Dangerously Irresistible

CHAPTER ONE

~   T H E    S U C C E S S O R   ~

⤝ ⤝ ⤝ ⤝ ⤝ ⤝ ⤝   R O S E   ⤞ ⤞ ⤞ ⤞ ⤞ ⤞ ⤞

{   F O U R     Y E A R S     L A T E R   }

As I climbed out my parked BMW and headed out of the parking lot for the employees of Dio Global, I basked in the warm sunlight.

 It was a spring day and a sunny one at that with an occasional warm breeze that caressed the faces of the many New Yorkers who were striding down the streets, heading to their diverse jobs.

 I was also heading to work and was currently walking into the large skyscraper which was not only one of the most stunning pieces of architecture in the New York skyline but was also the headquarters of the worldwide business empire, Dio Global where I worked as the Assistant Manager of Advertising.

 It was a prestigious job that I'd landed just this year and I couldn't still believe that I was working such a high-status job at such a high-status company as I walked through the automatically opening glass doors and strode up to the receptionist's desk.

 There were six of them there, all of them were female and all of them were dressed in slim black T-shirts with silver jackets and a pair of knee-length black Capri's that were compulsory for them.

 I stopped by the desk to sign in and the receptionist closest to me, a pretty Jamaican girl named Aisha smiled in greeting to me.

 "Morning, Rose," she greeted me.

 "Hi, Aisha. Busy morning?" I asked pleasantly but Aisha was once again on a call, cheerfully asking the caller what she was looking for and just gave me an apologetic smile and a shrug.

 I smiled back at her and left, heading to the elevator bank.

 Seamless metal doors hissed open and I quickly stepped in and pressed the button for the forty-first floor where I had my first piece of business today.

 On the way up, I took a moment to check myself in the mirrored walls of the elevator that was lit up by LEDs, just to see if my sleek ponytail was still in place and my halter-necked, black peplum top and my matching black Capri's were wrinkle free.

 They were and I smiled at my reflection before I got off at the forty-first floor which housed the biggest of the many Dio Studios in the USA where my first piece of business was today. When I got there, it was abuzz with activity just as I suspected.

 I ignored the many people rushing about and hurriedly walked to the very back of the floor to where the make-up artists were and found who I was looking for.

 "Hey!" Jenna grinned at me, peeking at me over the shoulder of the young make-up artist who was brushing power over her cheeks.

 "You're here." I smiled with relief.

 "Seriously, Rose?" Jenna demanded, trying to speak without moving her cheeks. "You've got to stop expecting the worst, girl!"

 "I wasn't expecting the worst!" I protested. "I was just worried that you might be late. You did spend the night out."

 "Yes, I did. I think I only got three hours of sleep last night," Jenna said, finally able to look me in the eyes as the make-up artist finished contouring her cheeks and had moved away to get something else.

 "Three hours?!" I exclaimed, surprised. "But you said you were leaving the club when I called you at 2:00!"

 "Oh, I left the club at 2:00 all right!"