But I didn’t have to guess. I knew what kind of man Gabe Stevens was all too well. I just didn’t know he was the CEO buying my company.
Bidding for Prince Charming Inc., my male companion company had started strong, so strong I wasn’t able to sleep for about a week. Then, at the last minute, an offer came in at thirty percent over everyone else’s max bid. I was ecstatic. That extra thirty percent was enough money to... well, it was a lot of money that I could put to very good use. The only catch was it was an anonymous offer. Representatives refused to disclose any information on the person or company making this offer.
It was weird. But I didn’t care. I needed that money.
“I’m sorry, Isla. I tried to stop him.” My usually unshakable assistant stood just behind Mr. Tall, Dark and Angry, flushed and shaking in her Louboutins.
“I know, Margo. You go take care of Mr. Retter.”
“Are you sure?”
“Quite sure,” I said as I finally looked at the man in my office. Sandy hair with deep brown eyes and cheekbones sharp enough to slice through the air, he stepped toward me and I couldn’t help the tiny shiver that ran down my spine. He took up more space than his six-and-a-half-foot frame should, like his presence somehow filled the room, stealing all the air and leaving only his pheromones and the nagging sense that I’d eventually succumb to them.
I could interview gorgeous, built, intelligent men all day long, hell, they could flirt with me all day long and I wouldn’t break a sweat. But Gabe Stevens was another matter entirely.
I hated him. I hated the way he did business, the way he treated women, the way he took up so much goddamn space in my office. But mostly I hated how much my body didn’t hate him at all. How quickly it reacted to him, almost against my will.
“Do you have an explanation for this? I won’t have any scandals ruining this buyout.” His dark eyes burned as he scowled down at me.
I didn’t flinch, didn’t look away from his fearsome, beautiful stare. “Well, maybe if you’d shut the hell up I could explain it to you.”
2
Gabe
Six years ago, Isla Connor left her position as the head of my HR department. I’ve had six years to forget, to get over her and yet there I stood captivated as always by her sass and confidence. When I was at my worst, Isla was always her best. I promised I wouldn’t let a woman like her get away again.
“By all means,” I said with a smirk and sat down. “Please do explain why Page Six is calling Prince Charming Inc. a ‘brothel delivery service for women’.”
“First of all, might I recommend not relying so heavily on Page Six for your news,” she said, flashing me a deadly look.
I tried not to laugh. God, she was incredible.
People acted a certain way around me. They either wanted to impress me, want something from me, or wanted to marry me. Sometimes all three. It comes with the territory when you’re born into money. I’ve made billions on my own merit but that hardly matters to people wanting something you have—power. And that was exactly why Isla was so intriguing. She never gave a shit about me. Never tried to impress me, not as her boss or as a man. She never got flustered when I put on the hothead act, and on more than one occasion, she called me out on some not-so-great personality flaws.
She still wasn’t taking my bullshit and that was irresistible.
“The matter has already been dealt with,” she said, thick fan of lashes dropping to hide the unmistakable contempt in her eyes.
“Be that as it may, I need to know the situation if I’m going to continue acquiring this company, Ms. Connor.”
Her jaw clenched at my words and I sat back in my chair, waiting for her to fill me in.
I knew why she hated me and I didn’t blame her in the slightest, in fact, I was set on changing her mind.
Isla let me see exactly how she felt in those almond-shaped, sea-green eyes. But only for a moment. In seconds the simmering hatred vanished, replaced with a dull, bored look.
“One of my clients fell in love with her host, despite implementing painstaking measures to prevent such a thing. No multiple engagements with the same host, no engagements lasting longer than three hours, and absolutely no sex is permitted between my hosts and my clients. Ever.” She pursed her lips at me, putting a period on her statement while at the same time daring me to contradict her.
I let her continue.
“Despite all the safeguards, the host and client had a history, something that didn’t come up in our background check. We had unintentionally reunited two long lost loves and they had very loud, annoying sex in a very public venue. It isn’t the norm. It has never happened before and it will never happen again. In fact, that host has been let go and I’ve just hired a new one to fill his position. Prince Charming Inc. isn’t a brothel for women, Mr. Stevens. It’s a boutique where women can find a curated male companion.”
“So you’re telling me sex isn’t the goal here?”
Isla chewed on the inside of her cheek, a tick she indulged often around me.
“Of course not. This isn’t about sex or relationships or anything long-term. It’s about being treated to the ideal masculine experience, whatever that may be for each client. A dinner date, someone to help you unpack your bookcases or burn all the pictures of your ex or teach you how to pair wine—whatever the client says she wants, we deliver. But that has never and will never include sex.”
I nodded, eyes roaming over her smooth golden-brown skin and wavy hair the color of sunlit velvet. Fuck, she was beautiful. Beautiful, brilliant, and she absolutely hated me. “Very well,” I said when she caught me staring a little too long. “I assume your attorneys have all the financial documents I requested?”
“They will soon,” she said curtly.
I sighed. I didn’t know what it would take to change Isla Connor’s mind about me but I was going to find out. I wasn’t afraid of a challenge.
When she worked for me, all those years ago, I’d just been through the worst breakup of my life. I thought I’d found the one. And then I found her cheating with my best friend. Two important relationships gone in seconds and Isla was there to witness me dealing with the wreckage.
Addiction runs in my family, alcohol, pills, harder street drugs, you name it. I had to be careful how I self-medicated. Instead of drowning my pain in bourbon or drugs, I chose to bury my pain in any willing woman who happened by. And I mean any woman at any time. On more than one occasion Isla walked in on me nailing the mail room girl or the new intern or the delivery girl across my desk or up against it or on the floor.
I’m not proud of it. It was a terrible way to handle a breakup and an abysmal way to run a business. I have no idea how I didn’t lose that company altogether but I’m pretty certain it had something to do with Isla.
“Well, make sure they have the paperwork by the end of the week. If this acquisition is to move forward, I need time to go over your numbers personally.”
“You’ll have them when they’re ready, Gabe,” she said, spitting my name out like it tasted bad.
I smiled at her. Not a smirk, not a polite smile, a deadly smile laced with every bit of greedy desire churning inside.
“Was there something else?” She stared right into my eyes, hatred burning clear and hot.
“No, I think that’s all for now.”
“Great, then get the hell out of my office. And don’t come back unless you have an appointment, understood?”
“Understood,” I said, giving her one last dark smile.
I’d have her. I promised myself that years ago. I’d figure out how to change her mind about me, I’d have her and she’ll love every minute of it.
3
Isla
Out of my life for six years and I was still just as susceptible to his overt sexuality. I sat there collecting myself for a good ten minutes after he left, trying to put my head back together and slow my racing pulse.
I’m not ashamed to admit I’d had a huge crush on h
im at first. Gabe was gorgeous, powerful, well-spoken—you’d have to be dead not to be attracted to him. But then I saw how many women in the company were in an out of his office all day long—sometimes more than one at a time. These were no regular meetings either, not when the women came out disheveled and breathless. That’s when I started paying attention. Every time a woman came to me with HR complaints, I listened for hints of misconduct on Gabe’s part. If he wanted to run his company into the ground by sleeping with every female employee, that was fine by me. But he wouldn’t do it against their will. I asked probing, leading question to every woman who came in but none ever complained about Gabe. Not one. The skeevy IT guy was another issue. He had a stack of complaints so high I had to let him go the first month I worked there. But as hard as I tried none of the women Gabe had moaning, screaming “meetings” with ever had anything bad to say about it. I had to be sure. I had a duty. If those women were being coerced or paid off or their jobs were threatened, I had to find out and put a stop to it. So, I befriended one of his “regulars”. Shelly in finance was in his office three times a week and one day after work and a few too many happy hour margaritas I asked her point blank.
“What’s the deal with you and Gabe?”
The blond blushed. “You know about that?”
“Jesus, Shelly. My office is across the hall from his. I can see and hear every one that goes in or out.”
She turned an even brighter shade of red. “Oh. I didn’t know that.”
“Well, what’s going on? Are you alright? Is it consenting? He’s not holding your job over your head is he?”
Shelly’s eyes bulged as she choked on her frozen drink. “No! God no, Isla. Why would you think that?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Shell, a man in a position of power sleeping with his female employees. I mean some days it’s all day long with three or four different women.” Shelly pulled her lip between her teeth, hiding a smile. “What? What aren’t you telling me?”
“He doesn’t need to coerce us into sleeping with him, Isla. We come back cause he so fucking good at it.”
That hit me in a weird place. I expected Shell to confide in me all his atrocities. I expected burning righteous indignation fueling my plan to take him down. Instead, I felt a strange mixture of disgust and dare I say, jealousy? I didn’t want to be counted among his “conquests”, not in the least but that didn’t keep my ego from being offended that I wasn’t. I brought up heaps of “ugly duckling” insecurities I thought I’d buried long, long ago and I hated feeling that way. I vowed right then and there to get out as soon as I could.
It wasn’t easy, listening to the countless women he pleased all the while wondering what the hell was wrong with me. I’d never agree to it but not even being asked was akin to getting picked last in gym class. It took longer than I’d hoped to get out of there, mostly because I needed that paycheck. Gabe Stevens paid me twice what everyone else I’d interviewed with offered and I needed that extra money. Taking care of my big brother was a financial burden that weighted every decision I made. I couldn’t just leave the company and I couldn’t afford to take a job that paid less. I was stuck there for much longer than I wanted, but it was only because I had to do right by Charlie.
“Margo,” I yelled through the door to my assistant. Not something I usually did but Gabe had me feeling lopsided.
“Yes?” My always fashionable ginger assistant peeked her head in the door.
“Find out everything you can on Gabe Stevens. Business practices, recent acquisitions, personal info, everything.”
“Of course. Am I looking for something specific?”
I shook my head. “No. I want just want to know my enemy.”
There was no way I was going into this blind. I needed to know everything I could about Gabe Stevens in order to make an informed decision. I needed this buyout. Selling Prince Charming Inc. and setting a portion of the profits in a trust for Charlie’s care had always been the goal. I made this company for the sole purpose of selling it for profit. So when an offer came in at thirty percent higher than all the others, I knew I had to act.
But I wouldn’t sell to Gabe if there was even a trace of the womanizing ways he’d been so fond of in the past.
Thirty percent more meant the I never had to worry about Charlie’s care ever again.
Giving it up was the last thing I wanted. But I would if I had to.
Charlie was two years older than me. He’d been my protector and best friend right up until the accident. Anytime a kid made fun of me which happened nearly every day, Charlie inevitably found out and made sure the kid never did it again. I was an easy target. Huge glasses and braces and a little weird because no one would play with me, school was really hard for me but Charlie was always there to make me feel better.
The part that every “ugly duckling to bombshell” movie gets wrong is that you bring a lot of baggage with you. In high school, I was finally old enough to wear contacts and the braces came off but I was still really weird and kind of angry. And, I didn’t know how to react to all the new male attention except with snobbery. The way I saw it, if they didn’t like me with glasses then they shouldn’t like me without. I was so used to people making fun of me, I had no barometer for when they weren’t.
It was a terrible time but Charlie was always there for me. He was an expert at cheering me up, at saying the exact thing I needed to hear to feel better, and at kicking ass when dickhead boys didn’t get the hint. I probably wouldn’t have made it through high school if it weren’t for Charlie.
Then, coming home from university one weekend, Charlie hit a patch of ice and flipped his motorcycle end over end. The doctors said he’d never wake up, and if by some miracle he did, he’d be in a permanent vegetative state. The doctors pushed my heartbroken parents toward taking him off life support but they wanted to give him time. Which was a good thing because I was angry, hurting and so devastated, I couldn’t even be in the room with him.
For three months I didn’t visit. Nothing my mom and dad said would make me see my brother that way. I couldn’t do it. Then, on a particularly hard day, I decided I really needed my brother, no matter what shape he was in.
The tubes and wires, the constant beeping and low hum of machines were both exactly like I’d seen in the movies and completely different because the person in that bed wasn’t some character I’d grown to love during the course of a well-crafted plot, it was someone I loved with everything in me.
I don’t know how long I cried over him but at some point, I got my act together.
I took his hand and talked to him like I always had.
It all came tumbling out. “That shithead Derek is at it again. He keeps asking me out and I keep ignoring him but he just won’t leave it alone. And Mr. Masters just assigned a huge research paper that I have no interest in doing but I have to or I’ll fail English and I kind of need that one to graduate. Mom and dad are always sad but they don’t take it out on each other which is pretty great. I think this has actually brought them closer, you overachiever. How are you even good at this, Charlie? Even here you’re still affecting people for the better.” I sighed and squeezed his hand. “I miss you so much and it’s no fun here without you.”
And then a miracle happened.
He squeezed it back.
Charlie opened his eyes and with a weak, scratchy voice he slurred, “It’s no fun without you either, Lala.”
I screamed, then I bawled all over the place. The doctors came, tried to shoo me away but I told them there was no way I was leaving my brother. They took him off to get scans and tests and I was right there the whole time as they looked at his brain on monitors, mumbling and pointing to different things on the screen that just looked like colored blobs to me. I heard the word “deficit” more times than I could count and when my parents finally got there, the doctor said he’d need lifelong care.
But I didn’t care. I had my brother back.
Our parents died a few years
later in a car crash and the little money they left me went right to Charlie’s care. I knew then, at twenty-two that I had to do right by him. I took the highest paying job I could find in my field and that’s how I came to know Gabe Stevens.
I made enough at that first job to take care of Charlie for the next few years and Prince Charming Inc. was profitable enough from the start to get me a few more years but Charlie would need care for the rest of his life. The thought of him not having the best care or worse—if I died suddenly and hadn’t yet earned enough to continue his care—kept me up at night. I wouldn’t have my brother in a state facility. Never. Not happening.
I needed the payout. I wanted that extra thirty percent. But I had to make sure I could live with myself if I took it.
I spent the rest of the day going over the spreadsheets or trying to at least. Every time I started making progress my mind kept wandering back to Gabe Stevens and the ridiculous way my body still reacted to him. Gabe was a double-fudge sundae, tempting and delicious but bad for me and my self-discipline.
I didn’t eat garbage and I wouldn’t bang garbage people, even if the very sight of them made me hot.
As I walked in the office the next day, Margo hopped out of her chair to meet me. “Isla you’ll never guess what I found out about Mr. Stevens.”
I bet I could. How about a trail of baby mamas and jilted women who hadn’t known what they were getting into. Or a handful of failed businesses and bankruptcies because he couldn’t keep it in his pants in the office. Or maybe...
“He bought Red Yellow from Belle three months ago.”
My stomach dropped. If he thought he could...“Get him on the phone.”
I paced the length of my office as Margo rang him. He wasn’t going to be happy. But I could handle angry and hostile Gabe.
“Isla, glad you called. Listen I was hoping to make up for yester—”
Seduction in a Suit: An Office Romance Collection Page 79
