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    Irresistible Valentine (Gay Romance)
    Irresistible Valentine (Gay Romance)
    Irresistible Valentine (Gay Romance)
    Ebook226 pages2 hours

    Irresistible Valentine (Gay Romance)

    By Trina Solet

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Derrick's whole life is about business. He has closed the door on relationships until he's surprised by his sudden feelings for his assistant, Malcolm.
    Malcolm is a practical guy who is not ready for a whirlwind romance with his boss. He's busy taking care of his three year old niece, Paula. She had a rough start in life, and Malcolm devotes all his time to her.
    Though their lives are very different, Derrick and Malcolm can't resist each other. Will Derrick's hard-nosed attitude drive them apart?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTrina Solet
    Release dateJun 9, 2024
    ISBN9791223047910
    Irresistible Valentine (Gay Romance)

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      Book preview

      Irresistible Valentine (Gay Romance) - Trina Solet

      Chapter 1

      Want to see where I work? Malcolm asked his three year old niece, Paula, as he helped her get her socks on. She turned up her big, blue eyes to him curiously as he explained what they were going to be doing. You're going to come to the office with me today. Let's see which coloring books we should bring.

      OK, Uncle Malcolm, Paula said. She hopped down from the couch and picked up a whole, big stack of coloring books from the coffee table, hugging them to her.

      Just those then. OK, Malcolm told her with a smile and grabbed a shopping bag to stuff them into along with the safer choice of colored pencils instead of crayons.

      After getting her shoes on, Malcolm bundled her up in a yellow coat and pink cap over her blond hair. She looked a lot like Malcolm's younger sister when she was little, and that meant she looked like Malcolm too with her dark blond hair and blue eyes.

      Paula hadn't lived with Malcolm for very long, only a few weeks, and he didn't think she was ready for either daycare of preschool. She usually spend her days with Mrs. Saddler, but she called to say she woke up with the flu and she couldn't expose Paula, of course. There was also Mona. She was his friend Candy's mom, but she was usually only available in the evenings and on weekends. That left Malcolm with only one option, to bring Paula to the office with him. The good thing was that his boss, Mr. Argent, wasn't going to be in the office today. He was still away on his business trip.

      As Malcolm walked into the sleek offices of Argent Holdings with Paula in tow, Amy, the receptionist smiled at them. She said good morning and asked Malcolm, Does this little lady have an appointment?

      Yes, she does. Her appointment is with me. It's bring your niece to work day, Malcolm said and smiled at Paula reassuringly. He could tell that Amy's mock serious tone was making her worry.

      Paula's situation before she came to live with him made her anxious and scared of anything unexpected, especially new people. She often became petrified if adults spoke to her even when they were being friendly. This kind of 'you're in trouble' teasing was sure to frighten her.

      Bringing her to such a cold and intimidating environment wasn't ideal, but she was doing OK so far. Paula gazed wide-eyed at the sleek glass walls and black marble everywhere, and she ducked her head if she noticed anyone looking at her and clung tightly to Malcolm's hand.

      As they made their way down the corridor, past even more glass and dark marble, Malcolm opened the door to Mr. Argent's office and froze. Why didn't Amy tell him? He was supposed to be on his business trip for another two days, but Mr. Argent was sitting behind his desk. Malcolm could see him clearly because the whole wall separating Mr. Argent's office from the outer office where Malcolm worked was glass.

      Oh, crap, he said under his breath as Mr. Argent raised his head from the laptop screen and noticed Malcolm and then Paula. His handsome face registered surprise and then disapproval. Damn. Malcolm hadn't worked for him long enough to get away with something like this.

      Is he mad? Paula whispered worriedly.

      Malcolm shook his head and put his arm around her. Nah, he's not mad. He's just a busy guy, he said, but there was a good chance Mr. Argent was mad.

      Malcolm took a deep breath and had Paula sit on the floor with the bag with her coloring books and colored pencils. You get out one of the coloring books and color something nice. I'll be right back.

      Mr. Argent was in his late twenties, good-looking with dark hair and eyes, a beard and some great muscles on his perfect body. He was also all business. Hell, Malcolm wasn't sure if he had ever seen him crack a smile. He couldn't imagine that a guy like that would be OK with Malcolm bringing his niece to the office.

      Now Malcolm was going in to explain himself. Sorry about this, sir. That's my niece, Paula. I just got custody of her. My two possible babysitting options fell through, that's why I brought her with me, Malcolm said as he walked in.

      He couldn't judge the level of displeasure from Mr. Argent's usual stern expression. Then a questioning frown formed on his handsome face. Do you mean to keep her out there all day?

      I was hoping, but... Malcolm trailed off. Obviously that wasn't happening.

      He looked out toward his area of the office and saw that Paula was getting anxious. Mr. Argent noticed too. Why does she look scared?

      She's been through a lot and she's so little, Malcolm said vaguely. He wasn't about to go into how neglectful his sister had been toward her kid. Can I have some time off to sort this out?

      Mr. Argent frowned at him. Actually, I'm back early because there was an unexpected buyout offer for MLH. We need to make changes to our proposal and update everyone involved. This needs to happen today.

      That meant Malcolm had to stay to do the work. He looked toward the outer office again. I can stay if I can keep Paula here, Malcolm stated.

      Are you sure she wants to stay? I think she hates it here, Mr. Argent said archly and he wasn't wrong, but Malcolm was surprised he noticed something like that.

      She should be fine once I tell her everything is alright, Malcolm said. But it would help if I brought her in here and introduced you. She can see you through all this glass so...

      It is like a fishbowl in here. And I guess I look scary to her? Mr. Argent said like there could be any doubt about that. And he didn't look scary just to Paula. Plus the fishbowl design was his choice.

      Malcolm didn't confirm to Mr. Argent that he frightened little children. With his permission, he brought Paula in to meet him. So this is Mr. Argent, my boss. And this is Paula, my niece. Say, 'Nice to meet you,' Malcolm instructed her.

      Nice to meet you, Mister, but I can't say your name. It's too hard, Paula said while still looking scared, but Malcolm was so proud of her for speaking up especially to someone as intimidating as his boss.

      That's OK. 'Mr. A' is fine, Mr. Argent told her. It's nice to meet you.

      Standing up, Mr. Argent opened his desk drawer and got out something that turned out to be an interlocking, wooden puzzle. He handed it to Malcolm. Maybe she would like to play with this? he said.

      What is it? Paula asked in her small voice as Malcolm gave it to her.

      It's a puzzle, he told her.

      No, she said since it didn't look like the kind of puzzles Malcolm had gotten her which were flat and had cartoon characters on them.

      It's a different kind of puzzle, Malcolm told her then he thanked Mr. Argent. That was such a nice and unexpected gesture from him.

      It's no problem, Mr. Argent said, his voice gruff but a more pleasant expression on his face than usual.

      Leaving himself a reminder on his phone to return the puzzle before they left, Malcolm took Paula to the outer office where she sat down on the floor in the corner next to Malcolm's desk. She took up her coloring book and pencils, and she seemed fine with that until Malcolm went into Mr. Argent's office to get his instructions. That made her anxious but not as much as before. While Malcolm noted down all the changes to the documents, he kept an eye on Paula as she alternated between her coloring book and the incomprehensible wooden puzzle.

      We go home now? Paula said in a hopeful voice when he came out.

      Uh, no, sorry. I just started working. It's going to be a while, he told her apologetically.

      OK. She settled back down to finish coloring all around a drawing of a flower instead of inside it. Malcolm wasn't about to tell her she was doing it wrong. After a moment, she lifted up her head again to ask, Uncle Malcolm, am I working?

      You sure are. You're working hard. I'm going to pay you in pretzels, Malcolm said but kept his eyes on his own work and made a mental note to get some from the vending machine as soon as he took a break.

      If they were busy, Malcolm would often work right through lunch as would Mr. Argent. For Malcolm that wasn't an option today. He had to stop for Paula's sake.

      Going into Mr. Argent's office, Malcolm told him, I'll be ordering lunch for Paula. Can I get anything for you?

      Mr. Argent looked like he was going to refuse lunch, but then he rubbed his temples and said, I haven't eaten since... Obviously he couldn't remember since when. He looked past Malcolm toward his desk and the corner where Paula was coloring. Maybe you should take your niece out to lunch. You don't want her to be cooped up in here all day.

      You wanted to review the changes before...

      The main stuff is done, the rest can wait. I'll be going to lunch too. I need to stretch my legs and move around. And eat, Mr. Argent said. It was unlike him to insist on a break, but Malcolm was grateful and not about to question it.

      He took a moment to admire Mr. Argent's physique as he stood up and turned to take his suit jacket from the back of his chair. The movement drew Malcolm's eye to his muscular back, his shoulders.

      As Mr. Argent put his suit jacket on, Malcolm turned away but at the last second noticed a pink envelope fall out of the jacket pocket. Malcolm was going to go back and pick it up for him, but Mr. Argent snatched it up too fast and put it in his desk like he didn't want Malcolm to see it.

      Malcolm did see it, he even noticed that it said from D to K. Mr. Argent's first name was Derrick. Pretending he didn't see anything as he walked out, Malcolm did wonder who would Mr. Argent give a card in a pink envelope to? Valentine's Day was in a month, so maybe it was an early Valentine's card. Malcolm hated to admit it, but he envied this K.

      Chapter 2

      Malcolm got Paula ready to go to lunch and they ended up running into Mr. Argent by the elevators. They went down in the elevator with him and Paula looked up at Mr. Argent. He's bigger now, she whispered to Malcolm.

      Mr. Argent quirked up a corner of his mouth at that and said, I stretched out my legs, that's why. When I sit too long, I get shorter.

      Malcolm was kind of shocked at him being so whimsical, but it made Paula smile shyly. Mr. Argent was full of surprises today, and this new side to his personality made him look even more handsome.

      Before stepping out the front doors of the building, Malcolm made sure Paula's coat was buttoned. He was taking Paula to a diner close by, and Mr. Argent was probably going to some fancy place where high powered executives congregate.

      Mr. Argent wasn't going his own way yet though. As they all went out, he stopped and asked, Would you two let me take you out to lunch?

      Malcolm was surprised at the lunch invitation and speechless for about a minute. He decided to consult with Paula. Mr. Argent wants to have lunch with us, is that Ok?

      Mr. A is hungry too. He needs to eat, she said.

      Malcolm turned to Mr. Argent and told him, I think that was a yes. Where did you have in mind?

      La Plume, Mr. Argent said. It's close. We can have a nice walk there.

      They walked down the busy street and Paula held onto Malcolm's hand while looking around curiously. Meanwhile, he fretted over where they were going. La Plume was an expensive French restaurant, the kind of place where Malcolm might have made reservations for Mr. Argent, but not a place where he would actually eat. It wasn't business oriented, but it wasn't a place to take a three year old either. It was fancy and French, and now they were stuck going there.

      Malcolm had gone to working lunches with Mr. Argent, but this felt very different

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