The Billionaire & The Barfly (Coming Home)

by Adrianne James

  Why couldn’t he be like other men she knew who were perfectly content to have fun one night, and then be on their way the next morning? Wasn’t no strings attached sex a man’s dream? Apparently, not Henry’s.

  ~*~

  When Aubrey walked back into the office, she was done thinking about Henry. She would be focused and smart, and she would think of the best damn way to market the old games for the old systems that most kids no longer even knew what they were. She could do it. She just had to think. Really, really damn hard.

  As she walked through the office on her way to let Mike know she was back from lunch, she saw Jenna waiting by her old desk. Her arms were crossed, and her eyes narrowed, looking directly at Aubrey. Apparently, she was waiting for her and not just standing around for the fun of it. Go figure.

  “Okay, what did I do this time?” she asked, exasperated. Placing her bag and her work on her old desk, she just waited for Jenna to speak. She didn’t understand where this person had come from. Jenna used to be so cool and treated her almost friendly. She wanted that Jenna back.

  “Where have you been? Mike told me the job he gave you. That could very well make or break this company. Not all of us are lucky enough to live at home without any bills. This isn’t a time to be messing around!”

  “Whoa. I have my own apartment for one, and for two, I was at lunch, and I worked through half of it. I know this is important. I’m not stupid.”

  “Not stupid, just falling for Henry Maximus’s charming ways of getting all the intel on this company to build his and ruin ours.”

  “You don’t even know Henry. Or is that the problem? Did he turn you down?” Aubrey knew she was crossing a line, and as soon as it was out of her mouth, she regretted it. One word from Jenna to Mike, and she could be out of a job completely.

  “Oh, no, honey. I had him over two years ago. But I was trying to find out secrets of his company and kept tight lipped about ours. Shame he wouldn’t give anything up. He is quite talented in bed, isn’t he?”

  The news was like a knife to the gut, ten times over. Aubrey could feel the tears threatening to fall, and for no real reason. It was a long time ago, and she couldn’t even claim Henry as her own. Of course, he had been with other women. But to have one standing right in front of her sucked.

  “Your point is? Well, besides being a cradle robber anyway. Two years ago, Henry was twenty three. That’s what? A twenty year age gap?”

  “He was begging for it,” she said with a smirk and tilt of her head. “My point is, don’t get any ideas. You were my personal assistant, and if you don’t keep your head away from the competition and on those stupid old games, you might as well reacquaint yourself with the coffee machine.”

  “Why don’t you just let me do my work? I don’t know what I did to make you act this way toward me, but I never did anything intentionally.” Even though she was pissed, she wished she could reverse whatever the hell had happened, and make them the great team they were before. Not that she wanted to go back to being a personal assistant. She wanted that market research position. Especially now that she had rent to pay and a brother and soon to be niece or nephew to make sure had a home.

  “Good luck. Mike basically gave you the job no one wanted. It’s impossible, and it will never work.”

  “Then I guess we are all screwed.”

  Aubrey didn’t let Jenna reply. She just picked her things back up and headed for her quiet place. Aubrey spent the next four hours pouring over old data. The problem was—it was old. The games were old and out dated. Sure, adults would feel some nostalgia for the games of their childhood, but those that still played were not the majority. A marketing plan for them wouldn’t be enough to keep the clients at Viola. Aubrey opened her laptop and logged onto one of the most popular gaming forum sites online. With over a million registered users, plus a daily guest count of thirty five thousand, it was a good place to get feedback anonymously.

  First, she started a thread asking if users had ever played a handful of the games she was supposed to figure out a plan for. Then she did another post under a thread for ‘cool game ideas’ where she gave a brief summary of a couple others. Then she waited.

  As she expected with the first post, she got a lot of ‘when I was a kid’ type of responses. But what she hadn’t expected was the second thread exploding with excitement. She had comments ranging from how amazing the games sounded to asking if anyone knew of any games similar. When the older gamers started commenting on how it sounded like the originals from twenty years prior, she had her idea. It was a long shot, and it would take a lot of funding, but it could work.

  Proud of her work for the day, and eager to get home to relax with a glass of wine, pajamas, and a marathon of mindless television for a night, she packed up. No one could sour her mood. She had a solid idea, and when she went to work the following day, she would make a plan of action that would include the costs and the target market, and she would blow their socks off.

  The office was practically empty as she left the building. When she realized it was yet again almost seven at night, she knew why. The front door swung open, allowing the cool night air breeze to chill her bare arms. She hadn’t worn a jacket that morning and she was wishing she had. While the office was a short walk, it was going to be a chilly one.

  Aubrey rubbed her hands up and down her goose bump covered arms, but the smile never left her face. She was finally doing something right. She had a place of her own (even if her brother was living with her), she had a job that was going places (even if the company was on the brink), and she was happy (even if she wasn’t having sex). It was a lot of ‘even ifs’ but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that she was in a better place than she was just a month before.

  Aubrey decided to take a detour on the way home, throwing the idea of wine and television out the window. It was a dancing kind of night. She wanted to feel the beat of the music flowing through her and get lost in it. She wanted to let loose.

  The bar came into view, and the music floated on the air all the way down to her three blocks away. Aubrey walked past the long line of people waiting to get in and stopped right next to Kevin, the head bouncer who was built like a house. Looking up into his eyes, she grinned and batted her lashes. She and Kevin went way back. He would let her in. There was never a doubt.

  “All right, go on.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek as she passed by, and then jumped in surprise at the pat on the ass she received. “What? It was there.”

  “Thanks, Kevin!” Aubrey just ran inside. She should have expected it, but she never did. Kevin went to college with her—before she was kicked out—and was in the fraternity that was opposite her sorority. They partied together many times, with and without clothes. But now he was just an old friend who let her into the bar before everyone else. They hadn’t been together like that in many years.

  The dance floor was a sea of bodies moving together like waves in an angry storm. Limbs moved and shook to the fast beat that flowed through the building. Aubrey looked to the bar to see it was just as packed.

  The energy in the room was just what she needed. She loved being in a thrash of people and noise. She could get out of her own head and just be. Aubrey pushed her way to the bar and flagged the bartender over.

  Suddenly, all she could think about was the last time. She didn’t remember much, but she wasn’t so sure a drink was a good idea. She wasn’t with anyone to look out for her. Surprisingly, Henry was nowhere to be seen. While she had never wanted him to show up, she began to expect it, and knowing he was there made her feel something—safe maybe, or just more comfortable. Either way, she didn’t feel that way then. She felt on edge, and actually, rather lonely.

  Out of habit, she took at the group around her. She could hang out with a guy for the night and dance before heading home. She could enjoy her night without the release that sex brought. She loved the high she got when she felt wanted and sexy and actually got to orgasm. But she wouldn’t. S
he couldn’t. Unless of course, she could keep it a secret. How would Henry actually know what she did or didn’t do?

  When the bartender got to her, he smiled and said hi. She ordered a bottle of water and made sure to replace the cap after each drink. The man who sat at the end of the bar had been watching her, smiling at her. He was tall and dark skinned, and very well built. She could dance with him and enjoy his presence then head home for her wine and television.

  Just a few dances wouldn’t hurt a thing. Aubrey swayed her hips ever so subtly as she walked over to Dark and Yummy. That was what she dubbed him for the night.

  “Want to dance?” she asked with a small smile. His eyes started at her feet and worked their way up her body, lingering in all the places that used to make her feel wanted, but actually made her feel a little awkward.

  “Absolutely.” Dark and Yummy stood and was a good foot taller than she was. He gripped her hand, a little tighter than Henry would, and pulled her to the dance floor. As he moved his hips and hands to the beat and along her body, she knew he could dance. She used to equate a good or bad dancer with how they did in bed, but Henry blew that idea out of the water.

  With her back pressed to Dark and Yummy’s chest, she felt the warmth of his breath on her ear. She was too close. She was starting to feel stirrings of longing in her belly and tingles in her panties, and it felt wrong. If Henry walked in, she knew he would be hurt, and she didn’t want to hurt him.

  Since when did she think about what would or wouldn’t hurt one of her hookups? But Henry wasn’t just a hook up to her. He was more. Aubrey’s body stopped moving altogether when realization fell on her. She had fallen for Henry and denying it was useless.

  “I’m sorry, I have to go.” Aubrey extracted herself from Dark and Yummy’s arms and ran for the door.

  Chapter Twelve

  The walk home was not nearly as calm and relaxing as she had hoped. Knowing that she had fallen for Henry scared the crap out of her. What if she screwed this up, too? What if once she gave in and was no longer fighting it, he got bored? But at the same time, that didn’t seem like Henry at all.

  At a little strip mall on the same street as her apartment was a comic book store. She never really paid it much attention before, but seeing it made her smile. She should really go in and see if there is a little something she could get Henry as a thank you. Maybe she just wanted to go in because it made her think of him.

  She rolled her eyes at her antics. She really was that girl, after all. Damn him and his ‘dig deep and let me in’ ways. The little bell rang as she stepped in, and the two people in the shop looked up at her. She must have looked a mess after work all day then the bar, but neither said a word. They just watched her for a moment before returning to their comic books.

  A little door opened behind the counter, and a short man with red hair and freckles came out. He looked to be in his twenties and he greeted her. She looked around the room, a bit at a loss. She had no idea what was good or bad, or if Henry even needed any of it. Aubrey walked up to the counter and saw the name tag on the man’s shirt. Carl.

  “Um, Carl? I was wondering if you could help me out. I’m looking for a little gift for someone to say thank you, but honestly, I wouldn’t know one cape from another.”

  “Not a fan, are you? Not a problem. What do they like?”

  That was a good question. Henry wore all kinds of superhero stuff. She hadn’t noticed if he wore one design over the others. “I’m not really sure. He wears a lot of superhero clothes, though.”

  Aubrey pointed to a few familiar symbols on nearby books, and Carl took note of them.

  “Do you know what kinds of collections he has? Or wants to start?”

  Again, a question she didn’t know. She sighed and felt horrible. She didn’t know Henry at all. In all the time they spent together, she hadn’t asked him a single thing about what he liked or read or anything. She had every opportunity and never took it. But then again, it could lead to shop talk and that was still off limits. She wasn’t going to jeopardize her job.

  “Look, I am the worst person in the world for not knowing this stuff when I know it’s what he loves. Hell, it’s what he does, but I have no clue. He lives around here, maybe you know him. Henry Maximus?”

  “Henry? Yeah, I know Henry. Everyone who comes into this place knows who he is. And he does shop here, but never in person. He goes by the online store. He would be mobbed if he walked in here. How do you know Henry?”

  Aubrey just looked at him and cocked an eyebrow. Did he not see her? How else would a hot woman know him? But she better be the only one shopping for him. Then she stopped. Was she really that superficial?

  “Right. Never mind. Let’s see. He pretty much has everything for his Superman collection—” Carl stopped talking and his eyes widened. Turning rapidly, he started mumbling to himself and searching through boxes under the counter. When he popped back up, he held a comic book in his hand. “This! I just got it in and ’hadn’t put them out on the shelves yet. It’s not too pricey but I know he will want it if he sees it.”

  “How much?” His comment on it not being pricey made her think that’s exactly what it was. To her, it just looked like a few pages of a filled in coloring book. She would never say it out loud, at least not in the store... or around Henry, but how expensive could it be?

  “Seventy-five. And only because it’s for Henry.”

  “Seventy-five dollars for a comic book? Seriously?”

  “Yes. Seriously. It’s a collector’s edition, and that’s cheap.”

  “And Henry will like it?”

  “Absolutely. I will even wait a day or two to put it out, so you have a chance to give it to him.”

  Aubrey thought about the bills coming up and what was currently in her bank account. Then she thought about Henry’s smile, and how she could use the comic book as not only a thank you, but as a gateway into a conversation about him.

  Good relationships were all about trying to make each other happy and getting to know each other, and she wanted to really try to make this one work. She was succeeding at a job finally, why not a relationship?

  “Okay, I’ll take it.”

  ~*~

  Aubrey could hear the arguing before she opened the door. Her night had already been a long one, and she did not want to have to listen to the insane arguments of a fifteen year olds relationship.

  She placed her key in the door and opened it to her brother and Mackenna standing in the middle of the mostly empty living room. A box was at one end of the room and pieces of metal and cloth were strewn about. Both were red faced and held angry stares but neither said a word.

  “Okay, then. I’ll be in my room.” Aubrey quickly made her way passed the angry pair and went straight to her room. Once the door closed behind her, the shouts started again. Apparently, Mackenna had spent the little money they had on a couch, and the mess she had just walked through was how Ben had thought they decided to save it for baby stuff.

  Turning the television on and plopping down onto the bed, Aubrey took her shoes off. When the shouts got louder, she turned the television up. When that didn’t work, she knew she had to intervene or the neighbors would be calling the apartment manager. Then she heard a thud and a shatter.

  Aubrey clicked off her TV and flung her door open. “HEY!”

  Both fighting teenagers stopped and looked at her. “Mind your own business, Aubrey!”

  Mackenna was walking a damn fine line. Aubrey took a deep breath to keep from shouting back and said, “If I get one complaint about this noise, you two will have to find somewhere else to go. I am trying to help you out here but I will not deal with this crap. Couples fight, but screaming is not okay. Grow up. If you two decided on saving the money, Mackenna you are wrong. If there was no discussion, and it was Mackenna’s money to begin with, Ben you’re wrong. It’s time to grow the hell up. That means talking shit out with your significant other. Not having screaming matches, and for crying out l
oud, stop throwing shit.”

  “Like you know what it means to grow up. You haven’t been able to leave the house for more than a few months at a time. It’s the only reason we’re here. You need us to keep this place and to feel like an adult. Well, let me tell you something, you are not my mother. You are my roommate, and you don’t get to tell my boyfriend or me what to do. You won’t get to tell our child what to do, either.”

  Mackenna stood with both hands on her hips and a glare in her eye. Who was this girl? Aubrey had never seen this side of her before. Was this the girl her parents wanted to keep away from Ben? If so, she really couldn’t blame them.

  “I don’t respond to petulant children,” Aubrey said then turned to Ben. “I think this mess needs to be cleaned up, the fighting needs to stop, and the two of you need to talk this out without yelling. I don’t care how you figure it out, but this won’t continue. Oh, and the way she was speaking to me, won’t happen again, or she won’t have a place to live. Got it?”

  Mackenna’s eyes widened in shock and Ben just agreed. She was all for helping them, and continuing to help Ben and the baby, but she wouldn’t tolerate Mackenna’s temper tantrums any longer.

  “Oh, and how is the job hunt going?” She asked before walking back into her bedroom.

  “I put in applications at a few places on the way to school, and I have a few more to fill out and take back tomorrow,” Ben replied. She was proud of him. He was taking this curveball his life threw at him with a real grown-up approach. He hadn’t complained once and had done everything Aubrey had asked of him.

  “Mackenna?”

  “I’ll get to it. I was sick before school and tired after. I am pregnant, after all.”