Billionaire by Design (A BWWM Romance)

by Tiana Cole

  “O-o-okay,” she stammered with a big, fake smile. “I have the firm’s number. I’ll call you.”

  “That’s my girl,” he grinned, then touched his thumb and index finger to her chin. “You truly are beautiful.”

  “Thank you,” she managed to spit out as she swallowed hard. She slipped out the door and hurried out of the building as quickly as she could.

  Chapter Seven

  She’d just thanked her car for starting when her cell phone rang. She was still reeling from Phil’s disturbing behavior, and her heart began pounding again at the thought of the call possibly being from him. She didn’t recognize the number, but knew she hadn’t given Phil hers and that if he did manage to find it, it likely wouldn’t be this fast. Curiosity got the better of her and she answered cautiously.

  “…Hello?”

  “Hey, Jenna, Zane Talbot again.”

  She sank into her seat with a sign, all tension instantly relieved by the sound of his voice.

  “Hey, you,” she chirped with her spirits lifted once again. “I almost didn’t answer ‘cause I didn’t recognize the number.”

  “I’m calling you from my cell instead of my work phone. Feel free to save this number. It’ll be the best way for you to reach me.”

  She found herself wondering if he gave everyone his personal number or if he’d made an exception for her, and reminded herself not to over think such a trivial thing.

  “Okay, will do.”

  “I just wanted to give you a quick ring to apologize for having to duck out so quickly.”

  “Oh, I completely understand, so don’t even worry about it,” she assured him.

  “Did Phil give you the grand tour?” he asked. From the focused tone of his voice and background noise she could tell he was driving.

  “He sure did,” Jenna replied flatly.

  “How’d it go?”

  “It was… interesting,” she told him with ambivalence, debating whether or not to mention Phil’s inappropriate flirtation. She sat with her car idling, watching pedestrians as they casually strolled by.

  “Just interesting? Sounds like you weren’t too impressed,” Zane remarked with a hint of disappointment.

  “No, no, don’t get me wrong. I loved it! Your company’s amazing and the art department is… wow. Everyone was so nice. Thank you for letting me see everything,” she said with a pleasant cheerfulness. Jenna opted to put the Phil incident behind her for now to avoid causing any waves. She had a good thing going with Zane, and didn’t want anything messing it up.

  “You’re quite welcome,” he responded, sounding relieved to hear that his firm didn’t disappoint. “Listen, there’s a reason I’m calling…”

  “Yes?” she asked while a barrage of possibilities ran through her mind.

  “You told me you have Saturdays off, right?”

  “Yes, that’s right,” she replied slowly, hoping wherever this was going led to seeing his handsome face again.

  “I have a few things I’d really love to talk to you about. What are your plans for tonight?” he asked optimistically.

  “I don’t have any,” she answered excitedly.

  “Well you do now,” he laughed. “I want to discuss a few things over dinner.”

  “You’re… asking me to dinner?”

  “That’s right, and I won’t take no for an answer,” he insisted.

  “Well, gee, I guess if you bend my arm,” she replied coolly, trying her best to mask her excitement.

  “How’s 8:00 pm work for you?”

  According to the clock on her car’s outdated stereo, it was already 5:30 pm. That didn’t leave her much time to prepare, and with her credit union being closed she wouldn’t be able to deposit the generous check he’d cut her. She certainly didn’t have enough money left in her account to run out and buy a new outfit, nor did she have the time if she wanted to be ready by 8:00 pm. She’d have to rummage through her closet in hopes of finding something presentable enough for whatever he had in mind.

  “Um, sure, that works just fine,” she lied as she put her car into gear and pulled away from the curb. She had no time to spare if she was going to make this work. “What where you thinking?”

  “I was hoping I could take you to my favorite restaurant. Do you like Italian?”

  “I do,” she answered as she headed back to her apartment complex, “and that sounds wonderful. What‘s the restaurant?”

  “Jesus, this idiot almost hit me,” he grumbled in irritation. She heard a car horn in the background, indicating he’d just came dangerously close to a collision of some sort. “How about you text me your address and I’ll pick you up at eight sharp, good?”

  She decided against repeating her question. She’d hoped for at least some indication of where he’d be taking her, but had to admit that the surprise was somewhat of a thrill. Wherever it was, she knew it would likely be fancy and require something formal. She was already going through her wardrobe in her mind, frantically trying to figure something out.

  “Okay, I’ll text you as soon as I get home,” she assured. With a quick exchange of goodbyes, she continued darting in and out of traffic in an attempt to get home as fast as possible. Time was ticking.

  She was relieved to see that Leigh’s car wasn’t in the parking lot of their complex. This meant she wasn’t home, and that she didn’t have to burn precious time recounting her eventful day. She loved the girl, but Leigh could be a stickler for details, and 8:00 pm would be here before she knew it.

  She rushed upstairs to their second-story apartment, barreling through the front door and throwing her purse on the couch as she quickly headed to her bedroom. She paused to pull her cell phone from her pocket and sent Zane her address. He replied moments later with, “Great, see you then!”

  After ten minutes of tearing through her closet, she settled on a black evening gown that she hadn’t worn since high school and hoped it would be classy enough for wherever they were going. She carefully selected a pair of white gold earrings, which triggered the painful memory of having to pawn the necklace her grandmother had given her.

  When she’d pawned it four years earlier, she’d planned on using her first paycheck to get it out of hock, but that hadn’t exactly worked out. She’d been overcome by bills, and by the time she had enough saved up to buy the necklace back, it had already been sold. It would have matched the earrings perfectly, she lamented as she searched for another necklace that would suffice.

  She decided to go with the heart pendant she was already wearing. It had become her favorite, and although it was sterling silver, it matched the earrings closely enough. Under scrutiny, it would be obvious that the pieces didn’t come from the same set, but at a glance, she didn’t think anybody would notice.

  In the bathroom, she stripped naked and posed in the mirror as the shower heated up behind her. She’d been working at Family Burger for four years now, and with their food being so cheap, it was often her only option. She turned to the side and sucked in her stomach in an effort to assess how much weight she’d put on. The dreaded scale had told her five pounds when she’d weighed herself a month earlier, and she didn’t think that was so bad considering she’d been slinging fast food for so long. She lacked the funds or the time to join a gym, but would occasionally pop in Leigh’s Zumba at Home DVD for a quick workout.

  Suddenly aware of how conscious she was being about her weight, Jenna realized that, once again, she was reading too much into things. She didn’t even know if Zane’s dinner invitation was romantic or professional.

  Given the chemistry between them, she’d inferred that it was more amorous than platonic. She’d never been too smooth with men, however, despite the good looks everyone claimed she had. She did know enough to tell when she was being hit on, as the guys in her old Brooklyn neighborhood weren’t exactly subtle in their approach. She’d grown quite used to the wolf whistles and inappropriate comments that peppered her walk home from school every weekday, or on the sh
ort trek to and from the local market. In her new Southwestern life, the men were a bit more tactful, yet their intentions were still easy to read. Regardless of where they were from or the strategy they used, their end game always seemed to be the same. None of these men cared about her mind; they just wanted her body. Because of this, she was quite selective in who she shared her time with.

  To help herself feel normal, she’d ventured out on a handful of dates over the years, but none of them had extended beyond making out and light petting. She’d certainly never met anybody who made her heart race like Zane Talbot did. Just thinking about him made her giddy, and that was a feeling she’d never experienced before.

  Jumping in the shower, Jenna thanked herself for having shaved her legs that morning and not having to waste valuable time with that daunting task. She quickly rinsed off while recalling how surreal the last two hours of her life had been.

  Zane had loved her work, paid her liberally for it, and they seemed to have forged a connection of some sort. She got a glimpse of his company’s inner workings, and his right-hand man had creeped her out by coming on way too strong. Zane had asked her out, his motives unclear, and now she was scurrying to get ready for dinner at an undisclosed location.

  She could never have predicted this day, and it wasn’t over yet. Nervous for the evening and praying she wouldn’t make a complete fool of herself, she leaned her back against the wall of the shower in hopes the warm water would help calm her anxiety. No man had ever come close to affecting her like this.

  Toweling off, she let her hair air dry as she carefully applied a faint spattering of gold shadow across her eyelids, hoping Zane would like the choice.

  Even if the dinner was business and nothing more, she hadn’t gone out in months, aside from a trip to the local pizza joint here and there with Leigh, and wanted to look her best. She refocused her efforts, paying painstaking attention to every detail as she finished applying her make-up.

  When she was satisfied with the job she’d done, she headed to the small living room where she flipped on the television and plopped down on the sofa. She meticulously painted her finger and toenails the same dark red as her lipstick, paying Dr. Phil only half of her attention. As her nails dried, she reached for the remote and changed the channel carefully so as not to mar the tacky paint.

  “What a quack,” she commented under her breath as she searched for something a bit more appealing. She tried to focus on a celebrity cooking show, but her mind couldn’t stop drifting to thoughts of Zane Talbot. She couldn’t imagine what business he’d possibly have to discuss since the logo work he’d asked for was now a done deal. He did know she was graduating soon, and since he seemed to genuinely like her work, there was always a chance he may offer her a job.

  While it was true she would be looking for a full-time design position soon, the thought of the dinner being romantic in nature excited her more than anything. She scolded herself for putting lust before career and glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time.

  The minutes ticked by until 7:30 finally hit, and with a half hour left to get ready, she headed to her bedroom to slip into the black evening gown she’d laid out on her bed.

  She slid her feet into the black stilettos she’d chosen and did a quick twirl in front of the full-length mirror mounted to the back of her door. From there, she hit the bathroom again to fix her hair and apply a few slight touch-ups to her make-up. Normally a very modest girl, she had to admit that she looked good.

  As she admired herself, she realized just how much she enjoyed getting dolled up to go out. She’d never put this much time into herself before, mostly because her previous dates simply weren’t worth the effort. They were with good men, but none of them made her heart flutter like Zane Talbot did.

  With the sun down and the desert heat having subsided slightly, she stood on her small balcony and took in the silhouette of the mountains while casting glances down at the parking lot below.

  She wasn’t sure what Zane would be driving, or if he’d even be driving at all since he was being chauffeured in a limousine when she’d first seen him only days earlier. Two minutes before 8:00 pm, a black town car slowly rolled into the lot beneath her; the manner in which it crept indicated the driver was attempting to find the right address. Although it was getting dark, she could see Zane Talbot, dressed to the nines as usual, step out of the back to survey the complex.

  “Hey, you!” she shouted down at him, ending his confusion.

  “Hey!” he smiled up at her as he walked closer to her balcony. “These damn buildings all look the same,” he laughed.

  “Oh, I know,” she replied as she smiled back at him, “but I’m glad you managed to find it.”

  “Can I come up?” he asked, his striking good looks and captivating charm impossible to turn down.

  “Sure, the stairs are right there,” she told him as she pointed around the corner.

  “On my way!”

  Showtime, Jenna said to herself as she watched him disappear around the side of her building. A few seconds later came a gentle rapping on her door. Trying not to appear too eager, she paused for a moment and took a deep breath before opening it as nonchalantly as possible. She greeted Zane with a friendly smile.

  “Right on time,” she noted.

  “Wow,” he gasped as he looked her up and down with his mouth agape. “You look absolutely stunning.”

  “Thank you,” she blushed. “You look nice, too.”

  “I mean, just… wow,” he reiterated. “Now I feel underdressed.”

  He’d changed from his grey three-piece suit into a black one, and looked strikingly dapper as usual. Jenna wondered if he even knew how to dress casually.

  “Oh, shut up, you look fine,” she replied playfully while rolling her eyes. “Let me just grab my purse and we can get out of here.”

  “So, this is where you live, eh?” he asked curiously as he peeked inside without being overly intrusive.

  “Yes, this is my palace,” she joked as she quickly grabbed her black clutch from the kitchen counter. “Try not to be too jealous.”

  She couldn’t help but notice that he had politely remained outside and hadn’t made any attempt to invite himself in. She respected that, and with her clutch in hand she headed out the door, stopping to lock it behind her.

  “It’s not a bad place,” Zane said, resuming the conversation as they headed downstairs. “Looks cozy from what I saw.”

  Reaching the parking lot, he hurried ahead to open the waiting town car’s back door for her.

  “Thank you,” she said, acknowledging his chivalry with a polite smile as she comfortably situated herself in the vehicle’s back seat. Seeing that she was settled in, he shut her door and made his way around the car to take a seat next to her.

  “See? I don’t always ride in a limousine,” he said humorously.

  “Yeah, but you still have a driver,” she ribbed while rolling her big, brown eyes as the car set off towards the undisclosed destination.

  “The limousine’s mostly to impress clients,” he divulged. “Shh… don’t tell anyone,” he winked as he placed his index finger to his lips.

  “And the driver?”

  “Mostly for meetings,” he explained with a smile. “And I do a fair amount of my own driving, I’ll have you know.”

  “Oh, so this is a meeting?” she smirked as she looked into his gorgeous blue eyes.

  “No,” he returned her gaze intently, “I just wanted to give you my fullest attention tonight. No distractions. I want to focus on you for every second I have you,” he grinned.

  “Oh?” Jenna gulped, a sudden wave of heat coursing through her. The energy between them was palpable, and she suddenly had no doubt that this outing was much more than business.

  They rode for fifteen minutes with conversation flowing freely along the way. Despite her initial burst of nerves, she found herself quickly at ease in his presence. Her confidence, which had never been shaken by a man before,
had now returned. Laughter radiated from the back seat as they playfully bantered, enjoying each other’s company as the town car weaved through the city.

  Arriving at the restaurant, Jenna wasn’t surprised to find it was one she’d never heard of before. As a transplant from New York City, and a broke one at that, she’d never experienced Tucson’s fine dining and rarely ventured into the business district.

  Zane helped her out of the car and guided her inside where her senses were immediately overcome with the sights, smells, and sounds of Italy. As she would quickly find out, Primavera was a five-star restaurant known for its wealthy clientele. It was where the city’s socially elite gathered to feast on authentic Italian cuisine, and its lavish interior was unlike anything she’d ever seen.

  The decor was immaculate, its stone walls adorned with artwork she knew was expensive. The lighting was low, adding an almost romantic ambiance throughout the restaurant, and Sicilian music played softly in the background.

  She went from a sense of welcome to a feeling of dread as she surveyed the mobbed dining area located to the left of an impressive full bar. The city’s most prominent businessmen and women sat feasting on Primavera’s pricey courses, all of them dressed to the hilt. She glanced down at her dress, suddenly self-conscious in her choice of attire, and she could feel her face grow flushed as the hostess approached them.

  “Zane Talbot, reservation for two,” Jenna heard him tell the woman as she continued absorbing the restaurant’s atmosphere. She knew New York City must have restaurants as nice as this, but she’d never had a chance to experience any of them.

  “You look gorgeous,” he whispered to her as the hostess guided them to a private table in the far corner of the dining room. He’d sensed her concern, and the sincerity in his reassuring words instantly soothed her. She followed closely by his side as they crossed the busy floor.

  “Thank you,” she whispered back, unsure if Zane could even hear her over the low roar filling the restaurant.