Chapter One
Alora Harris sipped at the glass of champagne as she watched all her colleagues having a good time at the annual Nelson Industries Christmas party. This was the one party their boss, Adam Nelson, insisted on every year—mandatory attendance. Of course, he’d also brought a beautiful, slender model to the party. She was the belle of the ball. Every single man in the room was drooling over her, and not too discreetly. Most of the men were ignoring their own wives. She loved Christmas but hated this party so damn much.
So many people faked it. They pretended there hadn’t been a cutthroat promotion, or a competition to win so many different accounts. Most people here would walk over each other to get ahead. She didn’t know how she had done it, but for the last five years, she’d been able to stay under the radar and not piss anyone off.
Her abilities were in designing. Bringing clients’ ideas into reality. She never fought with anyone to get ahead. Her craft spoke for itself, and often times she was personally requested to head a project. She wasn’t bragging when it came to her work. Rather, she had a knack for knowing what people wanted, and that was what put her on top.
Christmas music filtered through the stereo, and she couldn’t help but smile.
They had another week of work, and then she had a glorious two weeks off. This was another element of Adam’s work ethic. He believed in giving his staff relevant time off each year as he believed it promoted a better working environment.
She couldn’t complain.
Many people here had families, loved ones to go home to. She had an empty apartment with a single tree, a few decorations she’d designed and had gotten created, and her stray black cat she’d named Burt.
Considering she came from the foster system, she had made something of herself. She had a nice place, a decent salary, and hadn’t gone hungry ever since.
“A beautiful lady shouldn’t be sitting alone,” Adam, her boss said, holding out a glass of champagne.
It was odd for him to single her out. They rarely spoke two words to each other, not since he’d apologized to her. One of the clients had asked for her to work on a current sketch advertising. The company was for some kind of pet food or something, and they had gone organic on everything. Their ethos had changed from profit to the love of the pet as part of the family rather than just an animal that needed feeding. She got the parameters and general idea of what they wanted, and she drew a sketch. Adam had seen it and told her it wouldn’t work. She always stood by what she created, and so, she argued with the boss man himself until he backed off. Fortunately, she’d been right, and he had no choice but to apologize and she kept her job.
Despite all the backstabbing and general bastardness that went on at work, she liked her job. The hypocrisy was a different matter.
She never let her guard down. She’d never stepped on anyone’s toes, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have enemies here. There were a lot of people who were not happy that she’d won accounts without lifting a finger.
“I’ve got one, thank you,” she said, holding up her champagne.
“Ah, I see.”
“Don’t you have a date needing your attention?” she asked.
Adam shrugged. “Amelia won’t be hurting for company. So, I don’t think I saw your date.”
“I didn’t come with a date.” She forced a smile.
“No date.”
She chuckled. “Is that a surprise to you?”
“You do realize this is a family event?”
“I … don’t have any family,” she said, biting her lip. This was the most they had talked … ever.
Adam was usually so busy. Oftentimes she saw him staring down at his cell phone. The guy was glued to that thing, but then, he had built this company from the ground up.
“An only child?”
She shook her head. “No, the foster system. I never got adopted. Left the institution when I was eighteen, didn’t look back.” She had a job from the age of fourteen, worked her ass off so that she could leave when she turned eighteen, and was able to fend for herself. One thing the foster system taught her was to never rely on anyone but herself. People were always there to stab her in the back. She couldn’t trust anyone.
“Huh, what a surprise,” Adam said. He took a seat beside her. This was a first. “Do you not approve of my Christmas party?”
“I don’t disapprove of it.”
“That’s not really an answer.”
Alora sighed. “Your Christmas party is great. I just, I don’t know. I guess I’m not the kind of woman to pretend that Eric from accounts didn’t try to take one of my clients from me. Or that Martha didn’t talk to one of the clients and try to convince them I was a drug addict and my work ethic sucked.”
Adam chuckled. “Ah, the competition.”
“Exactly. So, I am enjoying my glass of champagne, a couple of the fancy snacks, and loving the Christmas music. It is a good party.”
“I’m glad.”
This was the most they had ever talked. Alora looked across the room and spotted his model. She kept looking toward Adam, and much to her surprise, he kept on paying attention to her rather than his date.
His gaze and attention were so surprising, she couldn’t resist tucking some of her hair behind her ear in case she looked a little scruffy. Did she have a flake of a pastry on her? She wasn’t used to being the kind of woman that gained male attention. She had always been a bigger woman. A bigger girl, and as she’d gotten older, bigger in the breasts, hips, and ass. She had embraced her size where many others wouldn’t have.
Why did Adam keep on staring at her?
****
Adam was … besotted.
Alora had been on his radar for a long time now. Her work ethic, the standards she set, it was admirable. What had really gained his attention was her argument with him. She refused to back down even though he was the boss. It was so refreshing. More often than not, he had people around him who had gotten into the habit of submitting to him and kissing his ass.
He didn’t want robots.
He expected his staff to argue with him, especially if their points were better than his. Most of the time, they truly weren’t, but Alora had known what she was doing. If she’d listened to him, it would have cost them an account.
This was what made him one of the best employers in the city. He listened to his staff, or at least he used to when they fought back. He wasn’t a pet owner, but he just knew Alora had to be. A cat or a dog, he wasn’t sure what she owned, but she clearly knew what she was talking about with their client.
The advertisement had been a giant success, and their client only wanted to deal with Alora. She saw their vision and brought it to life.
When he saw her sitting alone, it was the perfect excuse to get rid of his annoying date. With how many men were panting over Amelia, it wasn’t hard to leave her alone. He liked the best of everything, and that included women other men wanted.
What Adam wanted was Alora.
Sipping at his champagne, he watched her every movement. She had changed into a beautiful red dress. It had a large V that showcased her cleavage, dipped in at the waist, and flared out at the hips. White lace covered parts of the red, giving the dress a very festive feel, and in truth, he’d been enraptured by her from the moment she walked through the ballroom doors.