More Than A Four Letter Word by Stephanie Jean Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

meet a better man than you."
    He hugs her once again before opening the
door. "I know that everything seems out of place, and you feel
uprooted. In time, you realize that things work out for the best.
Hopefully the family will get together for the holidays.”
    Clarissa watches her father leave. Who knows
by the time Christmas comes around she might be working in Chicago.
Clarissa goes back into her bedroom, digging in her purse for
Julian Ross's business card. She calls the number and Julian picked
up on the second ring. "Hello Julian this is Clarissa Marks, my
situation has changed, and I want to hear more about the position
in Chicago."
    When he hears Clarissa's voice, Julian feels
heat surge through his body. He expected to hear from her sooner,
but sometimes everything doesn't go according to plan. "As luck
would have it, I don't leave for Chicago until tomorrow morning.
Why don't you meet me for dinner at the Ritz, say around five
o'clock."
    "I'll be there Julian, and I also expect you
to tell me why you were so convinced that my engagement to Lawrence
would end. I'm not stupid Julian I know that you sent me photos of
my fiancé and his women. What troubles me is how accurately you
gauged my reaction."
    Julian smiles; not surprised that Clarissa
could sense his involvement regarding the photos. "If you thought
you could make me ashamed of my actions, you don't know me that
well. I will tell you everything you want to know at dinner. Be on
time Clarissa, don't make me look for you, you wouldn't like the
consequences."
    Clarissa couldn't believe Julian's arrogance;
he takes immense pleasure from her knowledge of his duplicitous
actions. "What an asshole!" She would meet him for dinner; question
him regarding the job and his intentions involving her.
    ***
    Julian has reservations at one of
restaurant's at the Ritz; from all accounts the restaurant is good.
He plans to discover information about Clarissa that isn't covered
in his detective's report. He wants to know about her hobbies, what
she does for fun, and her tastes in music. He already knows that
she has horrid taste in men.
    Clarissa's attracted to him, but he needs a
timeframe for her to get over her debacled engagement. He doesn't
want to be the rebound man those relationships never work. "Hell!"
Where did the word relationship come from? He doesn't like feeling
possessive of Clarissa. He has to get a hold of himself; all he can
give her is a short, but memorable fling. He isn't a relationship
kind of man.
    If she accepts the job in Chicago, he has to
take it slow and try to know her better. Whom is he kidding? The
first opportunity he has to get her in to bed has to be soon. He's
already sweating bullets at the very thought of riding he into
oblivion. How is he going to convince Clarissa to come to Chicago?
Clarissa may not follow a stranger across the country, but the
prospect of an intriguing job could win her over. He has to bait
his trap carefully or face losing his prey. Losing Clarissa at this
junction isn't an option.
    ***
    Clarissa has been perusing her wardrobe with
a critical eye for hours. She didn’t want to give Julian the
impression that she's a woman on the make. She finally decides on a
cream two-piece linen suit. The suit is elegant without being
presumptuous. Since her engagement to Lawrence, she rarely went out
anymore; now that she’s single again she has to make up for lost
time. She sighs, looking at the image in the mirror, who's she
kidding, dating is a gigantic pain in the ass.
    Her best friend Alison didn't like Lawrence
from jump street. After their engagement Alison stopped encouraging
her to date other men. Alison doesn't have a lot of trust where men
were concern, but she soon changed her mind upon meeting
Jonesy.
    Clarissa still remembers introducing Alison
to Marcus Jones. Alison picked her up from work to take her out to
lunch. Jonesy just happened to be in Clarissa’s office when Alison
arrived. That is the first time she could