A Designed Affair Read Online Free Page B

she’d be able to relax a little more and turn over a lot of the assistant type work that he and her receptionist were currently doing.
    Her first hire, Kyle, a recent college graduate came highly recommended and Loren could tell he would be a perfect fit. She also hired another young man, Monroe, who had plans to one day open his own design firm and wanted to learn the business from the bottom up. Loren was more than happy to show him the ropes. She could tell from his resume that he was a hard worker, he didn’t mind extensive travel and the moment he walked in and Loren checked out his attire, she could tell he had an eye for flair when it came to coordinating. She was sold. They would both be starting in two weeks. In the meantime, Loren needed to go over dividing up the current projects to have each one of them shadow her in order to get their feet wet. That would have to wait because tonight, she was having dinner with Mike. She smiled catching herself turning business into just dinner.
    “This is business,” she said out loud to herself. She needed to remember that in order to keep herself in check.
    Her thoughts wouldn’t be so focused on Mike if she had some type of private life going on for herself. She had done some casual dating, but nothing serious. At first she thought the issue was that she was so focused on work that she didn’t have the time to commit to any type of relationship.
    Having this quiet time to herself while closing up the office for the evening, she took the time to really assess the issue and not having the time wasn’t it at all. No matter how much time work took, there was always time for dating and relationships. She just didn’t do it. She would love to have a fulfilling, loving relationship, but the definition of relationships these days certainly was not monogamous. It seemed to her that not only did men no longer value being in a relationship with one woman, but women didn’t value it anymore either.
    Her last serious relationship ended badly because her ex didn’t understand that his penis was not like an ATM machine. He shouldn’t give access to every woman who smiled at him looking to make a withdrawal. She would continue to hold to her morals until her prince came along. Until then, no more dating frogs.
    Loren thoughts again turned to Mike. He was certainly no frog, but she also couldn’t let go of his history with women. He was so good looking that women seemed to instantly drop their panties as soon as he smiled at them; a smile that was as bright and gorgeous as a hundred watt bulb. She had never known him to be involved with just one woman at a time and never anyone seriously. She had deep rooted feelings for him that she knew would never turn into anything special. If she didn’t know him so well she didn’t think she’d like him at all.
    On the surface Mike was a true player, but Loren knew the real Mike. He was kind, considerate, generous and just an all-around good person. He just couldn’t keep his zipper up around women and Loren hated that. She hated that in all men. She didn’t want to put them down because of their amorous appetites, but she found it hard to find the kind of relationship she really wanted because casual relationships seem to be the norm, just not for her. As much as she loathed his behavior, she still could not suppress the feelings she’d been harboring for him for years. She was looking forward to seeing him, though she wasn’t ready to handle the reaction she would have to seeing and being around him again. Tonight was about to be a real test for her and her will.
    ~~~
    Loren tried on dress after dress for her dinner meeting with Mike. Her phone rang as she was busy getting herself ready. She noticed it was her best friend, Gizelle calling. She and Gizelle had been roommates in college and had been inseparable ever since then.
    “Hey Gizzy,” she said, using Gizelle’s nickname.
    “Loren, girl, hey. So tonight is the night right?