“Good morning, Nick. Everything okay?” I ask, trying my damnedest not to jump up and yell in his face.

  “Hey there, Delilah. Yep, everything all right with you?” he asks, looking down at my hand, then my desk, then my hand again. I know he is wondering where his morning coffee is but doesn’t want to come out and ask. He is too funny.

  “Everything is good here. Just working hard on closing out Joey’s file. I am so happy for him,” I say, trying to distract him from the fact that I not only didn’t have his coffee in hand, but I didn’t instantly stand to greet him.

  “Great. Good job on that case by the way. We worked hard preparing for trial, but the best cases are won out of court,” he asserts, as he turns and heads to his office.

  “Thank you,” I throw at him as his office door clicks closed.

  I sit back at my desk and act as if I am still working on Joey’s file. Not two minutes pass…

  “Delilah! Get in my office!” I hear through the glass wall.

  I run like the wind into his office. With a huff and puff, “Yes?”

  “What is all this?”

  “Happy Birthday?” I declare softly and innocently.

  “What…but…how did you know?”

  “Well, I am the best research assistant you have,” I say coyly.

  “Delilah?”

  “When I interviewed for the job. I wanted to make sure that I knew everything there was to know about your firm, so I Googled,” I answer somewhat exasperated. I don’t think much more explanation is needed so I shut up. I think he may be pissed. That does not bode well for everything else I planned.

  He nods his head slowly and replies, “I see.” He takes a deep breath and I don’t know if he is going to yell at me or throw me out of his office. By the look on his face, he just might fire me! I turn on my heel to leave asap.

  “Delilah?”

  “Um, yeah?” I throw over my shoulder.

  “Thank you. You are the only one who acknowledged it. And thank you for taking the time to make all of the things that I like. For even knowing all of the things that I like.”

  “Jeez…you’re acting like nobody has ever made you anything just because they wanted to. Today’s your special day. It’s no biggie,” I say rushing out before he has the chance to yell at me.

  The rest of the morning has been pretty uneventful. I field a few calls from some family members. I can only assume they are calling to wish him a “happy birthday” as well.

  Just before lunchtime, I surprise him with the cannolis and orange juice. I think it is a crazy combination, but Carmella was right, he sucks them down. I think I may have even caught him dipping one in the juice. Ew! He doesn’t take me surprising him with them any better than he did with breakfast. At first, I think that he is pissed again, but I have come to realize that he is genuinely appreciative of my thoughtfulness; he just doesn’t know how to express it properly. I am almost saddened by the thought that nobody else has done anything special like this for him. He works so hard to fight for everyone else; I just assumed he has someone taking care of him. From now on, I vow to take care of him, to make sure he always feels special. Like that will be a hardship. Psh!

  He is going out for lunch with his father, so that will be the perfect time for me to sneak the cake into his office. God only knows how he is going to react to this one. When I know it is time for him to return, I head to the ladies’ room. I really don’t want to be here for this. I really am a scaredy cat!

  ♫♩♫♩♫♩♫

  Nick

  After a fantastic lunch with my father, I head back to the office. It’s been a weird day. Delilah is really freaking me out with all of this stuff that she’s been doing for me today. None of my previous secretaries had ever done anything for my birthday, let alone acknowledge it.

  When I get back to the office, Delilah’s not at her desk, which is not necessarily strange. She’s probably just in the bathroom. What is bizarre is that the girl never leaves this building for lunch. I walk into my office and shut the door behind me, not paying much attention to my surroundings. I head over to my desk and plop down into my chair. What’s the first thing I see? A freaking birthday cake! A freaking birthday cake with little balls forming a “33” on top of it! What.the.Fuck? Did she seriously bake me a cake?

  I’m so stunned that I don’t even know how to feel. I’m humbled by her kindness, I’m pissed off that all of my other secretaries were such bitches that only cared about themselves, and now I’m hungry for some cake. I glance over in the direction of Delilah’s desk; she’s back and looking seriously nervous and fidgety. I hit the intercom button on my phone.

  “Delilah, can you come in here?” I ask, my tone sounding strange, even to myself.

  “Sure,” she replies nonchalantly, but I know that’s all an act. She is completely terrified of what I’m going to say.

  I watch her as she gets up from her desk and makes her way to my office door. She’s wringing her hands together and flicking worried glances in my direction. She opens my door and peeks her head in.

  “Yes, Nick?” she asks with a hesitant smile.

  “Come in, Delilah, shut the door,” I reply dryly.

  Delilah does as she is told but stays standing by the door. I raise an eyebrow at her and nod at the chair in front of my desk. She takes a hesitant step before seemingly forcing herself to move. She sits down and looks like she is waiting for a killing blow.

  “What is this?” I ask, motioning to the cake in front of me.

  Delilah winces. “A birthday cake,” she replies.

  “You made it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?” I ask, obviously knowing the answer.

  Delilah frowns. “Because it’s your birthday?” She says, somewhat confused.

  I stare at her. She is completely serious. I thought at first that maybe she was fucking with me somehow, but now…now I can see that she is truly just being sweet and nice and caring. My heart starts pounding. Could she seriously care about me in some way? Not necessarily in a love and relationship kind of way, but in a friend way? It seems impossible to me. The only woman who ever cared about me was my mother, and even she abandoned me. All of the other women in my life only pretended to care about me to see what they can get from me. But Delilah has no reason to pretend - we’re not together, she’s not my girlfriend, and I don’t buy her things – I am just her boss. I am genuinely amazed by her, and admire her pure selflessness.

  I nod slowly. “Okay,” I say.

  Delilah’s frown deepens as she eyes me warily. “Okay?” she asks.

  “Thank you, Delilah, for everything today. It means a lot to me,” I say sincerely.

  Delilah’s eyes narrow in suspicion. “You’re welcome.”

  “How about you go find us a knife and some plates and forks so we can eat this thing? It looks delicious,” I say with a smirk.

  Delilah blows out a relieved breath and smiles. “Okay, for a second there I thought you were going to freak out on me.”

  I chuckle. Oh, if she only knew how close I actually was to doing just that. “I have to keep you on your toes,” I say, “Now go get that stuff so I can dive into this puppy.”

  Delilah smiles brightly as she stands and heads for the door. My traitorous heart flutters madly. God dammit!

  ♫♩♫♩♫♩♫

  Delilah

  After we enjoy the cake, the rest of the afternoon is pretty mundane. Nick had to run out to his car because apparently he left his messenger bag in it this morning. He stops by my desk once more for a refill on his coffee, and then gives me a smirk and a wink before shutting himself away in his office. I can see him through the windows as he walks around behind his desk and puts his bag down on it. He starts rifling through it looking for whatever when he jumps and pulls his cell phone out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He glances at the phone and smiles, immediately answering it.

  I get butterflies in my stomach each and every time he smiles like that - a genuine, heartfelt smile. He must really like whoever is on the other end if he is smiling like that. I wonder if it’s that Julianna Ramirez woman? Nick shoulders his phone and continues to search his bag. He finally pulls out a file, puts his bag on the floor next to his desk, then sits down in his chair. He continues to talk animatedly with the person on the phone for the next half an hour. I catch him laughing heartily a few times and just can’t get over how gorgeous he is.

  Just before 5:00 pm, I look up from my work and see the most beautiful black man standing in front of me. My eyes are wide as saucers, my mouth gaping open like a big mouth bass. Get your shit together, Delilah! I snap myself out of the hot man trance, but I am sure my face is beet red.

  “May I help you?” I manage to ask, sounding only slightly breathy.

  “Hi, gorgeous! My name is Calvin King. I’m here to see Nick. Is he in?” he asks, smirking at me, as his deep, rich voice wets my panties.

  Calvin King. What can I tell you about Calvin King? He is an Adonis. He has milk chocolate colored skin with really short black hair. It’s cut really close to his head; I wouldn’t say he is bald, but from far away, you might think he is. He has a perfectly groomed goatee surrounding the most luscious lips. And his eyes are a light brown, almost caramel colored. Mmm… I could get lost in all that sugary goodness. Okay, don’t get me wrong, I am completely, madly, in lust with my Italian stallion. Nick is, in my book, nothing short of perfection, but if that doesn’t work out…

  “Sure. Of course. Is he expecting you?” I ask embarrassed, completely unable to make eye contact.

  “Yeah, we have dinner plans.”

  I stand to walk into Nick’s office to ask if he is expecting Mr. King and I realize that he is even taller than Nick. Holy shit!

  “Give me one sec, okay?” I ask, as I head toward Nick’s door. I hope he doesn’t stare at my ass when I walk away. Or maybe I do?

  “Sure thing…” he pauses, waiting for me to fill in the blank.

  “Delilah. The name’s Delilah.”

  “Beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Like the song?”

  I actually laugh out loud as I am walking in to Nick’s office and tell him who is waiting for him by my desk. His face lights up and he jumps out from behind his desk to follow me out. Calvin is still staring at me like he is waiting for an answer.

  “If by ‘the song,’ you are referring to the Grateful Dead, then yes, like ‘the song.’ If you are referring to the Plain White T’s, then I may punch you in the face,” I answer with a little attitude, but a big smile and a wink.

  Calvin lets out a hardy laugh then looks at Nick. “I like this one.”

  Nick just looks at me, then back at Calvin and nods in agreement, keeping a completely impassive face. Like he doesn’t want me to know that he likes me. What the fuck? I turn to Nick and ask if he is off for the night. I would like to go home and take a long soak in a hot tub. Calvin has made me hot and horny as hell. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday. I really need the weekend to relax and square away these feelings. Nick tells me that I can pack it up and head out. The two of them turn to leave, but then pause.

  Calvin holds his arm out. “Come on, little bit. Let us two ugly beasts walk that tiny tush of yours out to a cab.”

  I take his offer and walk arm and arm with Calvin as though we were walking into the prom. Nick has this pained look on his face, but I am just too tired and flustered by Calvin’s over the top complimentary behavior to care. It feels nice being noticed by a sex God. Maybe not the one I want, but one just as hot, nonetheless.

  Chapter Five

  Nick

  I glare at Calvin as he waves to Delilah as her cab pulls away. Calvin is a naturally flirty kind of guy, but it is seriously irritating me that he is being flirty with Delilah. Not that I have any claim to her or anything, because I don’t want her. Yeah, dumbass, keep telling yourself that.

  “Dude, can you knock that shit off?” I grumble and start for the parking garage where my 2013, candy-apple red, limited edition, V8, McLaren Spider Convertible, is parked.

  Calvin turns to me with a rakish smirk. “She is super cute, my man.”

  I roll my eyes. “You think anything that walks on two legs and has tits is cute.” I sigh.

  Calvin chuckles. “True, but dang…”

  “I’m hungry, let’s get out of here,” I say and jerk my head for Calvin to follow.

  Calvin and I make it to the restaurant and are seated right away. We start chatting as we look over the menu. I’m thinking about getting a nice juicy steak, needing something manly to eat since I’ve been having all these sappy emotions lately. The waitress comes by to take our drink orders and leaves blushing from Calvin’s flirty comments. Half of the time, I think he just does it for that purpose alone, to get a reaction, or make women blush.

  My phone vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out to see who it is. Julianna. Shit, I forgot all about her. “I’ll be right back,” I say to Calvin as I get up from the table and answer the phone.

  “Where are you?” Julianna snaps in my ear.

  I pull the phone away from my ear and stare at it as I make my way through the tables toward the front door. Who the hell does she think she is snapping at me like that? She must think that I put up with being disrespected; well, she has another thing coming. I step outside and put the phone back to my ear.

  “Who do you think you’re talking to?” I growl.

  “I am at the hotel waiting for you, Nick,” she replies, ignoring my question.

  “Something came up, I’m not going to make it tonight,” I tell her.

  “What? Are you fucking kidding me?” she squawks in my ear, “You’re blowing me off?”

  “Like I said, something came up. You can stay in the hotel tonight if you want, on me.”

  “You asshole! I don’t want to stay in a hotel room by myself!” Julianna shouts into the phone.

  Alright, that’s it! “Listen, woman. I’ve had enough of you and your attitude. No one talks to me that way, so I don’t know where you get off thinking that you can.” I snap. “Don’t call me again, Julianna, unless it’s strictly business.”

  “Wait! Nick!” Julianna cries frantically, but I hang up on her.

  I really don’t need shit like that from a woman who I just fuck on occasion. I don’t know who she thinks she is, because she’s nothing to me. I don’t care about her one iota. And I don’t deal with women who have attitudes like that. I’m the one in charge, not her. I am always in control and I will never relinquish that control to a woman. Never. My phone rings again but I ignore it. I will not be speaking to Julianna again unless it is about a case.

  I head back into the restaurant and take my seat across from Calvin. He raises an infamous eyebrow in question. I just shake my head as if to say, “It’s nothing, forget it.” Calvin shrugs. That’s why I love hanging out with him. No bullshit, no drama. He is so easy going; sometimes I wish I could be like that. After the waitress leaves from taking our meal order, Calvin folds his hands together on the table and leans forward.

  “So tell me more about Delilah. Is she single?” Calvin asks with glint in his eye.

  I know that glint. He wants to take Delilah out. Hell-to-the-no! That’s not going to happen! Delilah is mine…I mean, she’s my secretary…and I can’t have Calvin screwing with her and making her quit on me. Delilah is the best secretary I have ever had.

  “Don’t know, don’t care. Do I look like her keeper?” I grunt, going for indifference, I don’t want Calvin to think that I’m attracted to her in anyway, because I’m not. Mmm hmm, sure buddy.

  Calvin rolls his eyes. “Fine, don’t tell me. She is really adorable, though, and she seems sweet. I would like to get to know her better, find out what’s under those baggy clothes of hers, if you know what I mean,” Calvin says, wagging his eyebrows at me.

  Oh, I know what he means, because I want to find out the same thing. No I don’t. Okay, so maybe I do. “Leave her alone, you horn dog. I will not have you cost me my secretary,” I warn, pointing a finger at him.

  “Oh come on! You’re no fun! I know! Let’s tag team her. Will you let me have her if you’re involved?” Calvin smiles.

  I try not to smile, but it just doesn’t work when I have this giant black man with a goofy ass grin on his face sitting across from me. “No! We will not tag team her, and you will stay away from her.” I chuckle.

  “Dammit!” Calvin says, pretending to be disappointed.

  I know he’s really not, though; he can get any woman he wants. Calvin is a very good-looking dude, even I can see that. Women fall at his feet all of the time. Shit, maybe I need to keep Delilah away from him. He doesn’t really need her, he just wants to see what she’s hiding under her clothes. The conversation quickly turns to other things and Delilah is quickly forgotten…thank God.

  ♫♩♫♩♫♩♫

  and Nick once more…

  I am more confused than ever. I thought my dinner with Calvin and blowing off Julianna, would give me time to think and figure shit out, but my head is fucking spinning. And now, I have to go into work feeling this way? God dammit! I usually enjoy working; it helps me focus, but fuck, not today. I am aggravated as hell. I just need to get through today and make it to the weekend. A visit to Club Masquerade tonight should definitely help dull this headache.

  It is finally the end of the workday, and I was pretty much an asshole to Delilah most of the day. Maybe I should apologize, but she is partly the reason I am acting like a total selfish prick. She didn’t do anything wrong, per se, but she is fucking with my head, and I have to blame someone other than my unruly dick.

  I am dressed and ready to go to the club, and if I don’t get in a good fuck tonight, my entire weekend will be shot to shit. I am wearing all black tonight – shirt, pants, shoes, and belt. That seems to be what most women have responded to in the past. I am not wearing any jewelry, except for my Rolex Submariner, hoping to catch the eye of a bunch of women. I like to have my pick of the litter. I don’t give a shit if she is a gold digger because I’m only looking for a one night lay. I slick my hair back and slide my mask into place; it, too, is black, reminiscent of a Zorro mask. Now all I need is the cape and sword. Well, maybe just a cape; I come well equipped with my own sword, if you know what I mean.