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Chapter 12

Rowena’s POV

This had to stop. As good as the sex was with Nick, that’s all it seemed to be to him, just sex. I deserved so much more than that. Don’t get me wrong, I was loving it just as much as he was, but I’d never done this kind of thing before in my life. I’d never had a one night stand, I’d only had four sexual partners and all of them had been serious boyfriends. That’s why I was shocked at the way I was behaving with Nick Carter, especially in the work place.

Over the next couple of weeks there were a few more sexual encounters in work, mainly his office. We were like two magnets, pulling together no matter how hard we tried to stop it. After each time, we just seemed to carry on like nothing had happened. Back to business as usual, except whereas before he’d been a total bastard and an ogre to work for, he seemed to be mellowing a little. In fact, you could say his attitude was now tolerable. Everyone seemed to notice it, which led to gossip that maybe he was seeing someone. No one suspected me though, why would they? I was merely his assistant. Someone like Nick Carter could’ve had any woman he wanted. Then it got me thinking, what if he was seeing someone else? What we had going on was hardly a relationship, we were both free to see other people. I felt quite jealous at the thought of someone else touching him the way I did. Maybe I should see someone else too, maybe that would get him out of my system, although by now, I was already in way too deep. I needed more than to just be someone’s fuck buddy though; I wanted him to feel the same way for me as I did for him. I just couldn‘t tell him that.

That weekend was to be the annual Summer Ball, it promised to be a fantastic event this year, with the merger of the two companies this year; they were going all out to make this ball something special. Invitations had been sent out to a lot of our clients also, and we were all counting down the days to the weekend. We could bring a partner if we wanted, I knew Kayla was taking Richard, but seeing as I was single, I’d be going it alone. I knew I wouldn’t be alone when I got there though; a lot of the girls were single, or just didn‘t want to bring their men. My mind wasn’t on them though. I was thinking of him. What if he brought a date? Would I be able to handle it? You could always scratch her eyes out. Don’t be stupid, you wouldn’t do that, you have more dignity than that, you’d just ignore him.

Friday afternoon in the office and everyone was excited about the forthcoming ball; we were all talking about what we were wearing and what time we’d be arriving. Usually Nick would’ve blown his top at us chattering like this in work time, but today he seemed to be in as good a mood as the rest of us.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Miss Bloom” he said with a sexy smile as I was leaving the office. I must’ve been grinning from ear to ear all the way home; he’d actually said he’d see me tomorrow and smiled about it! If only he’d drop the Miss Bloom act and call me Rowena though.

That night, I went through my entire wardrobe to plan what I’d wear to the ball. I know I should’ve been more organised and thought ahead, but I’ve always been a last minute kind of person when it comes to things like this, and I had a lot of clothes already. Rummaging through the masses of clothes, I found a few possibilities and pulled them out to take a closer look.

“Oh my god, I forgot about this dress” I said as I held it up to myself in the full length mirror and admired it. The dress was a deep aquamarine colour, made of satin and was floor length. It had a halter neck which dipped into a deep V in the front and was completely backless; I decided to try it on. I quickly undressed and slid the dress on, fastening it at the neck, then turned to look at myself in the mirror. The dress was perfect; it was very flattering and showed off my curves without being trashy. I’d only worn the dress once before at a friend’s wedding, so no one from the office had seen me in it. My mind was made up without even looking at the rest of my wardrobe. Now I just needed to make sure I had the right kind of accessories to go with it. Thankfully, I did.

I spent the rest of the night chilling out with a DVD and a tub of ice cream, I decided on ‘Pretty Woman’ and wondered if Nick would ever be my Edward Lewis, my knight in shining armour like on the film. I could dream.

The following morning, I got up and went for a run, then came home and did some housework to pass the time. At five o’clock, my friend Anna who also happened to be a hairdresser came over to transform my hair into something fitting for the occasion. We chatted as she worked and before long, I was done.

“Wow Anna, its lovely, thank you so much” I said and paid her.

“I just hope you have a good time tonight, will there be any nice men there?” she asked with a grin “it’s about time you got out there and found someone”

“There might be one of two there, but I won’t get my hopes up” I said as I thought of my boss.

“They won’t be able to resist you!” she said and we laughed.

After she’d gone, I finished getting ready and then observed myself in my full length mirror. I did look stunning. My hair had been styled into loose curls with the sides gently pulled up and curling down the back, my make-up was just enough to look glamorous and the dress, necklace and earrings made me look like a movie star. I finished off by slipping into a pair of strappy heels and then was ready to go.

I was nervous on the way there, but that didn’t last, I was soon amongst friends and enjoying myself. The drinks were flowing freely and there was a huge buffet with everything you could possibly want. Music was playing and people were dancing. There was also a large marquee set up outside, with another bar and another dance floor with hundreds of tiny fairy lights illuminating it softly. I had to excuse myself for a moment to go to the bathroom and that’s when I saw him. He wasn’t alone either. He was stood laughing and smiling with some supermodel looking bitch! Her hand was lightly resting on his arm and I had the urge to march over there and slap it away and tell her he was taken. But of course I didn’t. He wasn’t taken and he wasn’t mine, no matter how much I wanted him to be.

I walked past them, pretending I’d not seen him, and carried on towards the ladies toilets.

“Rowena” he called and grabbed hold of my arm just before I reached the door to the toilets.

“What do you want? A quick fuck in the toilets? That’s all I’m good for isn’t it?” I said, fighting back the tears and missing the fact that he’d actually called me something other than Miss Bloom.

“Is that what you really think of me?” he sounded quite hurt “that that’s all I want?”

“Well isn’t it?” I said “anyway, why don’t you go back to your supermodel and let me go my way” I pulled myself free of him and walked off, leaving him standing there.

When I came out of the bathroom, he was nowhere to be seen. Probably fucking that supermodel type girl he was with earlier.

I went to the bar and ordered myself a double vodka and coke and downed it in one, then ordered another and did the same.

“Hey, slow down, it’s all free anyway” came a voice from beside me and I looked up to see someone who looked vaguely familiar, I knew he worked for the company, but wasn’t sure whereabouts.

“I was just thirsty” I lied.

“OK, I believe you” he smiled “I’m Jason, I’ve seen you around, I work in the accounts department”

“Hi Jason, nice to meet you, I’m Rowena, I work for Nick Carter as his assistant” I said and smiled at him warmly. He was a good looking guy. Tall, dark haired and handsome, and completely different to Nick.

“Hmm, and how’s that going? I hear he’s a hard man to please” he asked. I almost choked on my drink! If only he knew how easy it was to please Nick.

“Yeah, he can be difficult sometimes, but I love my job and like a challenge” I replied.

We chatted for a while and then he asked if I’d like to dance, I accepted and he led me to the dance floor where lots of other people were swaying to the slow ballad that was playing. He held me quite close, but at an acceptable closeness for dancing, and I found myself enjoying his company, he was friendly and funny and everything Nick wasn’t.

“Mind if I cut in?” asked an all too familiar voice “I need to talk to Rowena…work matter, y‘know”

He called me Rowena!

“Sure” Jason said “see you later Rowena”

“See you Jason” I replied and looked at Nick, wondering what could be so important to talk about at a party “yes Mr Carter?”

He didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes, he put his arms around me and held me close, burying his face against my hair and sighing.

“Rowena…I didn’t like seeing you dance with him” he finally said.

“Why? What’s it to you? And where’s your date? Won’t she be wondering where you are?” I said.

“My date? She’s not my date, she’s just a passing acquaintance, I was being polite!” he said.

“OK, but that still doesn’t give you the right to tell me who I can and can’t dance with” I said.

“I was jealous OK” he sighed “I saw his hands on you and I saw red. I wanted to be in his place. You drive me wild Rowena”

I didn’t know what to say, I was completely speechless for the first time in ages.

Chapter End Notes:
His wall is crumbling! Hope you enjoyed :)