The Billionaire Affair

by Parker, Ali

  But it wasn’t Jannie. It was Jeremiah. He was sitting in my chair with his heels up on my desk like he owned the place, which I guess he kind of did. His polished leather shoes looked brand new where they rested beside my keyboard. I resisted the urge to knock his feet off. Expensive new shoes or not, they shouldn’t be anywhere near my desk.

  “Welcome back,” he said dryly, looking gorgeous as ever but not pleased at all. His arms were loosely crossed over his chest, and his chin tucked down. He didn’t give me time to answer before he carried on. “I hired you less than a month ago.”

  A statement, not a question. I nodded anyway, folding my own arms. It looked like he was on the warpath and I braced myself for it, resolving to listen to what he had to say before sharing some choice thoughts of my own.

  “I would’ve expected you to last at least a month before you started calling in sick and missing work.” He lifted a black eyebrow, tilting his head almost mockingly. “I have to tell you, Ms. Donavan. Missing work in your first couple of weeks doesn’t exactly meet my standards.”

  Doesn’t meet his standards? He could go fuck himself. His so-called standards were what landed us in this mess in the first place, assuming the woman really was his ex-secretary. “We have something in common then because being harassed at work by a psychotic bitch doesn’t meet my standards either.”

  Sick days existed so you could call in sick, and I was sick yesterday. Mentally, if not physically. He, on the other hand, had no leg to stand on. Game on, Williams. If this was the way he wanted to have this out, he could bring it on.

  Chapter 29

  JEREMIAH

  “What?” I asked, dumbfounded by Stephanie’s statement. “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh, so now you’re asking me to explain myself?” she retorted, shifting her weight on her feet with a defiant look in her eyes.

  I’d definitely missed something. This wasn’t the same woman I’d left breathless in my office the last time I saw her. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking you to do. Something happened. What is it?”

  Quietly, I wracked my brain for any ideas of what could be going on with her. I expected her to be a little shy about the kiss and near-miss fuck we had, but this wasn’t shyness. It was borderline hostility like she was protecting herself.

  My eyes narrowed on hers, intently focused on the mix of emotion that passed through them before she finally nodded. “What happened? I was attacked in your office, that’s what.”

  Attacked? My eyes grew so wide I felt like one of those dogs whose eyes supposedly popped out if you frightened them. I jumped up off her chair, crossing the room to get to her. Reaching out slowly to rest my hand at the base of her spine, I guided her to the sitting area in her office. “Have a seat. I’m going to go get you some water, then you’re going to start at the beginning and tell me everything that happened, okay?”

  “Okay,” she agreed quietly. Almost reluctantly. I grabbed two bottles of water from the mini- fridge concealed as a cabinet in the corner of her office and went to join her on the couch. After twisting the cap off one of the waters, I handed it to her and watched her take a long drink before she met my eyes.

  “On Wednesday.” She swallowed nervously, eyes dropping down to her lap.

  I brushed the underside of her chin with my index finger, encouraging her to look up at me. Something told me I was going to want to be looking into those big ice blue eyes of hers for whatever was coming. I repeated what she said, confidently so she would see I didn’t regret what else happened on Wednesday. “On Wednesday?”

  She sighed, conflict raging in her eyes as they searched mine. “A woman showed up in your office after you left with Neil. I asked her to leave, but she wouldn’t. She came at me, chased me around your desk and threatened me. When she couldn’t catch me, she took the picture of Jack from your desk and threw it at me.”

  Her voice shook, though I could see her determination to hold back the fear. Tears glinted on her eyelids, a blink away from falling. I wanted to wrap her up in my arms and keep her there, keep her safe.

  I could tell she was flustered, and I wanted to help her. Against all logic, rational thought and historical behavior, I wanted to be there for her. I suppressed the urge to pull her into my arms when I remembered where we were.

  If any of our co-workers saw this, me sitting so close to her looking the way I undoubtedly was, the office rumor mill would be working overtime again today. The last thing either of us needed. I gave her knee a quick squeeze and went to close the office door to give us some privacy.

  When I sat back down beside her, I purposely sat close enough that my leg touched hers. I took her face in my hands and searched her eyes, instantly hating the fear and uncertainty that lurked behind the angry facade she had put up as soon as she walked in.

  “This woman, did she tell you who she was?” I asked, pretty damn sure I already knew the answer. Outrage was already swirling in my belly by the time she confirmed my suspicions.

  “Jannie. She said she was your secretary.”

  Fuck! That delusional, fucking— No. I bit back my own fury. Now wasn’t the time. “I’m so sorry you were in that position.”

  My apology didn’t cut it, couldn’t cut it. Jannie clearly scared the hell out of Stephanie. I had no idea she would go after my employees. It pissed me off to no end that she had. Not only was she fucking with me, but now she was messing with my staff. My fucking girl.

  Wait. What? My mind came to a grinding halt when I realized I just thought of my new secretary as my girl. Fuck.

  I dropped my hands from her face to scrub them over my own.

  “What’s wrong?” Stephanie asked, her voice still quiet.

  “Nothing.” I pushed my errant thoughts to the back of my mind. I had enough on my plate already. “I’m just really sorry she did this. I never thought she would.”

  Stephanie chewed on the inside of her cheek, her eyes never leaving mine. “Who is she? Jannie?”

  I released a deep breath. I wanted to protect Steph from Jannie, but there was no point in keeping her in the dark. As my secretary, she might very well find herself in the line of fire again. She needed to know what kind of crazy she was up against.

  “She’s my ex-secretary,” I said. How much did I have to tell her to warn her without spilling the beans on the whole sordid affair? “She’s been having some trouble coming to terms with being fired.”

  Understatement of the damn century. Stephanie, of course, picked up on it. Her hand inched down her leg toward mine like she wanted to take my hand or put hers on my thigh for support, but she stopped it and curled her fingers on her knee instead.

  “Trouble?” she asked.

  I nodded, breaking away from her gaze to flick mine over to the windows. “To put it mildly. She believes the termination of her employment was wrongful and not what I wanted.”

  “Why would she think that?”

  Shit. She wasn’t going to let it go.

  Choosing my words carefully, I said, “She firmly believes I feel something for her that I don’t. I’ve told her time and again there’s nothing between us, but she refuses to accept it.”

  Silently begging Stephanie to leave it be, I changed the topic back to what happened on Wednesday. “Building security knows she’s no longer working here, but she still has friends who do. I’m not sure how she got in, but I’ll work with security until we know so we can ensure it never happens again. You’ll be safe here, Stephanie. You didn’t deserve for that to happen to you, and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure it never happens again.”

  “Thanks.” She stood up and smoothed out her skirt. “I’ve already alerted building security of the incident. They said she matches the description of someone they’ve received complaints about before.”

  My brows pulled together. “She’s done shit like this before?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged, walking over to her desk. “It sounds like maybe she has, but they
didn’t give me any more details. Only that they’ve received complaints and would look into it.”

  How the fuck had I not known about this? My hands fisted at my sides as I stood up as well. I shoved them in my pockets so Stephanie wouldn’t see how pissed I was about this. She needed to see her boss calm and in control of this potentially dangerous situation.

  At least that was what I told myself. The truth was I also wanted her to see a man who could keep her safe from any threat she faced. Yet another errant thought I pushed to the back of my mind.

  Yup, you never should’ve gotten off to thoughts of her. A voice chided snidely. I shook my head to get rid of it. I needed to focus on getting the situation with Jannie under control.

  “I’ll get in touch with them immediately,” I assured Steph, who was going through the motions of turning on her computer and settling in for work—which was what I should’ve been doing too. “I’ll send them photos of Jannie so they know exactly who to look for. She won’t come near these offices again.”

  Bars I went to? She could get close to those. The same thing went for my apartment. But at least Stephanie would be safe at work if building security flagged Jannie. That thought lingered in my mind, niggling at me until it clicked.

  “In the meantime, I’ll walk with you to your car at the end of every day so you don’t have to go down to the parking garage alone. We can leave at the same time so I can make sure you get out safe.”

  “That’s not necessary,” she muttered. It didn’t escape my notice that a light flush spread on her cheeks. “I’ll be fine so long as I know she won’t come barging in here again.”

  “She won’t,” I promised, but I wasn’t leaving until she agreed to let me walk her to her car. Security would keep her safe in the building, but around the outer edges of the parking garage and until she was off the property, that would be my job. Also, I was curious about her reaction to my offer. “I really must insist I walk with you though. Security is only contracted to the actual building and some floors in the garage. The further areas and the parts we drive through to get to ours don’t belong to us, they’re rented from… never mind. The point is security will keep you safe while you’re in here, but I’ll walk you to your car.”

  “That might be a bit of a problem.” Embarrassment and amusement created an adorable mix of emotion on her face.

  “Yeah? Why’s that?” I asked, feeling the corners of my lips twitch up.

  “Because I don’t have a car. I commute back and forth to work on the subway.” She grimaced. “I haven’t had a car for weeks. I don’t really need one around the city, but if you want to walk me to it every day, we’d better start walking. It’s parked in a shop somewhere in Queens.”

  My gaze dropped to her high heels. Red ones today. “You take the subway wearing those?”

  She laughed, shaking her head before she jerked it toward her bag. “Not in a million years. I don’t have a death wish, and I’d prefer to keep my feet until I’m at least thirty. I carry pumps with me, just like practically every other girl in this city.”

  “Of course.” I smiled, though keeping different shoes on your person as you commuted every day sounded like a lot of unnecessary effort to me. “In any event, until we get this thing with Jannie under control, commuting back and forth just won’t do.”

  I watched as the gears in her brain turned, and her eyes narrowed to slits. Feisty Stephanie was coming out to play. I could hardly wait.

  Chapter 30

  STEPHANIE

  “What do you mean, ‘it just won’t do’?” I asked, maybe a little too defensively. Jeremiah stared down at me with an unreadable expression. Or at least, if I were to read it, I would say he looked half-amused, half-frustrated, but all determined.

  He rocked back on his heels as he shrugged, the picture of calm and collected. Like there was no way he was losing this argument. “I mean exactly what I said. It won’t do for you to walk out of here every night, down the block to the subway station where Jannie could be waiting anywhere. It’s not safe. If I could walk you to your car, I could make sure your doors were locked, and you’d be well away from here before you stopped again.”

  “Yeah, well.” Newsflash buddy: You aren’t winning this argument. “I took this job because I don’t have money, and you can’t have a car if you don’t have money.”

  “I thought you took this job because of me,” he lamented playfully. The subject matter of our conversation was serious, but we were quickly reverting to being how we were with each other before this morning and Wednesday’s fiasco. “And you just said you have a car, but it’s in the shop in Queens.”

  “Perhaps I should’ve been clearer.” I slid my eyes to his and tried not to roll them at the near indignant expression on his handsome features. “My car is broken. I couldn’t afford to get it fixed, and honestly, since she’s older than I am, I figured it was time to let her go. For the time being, my feet and public transportation have to do. You going to walk me to the subway?”

  “That would defeat the purpose.” He smirked, the lilt of his lips telling me I probably wasn’t going to like the next words out of his mouth much. “New plan. I’ll be driving you home at the end of each day until you can afford a vehicle.”

  My eyebrows jumped to my hairline. “You guys pay well, but you don’t pay that well. I have a ton of other stuff I have to pay before I can even start saving for a new car. How long are you going to be content playing Driving Ms. Daisy?”

  “Driving Ms. Donavan, to be more accurate,” he corrected smoothly, fighting the upward trajectory of those stupid lips I couldn’t stop thinking about. “I won’t tire of it. It’s just a ride home, think of it as sharing a cab.”

  “A super luxurious cab, I bet,” I mumbled, but Jeremiah heard me.

  He shrugged, but his eyes were lit with unshed laughter. “I won’t apologize for liking the finer things in life. My cars are nice, so what? Besides, think of the environment. We’d be doing our bit for conservation by taking one car instead of two.”

  I blinked. “Conserving the environment? Really? That’s the argument you’re making?”

  “No, the argument I’m making is that I’ll be able to see you safely home until you can afford a new car. If we reduce our carbon footprint while we’re at it, that’s a good thing too.”

  “You realize your father started this company as an oil magnate, right?” I said.

  He shrugged again, but some of his nonchalant playfulness fled from his eyes. “I do, but I’m not him. We’re getting off topic anyway. I’m giving you a ride until you get a car.”

  “I give you a week before you get over your philanthropic mood.” I took his cue in steering the conversation away from his father. It clearly hit a nerve with him today. “Two weeks tops.”

  “Well, if you do good work, I’ll make sure you can afford a car sooner rather than later. It won’t be two weeks, but I’m sure I’ll last longer than that.”

  “Confident in your lasting power?” I teased, blushing when I realized there was definitely more than one way to interpret those words.

  Jeremiah’s eyes widened for barely a moment, but he didn’t skip a beat before answering. “I’m always confident in my lasting power. I have zero reason not to be.”

  Our gazes caught. Held. We were headed down a slippery slope here, but I couldn’t resist getting in one last comment before I pulled back. “We’ll have to see about that, won’t we?”

  “We will.” A flash of heat passed through his eyes. “I’m sure you’ll be very satisfied with my ability to last.”

  Damn it. The rich bastard had game, I had to give him that. “What if I’m not satisfied?”

  “You will be, I guarantee it.” It looked like he wanted it to be a mic drop moment, but he couldn’t very well walk away when I hadn’t agreed to drive home with him yet. He stretched out his arm to release his gigantic watch from his shirt sleeve and slid his eyes from mine to check the time. “I have a meeting starting in ten
. I’ll be in meetings most of the day. Wait for me here when you’re done, we’ll walk to my car together.”

  I sighed. The playfulness and the flirty tension were fun, but now that he was back in business mode I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want handouts from anyone, but his generosity was curious. “Okay, you’ve got yourself a deal. Only because your offer comes with a satisfaction guarantee.”

  “Good,” he said, turning to walk to the door. He paused when he reached it and looked at me over his shoulder. “You should know that satisfaction always comes guaranteed with me.”

  Without another word, he slipped from my office and closed the door behind him. I stared at the spot he’d been occupying a second ago, wondering if it was my imagination that he’d put just a tiny amount of emphasis on the word “comes.”

  Imagination, I told myself. Definitely imagination. When we were in his office on Wednesday, before the Jannie thing and after our disagreement, in those stolen moments when his body was pressed to mine and his lips devoured me, I knew he wanted me too.

  It didn’t matter though. We had one slip. I was his employee. Maybe we could even become friends eventually. What we would never be was more than that. Despite our flirtation, his satisfaction guarantee was limited to providing safe transport to and from work because of the threat posed by a woman who, even if he hadn’t said it in so many words, was either obsessed with him, in love with him, or both.

  There would be no satisfaction coming from him in any other way. I knew it. Jeremiah knew it. Now if only someone would go ahead and tell my body because it definitely hadn’t gotten the memo.

  With a few silly words, the man managed to turn me on like few others—and that was after they touched me. Having felt what happened to my body when Jeremiah touched me, I knew I was going to have to get used to being disappointed the next few times I was with someone.