward him. Major stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his pants, forcing them to remain still and not move toward the center to soothe the growing ache that was happening there.
Nina looked stunning in blue, the dark hue playing expertly against the lightness of her complexion. Her hair was pulled up, loose pieces hanging at each ear just brushing the skin of her neck. He’d bet every dollar in all four of his bank accounts the skin right there was soft to the touch and sweet to the taste. Silver earrings sparkled at her ears and matched the chunky bracelet on her wrist. His gaze lifted from that wrist up her arm to where her bare shoulder was showcased. A shoulder he wanted to rub his fingers over and drop featherlight kisses against. Her shoes were silver but her legs were really the clincher, grabbing his full attention. They looked long and luscious, coated with some type of glistening oil.
She walked like a temptress across the mahogany floor, her hips swaying from side to side, healthy breasts held high to tempt him and most likely every other guy with good vision in this room. He swallowed hard and tried not to think of the wordhard. Not that it was going to help; his dick was well on its way to another stunning erection at just seeing this woman. He wished for a drink but didn’t want to turn away from her to request one from the bartender.
“You look fantastic,” he said the moment she was close enough to hear because he had to get those words out of his head.
“Thanks. I tried on so many dresses today, I’m glad to be standing in just one at this moment.”
“This is definitely the best dress. Ever,” he confessed and swallowed again.
She tilted her head, her smile wavering slightly. “Are you okay?”
For a few seconds he clamped his lips shut. He wasn’t totally sure he could resist asking her to find some private place for them to hang out tonight.
“I’m good,” he said and gave himself a good mental kick. It’d been a long time since he’d been a horny teenager chasing after models at fashion shows. Most of them had been around his age, even though they’d hit the runways in outfits that made them appear much older.
“Well, I’m not. I mean I’m a little nervous. I’ve never been to a Sip ’n’ Chat before.”
She was looking around as she spoke and Major finally managed to pull his gaze from her long enough to do the same.
“We rely on the media, but we can’t always control what goes into print. The Sip ’n’ Chat is our way of having an informal press conference where we release only the information we want the media to have, at the exact moment we want them to have it.”
She nodded. “Smart.”
“Yeah, just like me.” He winked.
“You? I thought we were talking about your team who came up with this very smart idea.” She smiled and he enjoyed the light that came into her eyes. A jolt of awareness hit him as he realized she really was different from the other women he’d met.
“I’m talking about how smart I was to have finally agreed to meeting with you when I did. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be standing here with you.” He’d stepped closer to her as he said those words. Another step or two and he would be on top of her, which wasn’t a bad idea—except he wasn’t down for an audience.
“Hi! You made it! That dress looks fabulous on you. Doesn’t it, Major?” Riley asked when she approached, Chaz right beside her.
Why she was asking him the obvious, Major had no idea, but he gladly answered. “It does.”
“Thanks,” Nina said, holding a silver clutch in front of her as she nodded at Riley and Chaz. “I hope it photos well. I came up on the elevator with three reporters and two photographers.”
