Billionaire Boss's Unexpected Child

by Jessica Brooke

  “No one is going to find out.”

  Jonathan raised an eyebrow. “You say that, but does that mean everyone?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You really think that Tammy’s so dumb that she won’t put the pieces together? Hell, you and I both know that Mel’s as suspicious as they come. You think she’ll miss a trick? Seriously? You don’t like it when I imply that Selena’s just another piece of ass—”

  “She’s not!” I slammed my fist down on the desk. “She isn’t.”

  “Seriously, Brandon. This isn’t going anywhere. This isn’t going to go anywhere. All it’s going to do is have the potential to ruin a billion-dollar merger and your relationship with your family.” He blanched. “Okay, what’s left of it where Melanie is concerned.”

  “So, is this about the bottom line?”

  Jonathan shook his head. “This is about far more than that. I know how hard you’ve worked to have Tammy back in your life after the mother of all bitter divorces. Fucking The War of the Roses had nothing on you and Mel. Don’t fuck this all up because you’re, well, fucking it all up.”

  I clenched my jaw and cycled through my thoughts before I replied, “I don’t want to hurt Tammy. I couldn’t give a shit about Melanie.”

  He snorted. “That woman is like a fire-breathing dragon. I don’t know why you ever married her.”

  “She wasn’t always like that. I think, to be fair, she hardened up because I was always gone.”

  “Her being a raging bitch is not your fault. I have just seen how much you’ve built up man, what you have now with your daughter, and what we could have if Orbit signs. To lose that because you can’t keep it in your pants is crazy.”

  “It’s not like that.”

  Jonathan considered my words and narrowed his eyes. “Do you love her?”

  “It’s too early for that. All I know is that I care about her in a way I haven’t cared about a woman since Mel and I started dating eons ago. She makes me feel alive and satisfied, like everything really is enough.” I raked a hand through my hair. “I’m always grasping for the new thing, always trying to conquer the next challenge. I don’t know, man, but when I have Selena in my arms, I feel complete. And that’s a feeling I’m not willing to give up.”

  He nodded and let out a long breath. “All right, I trust you know what you’re doing. Your instincts have always been right before. I worry, but this is the best I can do. I just… Don’t mess this up. There are over five thousand employees with fortunes that depend on yours too. Just be smart, and I hope that Selena is worth it.”

  I sighed and then nodded. “I’m not sure if she is yet; I just know that she feels right, and I have to trust that.”

  Chapter Seven

  Selena

  I had to blink when I entered the restaurant. It was a pleasant bar converted from an old cannery out there by Brooklyn. The red brick was crumbling just a bit in a few places, and you could feel the history of the whole place. It was the type of bar the average hipster would flock to—full of organic and fresh raised everything, but still not exactly what I would have pegged as a choice for Brandon. Somehow, I expected our biggest date yet to be out to some fancy place in Manhattan, with prime rib more expensive than what I made in a day at work or something French. To be at a contempo casual bar was actually a refreshing change of pace from what I’d thought.

  He stood up at the corner table he’d been seated in and pulled my chair back for me. It made me smile. It was the little gentlemanly things that got to me. Kevin had never pulled out my chair or held open a door. It was all the kinds of stuff you did see guys around West Virginia do, and I guess at least among the rich and upper-crusty, it was still traditional too.

  Sitting down, I brushed my hair back out of my face and shivered a little. I’d worn my favorite little red dress that hugged my curves in all the right ways. It was sleeveless, unfortunately, so that left me with goosebumps spreading across my upper arms. To me, it never seemed like restaurants or movie theaters kept enough heat on. They always blasted the AC, which left me chilly. Then again, watching Brandon lick his lips as he evaluated me was worth it.

  Left me wet and ready for him already.

  I crossed my legs under the table, even as liquid pooled against the satin of my new panties.

  “You look amazing.”

  “You don’t look bad yourself.”

  I meant that. His salt and pepper hair was tousled just so, and it looked wet from a shower. I assumed some kind of gel was involved in that “I don’t care look,” but it worked for him. He was still sporting his five o’clock shadow, and I desperately wanted to lick patterns across his stubble. I’d have to save that for later. It was the kind of thing that would probably get me kicked out of the bar. Probably.

  But it would be worth it.

  We exchanged pleasantries at first and placed our order. Once the wine and oysters Rockefeller appetizers came, we were able to relax with one another. I was still coiled up tightly from work, from the next piece I was working on, and he seemed a bit distracted tonight, like he needed a few glasses of merlot to unwind. So far, whenever I’d been near Brandon, he’d appeared to be the ultimate alpha, always in control. I wanted to ask him what was bothering him, but I wasn’t even sure it was my place. After all, I couldn’t even define our relationship.

  We weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend. He hadn’t given me anything—nor did I want bribes to stay with him—so I wasn’t some gold digger with a sugar daddy. It wasn’t booty calls, not when he was taking me out on a date. I was thinking it was mostly a disaster waiting to happen, but Hallmark didn’t exactly make cards for that type of relationship either.

  “Are you okay?” I finally asked as I brought an oyster to my lips.

  “I’m fine. It’s just been a long day. My CFO had some concerns over the Orbit merger. That was all. What about you? You seem quiet too.”

  “Well, to be honest. This is kind of the first date we’ve had.”

  “I sat next to you at the Vera Wang show and introduced you to most of the fashion movers and shakers there. That counts as a date. It made page six.”

  I snorted. “I know, but this seems so… Uh, don’t take this the wrong way, but this feels normal.”

  He brought his hand to his chest in mock indignation. “Are you saying I’m weird?”

  “I’m saying this whole situation has been highly unusual. Even if my best friend wasn’t your daughter.” I had lowered my voice when saying that last point. “Even if that wasn’t part of it, we’re the types.”

  He whispered back to me, “To have wild fuck sessions in an office or dressing room.”

  I blushed and then nodded. “Pretty much. Not that I don’t appreciate the change of pace.” I punctuated my point by smiling when the waiter brought me my chicken and Brandon his steak. “Still, I guess I know how to act when you seduce me. I’m not sure I know what you want from me on a date.”

  “There’s nothing to do or any test to pass,” he replied. “I just want to get to know you more, Tiger. I figured a date would be a good start for that.”

  “Then cheers,” I said, clanking my wine glass against his. “So, what do you want to know about me?”

  “Well, I know where you work, at least for now. I know that you’re a good person or Tammy wouldn’t give you the time of day.”

  “See, then this might be a short day.”

  He grinned, a wolfish expression, and then licked his lips. “There are some advantages to that. What about you though, Selena. What made you come to New York City? Why are you working so hard to get into fashion journalism?”

  I sighed and started picking at the napkin on my lap. I tried not to think of the small, burned-out town I’d fled the minute I graduated high school. I definitely didn’t want to focus on my mom, who’d had me at seventeen and become a meth addict about a dozen years later. There was nothing left for me back in West Virginia. It was make it in New York or
bust, and I had to make it. No matter the cost.

  And, no, I’d never make the mistakes my mother did.

  “I’m from nowhere basically; some town in West Virginia so tiny that you can barely find it on actual maps. No GPS finds it. I was happy to see it out of the cab’s rearview mirror. Let me put it that way.”

  He nodded and cut into his steak. “I know what that’s like.”

  “Huh?”

  “I was hardly born with a silver spoon, Tiger. I’m from West Liberty, Ohio. It’s a quaint enough town, has a few antique shops downtown, and is the type of place with stone geese who get decorated every season. They wear raincoats in April and Santa hats in December.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Because there’s nothing to do there but that. Oh, and bake pies. My mom was a county champion in blueberry. It wasn’t bad back there, but it was boring, not my thing. So, I came here too when I graduated college, and I never looked back.”

  I blinked back at him. Frankly, I’d assumed he’d been a Park Avenue guy his whole life. “Do you ever miss it? The small town, the lack of pressure?”

  “I loved my mom. Dad died overseas in the military when I was still a kid. I visited Mom till she died when I was about thirty. Damn how much she loved smoking, you know?”

  I swallowed hard and took his hand. “That’s awful.”

  “But I built a life here. I had something great for a while with my first wife. It went south, but I got Tammy out of it. I built a company I’m proud of—that anyone would be proud of. To be honest, if you asked me a few weeks ago, I’d say I had no regrets at all.”

  “What changed?”

  “You did,” he said, his eyes boring into mine. “For a while, I was enjoying my life, reveling in what I had.”

  I sighed. “You mean enjoying different women every night. I… Mrs. Stewart wasn’t delicate about that part when she said she’d heard rumors about you that night at Vera Wang, that it was basically what she’d expect.”

  He placed one hand over my own. “You need to know that I feel different about you. I don’t know if I have words for it. I’m not sure if I want to label it yet, but you’re more than just some girl from a Rolodex.”

  “What’s a Rolodex?”

  He laughed. “Fine—from Tinder and swiping right. I forget how young you are sometimes.”

  “And you’re maybe a little old,” I said. Then, winking, I picked an onion straw off of his plate. “I mean, in a year or two, you’ll have a cane.”

  “I will not!”

  “Maybe,” I said. “I guess then you know exactly what I’m feeling, what I want. Maybe it’s the same story for the millions of people who flock here. I want to be something and never have to go back to my shitty town. And…”

  “‘If you make it here, you can make it anywhere?’” he asked wryly.

  “Basically.”

  “Then, and I’d say this even if you weren’t the most gorgeous girl I’d ever seen...”

  “Flattery will get you everywhere, Mr. Duncan,” I said, bringing my tone down to a sultry alto.

  “I know that look; that burning need for recognition. I’ve seen hundreds of new hires. The ones that last, the ones who make a dent at my company, have that hunger too.”

  Heat flared in my belly, but it had nothing to do with my attraction to Brandon. No. It was pride, working its way through me. Everything I did, I did in order to take care of myself, to ensure I never went crawling back to my mother. If Brandon had seen other interns and new employees succeed who showed the same fire, then I felt better.

  Like I might just make it.

  He nodded toward me and set his napkin on the table. “I have another surprise tonight, Tiger. Finish up. You’re going to want to see this.”

  Chapter Eight

  Selena

  My eyes went wide the minute the limo pulled up to the famous building on Fifth Avenue. My jaw had probably dropped down to my chest too; I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that the store before us had been burned into my brain. My mom had always been an Audrey Hepburn fan, so I’d grown up on My Fair Lady and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I blinked and tried to remind myself that I was still awake; that I hadn’t slipped into some dream. Since he wasn’t in shock, Brandon slid out of the limo first and, like the gentleman he was, yanked open the door on my side for me. He stood there with his elbow crooked and a broad smile on his face.

  “Don’t be so shocked. It’s just a present, I swear, nothing like rushing the gun to an altar. I like you a lot, but I’m not expecting… Whatever we are, we’re having a good time, and we respect each other. I just wanted to show you that I don’t think of you like I do the other women I’ve been with.”

  I nodded and tried to keep myself from feeling upset. What he could have added about the other women was that they’d been disposable, the women who hadn’t lasted at all.

  Of course, they’d never been led to Tiffany’s for a shopping spree, so this had to mean something; a show of good faith.

  Gathering my wits, I took his arm and let him lead me to the shop. It had been closed down by now to others, but the guard opened the door and followed us in. There was one man, an older gentleman with steel gray hair, standing behind the counter. He grinned at Brandon as we entered.

  “Mr. Duncan, can I just say again how thrilled we are that we could serve your needs today.”

  I had to stifle a giggle at that. It was another thing I was learning to get used to; the way people revered him. I understood that everyone wanted one of New York’s favored sons and scions to be a repeat customer, but it was still such a contrast for me. I was an often broke Bohemian student who was sometimes glared at as I made my way through stores. Now, I felt like Julia Roberts on the arm of Richard Gere, like I was a princess.

  How could I even argue with that feeling when he’d brought me to such a beautiful place to be showered with a gift. Maybe I should have said no, to let the relationship take a slower course, but I also didn’t want to insult him. Brandon was trying to show me he really, truly cared, and I craved that. After Kevin, after so much rejection in my life, I wanted to believe that everything was going to be alright.

  Corinthian columns, engraved into the tan marble, rose above my head. The whole store was a Neo-Gothic dream, like something out of a movie of the 1940s. The glass containers were stacked on each other at least seven feet high and rimmed the edges of the main counter. Diamonds glimmered before us, of course, but so did gold, silver, and the occasional sapphire or emerald. It was everything any girl could have wished for, and a place I hadn’t even known I wanted to visit.

  Brandon led me to the counter and nodded toward the efficient little man behind it. “Is it ready?”

  “It was a quick bit of engraving, but of course we could do it.”

  “Good,” Brandon said, nodding toward the attendant. “Could you please hand it to me?”

  The little man nodded and presented Brandon with a large, flat box in the traditional Tiffany’s turquoise. I frowned, still not sure exactly what type of jewelry he was presenting me with. There was no way it was a ring—and no way I wanted it to be, not right now—but it was a huge box, and I was betting that meant it was bigger than a bracelet too. Brandon turned and opened the top of the box, and I gasped at the beautiful gift inside.

  It was a gold necklace with a charm fashioned into the shape of an antique, Victorian-era key. In the center of the flat “head” of the key sat a bright star composed of real, glittering diamonds. I traced my fingers over the diamonds and could scarcely believe it was mine.

  “I can’t even… I don’t think I deserve this.”

  “Tiger, it’s not about ‘deserving.’ It’s about how much I think you need to have this. I know you can’t wear it often, but you can around me. It helps let you know that I consider you mine, that I value you. In fact,” he said, slipping the chain out of the box and unfastening the clasp. “I’m going to die if I don’t see you wearing it.”


  I grinned and pulled up my hair, giving him access to the arc of my neck. He set the thin, filigree chain around my neck and then clasped the necklace behind my neck. My hands seemed to have a mind of their own as they reached up and strayed over the gold and diamonds.

  “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

  He flipped the key over, and I squinted down at the words engraved there:

  Tiger, you have the key to my heart. Don’t forget it.

  My throat grew dry as if it had been stuffed with cotton. I didn’t know how to react to that; how to process it. What we had was the ultimate doomed relationship. There was no way we could ever be public, even after the merger finished. It would gut Tammy. Fuck, I was a terrible friend just for getting this far, for not saying no to the job offer.

  For dreaming of him, craving him.

  I wiped at my eyes, hoping he didn’t notice that I’d been close to crying. I had everything I wanted right here at this moment, but I couldn’t keep it. It would die out eventually, and that was the last thing I wanted. To lose him… To lose us.

  “It’s amazing,” I echoed.

  He stepped around me and planted his lips on mine. We stayed like that for what felt like hours, exploring each other, feeling every inch of each other’s mouths. Finally, he pulled back so he could speak.

  “You’re incredible, and you know it, Tiger. Anything that makes you happy, makes you look this gorgeous, is totally fucking worth it.”

  “I…”

  He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. “Don’t worry, there will be time to talk later.”

  Chapter Nine

  Brandon

  She looked so fucking good sprawled out on the bed before me. She’d done the usual “oohs” and “ahs” of seeing my sprawling penthouse. The large panel of glass looked out on Central Park, and the high ceilings made the entire place feel more cavernous than it already was. But none of that mattered, not when she looked like a goddess before me. Her olive skin seemed to glow under the low light of the candles I’d lit. As she took in deep breaths, her gorgeous, full tits moved up and down. My cock was hard just staring at her.