A Designed Affair Read Online Free PDF Page A

Your dinner with Mike?”
    Gizelle was the only person Loren told all of her secrets to. She had confided in Gizelle years ago, the out of control feelings she had for Mike. Gizelle was the first person she called when Mike invited her to dinner, well for business of course.
    “Yes, it’s tonight and I was in the midst of trying to get ready when you called.”
    “Okay, so what’s the outfit for the night? Is it bold and business, or daring and sexy? My vote is for daring and sexy, but that’s just me.”
    Loren shook her head at her friend. If it were left up to Gizelle, she would recommend Loren go in just a thong.
    “I’m going with business sexy. How’s that?”
    Loren could hear Gizelle thinking loudly.
    “I guess that’ll do. Just make sure you wear some very sexy lingerie underneath just in case you lose your panties tonight.”
    Loren almost choked from laughing.
    “Girl stop. I am not losing any clothing tonight. This is just business.”
    “Loren, this is me. Remember me? Your best friend in the whole world? This may be business, but you and I both know you want it to be more and just in case he wants that too, make sure you’re ready. Oh, and wear your hair up and no bun. You should have let me come over to do your hair and make-up. Having a best friend who owns a beauty salon is a plus for you.”
    Gizelle owned one of the hottest salons in Atlanta, but Loren didn’t want to make too much out of tonight. She didn’t want to be disappointed if she went overboard only to discover Mike still saw her as Duron’s little sister and nothing more. No, she would keep this as professional as humanly possible.
    “Gizzy, my make-up is fine and you just did my hair a few days ago before my last business trip and it’s still holding up nicely.”
    “Alright, I’m going to stop playing mother hen and I’ll let you get back to your preparations. I want every single detail though. Call me tomorrow.”
    Gizelle hung up before Loren could get a response in. Typical Gizelle, Loren thought.
    Loren wiped thoughts of Gizelle from her mind and got back to what she was doing.
    Getting ready for a meeting about business had never been this frustrating, but this was Mike; her crush. He was the star of many, many fantastic dreams, asleep and awake. She selected an ensemble that was both sexy and businesslike. She would love to wow Mike, but she didn’t want the intent to be one sided so she made sure the sexiness of her outfit was subtle.
    She looked at herself in the mirror as she changed into her favorite Steve Madden royal blue and green high heels that went well with her conservative yet mildly sexy royal blue dress.
    ~~~
    It was Friday and Mike was preparing to head out of the office early. His thoughts turned to how he would soon be sitting across the table from Loren to discuss business. He was glad had Loren called him back about the house in California he needed her to work on for him.
    He had decided to make the move to the west coast to open up and run the new branch of their architecture firm. He, Duron and Tyrone, his two best friends and business partners, had been tossing around the idea for a while and they had finally decided to do it. He didn’t mind being the one to move to the west coast since he had a lot of family there and he was ready for something new. He also knew that it would take him away from seeing Loren all the time, but since he’d finally realized he was never going to have her, he had no problem moving. He hoped the move would help him get over his desire for her. To keep the peace with his best friend, who would not be happy with the thoughts that went through his mind daily about Loren, he needed to back off and the move would give him the space he needed.
    Mike didn’t know what possessed him to call Duron to inquire about Loren working on his house. He knew it was a mistake, especially since he knew he needed to stay away from her, not come up with ways to be around her more