Billionaire by Design (A BWWM Romance)

by Tiana Cole

  “Anyhow, let’s get down to brass tacks here, shall we?” He pulled his chair closer and folded his hands on his desk. “Let’s see those logo ideas. I’ve been dying to see you all—” he caught his slip and corrected himself with a smile, “been dying to see your work all week.”

  “Sure, I brought the logos and a few other things on a flash drive,” she blushed as she reached for her purse, trying hard not to over-think his last remark. “Right here,” she said as she handed it to him nervously, hoping he wouldn‘t see her hand shaking. She’d been trying hard to play it cool, something that usually came easily to her, but around this man, she found it next to impossible.

  “Why, thank you,” he smiled, taking her digital portfolio over to the giant wall-mounted television and slipping the device into its USB drive.

  “Fancy,” Jenna commented as she rose from her seat to stand next to him. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but this time it wasn’t because of Zane’s chiseled good looks and commanding presence. She was able to distance herself from how attractive he was long enough to view the situation from a pragmatic standpoint. This man was the head of a successful, established company that relied heavily on graphic design. If he liked her work, he’d make an unbeatable reference when it came time for her to find a job in the design field. With only a few months of schooling left, that time was coming fast.

  “Modern technology,” Zane mused as he lifted the remote from the glass coffee table and flipped the television on. Fumbling through the menus, he muttered what sounded like a chain of obscenities as he tried to navigate his way to the flash drive’s contents. “You nervous yet?” he joked as he continued cruising through the sea of menus.

  “Very,” Jenna chuckled and felt her anxiety fading.

  “Seriously, what’s the worst that could happen? I hate it so much that I get sick to my stomach, puke all over the floor, kick you out of the building, and tell everyone not to hire you?” he teased with a big grin.

  “Shut up!” Jenna giggled as she playfully punched him in the arm. He giggled too, a sound she never expected to hear from a man of such stature, and her face lit up with a smile. Zane’s much-needed levity had completely wiped away her nervousness in a matter of seconds.

  “Ah, here we go. Got it,” he announced as he looked at the list of file names displaying on the television. “I take it I should start with EMlogo001?” he asked.

  “That’s right,” Jenna replied, still a bit taken aback by how quickly Zane had calmed her.

  “I have to say, I’m already impressed just by how you name your files,” Zane remarked. “Very organized.”

  “Thanks. I’m a tad OCD when it comes to that,” she confessed.

  “And… action!” Zane trumpeted as he opened the file.

  Jenna turned to gauge his reaction and immediately felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest. A giant smile had crossed his face, and his eyes had come alive with excitement. She let out the breath she’d been holding, relieved by his response. She could tell it was genuine and not forced out of politeness.

  “Wow,” Zane blurted after his stunned pause. “Wow, wow, wow.”

  “Yeah?” Jenna asked optimistically.

  “Hell yeah!” he returned loudly. “I love it!” He clapped his hands together in amusement as he admired the logo she’d created. A three-dimensional E tilted twenty degrees to the left with an M attached to it, this had been her favorite of the bunch and she’d appropriately labeled it so it would be the first one he viewed. She hoped the others wouldn’t disappoint him.

  “You’re just being nice,” she blushed, even though the look on his face indicated he wasn’t.

  “No, this is some truly great work,” he assured her with a nod. “I’d actually been envisioning something quite similar.”

  “Really?” Jenna asked with an eyebrow raised skeptically.

  “Oh, for sure. The 3D thing’s really gotten popular over the last few years. I like it, but only when it’s done right… like this,” he beamed as he pointed at the screen.

  “You know there’s more, right?” Jenna smirked, brimming proudly from the injection of confidence he’d given her.

  “Yes, let’s see what else you’ve got,” he agreed as he used the remote to skip to the next image.

  For fifteen minutes, he reviewed her work, loving it all and listening as she explained her thought process behind each piece. He occasionally sprinkled in his feedback and suggestions, and they went on to discuss the various programs she’d used to create each image. She explained that, as a broke university student, she couldn’t afford any high-end software and admitted that a friend had scored her a pirated version of an outdated Photoshop until she could afford to buy a newer, legitimate copy.

  Zane didn’t judge her for it, and actually related to her situation by confessing that he’d gotten his start the same way. The University had provided her with a few decent programs, she continued, but on her home computer, she primarily used cheap or free programs to make her visions come to life. Zane was thoroughly impressed by how resourceful she was and by the art she’d been able to produce with mediocre means.

  “Well, it‘s settled,” he said as he quickly headed back to his desk and sunk into his leather chair. She watched as he opened a desk drawer and thumbed through a few papers until he found what he was looking for.

  He grabbed what appeared to be a rather fancy pen from his jacket pocket, and in one fluid motion, scrawled two lines at the bottom in black ink. She couldn’t decipher exactly what he’d written from her distance, nor could she make out what he was writing as he jotted on a smaller, rectangular slip that he then stuffed into a white envelope. He attached both the envelope and the sheet of paper to a clipboard he retrieved from the center drawer of his desk before returning to her side by the television. “For you,” he smiled warmly as he handed it to her, losing her once again in his baby blue eyes.

  “What’s this?” she asked curiously as she glanced down at the clipboard. The white envelope was clipped in front of what looked like some sort of contract that he‘d signed and dated at the bottom.

  “I love all your work, and the logos you came up with were all fantastic. That first one, though… you knocked it out of the park. I told you if I chose your logo that I’d buy it off of you, and I’m a man of my word,” his smile widened. “Open the envelope first.”

  “Okay,” she replied slowly as she took the envelope from the clipboard and removed the slip from within it. “Holy shit,” she gasped as her mouth fell open in disbelief. It was a check for a staggering three thousand dollars.

  “For the logo. If you think that’s fair, just sign the release form and it’s yours,” Zane told her with a hopeful look.

  “This… this… is… way too much,” she stammered in bewilderment. “I couldn’t possibly… I mean…”

  “Nonsense. You did some amazing work and you deserve every penny,” he assured her with a nod.

  “I don’t know what to say,” Jenna blushed, still trying to wrap her mind around the enormity of the check she was holding. “I just feel like this is way too much for those logos.”

  “No, no, no. Not logos,” he corrected, “logo. Just the first one.”

  “Wait, you’re telling me this,” she held up the check for emphasis, “is for that one logo?”

  “Of course,” Zane chuckled. “If you don’t think that’s fair, we can negot—”

  “No, it’s more than fair,” Jenna interrupted him. “Thank you!” she gushed, an overwhelming sense of pride surging through her.

  “Just sign and date this release form right here,” Zane said as he moved closer to her and used his elegant gold pen to point to the required lines, “and it’s a done deal.”

  This was the closest he’d been to her yet, and she found his scent intoxicating. She froze for a second, her body paralyzed by their pheromonal exchange, as he hovered just over her shoulder. She wasn’t sure if he sensed their chemistry as well, or if he
r mind was merely playing tricks on her. She snapped out of her daze and used the pen, engraved with his company’s name, to sign and date the form.

  “And you’re not just being nice?” she blurted as she turned to hand him the clipboard and pen. He laughed at her incredulity as he set the clipboard on his desk and returned the pen to his jacket pocket.

  “You over think too much, don’t you?” he joked.

  Yes, yes I do, she thought. This guy knows me already.

  “It’s just that you have this whole team of amazing artists, yet you’re going with my logo. Me. A nobody. An outside source with no experience,” she replied, expressing her concern.

  “Half my team I hired fresh out of school, and most of them went for an associate‘s degree, not a bachelor‘s,” he explained as he pulled her flash drive from the television’s USB port and slipped it into the slim laptop sitting on his desk. “EMlogo001.tcw, I assume?” he asked before transferring the file over.

  “Yes, that’s right,” she nodded.

  “And… done!” he announced with a grin. He handed the flash drive back to her and she placed it safely back in her purse. “Now let’s head down to the art department so I can show you the logos they came up with. Maybe then you’ll understand why I chose yours.”

  “You don’t have to do—”

  She was cut off by the sound of a knock on Zane’s door. It cracked open and a short, pudgy man stuck his balding head in.

  “Knock, knock!” he smiled as he casually entered the office with an unsettling grin. Jenna could hear a low groan escape Zane as the man approached them. “I heard there was a hottie in the building, and it looks like it’s true,” the man said as he extended his hand to Jenna, looking her up and down salaciously.

  “Jenna, meet Phil Miller,” a visibly irritated Zane introduced the two while shooting Phil daggers with his eyes.

  “Nice to meet you,” Jenna forced a smile as she shook the man’s hand.

  “And nice to meet you too, m’lady,” he replied, lifting her hand and kissing the back of it softly. She shot Zane a befuddled look which he returned with one of apologetic embarrassment.

  “Phil, what have I told you about knocking?” he asked sternly.

  “Hey, I knocked!” Phil chuckled.

  “What do you want, Phil?” Zane asked in an impatient growl.

  “Right,” Phil replied, realizing his boss was in no laughing mood and adjusting his demeanor accordingly. “Just wanted to let you know I’m on top of those two accounts we discussed the other day.”

  “And you had to interrupt my meeting for that?”

  “Sorry, I just know it’s important and thought you’d appreciate a quick update,” he said, his hands working overtime in gesticulation.

  Jenna watched the exchange, analyzing the dynamic of the two. She was quick to surmise that, while they were chummy in the workplace, this Phil character had a tendency to get on Zane’s nerves.

  “Okay,” Zane sighed. “Thank you. We’ll discuss it later.”

  He was in the middle of ushering Phil out of his office when his cell phone sounded from his jacket pocket. An intuitive girl, Jenna could sense his agitation growing, although he remained calm on the exterior.

  “Just a moment,” he sighed after checking to see who was calling. He held up his index finger to indicate it would only take a minute. Phil took it as a signal to stay as well, and lingered while Zane shuffled into the corner to take the call.

  “Take your time,” Jenna smiled politely, pretending not to notice how Phil had sidled up next to her again.

  “So, how do you know Zane?” he asked in an attempt to start a dialogue between them. She kept her replies short while her attention remained locked on Zane. His office was roomy, but it was hard not to overhear his call.

  “Right now? Mmhmm. Okay. Yeah. You tried Kimberly? Okay. Yeah. Mmhmm. No, no, I understand. It’s okay. Calm down. I’ll handle it. Yeah. Okay. I’ll call you then. Bye.”

  He placed his phone back in his jacket pocket and hurried to his desk where he pulled a set of car keys from the top drawer.

  “Listen, I hate to do this, but I need to run,” he looked at Jenna apologetically.

  “Everything okay?” she asked in concern. Since the call had come through on his cell and not his office phone, she figured it wasn’t anything related to business. She was right.

  “I have to pick my niece up from daycare,” he explained as he glanced at his watch.

  “Aw, you have a niece? How cute,” Jenna smiled. Phil opened his mouth to chime in, but Zane beat him to it.

  “Indeed, and she’s adorable,” he beamed proudly. “Her sitter was supposed to pick her up today. Her pregnant sitter. Her pregnant sitter who just went into labor.”

  “Yikes,” Jenna sympathized, her face a mix of understanding and admiration for this incredible man who was willing to drop everything at a moment’s notice to put family first.

  “Rain check on me showing you around the art department?” he asked as he made his way toward his office door.

  “Sure,” she smiled, her face lit with delight.

  “I can show her around the floor right now,” Phil blurted eagerly. “I’m between clients and have some time to kill. It’d be my pleasure, really,” he continued as he looked at them both pleadingly. Zane paused to look at Jenna, his eyes tacitly asking her if she was comfortable with the idea.

  “Um, sure, why not?” she agreed with a shrug. Phil hadn’t made a great first impression, but she was curious to see more of the marketing firm and was willing to give Zane’s portly right-hand man another chance.

  “Okay, then,” Zane forced a smile. “The daycare’s on the other side of town, so I won’t be back for a while. You’ll probably be gone by then, so I’ll give you a call soon.”

  As he shook her hand goodbye, their eyes locked onto each other’s in a silent dance, and she felt the undeniable spark between them. He felt it too, and this time she didn’t bother questioning it.

  “You better,” she jokingly demanded with a flirtatious smile. His approval of her work had given her a new-found confidence around him that she’d lacked before.

  “Well, okay then,” he chuckled, his forced smile now turning genuine. She watched him leave as Phil once again stepped closer to her.

  “Ready for the grand tour, m’lady?” he asked with a grin as he placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her out of the room.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  Uncomfortable with his touch, she turned her body while she thanked him as a way of breaking free from his intrusive hand.

  “So,” he started, seemingly oblivious to her sly maneuver, “how did you say you know Zane?”

  “He contracted me to do a bit of design work for him,” she answered succinctly as she followed him out of the office. He winked at Zane’s secretary as he passed her, and she returned it with a poorly-veiled look of disgust.

  “Interesting,” he replied as they headed down the long, broad hallway. “I’ve never seen him outsource work before.”

  “Well, he did,” Jenna said flatly.

  Phil gave Jenna a detailed tour of the art department, introducing her to the staff and showing her the tools used to bring their marketing campaigns to life. She appreciated him walking her around the room, but didn’t appreciate how he clung to her side or the flirtatious looks he flashed her.

  He swung her by accounting next, then copy, while talking her ear off the entire time. Unfazed by her terseness, he relentlessly boasted about his importance to the firm, referring to himself as the glue that held the place together and the backbone of the entire company. She found him insufferable and didn’t know how a man like Zane Talbot could put up with him.

  “I really need to get going,” she lied as she checked the time on her cell phone. “I’m meeting a friend for dinner soon.”

  “Just one more thing, I promise!” he insisted as he took her down the shorter, narrower hallway that she and Zane had passe
d earlier on the way to his presidential office. It led to a third reception area, this one far smaller than the others, where a beautiful, busty brunette woman sat filing her nails behind a desk that looked uncomfortably small.

  “Sharron,” Phil paused to greet her. When she dismissively grunted hello without looking up, Phil continued on to the door just beyond her. “My office,” he glowed as he motioned Jenna inside and shut the door behind them.

  “It’s… nice,” she placated him as she looked around the cramped room. It was a fraction of the size Zane’s office was, and looked more like a glorified closet. She couldn’t imagine what he could possibly want to show her in here.

  “This is where I make this place the money,” he smiled proudly.

  “That’s great,” she replied unenthusiastically. Her patience was exhausted and Phil was killing the good mood Zane had put her in.

  “I know it’s nothing fancy, but I’ll be getting a much larger office when we switch locations,” he declared.

  “Cool,” was her only response as she glanced at her cell phone again, hoping he’d take the hint.

  “We should go out sometime,” he blurted unexpectedly, completely catching her off guard.

  “Excuse me?” she asked in shock, a slight chuckle of disbelief escaping her.

  “Me and you. We should go out sometime,” he repeated with a goofy grin that she assumed was supposed to be seductive.

  “Look, I don’t think—”

  “Ah, taking the hard to get approach,” he interrupted her. “I like that,” he added with a smirk as he moved in closer to her.

  “Okay, I need to go now,” she said in a panic, the urban dialect she’d worked hard to lose rising to the surface again.

  “Oh, come on,” he replied with an exaggerated pouty face. “I have a lot to offer, you know.”

  Her heart thudded in her chest, but it wasn’t due to attraction like it was with Zane. This man was giving her the creeps, and she wanted out by any means possible. He had her up against the door, and behind her back, her hands worked feverishly to find the doorknob. He now stood so close that she could feel his breath on her skin. To avoid a potential scene, she told him what he wanted to hear.