NickThe incessant beeping wouldn't stop. It was like a nightmare. I kept feeling around, trying to turn the damn thing off. I grabbed around but didn't find my nightstand. Instead, there was a cold, metal bar and then emptiness.What the hell?I opened my eyes to realize I wasn't in my room, or even in my own home. No, I was hooked up to a machine in a hospital. How did I even get here? Was I dead?No, duh, of course I wasn't dead. They didn't take dead people and hook them up to machines at the hospital. Unless this was hell. There was a very good chance it was hell."You're awake," I heard a voice say sweetly.If I were in hell, this voice certainly wouldn't be here. She was an angel. If I was dead, this was a weird introduction to heaven."Nick," she said more firmly. "Can you hear me?"Simone. Of course. Hers was the sweetest voice I could ever hope to hear."Yeah," I said, realizing my throat was incredibly sore. When was the last time I said anything? "What hap
MichaelAfter the hospital, I took Simone back to my place and forced her to take a nap. She'd been up all night. She'd insisted that she was fine, but I didn't believe her. She'd been through hell, and I wasn't letting her ignore what her body needed.When she woke up, though, it was clear that what her body needed was me."Hi," she said when she opened her eyes to see me lying next to her."Hi," I answered, and moved over her so I could place a kiss on her lips.It started slow and soft. We hadn't been together in almost a week, so I was desperate for her. I also knew that she'd been through an ordeal, and I didn't want to push her. She put those fears to rest quickly.Her hand was pressed firmly on the back of my head, and she pulled me as close as I could possibly get. Her tongue swirled around my mouth, tasting every inch of the flesh there. She moaned into my mouth and moved to grind her body against mine, clearly wanting to be closer.I knew what she wanted. She wa
NickSimone hadn't come over for two days, but I didn't blame her. I was actually grateful because I was a lot worse off than I thought. I spent most of those two days sleeping and having my assistant bring me food. I'd been f*cking ravenous since I got home.When she finally did come over, though, I was ravenous in a completely different way. We stayed up all night, barely pausing to breathe. There was so much pent-up energy between us after everything that had happened. There were a lot of tears shed. Hers and mine. We agreed to go to counseling because neither of us wanted this experience to control our lives. She admitted that she'd been having nightmares. All the more reason not to sleep.We were lying in bed the next morning, so exhausted but so afraid to close our eyes."I notice your handcuffs are gone," she noted, her eyes heavy with tiredness.I chuckled humorlessly."Yeah, I think I'm a little over that particular kink.""Me too," she admitted with a long ya
*Simone*"So, without further ado, let me introduce Miss Simone Carter," Jake Owens finished his long speech about welcoming me to the team. I could feel a blush creeping up my neck and shot my friend Mandy a tense look. I was hoping that my first day at Owens Group would be a low-key affair, but that wasn't to be.The office erupted into loud applause, but I could sense that not everyone was thrilled I was there. One woman, in particular, was sneering at me. I wondered what the hell her problem was. Still, I wouldn't let her get me down. This job was my big break. I would just go about my business and kick ass at selling homes."You know Mandy, of course," Jake was saying as he walked me around the room and started introducing me to my new co-workers. The names and faces all blurred together, and I knew immediately that I would be asking people their names for at least a few weeks. Until I got to the sneering bitch from earlier, that is."This is Crystal Cope. She's one of our
*Simone* "You think this is impressive, wait until you see the inside!" Mandy laughed at me as I took in the outside of the property. Despite living in LA for several years, I'd never been to a house this large before. The only word I could think of was opulent. II was not remotely prepared for the inside, though. She opened the front door to reveal a wide, open space. From the front door, I could see to the back of the house.. Beyond that was a private beach with a killer view of the ocean. Part of me was jealous that I couldn't live there myself.In the living room, Mandy grabbed one of the remotes and pressed a button. Suddenly, shades rolled down from the ceiling to cover the windows. She grabbed another remote and a large, flat television rose up from the floor."Believe it or not," she said, "this room was specifically built for this TV.""The crazy thing is, this is just the living room. Wait 'til you see the home theater.""This isn't the theater?" I nearly ye
*Simone*"There you are, girl!" Crystal said cheerily as I walked into the office. "How did your showing go? I've been dying to hear all about it."What a fake bitch."It was wonderful," I said with a fake grin plastered on my face. It was too early in the morning for this woman to get the best of me. I wasn't going to give in."I'm so glad to hear that!" she responded with a snotty edge to her voice. "First showings are always so difficult for most people. No one would be surprised to hear that you completely f*cked it up.""No, it was fine," I said breezily, trying to hide my anxiety.I hated this situation so much. The house was gorgeous, and it could be perfect for Michael. And Michael was gorgeous, and he could be perfect for me. But my career was too important to risk for a man. Maybe that was a harsh way to look at it, but I knew I wouldn't have trouble finding someone when I was ready to settle down. Now was the time to prove myself professionally and worry about
SimoneWell f*ck. Of course Rob would be hot as shit. I was honestly baffled when he walked into the café to meet for our appointment. It was always good to meet clients in a neutral territory to get an idea of their interests and needs. Meeting in the office would be too stuffy–not to mention the potential for drama. And until I knew what kind of house Rob needed, it wouldn't make sense to meet him at a home and waste the valuable time of both of us.It was his idea to meet at the café–a chic, modern joint outside of the strip. It had a clean, nearly sterile feel to it. There wasn't much charm, but maybe that was the draw for these kind of tech guys. They weren't looking for cozy and warm; they thrived on codes, numbers, and efficiency. Everything in their life needed to match that. At least, that was my impression from the handful of Silicon Valley tycoons I'd met.Rob wasn't like that at all, though. My first thought was that he was the opposite of all of the things I'd come t
SimoneI felt the butterflies in my stomach as I pulled up to the stunning Spanish villa in the Valley. This was another one of Mandy's listings that she'd been having a hard time moving. Our firm had only recently expanded to the Valley, and most of their usual clients wanted to stay closer to the strip. Michael, however, had no real preference for location. He wanted a gorgeous house; it didn't matter where it was or how much money he had to pay. On the one hand, that was good news for me, but on the other, it made it hard to narrow down his interests. I needed to hit it out of the ballpark so I could get him in escrow.I hoped Michael would love the villa, but more importantly, I hoped he would buy any house I showed him and put me out of my misery. The sooner we had a contract signed, the sooner I could think about anything else. He'd been consuming my thoughts since the moment he pulled up at the first house, and as much as I didn't want to, I couldn't stop fantasizing about h