The Next Level: A BWWM Billionaire Marriage And Pregnancy Romance (18 page)

‘
I
should get an audit done.’ He thought as he watched his feet
move in the shiny black shoes he’d treated himself to on his
birthday. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to paying
$1000 for a pair of shoes no matter how well he was doing. That
thought reminded him of his father and he smiled grimly imagining him
in this situation. Roman Petrov was not a man to tolerate thieves.
But this was America and times and situations were different here.

The
sound of a startled squeak caused him to lift his head, just in time
to see a rotund young woman almost fall on the slippery sidewalk. He
hurried forward to see if he could help her, but she had righted
herself and hurried away before he could. He stopped for a minute to
contemplate a backside so lush and luscious that it rendered her
waist tiny in comparison. Her hips swayed from side to side as she
walked up to a door and let herself in a building. Without even
thinking about it, Anton followed her.

*****

Sophie
checked her watch as she came up to the offices of Rodham, Clarence
and Haggerty; Certified Public Accountants. She was five minutes late
and Rodham was already at the door, tapping his foot impatiently.

“
Good
morning, sir,” she said as she put the key in the lock and
opened up the office.

“
You’re
late,” he replied with a frown.

Sophie
opened her mouth to apologize, then closed it again. ‘What the
hell’ she thought, ‘it’s not like he ever really
sees me anyway. An apology probably wouldn’t even register.’
She swept into the office in his wake, unbuttoning her coat even as
she turned to close the door. The man standing in the doorway gave
her a turn and she made a startled sound, hand to her heart.

“
Oh!
Err, can I help you?” she asked a bit breathlessly. His eyes
were very blue she thought, especially with that blonde hair.
Piercing too; and he was staring at her in a way that was a shade
under polite.

“
Yes,
I am looking for an accountant,” he was saying, “Have I
come to the right place?”

Sophie’s
eyes slid to the prominently displayed sign on the door, but
refrained from saying anything untoward. Clearly he was a client.

“
Well,
yes, you have. Come in,” she said instead.

“
Thank
you. And your name is…?” he asked, still staring at her
with those piercing ice blue eyes. ‘Could you possibly look
elsewhere?’ she thought at him, hoping it would somehow
register.

“
Sophie.
Why don’t you come into the waiting room while I see if Mr.
Rodham is available?” she said, ushering him in and hoping that
would avert his attention. No such luck, he continued to stare at her
like he had found the mother lode in a gold mine and he was afraid to
take his eyes off it lest it disappear.

“
Err;
can I get you a coffee or tea, maybe?” Sophie asked.

“
No
thank you,” he said, sitting down.

Sophie
hurried away before anything else strange could happen. If she didn’t
know better, she would think that guy was checking her out. But she’d
taken a look at his shoes as soon as he walked in; that brand did not
come cheap – he was definitely out of her league. Perhaps he
had never seen a black woman working in an accountant’s office
before? Sophie shrugged inwardly and went to announce him to Mr.
Rodham. It was only as she stepped into her boss’ office that
she realized she did not know the client’s name.

She
hesitated, wanting to go back out and find out the name before she
got another blot on her name before ten o’clock in the morning
on a Monday in February but Rodham had already looked up.

“
Yes
Sophie?” he said.

Sophie
frowned, wondering if he’d ever used her name before –
just her luck he would choose today to remember it.

“
There’s…a
man in the waiting room wanting to see an accountant,” she
said.

Mr.
Rodham contemplated her for a moment eyebrow raised.

“
Send
him in,” was all he said at last.

Sophie
breathed again and went to tell the man with the piercing blue eyes
that the boss would see him now.

The
office was quickly filling up and Sophie put the strange happenings
of the morning behind her in favor of getting to work. Mr. Rodham and
the client were in his office a long time and Sophie wondered if he
had come for help declaring bankruptcy, or maybe it was a mortgage
gone badly. So many people came with money management issues these
days. ‘Mr. Blue Eyes could start by buying cheaper shoes’
she thought.

*****

“
My
accountant is stealing from me,” Tony began bluntly, “and
I need an independent audit.”

“
Is
that so?” Rodham leaned back in his chair contemplating the
client. His suit said expensive, but bourgeoisie with it. His shoes
were clearly very new. Not Old Money then; and Russian to boot.
Mafia, perhaps? But he doubted the Russian Mafia asked for audits.

“
Yes.
Can you help me or not?” Tony asked.

“
Of
course. I’ll get someone who is skilled in this area to get
right on it,” Rodham said, picking up the phone and summoning
one of the associates.

“
This
is Curtis Jackson; he is one of our brightest associates with a
talent for spotting fraud. He is at your disposal,” Rodham said
as Jackson came in.

Tony
nodded at Jackson, who smiled at him and ushered him into the
conference room so as to get the details of his case.

*****

Sophie
was typing up some financial reports for clients while simultaneously
studying for her CPA exam when a shadow fell over her desk. She
looked up to see Jackson grinning down at her.

“
Hey
Sophie,” he said.

“
Hi.
Can I help you with something?” she asked, narrowing her eyes
suspiciously. Jackson smiling never boded well for anyone.

“
Au
contraire, it’s what I have done for you,” he said
confirming all her worst suspicions.

“
And
what is that Jackson? Will I need to kill you now or later?”
she asked fist curling involuntarily.

“
Definitely
later. I got you a date,” he said grin widening.

“
You…what?”
she asked, almost choking in her disbelief.

“
That
Ruski dude that was here this morning? Remember him? Took quite a
shine to you,” Jackson said, propping himself on the edge of
her desk.

Sophie’s
hand reached out and she grabbed the calendar staring at it, “Nope.
It’s not April 1st; so what the hell are you trying to do to
me?” she was whispering, but the menace in her voice was
unmistakable.

“
C’mon
Sophie, you have no life. You come to work; you go home to your grand
pops. You’re a beautiful woman. The man likes you. Give him a
chance,” Jackson wheedled.

“
Are
you pimping me out to your clients Jackson?” Sophie asked him
pseudo-politely.

“
No!”
Jackson said and sighed, “Look, just hear him out okay? If you
don’t like him, say no.”

There
was a small silence.

“
Besides,
he’s way out of my league,” Sophie said, and then could
have bitten her tongue. Giving Jackson a reason he could argue away
was as good as acquiescing to his demands.

*****

“
G-Money!
You home?” Sophie called as she got in that night. Her feet
were killing her! She flung her heels off her feet with more violence
than strictly necessary. Being a size sixteen meant that there was
quite a bit of weight pressing on her toes. She would have preferred
wearing flats, but the office had an unspoken policy on how its
female employees should present themselves. Heels were part of the
uniform. She walked to her room still calling out for her
grandfather, but there was no reply. Then she remembered that Monday
nights was poker night for him and his workmates at the jeweler’s.
He wouldn’t be home until later. Changing into a comfortable
pair of black sweats she went to contemplate the contents of the
fridge. There was some leftover gumbo which she warmed up and ate at
the table while Jay Z blasted from her beats headphones, telling her
about his 99 problems. This was followed by her guilty pleasure,
Justin Bieber, singing about Beauty and a Beat.

Did
Mr. Blue Eyes really want to date her? Did she want to date him?
She’d never been with a white guy before. They usually weren’t
into the bigger girls like her; not that she minded. Her voluptuous
figure was quite popular enough, thank you; she had no complaints.
But Jackson was right. What with money so tight and everything that
had happened, she had to admit she was living the life of a recluse.
Hell, even her grandfather had more of a social life than her! Maybe
if he asked her, she might say yes…just to see what dating was
like these days.

Sophie
snorted, “Someone would think you’re like some middle
aged hag instead of a twenty five year old babe the way you talk,”
she said to herself. She leaned forward, glancing at her blemish free
heart shaped features in the mirror. Her short curly hair framed her
face in a way that flattered her prominent cheek bones and round
brown eyes. Her rosebud shaped mouth smiled a little smugly. She
lifted her index finger and touched her full lips with it and then
touched the mirror.

“
Sssmmokin,”
she whispered.

Then
she went off to bed.

*****

“
Good
morning,” a deep voice said to her as a shadow fell on her
desk. She knew it was him before she looked up. She wouldn’t be
forgetting that voice in a hurry. Her head lifted slowly, as she felt
her face glow.

“
Down
girl,” she whispered to her rapidly increasing pulse, “no
need to get excited or nothin’”

She
pinned a smile to her face and looked up, “Hi,” she said
breathlessly.

“
I’m
Tony Romanov,” he said.

“
Hi
Tony,” she replied, feeling dizzy. Her smile felt extremely
artificial on her face, but she couldn’t seem to shift it.

“
Um,
would you like to have coffee with me?” he suggested, piercing
her with those ice blue eyes and leaving her helplessly pinned to her
seat. Or at least that’s how it felt.

“
Sure,”
she managed to whisper.

“
Great.
Shall I pick you up after work?” he offered, smiling down at
her and literally taking her breath away. She nodded her
acquiescence. His smile widened and he nodded back at her before
Curtis came to whisk him off to his office.

Sophie
stood up and bolted to the ladies room, “What. The hell. Is the
matter with you girl?” she scolded herself sternly in the
mirror, “Settle down before you make even more of a damned fool
of yourself!”

She
breathed in and out with her eyes closed, all the while wondering at
this reaction. Yesterday she hadn’t reacted at all this way to
his presence. Maybe she was just nervous about the date. She nodded
to herself, deciding that this was the reason and then went back to
work.

The
day passed without event, Sophie threw herself into her work and
studying for her exam, so much so that she was startled when the
shadow was back at her desk, promptly at 6pm.

“
Hi
Sophie,” Blue Eyes said…Tony. His name was Tony.

“
Hi…Tony,”
she replied, smiling woodenly up at him. She wanted to slap herself
out of this fugue state he seemed to put her in but he was watching
her.

“
Shall
we go?” he asked, holding out his hand. Sophie stood up and
smiled at him. She was a tall girl, but he towered over her.

“
I’ll
just go freshen up. Real quick, I promise,” she said, hurrying
away from him.

Tony
watched her go, “I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you
leave,” he murmured to himself.

“
Whoa,
down boy,” an amused voice said from behind him. He turned
around to find Curtis smiling at him.

“
Oh,
hello Curtis. I was just…” Tony began, embarrassed at
being caught out.

“
Oh,
I know what you were just…” Curtis replied grinning,
“Keep it in your pants though. Sophie ain’t that kinda
girl.”

“
I
was not…” Tony began to protest, but then caught
himself. He didn’t need to explain himself to anyone. Not
anymore.

Curtis
saw his discomfiture and changed the subject, “I have something
for you by the way, if you want to stop by my office tomorrow.”

Tony
stared at him in surprise, “Already?”

“
Yeah.
What can I say? I’m the best,” Curtis replied with a
pseudo-self-deprecating shrug and a smirk.

Tony
nodded and agreed to come and then turned his attention back to
Sophie who was just swaying her way over from the ladies’ room.
She had slicked down her hair with some kind of gel, leaving all the
bones of her face exposed and her eyes looking three times as big.
Her lips were painted with a brown lipstick and the overall effect
was just…electric. Tony wondered if she would let him kiss her
after their date. He’d just met her yesterday, but he felt like
he’d been waiting for her for millennia. His hands itched to
place themselves on those luscious hips; the mere thought caused his
penis to twitch.