Engaged in an instant staring match, Valerie and Luca look over each other once again and the electricity she'd noticed in Starbucks fills the room again.
The woman who alerted Valerie of Luca's entrance coughs.
He glares at the woman and she hastily lets herself out of the room.
Once the door shuts behind her, Luca settles into his chair more, giving him an air of cockiness that made the hair on the back of Valerie's neck stand up. His once stoic expression morphs into a thousand watt, panty wetting grin and boy was it having an effect on her.
Luca then gestures for Valerie to hand him her resumé, which she does wordlessly. He looks over it quickly, before setting it down in front of him.
"It's good to see you again, miss-" He glances at the document on his desk briefly, "Miss Stevens."
He doesn't miss a beat.
Valerie could barely breathe. The smile on his face disarmed her and the mischievous glint in his eye made her feel like she was in danger, but for some reason it excited her in the same breath.
She was completely intoxicated by him.
Once again, she had to take in his appearance. Luca came across as the color of honey, especially being illuminated so brightly. His black hair is what gave him his edge, tainting his beautiful complexion almost. Instead it made her mouth water.
Luca had dark brown eyes, his top lip was the color of his skin, but the bottom was full and pink. His build was toned, but we already knew that because of the biceps. Valerie could not forget his biceps. She wondered how they would feel in her hand as she held tightly onto him...
When Valerie was finally able to pull herself out of her trance, Luca was no longer smiling. His eyes were intently trained on her, his face hard.
"Did you really just check me out, in my own office? On your interview. My God, woman."
Valerie winced. She didn't catch the amused look in Luca's eyes.
It was like all of her professionalism had left her and she was stuck being this... horny nervous harlot.
"I know, I'm sorry." She murmured. And she really was.
She couldn't afford to be turned down at such a high profile place like this. She couldn't afford to be turned down by anyone really because of how desperate her money situation was, but definitely not by a million dollar company like this. Definitely not.
Sighing, Luca thumbed through the papers on his desk, like he'd done the routine a million times before. He probably had. Then suddenly, he pushes them rather harshly to the side.
Valerie watches in ill concealed awe as he gets up from his desk and walks towards her chair. She finds herself absentmindedly sinking farther into her seat. Almost as if she's trying to run from him. He walks until he is standing just a few steps from being directly over her. So close she can smell him once again. She bites her lip to keep from letting out a small moan.
Oh, I have to fucking get out more.
"Miss Stevens, I have a proposition for you." He says, his tone measured, even. Luca stands with his hands in his pockets, relaxed. Completely oblivious to the heart attack Valerie was moments from because of his closeness.
Valerie nods slowly, not really getting where he's going with this. "Yes? I'm here for a job working as a paid assistant. Remember? I can assure you Mr.Giovanni I am over qualified for the job. As you can see I have a bachelor's degree in—"
Luca shook his head, stopping her mid sentence. He steps a bit closer to her and Valerie's heart gets a bit closer to stopping.
"I have a different job for you. Something a little higher up."
Oh, I knew bullshitting on my resumé would do me some good!
She felt like jumping for joy! Any higher pay and Valerie could finally move out of the Bronx and hopefully closer to the city. Honestly more money would solve all of her problems and maybe even some of Nicki's.
"Thank you, sir! What would the job entail?" Valerie excitedly inquires, barely containing the restrained jubilant emotions she's feeling. She was now sitting up straight, holding onto the seat's arm rests to contain herself.
Luca however had not changed from his stone faced expression. He leaned back against his desk as he continued to watch Valerie's reactions closely.
"You," Luca begins,"marry me."
Silence took over the room.
Even the bubbling emotions of happiness stopped inside of Valerie. It was almost as if white noise had taken control of the situation because all she could do was sit there as still as a windmill on a windless day.
Then, the absurdness of the statement overtook her, and took her out.
She bursted into a fit of giggles, that turned into a series of loud guffaws. This very respected millionaire, maybe even billionaire did not just ask her to fucking marry him
Never in my wildest fucking dreams.
The simple thought repeated in her head restarted the laughter. Valerie's sides ached from the deep humor, and the slight sting of her eyes made her realize she was actually crying laughing.
Luca hadn't budged at all, her laughing actually just made his face harden more. His jaw quickly ticking.
"Excuse my language, Mr.Giovanni," Valerie began, wiping at her eyes and trying her best to sober up, "You have got to be fucking shitting me."
Luca winced at her cursing,"Watch your mouth."
Valerie almost starts up with the laughter again. A snort escaping, but she quickly slaps a hand over her mouth.
He's got the wrong one if he thinks he can tell me what to do. Like he's my damn dad.
Seeing that the professional nature of the meeting was definitely thrown out of the window since he asked her such an absurdly personal thing. He didn't even ask.
Stated, the absurdly personal thing.
She took the give in seriousness to speak freely.
"I think I can speak as I very well please. Thank you. Also, I must graciously decline your literal proposal." Valerie told him flatly. She stood up from her seat, smoothing out her clothes before walking up to his desk to grab her resumé. Luca blocks her hand with his body, making her hand skate down his hard chest.
"Why? You have someone already?" Luca catches Valerie's chin with his hand and she shrinks back almost as if his touch burned her.
It did. In all the right ways.
She did it to gain leverage, however every step back she took from him he took towards her. The next thing she realized was that she was back against her chair again.
"I can ask you the same question, Giovanni. Why should I marry you? Why the hell would you even ask that? Shit is dumb." She responded in a duh tone even though she absolutely was shaking in her boots. Valerie was all of five foot three and he was most certainly a foot if not more taller, but what she wasn't was a bitch.
He could not intimidate her.
Knowingly, that is.
Luca closes his eyes briefly, and when he opens them they are blazing. "Watch your tone. You should be able to communicate without being so crass." He snobbishly spat. She could tell how heated he was getting and in a completely different way, she was getting heated, too.
"And who the fuck are you?" She questions defiantly. How dare he try to control her?
At this point, they are chest to chest and for some reason they both were breathing hard. Valerie found her whole body heating, feeling as if she couldn't even function for a few second. Every breath of air she took, they shared.
Luca runs his hand over his face, in complete exasperation of their back and forth it seemed.
"I need a wife. To be CEO of this company, my father wants me to take a wife." He admits, almost like he was talking about securing a deal. Valerie scoffs, "What does that have to do with me?"
"Look, it's not about love, Valerie. It'd be just like having a job, or living a fantasy. I can supply everything you need."
The pause after that is what almost makes her faint. She had no doubt as she looked up at the just barely panting man that he could supply everything she ever wanted in a husband. At least superficially.
Sweet baby Jesus.
Valerie thought. She felt as if her inner sexual goddess was waking up out of her thousand year slumber.
"No, I just don't want to marry you." She found her backbone suddenly, using her hands to create more distance from him and walking towards one of the windows in the room. Instantly being able to breathe and think better once she wasn't in his vicinity.
"Are you a lesbian?" He asks incredulously. Valerie can't even bring her eyes from the view of the city she's looking at. He was truly grasping at straws.
"Are you the Casanova they gush about in the tabloids? Boy, are they sweetening you." Valerie humorlessly laughs.
He was really pissing her off. If Valerie was going to marry somebody it was going to be somebody she loved. Not some arrogant, fussy asshole. Lesbianism was far from the one thing holding her back from being his little hussy wife.
Valerie suddenly went from glaring out of the window to her back being pressed against it and her being flush against Luca. Their chests rising and falling against each other, the clarity Valerie once had over her mind disappearing like the space between them.
She rebelliously closes her eyes, refusing to look up and face the unbelievably handsome man. If she did, she wouldn't be accountable for her actions. It was absolutely mind boggling how in a matter of minutes, she wasn't afraid of this... just thirty minutes ago, perfect stranger.
Luca, as annoying as he was, somehow had disarmed her.
Along with the professionalism he'd thrown out the door, he'd also managed to get Valerie to throw her caution to the wind.
His breath was hot against her skin and whatever expensive cologne he had on made for a heady mix that had Valerie weakening at the knees. She praised God that she was wearing slacks and not a skirt, because his knee between her legs and the closeness at which he held her could've spelled for a rather raunchy recipe.
"This is sexual assault." Valerie grounds out evenly, trying to gain leverage in the situation.
"My lawyers would put yours to shame." Luca matches. She could imagine him shrugging as he said it.
"Valerie, I could please you in every way possible." His hand trailed dangerously from the small of her back to the bottom of her ass. With the size of his palm, it was like it was made to hold onto her. As she hung off of his every word, Valerie couldn't help but look up into the wagering businessman's eyes. "The marriage is completely conditional. You only have to stay married to me for a year, then you can go." He spelled out for her, the thumb of his other hand rubbing circles in her side.
She finally mustered up enough strength to shunt this man off of her!
"Luca didn't I say no?!"
Luca was absolutely gobsmacked and Valerie felt every bit of ashamed.
Yes, it felt like she knew him forever when she was swooning in his arms, but she didn't.
She had just met this man. It was time to act like it.
His face relaxed in seconds. He straightened his suit and sat down behind his desk, leaving Valerie a hard breathing mess against the window while he looked like nothing had happened.
She was ready to literally push everything off of his desk in retaliation for him looking perfect after that exchange.
"You can go now." Was the next thing he said. His tone even and businesslike.
Valerie was now the one who couldn't hide her surprise.
"What?"
"I said, get out." He nodded towards the doors of his office.
With the little dignity she had left, Valerie grabbed her purse and snatched her resumé off of his desk; instantly regretting the extra copies she had sent in his father's email which she was now sure he had access to.
She headed to the door unbelievably embarrassed. She already knew her face was red too. The woman that had left earlier was outside of the door. Before the woman could point her in the direction of the exit, Valerie stopped.
This made Luca look up from his desk for a second and they held each other's steely gazes.
"I am still as qualified as any other applicant. You're sick as hell for trying to distract from that for your... selfish needs." Valerie lowly growled, her fingertips trembling with anger.
All he did was give a deep chuckle and shake his head.
"Prepare to be blackballed."
Was the last thing she heard before his office door slammed behind her, making her jump a bit. She couldn't believe the audacity of this man.
She felt the blood drain from her face.
How was she going to get a job now?!
Giovanni Enterprises had came and left her cards faster than a New York subway train.
Time to call Nicki and tell her to go scavenger for some nice viaducts to live under.