One Night In Paris Read online

“Oh, I think you are.” She smiled.

  “Anna, stop. Please just place them here.” I pointed to my phone. “Have a seat. We need to chat.”

  She sat down in the chair across from my desk and crossed her long legs. Images of those legs wrapped around my waist back in Paris came to the forefront of my mind and my cock started to twitch. I cleared my throat.

  “I don’t see your phone number and address on my desk like I asked. Do you have a problem following directions?

  “Obviously, you haven’t checked your phone,” she said.

  I pulled my phone from my pocket and there was a text message with an address typed into it. I glanced up at her and a bright smile crossed her lips.

  “How did you get my cell phone number?”

  “From the phone on my desk. It was programmed under autodial number one.”

  I slowly shook my head with a smile on my face as I added her in my contacts.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Carter.” Tori popped her head into his office.

  “Yes, Tori?”

  “Human Resources sent this up for you,” she said as she shot Anna a look.

  “Thank you.” I held out my hand and she handed me the file folder.

  I glanced at Anna, who sat there with a grin on her face while she stared at Tori as she left my office. I opened the folder. It contained Anna’s paperwork and resume.

  “Anna Young. Nice last name.” I smirked at her. “It says here that you were the personal assistant for Clyde Baker, CEO of Baker Industries in California. You’re telling me that you made that up?”

  “I didn’t make it up. Franco did.”

  “And who is Franco?” I cocked my head.

  “My best friend and roommate.”

  “You’re living with a guy?” My eye slightly narrowed.

  “He’s gay. Long story. We go way back.”

  “Good. You can tell me all about it at dinner tonight. I would love to know how you scammed your way into my office.”

  “You make me sound like a criminal,” she spoke.

  “Are you?”

  “No. You’ll understand tonight. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I hear the phones ringing out there.”

  She got up from her chair and walked to the door.

  “Anna?”

  “Yes.” She turned around.

  “Why does Tori not seem to like you?”

  The corners of her mouth curved into a cunning smile.

  “I may have told her I was getting myself off in the bathroom.”

  I sat there as my cock started to rise at her mere words and swallowed hard.

  “We’ll talk about that tonight,” I spoke.

  Chapter Ten

  Anna

  The mere sight of him sent me straight into an orgasm. I had thought about that night in Paris every single day since it happened. I tried to forget about it and him, but I couldn’t, and now, here I was working for the man I was never supposed to see again. I was dying to tell Franco, but this was something that had to be done in person, not over the phone or via text.

  “I’m on my way to a meeting and I won’t be back before you leave. I’ll see you at seven.” Wes gave me a wink as he walked past my desk.

  “Enjoy. I’ll be ready and waiting. By the way,” I shouted. “My biggest pet peeve is lateness.”

  “Noted.” He turned around and gave me a smile.

  “What was that all about?” Tori strolled over to my desk.

  “He’s taking me to dinner tonight.” I smiled a big fuck you at her.

  “Why?”

  Her snotty tone rubbed me the wrong way. I could have totally had fun with this one, but I did needed to remain professional. I didn’t want any rumors started around the office, even though I was pretty sure she already told everyone what I said to her earlier about the bathroom. I actually needed to set the record straight with her.

  “Listen, Tori. It’s obvious you don’t like me and I’m not sure why. What I told you about the bathroom earlier, I lied. After using the bathroom, I just kind of stayed in there a few extra minutes to think. I just moved to New York yesterday and I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed because this job happened so quickly. As for Mr. Carter, he’s taking me to dinner to go over some work-related stuff and rules. That’s it.”

  “I see.”

  “I’m sorry for what I said to you earlier. Can we be friends?” I extended my hand.

  “No.” She smiled as she turned on her heels and walked away.

  Bitch. Now it was game on.

  As soon as I entered the apartment and kicked off my heels, Franco came down the stairs and greeted me with a hug.

  “How was your first day, Madame?”

  “Well, there’s a woman in the office named Tori who hates my guts.”

  “Really?” he asked with an expression of shock. “Who could ever hate you?”

  “I could give you a list of people who hate me. But I do have something to tell you. I’ve been dying all day and couldn’t wait to get home!”

  “Did your old-ass boss sexually harass you?” he asked with excitement as he lightly grabbed my arm.

  “He’s not an old-ass. His name is Wes Carter. As in the sexy American I slept with in Paris.”

  “Shut up! No way. How is that possible?”

  “Right? I was in total shock and so was he. Anyway, I have to go get ready. He’s picking me up at seven and taking me to dinner.”

  “Goodie. I can’t wait to meet him. Oh shit, Anna. You’re going to have to eventually tell him that you lied to get the job.”

  “Already did. That’s one reason he’s taking me to dinner. He wants my full story.”

  “Believe me, darling, he wants more than that.”

  “I hope he does.” I winked.

  Wes

  My driver, Frank, pulled up to Anna’s building and I climbed out of the car. There was no way she could afford a place like this on a personal assistant’s salary. But then again, she did say she was living with her best friend. I walked into the building, told the doorman who I was, and took the elevator up to the eleventh floor. When I stepped out, I walked down the hallway until I found apartment 1120. After knocking on the door, it opened, and a man stood there and stared at me from head to toe.

  “Well, hello there.” He smiled. “You must be Wes. I’m Franco, Anna’s bestie.” He extended his hand.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Franco.” I shook his hand.

  “Please, step into our humble abode.”

  “Thank you.” I stepped inside and looked around.

  “Anna will be down in a minute.”

  “Your apartment is great,” I spoke. “Do you mind if I ask what you do?”

  “I don’t mind at all. I’m a designer and I run and own Stiles Industries. In fact, I made Anna’s wedding dress. Oops. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that. Oh well, she won’t mind. Let me show you.”

  He grabbed his phone from the table and handed it to me. I gulped when I saw her picture.

  “Wow. You made that?”

  “I did and I made her veil. Isn’t she delicious?”

  “You’re very talented.”

  “Thank you.” He grinned. “I’m also designing Jules Warren’s wedding gown.”

  “Really?” I cocked my head.

  “Franco, what are you doing?” Anna asked as she walked down the stairs in a stunning black and silver short dress.

  “Nothing.” He grabbed his phone from my hand.

  She shot him a look and then a beautiful smile graced her lips as she turned and looked at me.

  “Hello. You look stunning.” I grinned.

  “Hi. Thank you. Are you ready to go?” she asked.

  “I am. After you.” I placed my hand on the small of her back. “It was nice to meet you, Franco.”

  “The pleasure was all mine, Wes. You two have fun.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Anna

  Wes made a reservation for two at Le Bernardin. When we stepped inside the
elite French restaurant, the young blonde hostess seated us at a quiet table in the corner for two.

  “Good evening, Mr. Carter. May I start you and the lovely lady off with something from our drink menu?”

  “Good evening, Enzo.”

  “I’ll have a neat martini, please,” I said with a smile.

  “And I’ll have the same,” he spoke.

  “So what did you think of Franco?” I asked.

  “He seems very nice and I can tell he cares for you a lot.”

  “He’s my best friend. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without him.” I picked up my glass of water and brought it to my lips.

  “On a more serious note, tell me how you wormed your way into being my personal assistant? I’ll be honest, Anna, I have trust issues when it comes to women and knowing that you sent in a fake resume raises some red flags for me.”

  I sat there for a moment and narrowed my eye at him. Okay. I could understand his concern.

  “Well then, we both have something in common. You don’t trust women and I don’t trust men. But, if you want the truth, I had to run Franco’s sketchbook over to his studio yesterday, and when I arrived, Jules was there. She was going on and on how she was on a time crunch because she had to find a replacement for you. Franco opened his big mouth and created the story of how I worked for Mr. Baker. Then, before I knew it, she gave me her business card and told me to send over my resume. So Franco had his criminal cousin, Lars, make a fake resume with fake references and I sent it over and she hired me. Trust me, I had no intention of getting a job so soon. It all happened so quickly.”

  He sat there with a narrowed eye and listened intently to every word I spewed at him.

  “So then you don’t have any personal assisting or office experience at all?” he asked.

  Moment of truth.

  “Oh no, I have a lot of ‘corporate’ experience. But I’m usually the one sitting in the big office with the personal assistant.”

  “What?” he asked with confusion.

  Enzo brought our drinks and proceeded to take our dinner order. After he walked away, I took in a deep breath and extended my hand to Wes.

  “I’m Anna Young, Chief Operating Officer of Young Vine Enterprises. I graduated from Harvard with an MBA and was valedictorian of my graduating class.”

  He slowly placed his hand in mine as a look of shock swept over his face.

  “As in Young Vine Wines?” he asked.

  “Yep. That’s the one.” I threw back my martini. “Except now, I’m just Anna Young. My father fired me because I didn’t marry Matthew. In fact, he did it that night I was with you.”

  “I’m sorry, Anna. I don’t understand. You’re his daughter. Why would he do that? Why would he choose him over you?”

  “If you knew my father, you would understand. It doesn’t matter. I knew if I left Matthew standing at that altar, there would be no going back. He hired Matthew to groom him to be my right-hand man when he retired from the company. He took him under his wing and called him the son he never had. You know what, I need another martini.”

  “Of course.”

  Wes held up his finger, got our waiter’s attention, and ordered two more martinis.

  “Why are you taking a job as a personal assistant?” he asked. “You are so enormously over qualified.”

  “I didn’t plan on it. Like I said, it just happened. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. But Franco knows I get bored easily, so he thought it would be a good idea since it was only temporary. Now, on to you, Mr. Carter. Why don’t you trust women?” I grinned.

  “I’m not finished asking the questions, Miss Young. So your father cut you out of the company completely?”

  “Yep.” I sipped my martini. “Technically, I quit. I knew the moment I got on that plane to Paris, I was done.”

  “But why? Didn’t you like working there? If I recall, I read an article once about Young Vine and the company has been in your family for generations.”

  “You’re right. It has been. I liked working there but not with my father.”

  “And what about your mother? What does she have to say about all this? I noticed you haven’t mentioned her.”

  “I don’t talk about my mother and for good reason. She’s not a part of my life. She never has been, and she never will be.”

  “I’m sorry,” he softly spoke.

  “Don’t be. She’s a subject I don’t talk about.” I looked down as I could feel my eyes start to swell with tears.

  Damn it. I was stronger than this.

  Enzo walked over and set our plates down in front of us.

  “Is there anything else I can get for you?” he asked.

  “I think we’re good, Enzo.” Wes gave him a smile.

  “Now it’s your turn to answer some of my questions,” I spoke.

  “Fair enough. Go right ahead and I’ll do my best to try and answer them.”

  Something told me he was going to pick and choose what he would and would not answer.

  Chapter Twelve

  Wes

  “Wait. Before you start bombarding me with questions, I have one more,” I said as I picked up my fork.

  “Fine. One more it is.” She smiled.

  “Why don’t you trust men?”

  Her brow sexily arched as she stared into my eyes.

  “Why don’t you trust women?”

  “I asked you first,” I spoke.

  “I’ll tell you when you tell me.”

  “Well, I’m not ready to tell you. So I guess you can keep your secret as well. Besides me not trusting women, what else do you want to know?”

  “Tell me about your childhood,” she said.

  “My father started Carter Capital a few years before I was born. My parents raised me with the intention that I would take over the family business when my father retired. Last year, on my thirty-first birthday, my father had a heart attack.”

  “I’m sorry, Wes.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled. “It was pretty serious. He had to undergo a quadruple bypass and I took over while he was recovering. Once he was fully recovered, he told me that he and my mother talked about it and he was going to retire and leave me to run the company. He said his heart attack was a wakeup call and that he had a lot he wanted to do and see before he died. So my parents decided to travel the world and they have been doing it for the past seven months. In fact, I had just seen them when I was in Paris.”

  “Wow. Just the fact that your parents are still together is amazing,” she said.

  I let out a chuckle. “Yeah. I guess so.”

  “Let me guess. You’re a Yale man.”

  The corners of my mouth curved upwards. “No. I graduated from INSEAD.”

  “In France?” she asked with surprise.

  “Yes.” I lightly laughed. “They have an excellent Executive MBA program.”

  “So I’ve heard. I’ve just never actually met anyone who has graduated from there. Congratulations, Mr. Carter.” She held up her glass.

  “Why thank you, Miss Young.” I lightly tapped my glass against hers with a smile.

  “So,” she took the last sip of her martini, “why don’t you trust women?”

  “Why don’t you trust men?” I raised my brow.

  “Oh come on, Wes. Humor me. Tell me your dirty little secrets. I know you have some. There’s no way a rich, corporate, sexy man like yourself is still single for a reason.”

  “Is that all that matters to you? Rich, corporate, and sexy?” I asked.

  She studied me with a narrowed eye for a few moments as she brought her fork up to her mouth. She was trying to figure me out just like I was trying to figure out her. She had mommy and daddy issues big time. That much I could tell. She was gorgeous and very smart. But there was something off about her, and it was something I was going to find out.

  “No. Maybe the sexy part.” She smiled. “What’s really important is what’s inside. I like a man who is sweet, but not sickening sweet
. I hate ass kissers. A man who works hard and isn’t afraid to take risks. He must be sensitive, but not too sensitive. That’s just fucking annoying. He must be kind and have a heart of gold.”

  “Was your ex all of those?” I daringly asked.

  “He was just annoying all around.”

  I let out a chuckle as I slipped my credit card into the billfold. After I signed the receipt, Anna and I walked out of the restaurant and climbed into the back of my town car.

  “When we get back to my apartment, would you like to come up? Franco made this amazing cheesecake for me and I have yet to cut into it.” She smiled.

  “I’d love to.” I grinned.

  When we entered her apartment, Franco didn’t seem to be home. I took my coat off and set it down on the chair in the living room.

  “Franco isn’t here?” I asked.

  “No. He’s not coming home tonight.”

  “By the way, I forgot to say thank you for the present you left me in my suitcase.” A smirk crossed my lips as I placed my hands on her hips.

  “You’re welcome. I thought it would be a nice memory of the night we had together. A little something to remember me by since we were never going to see each other again.” Her arms wrapped around my neck.

  “But look at us now.” My lips softly brushed against hers. “We did see each other again.”

  “We sure did.” She smiled.

  “Shall we repeat the night we had in Paris?” I asked.

  “Definitely.”

  She brought her lips to mine and my already semi-hard cock grew even harder. I couldn’t wait to fuck her again. It was all I’d thought about since I’d been back in New York. I bent down and swooped her up in my arms, carrying her up the stairs.

  “Which bedroom?” I asked as I broke our kiss.

  “Last door on the left.”

  My hands gripped her hips as I thrust in and out of her from behind. Sexual moans escaped her lips as an orgasm tore through her. This was our fourth position and I’d held back as long as I could. I thrust one last time and held her against me as I exploded inside her, moaning with pleasure as my cock spasmed. I lowered my head and placed my lips on her shoulder as I tried to regain my breath. I pulled out of her and disposed of the condom while she climbed out of bed and slipped into her black silk short robe.