Not Another Billionaire (Not Another Romance)

by R. L. Kenderson

  Me: No, it’s my fault. I should have waited to text you until I was done.

  Alexis: What are you going to do? Are you sure he’s mad?

  Me: He seemed okay when we were checking in, but he hasn’t said anything since we got up here. He went straight to his room after he tipped the bellhop.

  Alexis: Oh, babe. I hope everything will be okay. Maybe he just needs time to cool off.

  Me: I can only hope.

  Alexis: At least it’s time for bed. He can sleep on the whole thing, realize it’s not a big deal, and I’m sure he’ll feel better in the morning. You will too.

  Me: Thank you.

  Her reassurance did make me feel a little better.

  Alexis: Go to sleep and text me in the morning.

  Me: I will.

  Alexis: Good luck!

  After saying good night to Alexis, I messaged my brother and my mom to let them know I had made it safely. Then, I snuck into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

  I was hoping that the less Seth saw of me, the less annoyed he’d be about having to share a room with me.

  Once I was ready for bed, I picked up the phone by my bed and dialed the front desk.

  I was greeted by the same man who had checked us in. At least, I was pretty sure it was him.

  “How can I help you this evening?” he asked.

  “Were you the one who checked us into the presidential suite?”

  “Yes.” His voice was tight now.

  “In all the commotion, I never did find out from you if there is a waiting list for open rooms.”

  “Technically, no.”

  “Technically?”

  “But if something comes up, I would be happy to let you know.”

  A small sense of relief went through me. “Thank you. I’m sorry, but what is your name?”

  “Doug.”

  “Thank you, Doug.”

  “It is my pleasure. Is there anything else, ma’am?”

  “No. Thank you again.”

  I hung up the phone, feeling slightly better than when I had called. I was still stuck there tonight, but maybe tomorrow, I’d have my own room.

  I opened my suitcase to find my pajamas and realized I hadn’t packed anything modest to sleep in. Yes, I had my own space, but would it have killed me to include a pair of flannel pajamas in my suitcase?

  It could be worse. I could have brought nothing to sleep in.

  Seth

  Despite the two-hour time difference, I couldn’t sleep, and lying in bed was getting me nowhere. There was a TV in the main room, so I headed out there in hopes that watching television would get my brain to slow down so I could get some rest before tomorrow.

  Before parking myself on the couch, I checked to see if the light was on in Tessa’s room. I was wearing only my boxers, which I normally slept in, but I didn’t want to have to put on more clothes than I needed to. I was comfortable the way I was.

  When I’d agreed to share my hotel room, I hadn’t considered the fact that I wouldn’t be able to do everything I wanted to do when I was alone. But I was wearing about as much clothing as a man on the beach would, and since my roommate was sleeping, I figured I was fine.

  I clicked through a few channels until I found reruns of a show I’d watched back when I was in college. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be long before I got tired because I planned on doing a lot of work tomorrow.

  It took until almost halfway through the second episode before my eyelids got heavy, so I forced myself to sit up and turn off the TV before I fell asleep on the sofa. The room went dark, except for the lights coming from the street below, and silence filled the room.

  Until I heard a cry.

  I stood and arched my neck to get a better sense of where the sound was coming from.

  Another cry made it to my ears, and I realized it was coming from Tessa’s room.

  It reminded me of the day I had found her sleeping on the couch in my office. It seemed she was having a bad dream, but I didn’t know if I should disturb her or not. It felt wrong to have her suffer, but it also seemed inappropriate to enter her room while she was unconscious.

  But when I heard her yell, “No! Please,” I decided if the situation were reversed, I would want someone to come and wake me up.

  Just in case she wasn’t sleeping, I knocked on her door. There was a whimper but nothing like a come in or one moment, please.

  Still playing it safe, I slowly pushed open the door. “Tessa?”

  She whimpered. “No. I don’t want to. Please,” she said as she thrashed her head back and forth.

  I approached her bed and placed my hand on her shoulder. “Tessa. Tessa, honey, wake up.”

  With some gentle shaking, I was able to wake her up. The light wasn’t strong in her room, but I knew that she was no longer sleeping when her body stiffened under my hand.

  “Tessa, it’s Seth. Are you okay?”

  I figured she would tell me she was fine and to leave her alone. I wasn’t prepared for her to start crying.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice wavering.

  I sat down. “Oh, Tessa, don’t apologize. It’s okay. We all have bad dreams.” Maybe she was worried she had woken me up. “I was in the living room when I heard you. Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “Can—can you hold me?”

  Whoa. I had not expected that, but I completely understood that it felt good not to be alone after a nightmare.

  I stood and went around to the other side of the bed. As I climbed in next to her, I reflected on the fact that I had worried about propriety when walking into her bedroom while she was sleeping. And here I was, getting into her bed.

  I slid one arm under her head, and I wrapped the other around her waist, pulling her body flush with mine. “It’s okay. You’re safe now. Go back to sleep.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Tessa

  I stared at the door handle in my bedroom as if it would give me a pep talk for the courage I needed to walk out of there and face Seth.

  It did no such thing.

  When I had woken up this morning, I had been all alone, but that didn’t help me feel less embarrassed about what had occurred in the middle of the night.

  I should have known I’d have one of my nightmares after what happened with the hotel-room situation and Seth not speaking to me.

  I really hated that, for some reason, I felt like people with money were better than me. I mean, that was what it boiled down to. I didn’t know what it was called—internal aporophobia, I guessed—but I had it. I supposed it was no different than internalized misogyny or fatphobia, and unfortunately, being aware of it didn’t magically make it go away.

  But then to have Seth hear me dreaming and for me to ask him to hold me…I was mortified. I didn’t care that he had obliged because he probably felt sorry for me. And since he had been gone by the time I woke up, I was guessing he had left as soon as I fell back asleep.

  I could kick myself for not booking two rooms. Even though I had scheduled last minute, there were dozens of hotels in the area. I could have called around, but I’d just had to pick the one hosting two conferences this weekend.

  I rolled my eyes. I didn’t know how I’d gotten so lucky.

  Either way, it was probably best to face Seth right now. I couldn’t hide forever.

  Holding my head high, I exited my bedroom.

  Seth was sitting at the dining room table with his laptop open, staring intently at the screen. He was dressed in a white button-up shirt and jeans. He looked good enough to eat, but he didn’t even glance up when I entered.

  That wasn’t a good sign.

  I cleared my throat in hopes that would get his attention, but he gave no indication he’d heard me, and my heart started to race. I didn’t think he was happy with me, but for him to not even look at me must mean he was really upset.

  I had half a mind to quit right there, book the first flight home, and never think about this job ever again. Except I wasn�
��t a coward. Not all of me anyway.

  I pulled out the chair adjacent to Seth and sat down. With my hands folded on the table, I said, “I apologize for yesterday’s events.”

  He blinked and turned his gaze toward me. He tilted his head to the side.

  “Where would you like to go from here?” I asked. “Do you want me to find a different hotel for us to stay? One with two rooms? I can call around. Or if you changed your mind about me finding a different place, I can look for myself instead. I’m sure there is an opening nearby.”

  Seth stared at me for a few moments, and I started to squirm. I knew I was the one who had made the mistake, but if he thought I could read his mind, it wasn’t going to happen.

  I had worked at my old job for years, and while I knew the people I worked for well, I had never been able to fully anticipate what they wanted.

  Seth closed his laptop.

  That probably wasn’t a good sign. He was probably going to fire me.

  But since I had just been thinking about going back to Minnesota, getting fired wouldn’t be the worst thing.

  Finally, he said, “What makes you think I changed my mind?”

  Ugh. I didn’t want to say it out loud. Well, see, you ignored me the whole ride up to our suite and went into your room without a word. Then, I practically begged you to sleep next to me last night because I was scared.

  I had to wonder if he got some enjoyment out of making me voice my humiliation.

  I lifted a hand. “Never mind. I will make some calls today and find somewhere else for me to stay.” I pushed myself up from the chair.

  “Sit,” he commanded. His voice wasn’t mean, but it was stern.

  I sat.

  He furrowed his brow. “What makes you think I changed my mind?” he asked again.

  “Do you like torturing me?” Apparently, I was done playing nice.

  “No.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You weren’t happy last night after you agreed to let me have the second bedroom. And then I took advantage of your hospitality by asking you to comfort me last night. And just a few minutes ago, when I tried to apologize, you all but ignored me.” I narrowed my eyes. “Are those reasons enough for you?”

  He leaned forward. He was so close that I caught his scent. He smelled incredible, and the fire in his eyes reminded me of how good he’d felt next to me last night.

  He was strong and masculine, and I had slept like a baby after he got into bed with me. I wished I could stop thinking about it.

  “First of all, I was just fine last night. I don’t know why you thought I wasn’t happy with you, but I was thinking about the things we needed to do today. Second, you did not take advantage of me. I wanted to get in that bed with you just as much as you wanted me to. And if you had wanted more, I would have been more than willing to give it to you as well. Third, I didn’t hear you apologize just now. I was concentrating on my computer because, as I said, we have a very busy day today. Fourth, you can take your apology back because I didn’t ask for it and I don’t want it.” His brow rose. “We’re friends now, remember?”

  I nodded even though I didn’t quite agree. What did he mean by he would have been willing to give me more? Did I even want to know?

  I wasn’t going to think about that right now.

  “Good,” he said and sat back. “Now, did you bring your computer?”

  “Yes.”

  “Go and get it. We have work to do.”

  The rest of the day flew by. There were no more awkward conversations or any mishaps on my part. It was a normal workday, except we were in a hotel instead of at the office.

  It was getting late when Seth’s phone vibrated on the table, and he picked it up.

  “This is Seth.”

  He listened for a few seconds and then grinned, but he didn’t let it show in his voice when he spoke.

  “I am currently in San Francisco at the moment. I can be in Los Angeles later this week. Does that work?”

  Pause.

  “Great. Let me hand you to my assistant to make that appointment.” He put the phone on hold and smiled. “That is the head of marketing over at Functional Bean.”

  My eyes widened. “The coffee company run by Ryan Jackman?”

  Ryan Jackman was a famous actor who had started his own coffee company.

  “The one and only. Functional Bean wants to set up an appointment for me to meet with Mr. Jackman to talk about hiring us.”

  “Oh my God, that would be awesome. Do you think you might actually get to meet him?” I couldn’t hide the excitement from my voice.

  I might have a thing about rich people, but it didn’t extend to celebrities. Or rather, it didn’t pertain to celebrities I liked. If I met Ryan Jackman, I would probably faint from excitement. Not only was he handsome and funny, but from everything I’d ever read about him, he was down-to-earth too. If Seth got to meet him, I was going to be overcome with jealousy. And if I got to be in on that meeting, I would have to figure out a way to keep myself conscious because I wouldn’t miss the opportunity for anything.

  “We shall see. I need you to make an appointment to go down to Los Angeles, so we can have a meeting in person.”

  “What about Paragon? We don’t know when we’re going to meet with them yet. What if they want to meet on the same day?” That could get messy.

  “There is that chance, yes, but that is the price of business. Try to set up the meeting for Thursday or Friday. If we have to change our flight, we can. If that doesn’t work for them, we’ll go from there.”

  “Got it.” I took a deep breath and took the phone.

  Seth chuckled. “You’re not speaking to the actor himself, just the head of marketing. Relax.”

  He had a point.

  So what that Ryan Jackman had probably hired the head of marketing? I was a professional.

  I took the phone off of hold. “Good evening. This is Mr. Crawford’s assistant, Tessa. I was told you’d like to set up a meeting.” My voice was surprisingly calm and even.

  “Yes, please,” the woman on the other end said. “Mr. Jackman is out of town until Tuesday.”

  Perfect.

  “Would Wednesday morning work for Mr. Crawford? Mr. Jackman leaves again on Thursday.”

  I looked at Seth and smiled apologetically since I couldn’t get the meeting on the day he wanted. “Let me see. Yes, Wednesday morning is open. How does nine a.m. sound?”

  “Nine a.m. it is. I will let Mr. Jackman know that Mr. Crawford will be here to see him.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Thank you.”

  I hit End on the phone. “Wednesday morning at nine, you are meeting with the one and only Ryan Jackman. It was all he had available. I hope that’s okay.”

  “We’ll make it work.”

  I folded my hands in a begging position. “Please tell me I get to be a part of this meeting. You know, to take notes and such.”

  Seth laughed. “Are you a fan by chance?” he teased.

  “A fan? That’s an understatement. I would have that man’s babies if he asked.”

  I closed my eyes and pictured Ryan Jackman in my head. He was tall, dark, handsome, and funny.

  I blew out a breath and looked at Seth, who was frowning.

  “Uh-oh. Do you not like him?”

  A minute ago, it’d seemed like Seth was happy to go to this meeting. Now, he looked…angry.

  “I don’t know. That remains to be seen. Not all actors are nice, you know.”

  “I know. I’m not an idiot. But from what I’ve read, he’s a great guy.”

  “He’s probably an asshole,” Seth grumbled.

  “Are you okay?”

  He slammed his computer closed. “Let’s go downstairs and eat. I’m tired of sitting in this room.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tessa

  When we got downstairs, the hotel restaurant was full, so Seth and I opted to walk out and find a restaurant. We found a casual dining place nearby. It
was also busy and loud, so we spent more time eating than conversing. Or maybe that was because Seth didn’t feel like talking to me. He seemed to be preoccupied, so I left him alone with his thoughts.

  We walked back to the hotel in silence, and when we arrived, I knew I didn’t want to go back upstairs. The only things waiting for me up there were work, sitting in more silence with my boss, or shutting myself in my room. None of those sounded appealing, so when Seth headed to the elevators, I went the opposite way.

  He frowned at me. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to head to the bar. It’s not even eight yet, and I’m not ready for bed.” I smiled. “This way, you can have some time alone without your last-minute roommate.”

  “I don’t think it’s wise for you to go to the bar alone.”

  “Thanks, but I’m twenty-eight years old. I’ve gone drinking by myself, and I can handle my liquor quite well. Plus, it’s not like I have to drive. I just hop on the elevator, and I’m good to go.” I waved. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Tessa.”

  “Good-bye, Seth. Enjoy your solitude while you can.”

  I didn’t turn back around, and he didn’t call my name again, but it felt good to be by myself for a bit.

  Upon entering the bar though, I realized it was going to be harder to stay by myself than I’d thought. I had planned to get a table in the corner, sip on a glass of wine, and read my book that I had tucked into my purse. But all the tables were full, so I picked a spot at the bar.

  After giving the bartender my order, I sat back in my stool and looked around. Most people there were in large groups, and I concluded that most of them were part of the conferences the hotel was hosting. They had probably finished for the day and escaped for a drink.

  I could relate.

  The bartender brought me my wine, but rather than pull my book out, I chose to look through my social media. To be honest, I didn’t want anyone making fun of me for reading at the bar. But I hoped I could scroll on my cell for a bit, and then maybe I’d get lucky and get a table soon.