Billionaire's Fake Fiancé (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (Billionaires - Book #10)

by Claire Adams

  “He's got enough,” I replied with a laugh and a blush. “But most importantly, he knows how to use it. And I mean, he really knows how to use it.”

  “I can't believe you! You strumpet,” she teased.

  I suddenly couldn't believe I was being so candid about the whole thing. And speaking about it almost as if it was an achievement, rather than what it was—a mistake.

  Or had it been a mistake?

  I wasn't so sure whether it had been or not. Which was precisely why I had needed to talk it out with Meg, although she wasn't being overly very helpful at the moment.

  “All right, all right, enough discussing endowments. I've got a real problem here, Meg, and I need to talk about it.”

  “Okay, Lilipop. Sorry, it's just not that often my best friend sleeps with a friggin' billionaire, you know. Still, let's forget the novelty aspect and talk about how it's affecting you because it's obviously getting to you in a major way. Am I right?”

  “That you are. I mean, I explained the situation before. He’s my boss. You know how I feel about this.”

  “I know you said you weren't sure about how to proceed. And that you were concerned getting involved with this guy would have implications on your career, and that's why you were having doubts about getting involved with him. So what changed?”

  “Nothing. At least, not on the surface. After that time we kissed, I did make an effort to put a bit of space between us. And it seemed to work, initially at least. But after a while, looking back, we just started getting closer and closer without consciously trying to do so. We ended up working a lot of late nights together, and it’s so effortless to be myself around him . . . We couldn't help but talk and joke. And, it's been so, so easy to talk to him. It's like we've been friends for years and we’re on the same wavelength, you know?”

  “Yeah, I get it. It's easy enough to fire small talk back and forth with a guy, but to find one that you can really have a proper, in-depth conversation with. Well, that’s hard.”

  “Exactly, right? Guys you can talk to easily with aren't exactly a dime a dozen. In fact, these days, they're pretty darn rare.”

  “I can see how, subconsciously, you'd be falling for him, Lilah. I mean, any woman in your shoes—especially if he's making it obvious that he's got feelings for you—it would be damned hard not to reciprocate those feelings.”

  “Yes, and then you throw a little alcohol into the mix . . . Maybe a lot of alcohol . . .”

  A knowing glint entered her eyes. “Ah, well now it all makes sense. The hangover, the talk now. You guys slept together last night, didn't you?”

  “Yep.”

  “I figured it had happened recently, just wouldn’t have initially banked on a few hours ago kind of recently.”

  “Yeah.”

  “All right. So, we're dealing with a very immediate situation. Has he called or messaged you since last night?”

  “Nope. He left before I woke up.”

  Meg sipped on her coffee and pondered this for a moment.

  “Well, I don't mean to be a drag, but generally that's not the best sign.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Uh yeah, ya think?”

  I paused, immediately regretting my tone.

  “Sorry, Meg, I didn't mean to be bitchy. I'm just, you know, in a bit of a state right now.”

  “I understand totally, sweetie. There's nothing to be ashamed of or sorry for. I'm just here to support you, and don't worry, I can handle a bit of bitchy! We’ve been friends for a while, remember?” she shot me a knowing grin.

  I laughed, relieved at the brief levity. Still, there were a lot of emotions that still needed to be dealt with.

  “Have you tried calling him?” Meg asked.

  “No.”

  “Good. Don't. I think that you should just wait it out, see if he calls you.”

  “Yeah, I guess that's the most sensible course of action to take.”

  “What's happened has happened, Lilah, and there's nothing you can do to change it. The only things you need to be thinking about now are how will you proceed from here? And, are you going to let this affect me at work?”

  I sipped on my coffee while thinking on these two questions. Eventually, I answered.

  “I'm not sure how I'm going to proceed long term,” I replied, “but short term, I think that I'm going to try to keep my distance at work. I'll just have to be more determined and focused about it.”

  “What if he calls you, like, this afternoon or this evening?”

  “I won't answer.”

  “And, what if he doesn't call you?”

  “It'll just strengthen my resolve even more. There's no way I'm going to let myself get emotionally distraught about this. No. Way.”

  “You say that now—”

  “And, I mean it.” I insisted.

  “Well, if you do start to feel like a bit of a wreck, I'm just saying, if you do—”

  “I'll call you. Don't worry, Meg. I know who's in my corner.”

  “Always in your corner, Lilipop, always. So, do you wanna take a stroll and go feed the ducks in the pond? And by feed the ducks, I mean watch the hot guys jogging in the park. It's a beautiful day, and it'll get your mind off things—at least temporarily.”

  “Yeah,” I said, somewhat absentmindedly. “Take my mind off things. Because hot guys will make me not think of the hot guy.” I smiled.

  “You’ll thank me later,” Meg said as she dropped some cash on the table and grabbed my hand to pull me out of the chair. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Asher

  I had tried calling Lilah from Costa Rica using the satellite phone the day we’d arrived, but she hadn't picked up. I figured she'd probably felt confused as to why a number from Costa Rica was trying to call her, but it had been the only way I could get hold of her, or anyone else for that matter, since the floods had taken out the area's internet and phone reception.

  So, I did the best I could and left her a message to at least explain where I was going to be for a few days. I had even tried to call her again when we headed back on Tuesday and I was back in the land of the living—living communications, that is. But, again, no answer. I left her a message to call me back, but that didn’t happen, either.

  I tried to tell myself that she probably just didn’t listen to the message on her cell phone because she didn’t recognize the number. And, it was so late Tuesday night when the plane landed that I wasn’t about to be inconsiderate and call at that hour.

  So, when I finally got back to the office on Wednesday, she and I hadn't actually communicated since we'd gotten drunk and slept together.

  The whole time I'd been in Costa Rica, I hadn't been able to keep her off my mind. I wondered, however, if she'd been thinking the same about me. I headed into my office without seeing her in the hallway. I contemplated going to find her, but was informed that she would be in a meeting with two of the Harry Winston executives for most of the morning. So, since there were so many emails piled up from the days I'd been away, I got down to business and started getting on top of everything I'd missed out on—all while thoughts of Lilah ran through my head.

  Eventually, I had replied to everything that needed replying to and took care of all the tasks that required immediate action. I looked at the clock to see it was just in time for lunch. I headed out into the hall and over to Lilah's office and knocked on the door.

  Nobody answered.

  “Lilah?” I called through the closed door. There was still no response.

  I gently pushed open the door and found the office was empty. The sight immediately sent a wave of disappointment rushing through me. All morning, I'd been hoping we would have the chance to talk about what had happened over lunch. But at the moment, I was beginning to get the feeling that maybe she was avoiding me, ducking out for lunch five minutes early.

  I could only hope I was wrong, but that gut feeling was twisting inside me and I felt like hitting my head against a wall. I forced
myself not to text her. The last thing I wanted was to come across as pushy.

  I went back out into the hallway and trudged out on my own. We'd run into each other eventually, but I hated letting something like this drag out. I’ve always been a big fan of trying to keep things as simple as possible, in most areas of my life at least. I headed out of the building and onto the street, lost in my thoughts. I was intending to go to my now usual lunch spot at the café around the corner but, at the last minute, I caught a whiff of pizza lingering in the air and I changed my mind.

  I headed across the street and around the block to a great little pizza joint that I didn't go to often enough. Mainly because pizza was definitely a cheat food and not technically allowed in my strict diet and exercise regimen. Still, after three days of intense physical labor, I figured I could get away with a cheat meal—or three.

  Just as I stepped into the pizza joint, I saw Lilah there, by herself, sitting at a table and eating a slice of pizza. She looked up at me and a strange look flashed across her face. She smiled, though, and the look was quickly gone. Still, something in her smile seemed kind of off.

  I sat down across from her.

  “Hey,” I said with a wink. “Fancy running into you here.”

  “Yeah. Just thought I'd try somewhere different,” she said, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin.

  She wasn't making eye contact for more than a split second. That gut feeling was jabbing at my stomach. I didn't like where this was going.

  “So, you were in Costa Rica the past few days?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Things got a little crazy down there. It was pretty tough work. I've got a wildlife sanctuary slash ecotourism place down there, and—”

  “I heard all about it around the office,” she interrupted.

  “Oh. There was no cell reception or internet down there, just satellite phones for communication. I did try to call, but—”

  “Yeah, I know,” she cut me off again. Her tone wasn’t harsh, but there was something lurking beneath it that had me on high alert.

  She looked up at me and looked intently into my eyes. When she began to speak her voice was soft, bordering on sad.

  “Look, Asher, I know you want to talk about what happened on Friday night. But please, just give me a chance to say what I need to say and respect my wishes on this,” her eyes pleaded with me as she paused. I nodded and let her continue.

  “What happened Friday night happened because we were drunk, because we were tired and not ourselves after a week of extremely hard work. It was just a way to release all the tension and stress that had been building up. I'm not going to lie and say that it wasn’t incredible because it was. But that said, I have to tell you that . . . Well, I think it was a mistake. A mistake that we probably shouldn't repeat.

  “The thing is, you're already at the top, Asher. But please try to put yourself in my shoes. I'm not at the top and I want to be there, but I have a long way to go. I want to get there entirely on my own merit. It’s something I need to achieve solely because of my own talent, not because I'm sleeping with someone who can pull strings and get me there,” she paused and looked at me with pleading in her eyes. “Please tell me you understand.”

  “I understand,” I said slowly, though I was still trying to process everything she had just told me.

  “Are you sure? Because the look on your face tells me even you’re not so sure that you do.”

  She stood abruptly, not waiting for my reply. “I'm done with lunch,” she half-whispered. “See you back at the office.”

  And with that, she hurried out of the restaurant and was gone.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Lilah

  It felt like all of my nerve-endings were on fire as I rushed out of the pizzeria. Flushes of heat trickled across my skin, and all I wanted to do was to sprint away from there was fast as I could.

  But I didn't.

  I maintained my composure, keeping up my facade cool, calm, and collected. I strode purposefully down the street as if I was a woman in complete control, instead of the emotional wreck who was only barely clinging to the thinnest vestiges of sanity.

  All right maybe barely clinging to sanity was pushing it a bit but, it wasn't that far off the mark. I was feeling rather emotionally drained after everything that had happened. And, seeing Asher for the first time since what had happened between us on Friday night, after he hadn't called the whole weekend, had left me feeling like a bit of a wreck by the time Monday morning, and had rolled around.

  I'd felt as if he'd achieved his goal—that he'd conquered his prize and everything that had seemed so real between us had actually been a lie. It was bad enough I’d thought it was a mistake, but to think I was just being played was an entirely different thing.

  Needless to say, I'd been in quite the mood on Monday morning and had almost been ready to hand in my notice and walk out of there and never see him again. But then, I'd found out about the Costa Rican situation and that he'd had to rush there on short notice to save the wildlife sanctuary. His personal assistant had said there'd been no way for him to have gotten hold of anyone in the States.

  Except that he had.

  He’d called me. Those strange, foreign numbers that had been calling my phone all weekend had been him and I'd simply thought that they were scammers or wrong numbers.

  That led to all sorts of new, twisted feelings of confusion. Everything I'd assumed over the weekend about him and his motivations had been false—and that left me feeling like a fool. He had actually tried to get ahold of me, many times. And I'd been the jerk refusing to pick up the phone.

  Still, there was the whole career aspect to consider, and my career remained my priority. It wasn't as if anything I'd just said to him in the pizza parlor wasn’t the truth. I did want to get to the top on my own. I did want to forge a successful career entirely on my own merit. I wasn't sure if I would be able to achieve that if he and I became romantically involved.

  But looking into his eyes—just that brief connection—had crumbled so much of my resolve and brought all of those intense feelings I’d experienced on Friday night right back into the forefront. That made this whole situation even more difficult to deal with.

  Still, I'd made my choice, as tough as it had been to make— and I fully intended to stick with it. I would do my best to keep a respectful distance from him, and I'd decided that there was no way we could spend any more time together outside of work hours. I wasn't about to put myself—or him—in the path of temptation ever again. I would keep things cool and professional at work, as well. It was the only way I would be able to regain the crystal-clear focus I’d once had on my work. It was the only way to haul myself out of this emotional entanglement.

  My mind was made up—despite the emotions, the connection, or the doubts—and that was that.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Asher

  I sat at the table alone, reeling from the shock of what Lilah had just said to me. All this time I'd had her on my mind and, after opening up to her about my family secrets and after Friday night together, was hoping . . .

  But hoping for what? Hell, I didn’t even know what I’d been hoping for. A relationship? Was I even capable of that? I'd never been able to commit before. The world had always been my oyster, and I'd never had a problem with picking—or picking up—women before. It seemed to come with the territory when you're a masculine, attractive man who also happens to be a billionaire and a prodigy in the field of business, well, you can't help attracting women. I don't state that to boast or anything. I'm merely stating a fact. Even if I weren’t attractive, the money would be.

  But the fact is that when you're spoiled for choice or an object of fantasy and desire, your perception of things can get warped and twisted. I'd dated my fair share of physically beautiful women—models, dancers, pop divas, actresses. It hadn't taken much effort on my part because they'd always wanted me. That, in a way, is possibly what bored me of them pretty quickly. I'd never
found a woman who challenged me. Who didn't go after me from the moment she knew I had even the slightest interest in her. Who treated me like just any other guy, rather than a billionaire.

  Well . . . not until now. Not until Lilah.

  So what the hell was going on here? Why was one woman causing me all this confusion and, as much as I hate to say it, heartache? Was it simply the fact that she was making herself out to be unattainable, and that I simply didn't believe there was anything in this world that I couldn't have?

  Or was there something more? I’d considered that for the last four days, I had no idea she was going to tell me it was a mistake and walk away. And for those four days, she was all I could think about, even in the midst of saving a wildlife refuge.

  So, what did that mean? It meant that my feelings for Lilah weren’t based solely on her being a challenge. It meant this was unfamiliar territory for me. It meant more. One word kept sneaking back into my head—a word I didn’t want to consider: love.

  The word scared me because I couldn't say for sure if I even believed in it. I'd had many things growing up, many things that other kids only dreamed of. I'd been a billionaire by the age of 20, but I'd never had love. I'd only had flings, affairs, and casual encounters—things that money, power, and prestige could buy.

  I couldn't buy love though, that had turned out to be true.

  So there I was, sitting in a pizza parlor with a slice of pizza dangling from my hand that I hadn’t even taken a bite of. I could have been sitting there for ten seconds or maybe ten minutes. Time seemed to have ceased its march leaving me spinning in the strange, surreal moment.

  I put the pizza down on my plate and called a waiter over.

  “Hey, buddy,” I said to the teenager, “do you think I could get this wrapped up, to go? I'm not really in the mood for it right now.”

  “Uh, sure,” he said as he took the plate away.

  He came back a few minutes later with the pizza slice packed neatly into a box. I smiled, left him a big tip, and then walked back to the office, wondering if I was in a trance. I paused as I got to the Sinclair Building and looked up at it, rising majestically up into the sky.