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“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, placing a gentle kiss on my lips. “Also, I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?” I blushed. “You don’t have to spoil me with surprises just because of what we have going on. I'm perfectly fine with keeping things private.”
“I know I don’t. But I want to. I don’t want you to think you’re just something fun to do, because you’re much more than that to me. It's been a long time since I've shared any intimate time with a woman. So, I want you to know how much I appreciate it. And I really care about you, Ariane, you mean so much to me.”
“If you say so, Mr. Taylor,” I teased. “I will see you tomorrow then. Thanks for the rides tonight.”
Throughout the night, I kept repeating his last words in my head.You mean so much to me.But, to what extent? Enough to forgive me for lying to him about my identity? It had never been my intention to sleep with him. It had just sort of happened. While I found both Logan and Lucas to be very attractive, Logan was different. For the first time in my life, I felt safe and treasured. I'd never felt so safe as I felt in his arms. Logan treated me like a queen—like no one else mattered but me. He was totally the opposite of Lucas, who had made me feel so worthless.
My thoughts percolated until I fell asleep, wishing a magic wand could resolve my worries and undo my wrongdoings.
Chapter Thirteen
Logan
Thefollowingafternoon,Iwent out to buy Ariane a nice dress to wear to the company party. There would be a lot of important CEOs, presidents, and wealthy clients in attendance, and I wanted her to be the best dressed in the room.
She did more than just play her role as my assistant. She was my life coach. My friend. My lover. And I thought I was falling for her. She gave me great advice on how to handle things in different ways than I normally would, and business had been a lot better with her by my side. So, I went all out and bought her a beautiful gown to send along with her invite.
“Are you free tonight?” I texted her while she was out for lunch.
“Depends,” she playfully responded with a heart emoji.
“Well, if you are, I would like to have you on my arm for the company party tonight. You won’t have to worry about finding anything to wear, hair, or makeup. I'll have everything already taken care of for you.”
She was out to lunch with Casey that afternoon, something they made time for at least twice a week. When she didn’t respond right away, I got a little nervous about why. Again, my guilty conscience crept up on me. But when she finally responded and said she would love to come, my heart felt lighter, and I was able to breathe again.
“Did you invite Ariane to the CEO party?”
Casey rushed into my home office after work to confront me about the usual. I never invited my assistants to bigger parties, because of the risk of a leak, or anything going wrong. But Ariane was different. She was special to me. I couldn’t help myself.
“Yeah.” I removed my glasses and folded my hands together. “What’s the problem?”
“Dad.” She smiled a confused smile. “Is there something going on here that I don’t know about? I mean, you know how risky it is to have assistants at these kinds of functions. Someone could get into her head and steal ideas. She could get upset and expose company secrets. Anything. We never bring our assistants along. Are you planning on giving her a different position at the company or something?”
I was glad she didn’t ask about our personal life, because I didn’t know if I would have been able to hold on to my lie any longer. But I didn’t like the fact that she sounded perplexed about Ariane’s loyalty to the company or her ability to move up the ladder.
“I doubt we have anything to worry about with Ariane being there. She’s completely devoted to Powerhouse Luxury Designs, and she proves that loyalty every day. Besides, I think her tagging along will be great for the company. There will be some big names in that room tonight. If they see how well versed we all are and how well we work together, it could open the doors for a lot more business. Even for you and your branching out.”
Casey gave me a look of distaste. She seemed confused about my invitation to Ariane. I could tell she had a lot more questions than the ones she’d asked, but there was no time for either of us to get into it. The clock was ticking, and we’d have to be at the venue before we knew it. So, we both dropped the conversation and proceeded to get ready.
On the way over, we stopped to pick up Ariane. The minute I laid eyes on her, I wanted to jump from the back seat of our limo and kiss her feet. But Casey was there watching my every move and expression like a hawk. She was eager to know just what was going on between Ariane and me.
“Good evening.” I greeted Ariane with a peck on the hand as I opened the door for her. “You look great this evening.”
“Thank you.” She smiled, though she looked as if she were confused by my greeting. Until she saw Casey in the limo. “Oh, hey, Casey. I didn’t know you would be here.”
“I didn’t know you’d be here either,” Casey replied while trying to keep her composure. “You look really nice.”
“Thank you. So do you.”
The tension was tight between them. I started to regret having Casey along in the car with us, but if I hadn’t, she would have been even more suspicious to see us arrive together.
“That dress is amazing,” Casey complimented Ariane again. “Where’d you buy it?”
“Oh.” Ariane quickly looked to me for confirmation. When she saw the concerned expression on my face, she thought quickly on her feet and told Casey something other than the truth. “Just something I picked up on vacation a while ago. I never got the chance to wear it, because I rarely go anywhere. So, I thought tonight would be perfect for it.”
I wiped the sweat from my brow without Casey noticing, while silently thanking Ariane for keeping my purchase on the hush. Even though I didn't think Casey bought her explanation one-hundred percent, she accepted it for what it was and talked about something else for the remainder of the ride.
