The Billionaire Affair

by Parker, Ali

  Despite having no prior experience in secretarial work, she was doing great in her new position. Or at least she had been until she hadn’t shown up this morning. Maybe it was foolish of me to have hired the girl I was most attracted to instead of one of the candidates who was more qualified for the job.

  Those people had all driven me crazy during the interviews, but maybe I would’ve gotten used to one of them. It was impossible to know.

  Unless Steph pulled something like this again because then I would have to let her go. Much as I enjoyed having her around, I couldn’t deal with an endless stream of days like today. Her referral letter from the bookstore where she used to work praised her relentless dedication to her job and her reliability. But from where I was sitting, she didn’t seem all that reliable.

  Thinking about her, my mind wandered back to yesterday, to the moments right before I left her standing breathlessly in my office. It had killed me to walk away from her. And left me with a painful case of blue balls.

  It wasn’t just the kiss that lingered in my mind but the entire encounter leading up to it. Sure, the kiss itself was hot as fucking hell, but the way she called me out just before it matched its heat.

  I’d been a total jerk to her, and unlike every other woman who had ever been in my life, she hadn’t stood for it—not for one second. She picked up the gauntlet I threw down confidently and without hesitation, putting me in my place with a fervent passion.

  I respected her so much the more for having done it, especially since she’d only been working here for such a short amount of time. It took balls to stand up to your boss the way she had, which was another on the long list of things about Stephanie Donavan I grudgingly admired.

  As my secretary, the only thing I should’ve admired about her was her ability to do the job. Unfortunately, regardless of all my promises and vows to maintain a professional relationship with her, the more I got to know her, the more I found I admired her. Was attracted to her. Like a bee to honey and a drunk to a bar.

  I thought I could resist it, all the way until my lips crashed down onto hers, and I realized I never stood a chance against how insanely badly I wanted her. The second she put me in place for acting the way I had, I was lost to my desire for her.

  And then like a high school boy desperate for some guidance in finding my way back, I showed my appreciation by trying to take her clothes off right then and there. The thing that got me was that she hadn’t tried to stop me. She met every stroke of my tongue with the same fervor and returned every touch as passionately.

  In fact, she was in the process of taking off my pants when Neil interrupted us. If he hadn’t shown up, I was pretty sure we would’ve had sex on the very same desk I was now studiously avoiding looking at.

  Memories of how she felt winding her hands into my hair flooded my brain. How her lips met mine, soft but firm, unyielding in their pursuit. The way her breasts pushed up against my chest. The sounds of her quiet moans.

  Jesus. I had to stop thinking about it. My bad mood gave way to a horny mood from the onslaught of memories, and now I was even more frustrated than I had been five minutes ago. Way to go, jackass.

  My head jerked up when I heard a soft rap at the door, looking up to find a cleaner with a vacuum standing there waiting for me. “Excuse me, Mr. Williams. I was told to report to your office immediately.”

  “Yes.” I stood up, smoothing my tie. “I need you to get rid of that glass.”

  I pointed at the wreckage of the only printed photograph I had of my brother at the office. “I’ll get out of your way.”

  I needed to blow off some steam and sitting in my damn office was only making me feel cooped up. After shutting down my computer and grabbing my jacket, I gave my disaster zone of a desk one last look and left before the bad mood could set back in.

  The bar down the road was a trendy, after work type place I usually avoided when I wanted to cut loose. I figured I had some time before the crowds from surrounding buildings descended, enough to let a drink or two burn some of the frustration out of my veins.

  Barstools lined a long, polished counter, neatly positioned so you would be treated to an unobstructed view of the top shelf liquor up against the wall. Lit up with ice blue and white lights, the alcohol made for a nice focal point—and a brilliant reminder of what people came here for.

  With a low scrape of its feet on the gleaming floor, I pulled out one of the stools near a tap mounted on the otherwise clear bar and lowered myself onto it. A bartender was there a minute later, wearing a hospitable smile and a black suit without the jacket.

  “What can I get you?”

  I jerked my head to the tap, not in the mood to be picky. If it had alcohol in it, I would drink it today. “Whatever’s in the keg feeding into that.”

  “You got it.” He turned to grab a glass from the collection of the bar behind him, wiped it with a rag from his back pocket and brought it to the tap. I watched as he tilted it at a slight angle, saw as he pulled down the lever a foam swirled around in the bottom of the glass before the amber beer settled.

  The familiar movements of the bartender and the predictability of how foam would form and dissipate helped settle my mind. It was way more familiar territory for me than stuffy boardrooms and tall office prisons. Urg, buildings.

  Pretty much everything was more familiar to me than marching to the corporate beat. I reached up to loosen my tie and caught my beer in my palm when the bartender slid it over to me. Ice cold with a nice head on top. Now this is more like it.

  I was vaguely aware of someone sliding onto the stool beside me, about to strike up a conversation with the bartender when a scent I knew all too well reached my nostrils. Floral. Sweet. Mid-range perfume she got specially mixed.

  My eyes slid to the side to confirm my suspicions. Every muscle in my body tensed when I looked at her just in time to see her hand reaching for my arm, the relaxation I was just starting to feel gone in the same instant.

  “Jannie.” Fuck. “What are you doing here?”

  Chapter 26

  STEPHANIE

  “We have to get out of the apartment,” Tiana said. The credits started rolling on the movie we were watching. She turned off the TV, then put the remote down on the coffee table and uncurled her legs, stretching as she stood up.

  My brows pulled together, rising in the center. “Yeah? Where do you want to go?”

  “The gym,” she said. “You haven’t been for a while, and I can feel my muscles melting away from just sitting around.”

  I rolled my eyes, smiling at my friend. “You’ve only been sitting for two movies.”

  “And now I’m done with sitting. Besides, you haven’t made time for yourself with your new job. Watching movies and munching on popcorn isn’t making you feel better. You’re as mopey as you were this morning. Working up a good sweat will make you feel better. Stronger.”

  I bounced my head from side to side, considering what she said. “You’re right. I haven’t made much time for myself.”

  “Of course, I’m right.” She scoffed, her lips twitching upward as she held out her hand to me. “Come on. Up. Up. Up. Go get dressed and meet me back out here in ten.”

  I swatted away her hand and rose to my feet. She shrugged and took off to her room. Sighing, I followed her lead.

  As luck would have it, today happened to be Tiana’s day off. After our breakfast this morning, we spent the day talking about my predicament, pampering ourselves while she told me about the new sous chef at the restaurant she was working in, and watching B-rated action movies.

  I had fun with her. It was good to catch up and relax, but she was right that it hadn’t taken my mind off everything that had happened. Talking things through with Tiana helped put into perspective how absurd it was that a woman had stormed into my boss’s office and basically attacked me, but I still didn’t know how I was going to handle the situation.

  Or the situation involving said boss’s lips on mine and my hands
all over his muscled body. I’d been in the middle of taking off his pants when Neil knocked on the door, for crying in a bucket. It’d hardly been an innocent peck on the lips.

  Going to the gym sounded torturous to me right now. Changing out of my comfy sweats and T-shirt and swapping them for workout clothes, the rush in the subway, and the walk to the gym. It was all going to suck, but it was a surefire way of making me feel better.

  In the wise words of Elle Woods, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.” Since I could use a little happy, I dragged my lazy butt to my bedroom and started the process of forcing all my jiggly bits into my sports bra and gym clothes.

  Tiana was waiting by the door when I walked out of my room, still adjusting my boobs and pulling up my socks. Her keys were hanging on her finger, and she stuffed a couple of bills into her shirt, telling me, “Just in case we need something.”

  I nodded, reaching for my purse to do the same. Our gym bags hung on hooks just inside the front door. I shouldered mine and held hers out to her. “I’m ready to go when you are.”

  “I’ve been ready for five minutes,” she shot back. She opened the door, motioning me through it. “Let’s get out of here before you change your mind.”

  “I’m hardly going to change it now that I wrestled myself into this bra,” I said, pulling on one of the broad gray straps that crossed between my shoulder blades. “I seriously don’t understand how you think these things are comfortable.”

  “They’re supportive.” She was rehashing an argument she’d made a million times. “Don’t focus on how tightly it holds onto you. Think of it like a hug.”

  I raised my brows, grabbing the door to the staircase. “The people you hug need to up their game if you think this is what a hug feels like.”

  She laughed and followed me down the stairs. Our sneakers squeaked on the concrete, and we jogged down side by side, our version of starting our warm-up routine even if we still had the commute ahead of us. When we moved in together, Tiana argued that going to the gym was useless if we took the elevator all the time.

  I didn’t agree, but we compromised. We now took the stairs on the way out and depending on our workout, the elevator on the way back in.

  “What’s on our schedule for the day?” I asked as we swiped our membership cards at the turnstiles leading into the gym. Dull digital beeps sounded and allowed us entrance. We pushed through the metal prongs and stepped into the après work crowd swarming around, sweating up a storm inside.

  The air was filled with the encouraging shouts of personal trainers, grunts and chatter, metal hitting metal as the machines clunked from people completing circuits, splashing water from the Olympic-sized pool, and the faint laughs and cries of children in the play area.

  It was bustling, alive. I didn’t necessarily like the gym, but I wouldn’t deny it made for an excellent distraction. Tiana shot me a look over her shoulder and weaved through people hurrying from area to area.

  “We’re doing weight training today,” she said. “Strong and powerful. I think you need it. The exertion will help you feel like you can take on the world. Or, you know, like you don’t need to let yourself be stomped on by a threatening stranger. Take your pick.”

  “I pick strong and powerful.” No doubt about it. When that woman cornered me, I didn’t have the first idea what to do. Weight training wasn’t self-defense classes, but maybe it would make me feel safer. Like if it came down to it, I’d be worth more in a standoff than ducking as the photo frame came flying at me. “It’s a good idea.”

  Tiana smiled approvingly. “That’s what I thought.”

  We walked to the corner of the gym floor where a neon sign lit up with the words “Weight Training” hung above mirrors that stretched from one side to the other. A metal rack against the mirror held weights off all different colors, shapes, and sizes.

  Around the edge of the section, machines offering different weighted exercises for just about every part of your body were occupied by grunting men and women, their eyes glazed over as they concentrated on their workout. Some wore earbuds wired to phones and iPods.

  All along the wall, others were positioned with their weights and kept an eye on the mirror as they lifted. Just being there among them made me feel stronger.

  Tiana and I selected a pair of weights each and stepped into an open space nearby. She squinted as she thought, then lifted her arms to her sides with a weight in each hand. “Okay, I think I remember the routine my personal trainer showed me. We’re going to do repetitions, just watch me and follow my lead.”

  “Go ahead and teach me, oh wise one,” I joked, raising my arms until my position matched hers.

  She smirked and shook her head. “You’ll be begging for mercy halfway through, I guarantee it.”

  “Wanna bet?”

  “You’re on,” she said, immediately launching into her routine. I tried my best to follow her lead, but as she promised I was ready to fall to my knees and beg for this cruel and unusual punishment to be over not long after we started.

  Determined to keep up with her though, I gritted my teeth and pushed through the pain. My muscles burned and quivered, and the grunts coming from some of the others around me quickly started making sense.

  By the time Tiana put down her weights and grabbed the bottle of water waiting next to her ankle, I was about ready to collapse. My arms felt like jelly as I finally set my weights down and took a few deep swigs from my own water.

  “How was that?” she asked. She patted her brow with her towel and hung it around her neck, ready to put the weights back in their place.

  I did the same with my towel and with trembling arms, managed to place my weights back in their rest. My skin was red from the workout, but I felt surprisingly good. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to move a muscle tomorrow, but it was great actually.”

  She held up her hand for a high five. I gave her one, but not without wondering if my arm should be going kind of numb. “I’m glad. And think of it this way, if you can’t raise your arms, you can’t put your hands on your delicious boss.”

  I cracked up and nodded in agreement. “Another good point.”

  “The only kind I make.” She winked as we started making our way to the showers. “There’s a new salad bar just down the street. Want to go check it out for dinner?”

  “Sure.” Something fresh and crunchy sounded like just what I needed after that. A quick shower and a brisk walk later, we were standing in front of what I had to admit was an impressive display of salad ingredients.

  Tiana surveyed the options available and quickly settled on a pesto chicken salad, while I ordered their chef’s special. Surprisingly, the atmosphere in the salad bar was pleasant. There was no hint of quiet desperation in the air, no feeling of joyless calorie counts or deep-rooted eating disorders.

  We got a table while we waited for our food and did some people watching while we talked about our plans for the rest of the week. In keeping with what we’d been doing all day, we enjoyed some fun girl time and plowed through our food before Tiana grew solemn once she was done.

  She pushed her bowl away and folded her arms on the table in front of her. “Have you decided what you’re going to do when you get to work tomorrow yet?”

  I dabbed my mouth with a napkin and shook my head. “Not really. I was planning on winging it when I see Jeremiah tomorrow.”

  “I wasn’t only talking about that.” She leaned toward me. “A crazy woman came at you in his office, what are you going to do about that?”

  I sighed, pressing my lips together for a moment while I thought. “I know I have to tell him. I just don’t know how. What if she’s his girlfriend or something?”

  “What if she’s not, and she’s an actual threat?” Tiana argued.

  “I thought about that.” As unsure I was about her relationship with my boss, if she posed a danger to me or to some of the other employees, something had to be done about her. “There has to be
a security protocol in place for a situation like this. Maybe not this exact situation, but something like it?”

  “True,” she said. “I’ve never been involved in anything like this, but maybe you should go to the building security first thing in the morning. You could let them know about the woman who threatened you and ask what the proper procedure is to follow.”

  It was a better plan than any I’d had. “Yeah, I think I’ll do that. I just hope someone there will know who she really is and what to do.”

  Chapter 27

  JEREMIAH

  Jannie smiled, but the way her eyes rounded was as if she was surprised by my question. “What am I doing here? I’m here to have a drink. Just like you.”

  Bullshit. She had no glass and despite having the bartender’s obvious attention, made no move to order one. “Right. Have fun.”

  I picked up my beer, about to move to a seat down the bar when her fingers closed around my forearm. Tightly. “Don’t be like that, Jer. Stay. Have a drink with me.”

  “Thanks, Jannie, but no thanks. I’ll just leave you to it. I’m not in the mood for company.” Not her company, anyway. Jannie had a tendency to be overly dramatic though, and I didn’t feel like drama—which was why I didn’t tell her that straight.

  Best to extricate myself gently if I wanted to avoid a screaming, shouting match that would alert half of the damn city to my personal business. Jannie, however, refused to play along with my plan. She tightened her grip on my arm and batted her eyelashes, so heavily clumped in mascara I could see the lumps sitting between her lashes. “I bet I can change your mind.”

  “You can’t.” Christ, what had I been thinking when I slept with her? That’s why you shouldn’t let your dick and half a bottle of tequila do the thinking for you, asshole.