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  Stopping in mid-step, Richie glanced back over his shoulder pinning her to the spot with his heated stare. “I’m walking away only because you’re a virgin…make no mistake, if you still didn’t have your innocence I would have you naked on the couch with my cock buried to the hilt inside of your tight, sweet little body.”

  Keri was so upset that she wanted to throw something at the back of the fine-looking man’s head. How dare he lie and say that her virginity was the real reason he stopped making love to her. It wasn’t the truth and they both knew it.

  Well, if he was so scared of her undersexed body she would go out and find a man who wouldn’t be. She bet Tate wouldn’t care if she had never had sex before. She didn’t realize she had spoken the last thought out loud until she turned to leave and Richie grabbed her by the arm pressing her back against the door.

  “You aren’t going to offer yourself up to my idiot brother,” Richie growled as he placed his hand above her head. “I will kill him if he ever thinks about taking you to his bed.” He leaned into her body, so she could see deep into his mesmerizing eyes.

  She was getting really tired of him giving her advice. She was ready to make love to him and he shoved her away without a second thought and now was all up in her business. Why was it any of his concern who she spent her time with? It wasn’t like he was harboring any secret feelings for her. Mistakenly, she had thought for a while that Richie was her end all and be all. Nevertheless, she was beginning to see she might have made a mistake since he was trying so hard to be her advisor instead of her boyfriend.

  “You have no right to tell me what to do or who I can see. Now move out of my way.” Keri shoved Richie hard in the chest making him stumble back enough that she was able to open the door and go out.

  “Keri, we aren’t finished with our conversation!” Richie yelled after her. “Come back here.”

  Keri snatched her purse from underneath her desk and stormed out of the building right past a smiling Tate. She had to get out of there before she lost her cool ever more and gave Richie a piece of her mind.

  Chapter Nine

  “From what you told me about what happened yesterday at work, I think Richie was jealous of the attention you were giving his brother.” Shay January, her childhood friend placed a hand on her arm to comfort her.

  Keri and Shay had been friends since preschool when Keri had stood up to some other kids teasing Shay because of a limp caused by childhood illness. Keri never saw Shay’s handicap at all. She just loved having a best friend.

  “Why didn’t you call him on it? Isn’t that the opening you’ve been waiting for like the past two years now?”

  Keri wished Shay understood where she was coming from when it came to her emotions about her boss. She totally thought things had taken a leap forward after what occurred between them in his office, but boy was she wrong about that.

  When she’d gone back to the office Richie and Tate were both out to see clients, but Richie had left a note on her desk with a list of things Taylor needed before the charity event next week. He had also added a special message at the bottom warning her to stay away from Tate.

  If the notes from his meeting with Taylor hadn’t been on the same paper, she would have balled it up and tossed it in the trash can. How dare he try to tell her who to have in her life? Tate was her friend and nothing else. Richie had a lot of nerve implying anything else was going on.

  “Richie wasn’t jealous,” Keri said, correcting Shay. “He was trying to be my protector. I don’t need one of those and I didn’t ask him to fill those shoes. I need a boyfriend and nothing less than that.”

  “Girl…you got a taste of sex and you’ve lost your crazy mind,” Shay shot back.

  Shaking her head, Keri tried to deny what Shay was telling her. She wasn’t becoming a sex addict because Richie licked at her a couple of times. Her willpower was a hell of a lot stronger than that; she only wanted to show Richie he had no say-so in her personal affairs since they weren’t in a real romantic relationship.

  “We actually didn’t have sex. Richie and I only fooled around a little and got very lucky that no one walked in on us. I would have died right then and there if Tate had come into his brother’s office.”

  “Tate probably heard the two of you through the door and that kept him from barging in unannounced,” Shay told her before taking a sip of her chocolate raspberry flavored coffee.

  Keri’s hazel eyes widened in utter shock at her friend’s off-handed comment. There was no way Tate heard her with Richie. She had been quiet as a church mouse. No, Tate would have said something about it to embarrass the hell out of her after he got back from his meeting with his clients. He was just wired that away.

  “You’re wrong. I barely made any sound. Tate is in the dark about what happened yesterday morning.” She was trying to believe her own words, but a hint of doubt had settled in the back of her mind.

  “Enough about Tate. What I’m wondering now is will you do as Richie told you to do?”

  “Hell no!”

  “That’s my girl. Now listen to this, I have a plan for you to finally land that sexy red-headed man of yours. Do this and Richie Davidson will be all yours.” Shay grinned like she knew the world’s best kept secret to landing your dream man.

  Chapter Ten

  “Did you really give Keri an ultimatum?” Nick laughed as he followed Richie into his large, open kitchen. “Don’t you know you have no right to do that to her?”

  Richie grabbed two bottles of water out of the refrigerator and tossed one to Nick. “I invited you over here so we could work out together, not to get a lecture from you about my love life or Keri.

  “I thought you would be on my side anyway. I was only looking out for Keri. She’s so naïve that I need to make sure she won’t fall for Tate’s charm. He’s used it to fool other women, but I wouldn’t allow it to happen to my Keri.”

  “Your Keri?” Nick snickered. “Is that how it is now? I thought you told me the other day you only saw her as a friend and nothing more.”

  Taking a long sip of water, Richie thought about his conflicting feelings for Keri and he was beginning to see that he wanted more than a business relationship with her. He desired to have a romantic involvement: Which meant he would take her out on a real date, invite her over on Friday nights so they could pretend to be watching television while making out like two horny teenagers on his couch.

  He liked how Keri’s face would light up every morning when he walked through the doors at work. Sometimes he would find a way to leave his office door open, so he could watch Keri work at her desk. She would be so busy that she couldn’t feel him staring at her. Back then he wasn’t about to cheat on Kristy because he believed in being faithful to the person he was dating.

  “I think I might have to revise my original statement. I almost took her right on the couch in my office during the day. God, the best and worst thing about it was Keri was totally into it. Man, she was so vocal that I swear if she hadn’t put her fist in her mouth I know my brother would have heard us. You know how much I cared about Kristy, but she wasn’t into screaming and letting me know what she wanted when it came to sex.”

  Hearing how a woman responded to him made him work harder to keep it going and thinking about ways to make it better for the both of them and Keri’s enthusiasm would constantly keep him on his toes.

  “So, Keri is different?” Nick twisted the cap off his water bottle.

  “I don’t know if it’s because she’s a virgin or she doesn’t care if anyone hears her pleasure, but Keri is so open and free. I think it adds to the list of things I’m growing to admire about my sexy assistant.

  “The dream I woke up from last night about Keri had me running for a cold shower and I was in there for an hour. God, I swear I thought I was back in high school dreaming about the popular girl I couldn’t get because of my braces and coke bottle glasses.”

  The need he had to be with Keri was getting worse with each
passing day. All he could think about was how good she tasted on his tongue after her two orgasms. He recognized the instant he pushed her away from him that she would be pissed at him, but he had to do it.

  His control was slipping fast and his cock was pushing for some relief between her warm, smooth thighs. Nick was right; he wasn’t attracted to Keri because she was there for him. Somehow and someway she had worked her way into his chest wrapping her tiny hand around his heart.

  “You sound like a man who is falling in love again. Do you think Keri has simmered down enough to listen to you?”

  “I honestly can’t tell you, but I know first thing tomorrow morning I’m going to have a talk with her. I’m tired of trying to hide my feelings. Yes, a small part of me will always care about Kristy, but I’m ready to move on.”

  “Are you sure?” Nick asked, suddenly very serious. “I don’t want my teasing to pressure you into something you aren’t ready for so you will end up breaking Keri’s heart.”

  For the longest time, Richie thought he wouldn’t be able to move on from Kristy and their love, but after seeing Tate with Keri the other day, the shocking jealousy that ate at him proved how wrong he was. It showed him how ready he was to move forward with his life and the woman he wanted to do it with.

  “I’m so sure that I’m going to make it official the first chance I get with Keri.” Richie grinned pleased that he was taking a huge leap forward with his life.

  ****

  Long after Nick had left to go home to his wife, Richie sat in the living room nursing a brandy, thinking more about his decision to pursue Keri more on an intimate level.

  Keri was so enchanting and delightful anytime the two of them engaged in a conversation. She specialized in having a good relationship with people. She first won him over with her gorgeous smile during her interview. Even after she had gone all he thought about was how her dimples popped out every time she grinned at him.

  Another thing he had come to admire greatly about Keri was her wit and how she used well-weighed insights to keep ideas flowing and fun at work. Keri never backed away from a friendly disagreement from him or anyone else.

  He would never forget the debate they got into last year about a new client he was planning to add to his already overbooked schedule. She hadn’t given up until she finally made him see her side which ended up being the better option.

  Besides having the ability to give an honest opinion without blinking an eye, Keri was a born initiator. She possessed a strong determination to make things happen no matter how long it took. He wasn’t even planning on talking to Tate again because of their past, but she encouraged him into rebuilding the bridge he had burned with his brother. Keri told him how she spotted the good in Tate and he would too if he only looked deep enough.

  Well, he honestly hadn’t found anything good yet, but he was willing to give it one last good try for Keri.

  Keri was the type of woman who always had perfect decorum and tried not to ruffle feathers because she would rather kill with kindness. He liked that Keri was a peacemaker instead of following in Deborah’s and Taylor’s footsteps.

  Those two women constantly found ways to stir up trouble and tear each other apart with their words. Neither one ever had a nice thing to say about the other one. It was hard to do business with females who were so self-destructive.

  All of those qualities Keri had that the other two were lacking made him so impressed with her which slowly turned into him falling in love with her. Keri made him smile on days that he wanted to pull his hair out after dealing with a stubborn client. She was always there with a kind word or killer neck massage when he was in the desperate need of one.

  It had taken all of his will power to toss her out of his office when he was dying to do the exact opposite. For a split second, he almost gave the keys to Tate and told him to lock up so he could take Keri back to his place for the rest of the day.

  However, the quality he admired most about Keri was her uncanny ability to weigh in on all things no matter how big or small they were and find just the right balance for everyone. She didn’t see problems from only one point of view, but every point of view, so she could get the bigger picture.

  Richie couldn’t wait until he had Keri in his life in a better role. She might not be too keen to listen to him tomorrow, but he would get her alone so they could have some quality time. He would finally admit to her what he had been hiding from himself so long. He was in love with her and wanted to build a future.

  Chapter Eleven

  Standing outside of Richie’s closed office door, Keri gripped the morning mail in her hand and ran her free hand down the back of her short Halle Berry style haircut. She’d been up most of the night contemplating what Shay had told her and she would do it.

  This would finally make her see if there was any opening for her in Richie’s life. If not, she would move on to another man. It wasn’t like she couldn’t fall for someone else. There were a lot of men out in the world for her to date. It might take a while, but she could do it.

  Watch out Richie because this is your last chance to be with me. It doesn’t matter how much I think I would be so much better for you than those other women. Keri knocked once on the door and then waited.

  “It’s open,” Richie’s rough voice called out.

  Keri went inside closing the door behind her. “Good morning, Richie. Here’s the mail. I placed the most important ones on the top.” Moving across the room, she placed it on the side and got the last of her nerves together, while mulling over how wanting a man she really clicked with could lead to a dynamic connection. Now was the time to see if there was a possibility Richie could be in a ‘long-term’ commitment with her.

  “Good morning, Keri. You look very beautiful today.” Richie smiled at her.

  Keri thought Richie’s eyes grew a shade darker as his gaze roamed over her deep red short sleeved v-neck top and short black pencil skirt, but it might have been her imagination.

  “Thank you. Do you mind if I talk to you about something?”

  “No, have a seat.” Richie waved at the empty chair next to his desk, but instead of sitting there Keri took a seat in front of the desk. She needed some space between them when she did this. If she was that close to Richie, she might not be able to stick with her plan.

  “I have been thinking about what happened between us the last time we were alone in your office.” Keri was giving Richie an opening and she hoped that he would take it and tell how he really felt or if he didn’t feel anything for her at all.

  “I have too,” he admitted.

  Wonderful. Maybe Shay was right. They needed to talk openly and honestly about their feelings and things would work out between them.

  “Do you want to tell me what your thoughts were?” Keri asked.

  “No, you can go first. I can wait until you’re done. I believe we might be on the same page.”

  All of the excitement she had sensed left and floated away like a hot air balloon. Richie was showing her how he truly saw her and she was done. He might have gotten two years of her life, but that was it. She would move on and find a guy who was worthy of all of the outstanding qualities she had to offer. Hell, Shay had to have a single friend or two that she could hook her up with.

  “Never mind, I think I’ll pass.” Standing up, Keri looked at Richie and shook her head. He was so caught up in his own misery he didn’t see what a good woman he was allowing to slip through his fingers, but he wasn’t her worry anymore.

  Keri headed for the door intending to leave until Richie came around his desk and blocked her path.

  “Where are you going?” he asked, confused. “I thought we were going to talk…we need to talk.”

  “No, I have nothing to say. What I was going to tell you doesn’t matter now. I see things a lot more clearly now. It was an eye opening experience.”

  Richie reached out to touch her, but she stepped back from him. As much as her heart might be breaking, she w
asn’t going to fall into this trap anymore with him. She would have some class about herself.

  Starting at this moment there would be no touching or anything else between them on an intimate level. She wouldn’t be giving him free advice about the women in his life anymore. He was a grown man and should be able to deal with his own problems without involving her. From here on out, it would be business and nothing else.

  “Mr. Davidson, I should get back to my desk. I need to return some phone calls about the charity this Friday. Please buzz me if you need me for anything,” Keri said.

  “You have never called me Mr. Davidson before,” Richie said, shock clear in his voice.

  “I know I should never have addressed you by your first name. It started us out on an unprofessional foot from the beginning. I’m going to try my best to bring it back the way it should be between us.” Keri went around Richie to leave, but stopped when he grabbed her by the arm.

  “Wait! You can’t go yet. I have so much to tell you. You misunderstood everything. I want you to know…”

  “Will you stop?” Keri jumped in cutting off Richie. “I know what is going on now. I see things for the way that they are and I’m not hurt or upset. I’ve always had a bad habit of falling for the wrong guy and you were no different. I have this need to save lost things. It’s a part of my personality. I was the little girl who would bring a stray dog home and feed it my supper so it wouldn’t go hungry. This behavior isn’t good for me and it needs to stop, so I’m going to start with you.”

  She shook off Richie’s touch and continued on toward the closed door. Opening it, she went out and barley missed running into Taylor.

  “Oh, I didn’t think you were here since your desk was empty,” Taylor said stepping back from her. “You spend more time in Richie’s office than you do at your work area. Is Richie in there? I need to talk to him about the catering to make sure I have all of the last details correct.”