Investigated Billionaire - The Complete Series Box Set (An Alpha Billionaire Romance)

by Claire Adams

  “Me, too. At least you didn't have an hour long training session with a former U.S. Marine Corps drill sergeant at five a.m.”

  She laughed and immediately some of the tension in the air evaporated. It was a relief to hear her laughter.

  “That sounds like the absolute worst thing I could have imagined doing at five a.m.!” she claimed. “I got up an hour later than I usually do. I got here on time, but I’m usually half an hour early.”

  “But you did get here on time, and that's a sign of commitment and discipline,” I encouraged. I knew I needed to stop beating around the bush and get to the point, even though I really wasn’t looking forward to it. I wasn’t sure how she was feeling about the events of the previous evening.

  “So, about what happened last night, specifically at the end of the evening…”

  “Yeah, that,” she said, looking down at the papers in her hands.

  “Look, we'd both had way too much to drink, and when I've had a lot of alcohol, I sometimes…well, do things I wouldn't usually do.”

  “Yes, me, too,” she agreed. “We'd both had a few too many glasses of wine.”

  “So, it just happened because we were both rather intoxicated, right?” I tried not to sound like I was fishing for confirmation, but I was.

  While I knew I likely wouldn’t have kissed Lilah had we not been drinking, it wouldn’t have been because I didn’t want to. It would have been because my logical side would have stopped me. The fact that she paused before answering made me wonder if she was feeling the same way or if she truly had no attraction to me unless there was alcohol involved.

  “Yes,” she responded. “I would definitely say it happened because we were both fairly inebriated.”

  “I think so.” All I could do was agree.

  There was a drawn-out moment of uncomfortable silence. I was about to flip the switch back into all-business mode when she looked up from the papers in her hands and our eyes locked.

  “I'd like to have dinner with you again sometime,” I said suddenly. It wasn’t at all what I had intended to say. I had intended to steer our interactions back toward a strictly boss-employee mode, but apparently my mouth had other ideas. “But no drinking. Or, uh, at least we won't have nearly as much.”

  Her gaze searched mine for a moment, and I wished I could read her thoughts. “That, uh, sure. I’d like that,” she replied. For a brief moment, I saw the guard she’d been hiding behind since she’d walked into my office fade. A soft smile brushed over her perfectly-shaped lips. Then, just as quickly, it went back to full strength. “But for the moment, I think we both really need to focus on the Harry Winston campaign. That comes before anything else.”

  “Oh, of course, of course,” I agreed. “That is our absolute top priority at this point in time. And there are a few new projects coming up, as well, that could make or break us in the coming financial quarter. Projects that I'm going to need you to be performing at your peak for. Projects that we're all going to need to have absolute crystal clear focus for. So, yeah, we shouldn't let…” Our eyes caught again and I had to refocus. “We shouldn’t let anything distract us from that.” I said the words, but I didn’t mean them. I wanted nothing more than to be distracted by this woman, and I really couldn’t even explain why.

  “Agreed. I'm here to make a significant contribution to this firm, and I intend to put my best foot forward at all times,” she assured me.

  “That's what I like to hear. Anyway, I think I've kept you from your work too long already. We do still have a long way to go on the Harry Winston campaign, so I’ll let you get back to working on that.”

  She nodded and stood. For a moment, I thought she was going to say something else, but instead she simply nodded again and headed out of my office.

  ***

  I cranked up the punk tune on my Maserati's sound system as I pulled out of the Sinclair Building’s parking garage, nodding my head in time with the driving beat. While I usually played classical music on my drive home to relax my mind after a long, hard day at work, since finding out that Lilah’s brother was in a band I'd been into since I was a teenager, I'd searched through my collection and added a few tracks by the Razor's Edge to my playlist.

  I weaved through the early evening traffic as the track raged. I was barely two blocks from the office when I noticed a familiar figure walking along the sidewalk.

  Lilah. I would recognize her curves anywhere.

  I pulled up to the curb and rolled down my window.

  “Lilah!”

  She glanced over her shoulder, looking surprised to hear my voice. She saw me in the car and smiled.

  “Hi, Asher!” she said as she stopped and turned to acknowledge me.

  “Do you need a ride?”

  She hesitated before responding. “I suppose I could use one, if you don't mind.”

  “Not at all. Come on, hop in.”

  She hurried across the sidewalk and climbed into the passenger seat of my car.

  “Nice ride,” she said. “I do love a Maserati.”

  I grinned and gave the engine a rev. “She is a beauty, huh? I have a soft spot for fast cars. Guy thing, I guess. You should come check out my collection sometime.”

  “Sure. I'm not exactly a gearhead, but I can appreciate a well-built machine,” she revealed, her undertone just enough to send a touch of warmth rushing through me. “And, I happen to know a thing or two about engines,” she added.

  I tried not to sound surprised as I replied. “Oh, you do?”

  “I grew up an only girl in family of older brothers, two of whom are motorcycle fanatics, and no mom. My dad was a mechanic who had his own garage, and he spent most of his waking hours there working on engines. Being in the garage was pretty much the only way I could spend time with him, so I learned a thing or two about engines while I was growing up.”

  “Wow. Sounds like an unconventional childhood.”

  “I suppose in some ways, it was. As yours was, I imagine.”

  “Yeah, I guess it was,” I replied. I wasn't quite ready to discuss my childhood with her, even though talking to her did feel like the most comfortable and natural thing in the world, so I decided to switch the topic.

  “So, why were you walking home from work? It's a good forty-five minute walk from the office to your place, if I remember correctly.”

  “My car's at the mechanic's,” she replied. “And, since it was a nice evening, I just thought I’d walk instead of taking the bus.”

  “Couldn't fix it yourself, huh?” I joked with a wink.

  “I could have, quite easily, but I don't have the time—not with the current schedule being what it is. Not that I'm complaining,” she added hastily.

  “Oh, well, good thing I drove past you when I did, then.”

  “And why is it you're driving this car today and not being ferried around by Alfred?”

  “I prefer driving myself,” I replied. “I often have to use Alfred, though, just because of the volume of work I have. I can get quite a bit done in the commute if I'm sitting in the car working on my tablet instead of having to actually drive. Today's workload wasn't supposed to be too intense, so I decided I didn't really need to be driven around by someone else.”

  She smiled and I couldn’t help stealing glances at her as I drove. The woman was breathtaking. I wondered if she realized just how much. I almost suggested that, instead of heading straight to her place, we could drive over to the beach and take a walk on the promenade.

  I stopped myself before I said it, though; she had just made it clear that morning that she wasn’t interested in anything aside from focusing on the Harry Winston campaigns. Instead, I decided to just make light conversation until we reached her building. And so, I did. Though, I was tempted to take the long way just to keep the conversation going.

  Twenty minutes later, I pulled up to the curb in front of her building to let her out.

  “Thanks so much for the ride, Asher,” she said. “I appreciate it.”<
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  “It was my pleasure. I enjoyed the company and the conversation,” I replied. “We should do it more often.”

  “Maybe we should; maybe we should,” she said cryptically.

  “See you in the office tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of the evening,” I called to her when she stepped onto the sidewalk.

  “You, too! See you tomorrow.”

  With that she turned on her heels and headed into her apartment building. I drove off, smiling.

  CHAPTER 6

  Lilah

  After Asher dropped me off, I waited in the lobby of my building, watching as he drove away in his Maserati. I felt as if he'd been wanting to say something the entire drive from the office to my apartment, but had been holding himself back.

  I couldn’t help but wonder if there had been something he hadn’t said during the talk we'd had about our kiss that morning. To say that it had been somewhat awkward was an understatement. I can understand how some things might have gone unsaid. Things I wished I’d said had been on my mind all day—not to mention the kiss itself.

  It had been an amazing kiss—I'd been aware enough to realize that. It wasn't as if we'd been blackout drunk; both of us had known what we were doing, we had just had our inhibitions lowered. I couldn't deny that I'd wanted him to kiss me at that moment and that I'd thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.

  But still, I had my questions regarding his motivations behind it and his interest in me. I knew, of course, that he was attracted to me, he’d made that clear, and that fact there wasn’t a single doubt in my mind. But, rumor had it that he was quite a ladies' man, and since he had neither denied nor confirmed this, I also questioned whether or not I was just another conquest for him.

  It was easy enough to believe. Someone with his prestige, dashing good looks, killer body, impeccable sense of style, and, of course, billions in the bank, could have practically any woman he wanted. He struck me as a man who was used to getting what he wanted—in life and from women. He came across as a smooth enough talker that I figured he had plenty of experience with women. So what was to say I wasn't just another name to add to what could very well be a rather long list?

  The whole situation, to be honest, had me a bit perplexed. I needed to sort through all the mixed emotions I was having. I needed to have a good, in-depth conversation about it with someone who could understand where I was coming from, if that was even possible. And Eddie, bless his heart, was a man, so he wouldn't really be much help in that area. I needed Meg.

  Meghan had been one of my closest friends since our college days. We'd met as freshmen when we were both business majors, but she had dropped out of business school after a year and decided to become a lawyer instead. We'd maintained a close friendship, nonetheless.

  I pulled out my phone and went through my contacts straight to “M.” I pressed the icon next to her name and waited for her to answer.

  “Lilah!” she exclaimed as she answered. “Hey, girlie! What's going on?”

  “Hey, Megs! Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that. Have you eaten dinner yet?”

  “Not yet, no. I'm just about to get out of the office.”

  “Perfect. Would you like to grab a bite to eat?”

  “Sounds like a plan. Do you have anywhere in mind?”

  “There's that new sushi spot that's just opened up a few blocks from the attorney office you work at. You know the one I'm talking about?”

  “Oh yeah, I know the place you mean. I've been wanting to check it out for quite some time now. How about I meet you there in half an hour?”

  “Sounds great. See you then!”

  ***

  “I can't believe you kissed someone who's been featured in Forbes Magazine!” Meghan exclaimed. “And he's a bonafide billionaire, for real?”

  “That he is.”

  “Holy hell. Well, that's not something you do every day, now is it?”

  “No. I suppose it isn’t. But you know, I can't help but wonder about this whole thing. It’s throwing me for a loop.”

  “Lilah, you tend to over-analyze things. I think you should just try to turn your brain off for a few weeks and just go with the flow. Do you know how many women would kill to be in your shoes right now? And I'm talking kill with their bare hands, batter someone into pulpy mush with bare knuckles kinda dead.”

  “Meghan! Eww!” I scrunched my nose at the mental image.

  “I’m just trying to make a point. Seriously, Lilah. Just let this guy fly you around the world in his private jet, drive you around in his sports cars, let him wine and dine you in five star hotels—and for heaven’s sake have some amazing sex with a smoking hot guy, which he totally is from the sound of your description. Then, if he turns out to be a jerk, well… Hey, at least you had the kind of experiences that only a tiny handful of people in this world actually get.”

  “I know; I know—but it's really not that simple…or easy. I mean, for one thing, he's not only my boss, he's the owner and CEO of one of the most powerful and prestigious public relations firms in the country.

  “I have a real shot at making a name for myself if I can stick with this firm for a few years and build a reputation. I want to be featured in Forbes one day, too, Meg—and not simply because I'm the arm candy of some big shot company owner. I want to get to the top of my own accord, with my own talent and my own hard work, not due to the fact that I'm the CEO's…I don't know…girlfriend, play thing, whatever.”

  Meghan took a sip of her sake and nodded, her expression becoming a bit more serious.

  “I understand, Lilah, I really do. You know I was just joking…to an extent. I know you're not just some bimbo, and that you wouldn't sell your principles out for the sake of a few thrills and a little bit of fun—even if those thrills and fun were really, truly, Hollywood-style amazing kind of stuff.”

  I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Come on now, Meg, I thought you were actually going to get serious.”

  “I am, I am. Ignore the last comment. But, and now I am being serious, don't shut out all possibilities of being with this man. Because maybe, just maybe, there's more to him than the billionaire playboy persona you’re imagining. Stop and think about it—he keeps such a low profile and there's practically no gossip about him anywhere online. Plus, it sounds like he's really into health and self-discipline. Those are all good qualities in a man. It’s possible he isn’t what your wild little imagination is conjuring up.”

  “I know, but… I can’t help thinking about Jacob, you know.”

  Meghan cocked her head to the side and folded her arms across her chest. “It's been three years since that jerk did what he did to you, Lilah. At some point, you’re going to have to let it go.”

  “That’s easy for you to say. You weren’t the one who’s fiancé abandoned you a month before your wedding.”

  “Aww, Lilah, I didn't mean to be insensitive. I know how much he hurt you, and I know pain like that takes more than just a little time to heal. But you can't let the actions of one man ruin the rest of them for you. There are some amazing guys out there; not all of them are like Jacob.”

  I sighed before responding. “Maybe not, but Jacob had most of those qualities, too. Besides, it's not just about the pain and the need to protect myself. I mean, yes, there is that, but there's also the fact that… Well, I kind of enjoy being single.

  “You know how it was when I was growing up; Dad was always out, I never had a mom, Eddie was gone half the time, and my other brothers either ignored me completely or pushed me around. I learned to be independent and stand up for myself at a fairly early age, and after surrendering that independence to another person—which is what happened when Jacob and I got engaged—I felt as if I'd lost a very important part of who I was.

  “As much as it hurt when Jacob left me, on another level, it was actually a good thing because it gave me the chance to get that independence back. And while it was a terrible struggle to get through all of the hurt of being abandoned, it also forced me to get reacquain
ted with myself, to really develop and hone the strength I've always had inside me. It made me tap into the power to not just exist, but to thrive entirely on my own. And the thought of surrendering that to be with a man again is kind of, well, I don’t think I can do it. It almost makes me angry, in a way. I'm not so sure I could give up that part of me—even if Asher turns out to be some amazing guy.”

  Meghan chewed thoughtfully on a piece of sushi as she considered everything I'd just said. After taking a drink of her sake, she replied. “Did it cross your mind that maybe that's what he sees in you, and maybe that's what he's finding so attractive about you?

  “I'm guessing the kind of women this guy is used to dealing with are models, bimbos, and other such types. All looks—jaw-droppingly gorgeous, most likely—but no substance whatsoever. Any intelligent man with any kind of integrity will get tired of those types eventually.

  “And so, along you come, and you've not only got smokin' hot looks, but you're smart as hell, fiercely independent, and intensely motivated, too. A guy like him, well, I'm guessing a girl like you is everything he's secretly dreamed about finding in a woman. How old did you say he was again?”

  “He's thirty-two.”

  “Ah. Young enough to still be after fun and good times, but also old enough to want to start getting serious and thinking about settling down. If I were you, I'd give him a chance.”

  “But my career, Meg. I have to think about what this would mean to my career. It's honestly the most important thing in the world to me aside from my family, and if anything went wrong and I lost my position in The Sinclair Agency—that would be career suicide and I don't know what I would do.”

  “Yes, careers are important, Lilah, they are. But to make your career the end all be all of your entire existence while shutting everything else out…do you think that's healthy? Do you think that's a wise decision? There's a whole lot of life out there to be lived and experienced, and if you get too obsessed with one thing you might end up missing out on a lot of it. Think about it.”