He was too wired to fall asleep and slowly untangled himself from her. He felt much better and decided to get some work done. He’d proven his point and though he knew she would still fight him each step of the way, he didn’t think he would wake up to find her in another bed again.

He realized he’d always been surrounded by women willing to concede to him, with the slightest crook of his finger and it had bored him. He was glad she was stubborn and independent. She certainly would never bore him. He actually whistled as he took his shower and dressed for the day, then headed downstairs. The drive into the office didn’t take him long.

He almost laughed aloud at the relieved looks of his staff as he smiled at them and asked how their days were going. He hadn’t realized what a complete grouch he’d been. He had a feeling his mood was only going to improve each day he had with Nicole. He pushed the button to page his secretary.

“Can you please get Nicole on the line and put her through?” he asked her.

“Yes sir,” she efficiently replied. He could’ve easily rang her himself, especially since he was sitting at his desk doing nothing, in anticipation of her voice coming over the line but it was a game of who had the most power and he was determined to win.

“She’s on line three, sir,” the voice spoke over his intercom. He forced himself to wait a full two minutes before picking up the phone.

“Hello, Ryan here,” he spoke into the handset as if bored.

“You’re the one who called me,” she said exasperated, when he forgot who he was even speaking to.

“Oh yes, I almost forgot,” Ryan lied to her. “I’d like for you to come into the office today and have lunch with me,” he told her.

“I’m busy,” she said simply and his easy mood evaporated.

“Well then you’ll undo any plans you’ve made and be here by noon,” he told her, brooking no room for argument. The other end of the line was silent for so long he was beginning to think she’d actually had the audacity to hang up on him. His good mood was gone and he was about to explode.

“Fine, I’ll be there,” she finally said in a none too happy voice.

“Good, I’ll see you then,” he practically yelled before disconnecting the call. He was seething mad as he sat in his chair. There were women all around who’d be climbing all over themselves to spend one minute in his company and the one woman he actually wanted to be with acted as if she was going to the gallows every time he requested her presence. It was absolutely ridiculous and he needed to gain some control over himself. He refused to let her affect him so much.

“Mr. Titan, you have an international call on line one,” his secretary’s voice came over the intercom.

“I’ve got it,” he snapped at the woman. He received no reply and rightfully so. His staff was terrified of what kind of a mood he’d be in because it changed every two minutes. He took the call and was grateful it occupied him over the next couple of hours. He didn’t have time to sit around and brood about what Nicole was thinking or doing.

He was working on one of his accounts when his door opened. He was surprised, since no one ever walked into his office without either calling first, or at least knocking. He was about to bite the intruders head off, for the gall of interrupting him in his current mood, when Nicole flowed through the doorway.

“Has no one taught you manners? You should knock before walking into someone’s office. I could’ve been in an important meeting,” he snapped at her. She raised her brows at him and the smirk on her face wasn’t helping his mood. “Where the hell is my secretary anyway, she should have stopped you.”

“You’ve obviously been terrorizing your office staff and I told your secretary we were meeting for lunch and there was no need to buzz you. If you have a problem with that then you can take it out on me and not her. I think if you blow up at the poor woman one more time, she’s going to walk out the door, while telling you where you can stick your bad attitude,” she told him with arrogance.

“So, I guess you’re telling me how to run my offices now?” he questioned her.

“Obviously, someone needs to,” she gave right back.

“You drive me to the point of madness,” he snapped.

“Well that makes two of us. I don’t see why you want to continue this arrangement when we are both so miserable. You’re the one who insisted I come down here,” she yelled. He knew his staff was getting bits and pieces of their conversation and he really didn’t care.

“I’m hungry, let’s go,” he commanded and walked out the door, not trusting himself to touch her. He was in a foul mood and he’d end up throwing her over his desk. He wanted to bend her to his will but at the same time, part of his immense attraction for her was the fact she wasn’t just another whimpering female, wanting only to please him. He wouldn’t mind a little bit of appreciation from her, though.

“Yes sir,” she mumbled. He pretended not to hear her. It was better for both of them that way. As he crossed the offices he noticed his employees weren’t making eye contact with him. He started to feel a bit badly about that. He normally wasn’t a bear and people loved to work for him. He really was going to have to try not to take his frustrations out on his employees. He looked over to his secretary and waited until he got her attention.

“Order lunch for everybody today and use my credit card. After lunch, those who don’t have immediate things to be finished tonight can have the rest of the afternoon off,” he said and walked toward the elevators. He smiled as his employees faces lit up.

“Thank you, Mr. Titan,” a few different people shouted out to him as he entered the elevator. He nodded his head before the doors shut, locking him and Nicole into the small space.

“That was really sweet of you,” Nicole told him. Her entire demeanor had relaxed with those few words he’d uttered. He looked at her with surprise. She threw thousand dollar gifts back in his face with contempt but he spends a few hundred dollars on lunch for strangers and she gets all warm and fuzzy. He couldn’t understand her.

“I’m a nice guy,” he said with a leer. He then couldn’t take the space between them anymore, so he reached out and pulled her into his arms. She stiffened for about two seconds, then her body melted into his. Sexual chemistry wasn’t something they were lacking. He kissed her with all his pent up anger and need and by the time the elevator reached the bottom floor, they were both panting.

His security staff acted as if they hadn’t seen anything, thankfully. He knew the cameras in the elevators had given them quite a show. If Nicole knew that, she would’ve been mortified. He was going to speak to his staff and have a panel put in the elevator because he suddenly needed to have a way to turn off those monitors.

He pulled her out into the busy Seattle streets and led her to a small diner. There were so many great little cafés with excellent food in the city he was constantly being surprised. Nicole thawed out and they enjoyed a nice lunch together.

When she didn’t have herself armed against him she would actually relax and he could see pieces of the teenage girl he’d been in love with so many years before. That had to be the reason he couldn’t yet let go of her. He simply had to purge himself of those long ago teenager fantasies. He’d be fine once he’d done that.

“Let’s do some shopping,” he told her. She wore the same clothing over and over again and not that she looked bad in anything she wore but he was an incredibly wealthy man and he wouldn’t be made a fool.

“I don’t want to leave Patsy for too long,” she told him, as she followed him from the table to the car waiting for them. She hadn’t even heard him call for his driver.

“Patsy has round the clock care and will be fine for a few hours,” he said with frustration. She looked for any excuse to get away from him and he wasn’t going to allow it.

“I know but she still needs me,” Nicole said. She had to fight her attraction to Ryan every second of being with him and it was exhausting. She’d been wobbly ever since their passionate kiss in the elevator. That may be something he did on a daily basis but it knocked her off her feet and it took every ounce of her concentration to keep up in conversation with him.

She also found it extremely difficult to keep maintaining her distance to the man when he was charming, such as buying his staff lunch. He’d not actually admitted to being a bear around them but he’d apologized, none-the-less, with his gesture. She was sure he was already forgiven by his staff. The man had a charismatic way about him that simply made people want to jump to please him.

They arrived at some top end mall she’d never been to. The cheapest store in the place was way beyond what her budget would allow. She was a bit self-conscious, walking into the building in her current jeans and t-shirt combo. She held her head up high though because clothes didn’t make the person. She didn’t need fancy items to wear to make her as good as the other women around her.

As they walked around she couldn’t help but notice the snobby looks she received from some women and the looks of envy from others. Most of the women probably thought she was a poor relative of Ryan’s because he certainly fit in with the crowd in his custom made Armani suit and Italian loafers.

They walked into a store and the clerk approached them eagerly, practically purring at Ryan. Nicole felt a slight pang of jealousy and had to fight it down. Ryan grinned down at her, far too brilliantly, in Nicole’s opinion.

“How can I help you?” she asked Ryan, completely ignoring Nicole. She was a bit irritated by it.

“We need to purchase an entire wardrobe. I’m sure you’ll be able to help us,” he practically purred back at her. The woman actually blushed a bit at his brilliant smile and Nicole had to suck in the words she wanted to shout at the piranha.

Then she realized they were in a woman’s shop and what he was intending. Her face turned scarlet, as the woman turned towards her for an assessment. She could see the woman wanted to know who she was and she could also see she was hoping she was his little sister.

“I can certainly help you with new clothing, please follow me,” she said and sauntered off, moving her hips much more than needed.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Nicole accused underneath her breath, certainly not wanting the very elegant woman to overhear her.

“I’m purchasing you some clothes,” he said. He then looked at her as if she wasn’t too bright, since they were standing in a store.

“I didn’t ask for you to purchase me clothing, nor do I want them,” she hissed at him and started to walk out the door. He was so stunned by her refusal, he almost allowed her to walk out the door. At the last second, he snaked his arm out, grabbing her.

“You’ll allow me to do this. You need to dress a certain way for occasions I want you to attend,” he said to her. They glared at each other for several moments. Nicole was trying to figure out how to get out of the store without making a scene.