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Ramona nods, her face turning a lovely shade of crimson. I grin at her innocent reaction, which only seems to cause her to blush more.
“I did, Mr. James,” she says in a low voice.
“Great. Then please type them up and forward them to me as soon as you can,” I instruct. I reach into my blazer pocket and pull out a metal card case. I click it open and slide my business card into her hand. “My contact information,” I tell her, as the air grows thick between us. It’s not my imagination, but her nipples are protruding, and this woman is excited at my presence.
“Thank you,” she whispers back, barely able to meet my eye.
We stand like this for another moment and then I take a step back, tugging at my suddenly too-tight tie. “Good work today,” I say as I turn around and head toward the conference room door. “Oh, and Ms. Prince,” I call out sharply, startling the aggressive blonde, “be sure to tell your entire team how much I appreciate their efforts.”
Melody gushes some drivel but I’m already out the door before I can hear her.
In the elevator headed to the garage, I can’t help but chuckle at everything that just happened over the past hour.
Ramona Monk, I repeat her name to myself. Who would have guessed?
Then again, I’m not entirely surprised to find that Ramona is working at an architecture firm because she was constantly building things as a kid. But I am surprised to learn that she’s in Chicago and that somehow, even after a dozen years, she still manages to fascinate me.
I shake my head as I think about our childhood antics. Despite our age gap, the boys in my neighborhood and I had liked the peppery girl who used to follow us around. Ramona had been just as much a daredevil as any of us, if not quite up to our level of strength or stamina.
As I climb into my car and start driving to my next meeting, I find myself wondering what kind of person Ramona has become, and if she still has that same sassy personality.
Hopefully I’ll find out soon, I think. She may not be a little girl anymore, but that’s even better because I want to get my hands on the curvaceous woman who is Ramona Monk.
4
Ramona
“Well, how’d it go?” Carrie’s excited voice interrupts me. I jump a little, startled by her question.
“Sorry, I was in my own little world,” I mutter absently.
“I could tell. So you ended up staying in the meeting?” Carrie asks, looking somewhat surprised by this detail.
I nod. “I did. I could tell Melody didn’t want me in there, but the client’s own secretary couldn’t come today and he needed someone to take notes. That’s what I was working on when you came up and scared the crap out of me.”
“My bad,” Carrie laughs lightly.
But I blush, knowing that I’ve just fibbed to my best friend. Sure, I’m technically working on the meeting minutes, but I’ve barely made a dent in the write-up. Instead, I had once again been daydreaming about Carlton James and how thrilling it was to see him again.
Part of my frustration stems from the fact that the attractive boy has turned into a devastatingly handsome man. He’s tall, with broad shoulders highlighted by a perfectly cut suit, and those blue irises have darkened to a startling navy. Carlton is pure charm, and I find myself immediately infatuated with him all over again, even after so many years.
The larger part of my frustration, however, is that I don’t think that my childhood enemy even recognized me.
Not that he’d have much reason to, I admit reluctantly.
We left Portnoy when I was ten years old, and I look almost nothing like I did when I was a kid. But part of me wishes that all those years growing up together might have etched me a little more solidly into Carlton’s memory.
“So what was he like? The client?” Carrie’s eyes twinkle mischievously.
I try to remain neutral. “He was professional. He had a lot of good questions and ideas, and seems with it.”
“That is so not what I was asking,” she says with a grin. I roll my eyes and pretend exasperation.
“I know, and yes, he’s very attractive. Like drop-dead gorgeous. To be honest, I’ve never seen Melody grovel like that before so that was definitely entertaining.” I smile a little, momentarily distracted by the fact that my boss had been so obviously annoying to Carlton.
I sigh and shake my head, irked that I keep replaying the same conversation in my mind.
“What’s wrong?” Carrie asks me, her voice etched with concern.
I smile pathetically at her. “Nothing, I’m just tired. It was a long day, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any shorter. Melody is still on a tear, despite the fact that the meeting went really well. I think as soon as she leaves, I’m going to head home, too.”
