Laying a Foundation: Bonus volume: Includes series prequel, The Groundbreaking (The Love Under Construction Series) (16 page)

“Probably. You know guys – they won’t all order for their secretaries. Most of them don’t even do anything for their wives’ birthdays.” Marla’s ex, Dave, was a rat bastard of the highest order. If Nikki had been married to him, she wouldn’t have had a very high opinion of men either.

Once Carol got there, she helped them unpack the cartons of flowers for the morning. They had plenty of containers and fresh cut flowers to do anything anyone could want.

Nikki wondered about Tony. Did he have a secretary? Would he come in to order something? She’d seen him almost every day at the gym in the three weeks since he’d been in for Annabeth’s flowers. Every time he came by her, he spoke to her, and she spoke back. She could feel daggers shooting out of Kelly’s eyes, and she had to admit, it felt kind of good. No one had ever been jealous of her before. She lived for those moments, a simple “Hey, Nikki, how are you?” or “Hi, Nikki, doing okay?” She was finding it easier to look at him and not her feet. Sometimes she even imagined he’d stop and say, “Hey, Nikki, wanna go for coffee?” That would be nice. Probably never happen, though.

She turned on the OPEN sign and checked the counter to make sure they had all the sales supplies they needed. Good thing, too; within ten minutes, they’d had three customers, two of whom were women ordering for their secretaries. One had a secretary named Chuck who was getting a box of chocolates and dark burgundy calla lilies. He’d like those.

The morning meandered toward noon, and soon it was lunchtime. Nikki chose to work through. It was easier than eating alone.

Clayton stuck his head into Tony’s office and spoke low: “Dad, you do know tomorrow is Administrative Professionals Day, right?” Cheryl had gone to the post office, but Clayton was still being careful.

“Huh? What?” Tony’s face twisted in puzzlement.

“Administrative Professionals Day. You know, it used to be called Secretary’s Day?” Clayton answered.

“Crap, thanks for reminding me. I need to do something for her.” Tony wrote FLOWERS FOR CHERYL on a sticky note and stuck it to the front of one of his desk drawers where she couldn’t see it. “I’ll go take care of that in a little while.”

Mission accomplished,
Clayton thought. Annabeth had given him strict orders to remind Tony so maybe he’d pay a visit to The Passionate Pansy. Clayton smiled to himself as he walked away from his dad’s office. His sister was determined to get Tony together with that woman who worked there. He had to admit to himself that he didn’t think it was a bad idea. He’d watched Tony barely shuffling through his existence, numb and alone, and he’d like to see some sign of life creep back into his dad.

And it worked. Tony parked across from The Passionate Pansy and looked around; sure enough, he’d thought he remembered a café next door. The special of the day was a Reuben, so he went in and ordered two sandwiches, two bags of chips, and an iced tea. Then he walked over to the flower shop, wondering if what he was about to do would help him or hurt him.

A dark-haired woman stood at the counter. “Can I help you?” she asked, smiling at Tony.

“Um, yeah, I need to place an order for Secretary’s Day, uh, Administrative Professionals Day,” he corrected himself. “She, actually,” he stuttered, “uh, I sort of know Nikki. Is she here?”

“Oh, yeah. Hey, Nik!” Carol called out. “Customer!”

Nikki stepped out from the workroom and couldn’t believe her eyes. He’d asked for her? She smiled. “Hi, Tony!”

“Hey! I’m, well, I need to, um, you did such a good job with Annabeth’s flowers that I, um, I thought maybe you could help me with something for my secretary?” He felt his face grow warm. What the hell was wrong with him? Why did he feel so flustered?

“Sure! We’ve got a lot of really pretty things. What did you have in mind?” She came around from behind the counter, and his heart nearly stopped. She had on a pair of form-fitting, flared-leg jeans and shoes with three-inch heels, and her legs were long and lean. The long-sleeved purple tee she was wearing hugged her torso, and her breasts were round and soft-looking. A beautiful vintage amethyst pendant hung down in the v-neck of the top, lying perfectly against her ivory chest just below her collarbone. And that hair – it cascaded down her shoulders, down her chest, down her back. It positively glittered. He couldn’t think, couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. He wanted to lean in, to sniff her hair, to touch it, touch her, wrap his arms around her waist and bury his face in her neck. He felt something happening in his jeans, and realized he was getting hard. Strangest thing – that kept happening when he thought about her. He hoped she wouldn’t notice.

Then he snapped back to reality. “Um, something colorful? She works with a bunch of guys, so she’d probably appreciate something bright and feminine.” He wondered how long he’d stood there staring at her, hoping he hadn’t made a fool of himself, but she smiled at him like nothing was wrong.

“We can do colorful. Not a problem. How much do you want to spend?”

“Uh, fifty? Is that enough?”

“We can do miracles with fifty! Let me get all of the info.” Nikki started writing down the information she already knew; Tony supplied Cheryl’s name and his address and phone number. “And where is this going?”

“Walters Construction. Over on Brownsboro Road.”

Walters; surely no coincidence. “So, is that family?” She hadn’t known where he worked.

“Yes, you could say that,” Tony answered.

Too many questions, too forward,
she thought. Her insides were turning to mush, and she was getting wet just standing close to him. She wished she’d worn a padded bra, not just so she’d look bigger, but to cover her nipples better. They were hardening, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.

“Looks like I’ve got all of the information,” she said as she took his credit card. “We’ll get this out tomorrow first thing. If she’s not happy with them, please let us know and we’ll make it right.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll be beautiful. You do good work.” Tony smiled at her. He’d placed the bag of food on the counter while he ordered, and now it was time for his act. He picked up the bag, looked at it, and shook it, then opened it and peered inside. “Oh no! They gave me two of everything. Have you had lunch?”

“Well, no. I worked through lunch,” she stuttered, wondering if he was about to ask her to lunch. She felt kind of giddy at the thought.

“I can’t eat all of this. Would you like a sandwich and some chips?” Tony held them out to her.

Nikki’s heart sank. “Oh, how kind! Thank you.” She reached out for the wrapped sandwich and the bag of chips and, for a split second, their fingers touched. In that moment, she felt like she was about to cry, partially because she wanted so badly to touch him or have him touch her, but mostly because she was so disappointed. She’d so hoped he was about to ask her to spend fifteen minutes with him, eating across a table somewhere; instead, he handed her extra food he’d accidentally gotten from next door. But it was kind of him to offer it. With very little disposable income, she rarely got to eat out. She smiled and looked down at her feet.

“Well, thanks for the help.” Tony strolled to the door, feeling pretty good about himself. He might not have asked her out, but he’d given her something to think about for as long as the sandwich and chips lasted. Was it his imagination – were her nipples poking out underneath her tee? He didn’t want to stare; well, he wanted to, but not so she’d see. “See you at the gym!”

“Yeah, see ya,” she called behind him. When he’d cleared the door, she called out to Carol, “Can you come out and man the counter?”

“Sure.” Carol walked to the counter just in time to see Nikki’s eyes redden. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Carol asked, but Nikki shook her head and took off for the back, food in hand.

“Are you okay?” Carol called behind her.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just need to eat this before it gets completely cold,” Nikki called back, trying to sound normal. The back door banged shut behind her and she plopped down on a crate outside the door. She unwrapped the sandwich, but with the first bite, hot tears sprang from her eyes, and when she tried to swallow, she choked. She worked to get the bite down, and tried for the next one. While she chewed, she told herself,
Tony gave me this sandwich. So maybe he didn’t buy it just for me, so what? He could’ve thrown it away, but he was kind enough to pass it on to me. I should eat it and be thankful for it.
But she so wanted to be eating it somewhere with him, sitting across from him and looking into his eyes. She’d see him at the gym. Maybe someday he’d actually notice her.

For now, the sandwich would just have to do.

A
plan was hatching in Tony’s head. He’d been seeing Nikki at the gym every day, and he always smiled and spoke. It was really getting to Kelly too – he thought that was pretty funny. Did they talk about him in the locker room? The idea made him smile.

And there was the night. Every night. He’d climb into bed all alone and, no matter how much he concentrated on other things, his mind made a three-sixty and came back to her. Before he could draw another breath, he was hard, harder than he’d ever been, and he’d just get harder and harder until it was impossible to think about anything but her soft hair, her pale skin against his darkness, her hard, rosy nipples, and he had to relieve his pain. He’d wrap his hand around his shaft and start to stroke, tight and slow. He wondered how tight her pussy would be, how warm and soft she’d feel in his arms. Her long, beautiful legs would wrap around his waist, and he’d pump into her like a dying man drawing his last breath. In his mind he could see those clear blue-green eyes staring up into his as he fucked her for all he was worth until she’d drawn every last drop of his essence from him. Oh, god, he made a mess every night, but it was worth it to imagine what she’d be like.

Then, every morning, he thought about his plan and wondered if it would work. He sat at his desk and daydreamed about the end result. It surprised him to find that, while it terrified him, it was also exhilarating. The idea that he might actually have a chance with this woman was beyond anything he’d ever imagined.

“Did you hear me?”

“What?” Tony snapped back into reality. Clayton was standing in front of his desk, and Cal was leaning against the door facing.

“I said, is the plumbing firm ready for the Carson project? Geez, Dad, where the hell were you?” Clayton eyed him suspiciously.

“Yeah, yeah, the plumbing. Dalton called this morning and said they’re ready to go. Just say the word. Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“So, it’s been a long time for me. Do women expect to have sex on the first date now?”

Clayton’s brows shot up into his hairline. “Shit! Really, Dad? I can’t believe you asked me that!”

“But, Clayton, I need to know because . . .”

“Oh, no! I don’t want to know! I don’t even want to think about that. Aw, man . . .” Clayton looked woefully distressed, and Cal chuckled.

“But seriously, Clayton, I haven’t had sex in, well, awhile, and . . .”

“Noooooo! Oversharing! I don’t want to hear this!
Please!
” Clayton made a big production of putting his hands over his ears. By then, Cal was barking with laughter in the background.

“Would you guys help me out here, please? I really don’t know what I’m doing.” Tony sounded exasperated and a little desperate.

“Boss, maybe I can help,” Cal offered, taking Clayton by the shoulders and moving him over to the credenza, out of the way. Cal sat down in the chair in front of Tony’s desk. “So, how old is this girl? Twenty? Twenty-five? Thirty?”

“Oh, hell no! I’m not sure, but she’s at least forty-five, maybe older.” Tony made a disgusted face. “What, you think I’m some old man going for a teenage girl or something?”

“No, boss, but you are a man that women want.”

“Me?” Tony’s eyes went wide with disbelief. “Women want me? What women? Where? On what planet? ’Cause I’m not finding any of them.”

“Oh, they’re out there. Lots of women,” Cal grinned, eyebrows raised. Tony gaped at him, and Cal started again. “All ages, sizes, and types. Do you have any idea how many women see the Walters Construction logo on my truck and ask if I could introduce them to you?”

Clayton had taken his hands off his ears. He nodded toward Cal. “He’s not lying, Dad. They do it to me all the time, too. When they’re not propositioning me. You know, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.” He looked positively proud of himself.

Tony was bewildered. “Oh, come on. You guys are joking, right?”

“Hell no! You’re considered quite the catch around Louisville.” Cal smiled and shook his head. “You really don’t know that?”

Tony shook his head. “Do they want my money? I have to assume that’s it.”

“Among other things,” Cal smirked. “Your money doesn’t hurt, but they want you too. They wanna jump your bones in the most primitive of ways.”

“Oh, my god, here we go again!” Clayton yelled, putting his hands back over his ears. Cal shot him a look. Tony didn’t quite know what to say and he turned to Clayton, who took his hands down and, pointing at Cal, added, “Yeah, what he said.”