CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER THREE
Cora Weber expected the man to show up first thing in the morning and return home at night after his duties were done. Her father left out the most important thing; the fact the man he hired was going to live under the same damn roof as her! It was bad enough having him following her around all day but she drew a line after the fiasco early this morning.
Colour flooded her cheeks when she remembered the shocking situation she found herself in. Cora was enjoying a hot shower in the bathroom down the hall from her room. The housekeeper wasn’t going to arrive well after seven. It was one of those days where she found it hard to fall back asleep after waking up to use the bathroom. Although Cora had her own build-in bathroom, the one in her room had no shower. Cora enjoyed showering in the mornings and taking long hot baths after a long day.
She didn’t expect this morning to be any different, but it was. Cora walked out of the bathroom with a small towel wrapped around her body, and smacked into a hard body. To make matters worse, Cora was so shocked at the sudden appearance that she let go of the towel allowing it to drop in a heap at their feet.
Cora shook her head, willing the embarrassing thoughts away. She needed to focus on her current mission—to make her father understand that she needed privacy. She couldn’t go about her daily routine with a stranger following her around all day! It was unnerving, and because of him, two of her friends had already cancelled due to feeling uncomfortable around Vlad.
“Hi Cora,” her father’s elderly secretary greeted when she entered the office. “How are you doing dear?”
“I’ve been better, thank you Shelly.” Cora gave the woman a forced smile. “I’m here to see my father. Is he in?”
The woman’s smile faded. Shock crossed her face briefly before the smile was back on her face. Shelly turned towards her computer and started typing. Her smile slipped and a frown appeared between her perfectly groomed brows.
“Your father has gone out for a lunch meeting, but he notified me that he wouldn’t be returning. I had to cancel the rest of his meetings.”
“Why?”
“Didn’t say dear.” Shelly turned back to face Cora. “If he returns, I’ll let him know that you were here.”
Cora nodded and gave her a brief smile. “Thank you. Tell him it’s urgent.”
With a muttered goodbye, Cora turned and made her way back to the elevator. She pulled a face as the elevator opened revealing the man calmly waiting inside. Her stomach dropped and anger replaced her embarrassment. Cora spun on her heels and headed for the stairway. She was halfway down the first set of stairs when she realized that he was following her.
She spun around, ready to give him a piece of her mind, but her shoe slipped. A loud cry fell from her lips when she started falling backwards. He reacted faster than she could. Vlad wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him.
Cora gasped. For a few seconds she was speechless especially since she could feel his muscles bunching under her hands. Man, he was ripped. Her eyes dropped from his down to his chest. Not for the first time since she met him did she wonder what he would look like naked.
Vlad cleared his throat and gently pushed her away from him. He made sure that she was steady before letting her go. The action snapped Cora from her deep thoughts. Her eyes snapped up to his face and narrowed. Cora’s anger returned tenfold.
“I told you to stay in the car!”
“And I told you that you’re not the boss of me, princess.”
Cora crossed her arm over her chest, mostly to hide the effect their close contact only seconds ago had on her body. She liked his voice a lot. It was raspy and slightly accented. If she wasn’t so pissed at having the man following her around all day, Cora would’ve enjoyed making conversation with him just to keep hearing him talk. The man had the looks and the voice to go with it. It was definitely unfair!
“You’re having lunch with your friends,” Vlad said, gesturing down the stairs. “We better get going if you don’t want to be late.”
“There is no lunch!” Cora yelled. “It was cancelled because of you.”
“Good.” He stepped around her and took the last few steps before turning to glance back up at her. “Then we will head back home.”
Cora bit her lip to stop herself from yelling curses at him. The man was too arrogant and sure of himself. She wanted to do something just to piss him off as badly as he was pissing her off. An idea hit, making her smile down at him. She knew just what to do!
“I have things to do,” Cora said as she climbed down the stairs. “Come on, we have to get going.”
Anger wasn’t a new emotion for Vlad De Luca. It was an emotion he dealt with daily, but Cora Weber took it to new heights. The little ice princess was pushing his buttons. He forced his body to relax when Cora gave him more orders. He knew what she was playing at. Vlad had good control over his emotions but this little woman was making it harder and harder to keep control. The thread was thin and any second now it was going to snap.
“Take that to the car and then come back to collect the rest,” she ordered before turning back towards the owner of the small boutique.
Vlad’s eyes narrowed as the women walked to the back to the shop. When they disappeared from sight, his eyes dropped to the bags on the floor by his feet. Even his sister never shopped so much. He was certain that she was never going to wear half the clothes she just purchased.
He muttered an oath under his breath as he bent to pick up the bags. Vlad struggled to open the door but he managed without dropping any bags. Opening the boot of the car was another matter. Vlad was forced to drop the bags and then unlock the car. He winced when two of the bags fell into a pool of muddy water.
He glanced towards the shop but Cora was still out of sight. Surely the bag was protecting whatever was inside. Turning back to the car, he opened the boot and stared at the bags already filing it. Blue eyes darted between the bags on the ground and those already stored inside the car.
“She’s fucking mad,” he muttered under his breath. “A fucking rich spoiled bitch.”
After ten minutes he managed to stuff everything inside. Vlad slammed the boot closed and locked it again. His eyes darted around as he made his way back to the shop. There was nothing suspicious or anything to worry about. Everyone was going about their normal daily routine. So why was the feeling of impending danger twisting his gut?