Soft rain, falling against the terra cotta roof and sliding down the window glass in tiny rivers only to plop into the terra cotta pot beneath the office window where Claire Ashford was seated behind the enormous maple desk gazing at a few color photos that she had spread out on the shiny surface of the desk.
Her fingers lightly toyed with the solid gold cross around her neck.
There was a knock at the door and without looking up, Claire swept the photos inside the manilla envelope and shoved it inside a desk drawer.
"You may enter." She called out, voice low and cultured and expression a mask until the ash wood door swung opened to reveal the pudgy and brown haired figure of her secretary, Olive Smith.
Once Olive entered, Claire instantly fixed a pleasant expression on her face.
"Yes Olive what is it?"
"Your four o'clock has arrived." Olive said, "and your husband sent roses. Shall I place them on your desk?"
"You may set the roses out in the waiting room and please send in my four o'clock ." Claire said, flashing a kind smile at the woman who had worked for her for ten years and so there really wasn't many secrets between them and Olive was well aware that her boss detested roses.
Why Mr. Ashford insisted on sending them once a week was a total mystery and Olive would never ask Mrs. Ashford about it.
"Yes, Mrs. Ashford." She said and headed out. Claire took the opportunity to remind herself about the next client.
He was a thirty year old widower still grieving over his wife. Frowning, Claire reached for her laptop and typed "Antonio Marino" and the slightly sinister face popped onto the screen beneath the image of a down town boxing gym called Sam's.
She impatiently entered another search command and one photograph of Antonio the "Hammer" Marino appeared on the screen and this time he sported a victorious although battered face while holding up a championship belt.
His trainer was proudly standing beside him in the boxing ring.
Claire's stare was fixated on the trainer's tanned and grinning mug. He was a muscular guy although nowhere near as buff as the "Hammer".
A thick blond curl had fallen over one of his sparkling blue eyes and the deep cleft in his chin made him look even more so like the late Kirk Douglas.
"You bastard." Claire whispered and then closed the computer just as Olive returned, timidly escorting Antonio Marino into the office.
He was dressed in a light weight tan suit, white shirt and pink silk tie which matched the carnation pinned to the lapel of the suit coat.
Antonio's very presence exuded a purely male magnetism which most women found sexy. He had dark curls, thick brows above deeply set, coffee colored eyes and a Roman nose which had been broken so many times until it was permanently tilted and strangely enough this slightly off kilter nose only added to his raw sex appeal.
Antonio resembled a rougher, taller version of the actor Tony Danza.
Claire's nostrils flared at the smell of Antonio's "Invictus" cologne which seemed to engulf the room.
"How are ya?" Antonio asked in his rough sounding nasal voice and then he simply leaned over the desk and wrapped his rock hard arms around Claire in an unexpected hug.
She stiffened and averted her face to avoid being crushed against his stubbly cheek. But..oh my did Antonio smell and feel devine! Claire had to resist him.
"Hello Mr. Marino.." She murmured feeling a little dazed once he'd let her go.
"How many times do I hafta tell ya? It's just Tony okay? Or Hammer. Which ever one makes ya feel good."
"I think I'll stick with Mr. Marino for the time being." Claire said, adjusting her gold rimmed reading glasses.
"Whateva." He scoffed with a wave of one meaty hand. Claire noticed the fine dusting of silky black hair covering the back of his hand and the thickness of his fingers which ended in lightly buffed nails.
Her eyes hungrily and covertly traveled the entire robust length of him and when she swallowed there was a clicking sound in the back of her throat.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX8hBMzcLIN
Meanwhile, Antonio was obviously checking her office out and then he decided to sit in the green, wing backed chair instead of the more comfortable Italian leather sofa.
Hitched up the legs of his slacks and then stretched out his long legs with a contended sigh.
"This sure is a fine set up ya got here. Nick never mentioned how fancy. Had me thinking you was still running ya business out of the spare office at your house. Hey! I really dig this office."
"Thank you. I've had this space for ten years and Nick knows that. So, how can I help you today?"
"I'd like to put my house on the market." He said. "Anna's been gone four years. The place just isn't the same without her and so I wanna get rid of it and start over fresh."
Claire managed to hold back an eager smile because Mr. Marino was talking about getting shut of a 1.2 million dollar beach front property which would easily be snapped up and plus her commission would look very pretty.
"I'm certain that I can be of service to you." She said, getting down to business and very shortly they had reached an agreement which was satisfactory to both.
Then Mr. Marino stood and Claire quickly arose and stepped around her desk to walk him to the door. Her hand was touching the brass knob when he asked,
"What are your plans for dinner tonight?"
Claire hesitated. It seemed her entire body clenched and she had to force herself to relax. Mr. Marino was staring at her with those intriguing eyes.
I..uh. well." She was stammering. Mortified, Claire managed to pull herself together.
"Well. I was going to order Chinese.." She said with a small shrug of one shoulder. "Since Nick is out of town tonight."
"Yeah. So. When do you expect him home?"
Claire looked at Mr. Marino strangely. "I thought you'd know. I mean, you're Nick's number one client and it's not like him to neglect to inform you of these things..."
A sheepish Antonio yanked at his left earlobe as a light blush stained his cheeks. Then he stared Claire directly in the eyes as if he'd made up his mind about a tough decision.
"It ain't my business but most of the time Nick goes off and does his own thing, if ya catch my drift."
Claire plastered a fake smile on her lips and opened the door. "You're right. It's not your business. Have a pleasant evening Mr. Marino."
Antonio hesitated, gazed down into her cool sea green eyes a measuring moment and then nodded curtly. He left without saying goodbye.
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