Baby By The Billionaire - A Standalone Alpha Billionaire Secret Baby Romance (New York City Billionaires - Book #3)

by Alexa Davis

  “Shall I take you to see your office?”

  As we walked through the building, Matthew introduced me to a couple of people whose names I forgot almost immediately. There was a receptionist who was hurrying out of the door, a harassed-looking cleaner, and the nurse. Her I didn’t forget, and I was sure that I never would. Her name was Terri, and she gave me a look that cut deep into my core.

  As Matthew introduced us, she did that thing that a lot of women do where they are so overly nice that it’s fake. Men never picked up on it, but women always knew it was there – and it was there, all right.

  She swished her long, blonde hair over her shoulder, giving me a small glimpse of the impressive cleavage under her scrubs, clearly wanting me to feel intimidated. Then, as she shook my hand, she clung on far too tightly, and she shot me a threatening look. I felt like she was trying to tell me that Matthew belonged to her and that by even being near him, I was stepping on her territory.

  I didn’t know how to feel about that. Did that mean she’d been with him? Was she an ex-girlfriend and I was about to step into some crazy office politics that I didn’t understand? And did she know about us? About our past, and about what happened the other day? If so, things were about to become incredibly awkward.

  “So, this is your office,” Matthew said proudly, showing me a room that clearly used to be a patient room. It looked exactly like the room I went into with my mom, which had me questioning his motives even further. He’d clearly created the role just for me, that much was obvious now, but why? What did he want out of it?

  “Erm, thanks, that’s great,” I smiled thinly at him. “Really good. I will bring over my own resources in the morning.”

  “Well, why don't you bring them tonight?” he asked, sounding innocent enough. “I have already lined up a couple of patients for you in the morning, so it might be good if you’re organized for that.” He already had patients for me? Maybe this job wasn't as fake as I’d first assumed. “Here is a key for you.”

  “I will...thank you,” I was totally bewildered by his kindness, but happy, too. This had to be a good sign that maybe things would be okay, after all.

  *****

  I huffed and puffed as I dragged my endless textbooks in, knowing I would be grateful to have them to hand when I saw people the next morning. I had no idea who I’d be dealing with, what their ability levels would be like, and what underlying issues might be there, so having as much information available as possible was exactly what I needed.

  As soon as my final box of stuff was brought in with me, I took a second to have a glance about my new office. Okay, so it had nothing on my last one, and I knew it never would, but it was something... And right now, that was the absolute best that I could hope for.

  There was a small smile playing on my lips as I pulled out the family picture I always had on my desk, wherever I worked. It showed me at about eight, sitting and laughing on my father’s lap, while his arm was tossed casually around my mother’s shoulders. We all looked so happy in it – that was the thing that I liked best. It was such a nothing moment, but considering what had come later, it was hugely important.

  I tried to imagine what dad would think of Matthew; what he would say about what had happened? Would he tell me that I was equally wrong in that argument, right at the end, and that I should have swallowed my pride and sorted things out? Or would he have told me that I was right to stand my ground when Matthew was so clearly being a douche? What would he think about him now? Would he be telling me to stay away, considering he missed his funeral, or would he be telling me to put that one mistake to bed?

  There hadn’t been a day gone by that I hadn’t missed my dad and wished he was around to give me some advice, but I had to admit that this day was the worst. I really needed him to tell me what to do because I had no idea for myself. I felt like every time I made a decision for myself, I instantly doubted it, then discovered that it was the wrong one.

  The first example of that was sleeping with Matthew; the second being running away. I just didn’t want this job to be another.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Matthew

  Tuesday

  I couldn't help myself; I was over the moon to have Ashlee around the office. Sure, things were a little stilted and awkward, and it was very clear that there were a lot of unsaid things flowing between us, but I felt that as time passed and we were forced to continue being around one another, that would simply go away.

  I hoped as much, at any rate.

  As soon as I saw that Ashlee had applied for the speech therapist position, I started phoning around, asking parents if they would like a free appointment to get them going, if they felt like their child needed any extra help. I knew it was a risk, wasting a paid staff member’s time on something that wouldn’t be earning the practice any money, but I had to introduce her services to the public somehow.

  Plus, I wanted her to feel needed. I didn’t want her to think that I’d created the position just for her, however true that was. I was convinced that Ashlee’s charm and professionalism would have them back before long, anyway. I knew she would end up bringing in money, so I wasn't totally worried.

  So far, it seemed to be going great. As soon as Ms. Jones came out with her four-year-old boy with a speech impediment, Timmy, I pulled her to one side and asked if she would consider coming to Ashlee again and paying a fee for the services, and she responded very enthusiastically.

  She told me Ashlee was professional, caring, and very considerate, tailoring a course of exercises just for her boy. I was proud to hear that, excited to know that this might be a sustainable thing, so on a whim I headed out at lunch time to buy everyone food, something that I’d never done before.

  I called the staff into the canteen, but only Terri and Ashlee came. The receptionist preferred to take her break alone anyway, chain smoking (a habit she knew I didn’t approve of) and speaking to her boyfriend on the phone, so I left her sandwich on her desk instead.

  “So,” I asked, trying to keep the grin on my face despite the obvious tension in the room between Ashlee and Terri. “How is the new job treating you, Ashlee?”

  “Really well, actually,” she replied, her face shining with happiness. “The kids I’ve seen so far have been great, really keen to do the exercises I’ve given them.

  “In New York, I often had to deal with children who didn’t have any problems with their speech, but spoke in a way that their rich, neglectful parents didn’t consider ‘appropriate.’ That was honestly a nightmare. There wasn't anything that I could do with them, but I had to keep persevering regardless because they were earning the firm money.”

  I couldn't picture Ashlee in New York, however hard I tried, and over the last few years, I’d attempted to do so many, many times. The city just seemed like a fast-paced, impersonal environment, and she was just the opposite of that. But she must have managed to make it work somehow; after all, she was there for ten years. I just couldn't imagine it suiting her.

  “Yeah, well this isn’t New York,” I heard Terri reply bitchily. “This is a small-ass town with very little need for specialty treatments, so I wouldn’t get too used to your position here.”

  I watched on in shock as she stood up, slammed the sandwich onto the table, and stormed out. I’d never seen Terri act like that before, and it was completely turning me away from her. I knew that she was going to be pissed when I cooled things off with her, but to speak to an innocent party in such an uncouth way was horrible to see. Embarrassing, too. I hoped that it wouldn’t put Ashlee off from working with me. I didn’t want to let her go now that I’d finally managed to win her back around somewhat.

  “Wow,” I gasped in a stunned manner. “That was something else.”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” she brushed it off quickly. “She doesn’t bother me, at all.”

  I sighed audibly with relief, glad she was taking it so well, before turning the subject back to the matter at hand: her and how well she was
doing at her job. I didn’t want to focus on Terri’s outburst. It could raise far too many questions that I didn’t really want to answer.

  “Well, the kids seem to love you a lot, and their parents think that you’re the best thing in the world,” I grinned happily at her, glad to have some real, honest praise to give her.

  I couldn't help feeling proud at all that she’d achieved. At one of the most difficult times in her life, when she’d just lost her father and everything she held dear, she went off to college, right across the country, and got the grades she needed to make a life for herself there. She could have quite easily fallen apart, that would have been completely understandable, but she didn’t. She held strong, and she got through it, carving out a very decent existence for herself. I had to admire that, even if it did take her away from me.

  “Thank you,” she replied. As she sent me a smile, I started to get the impression she might just be warming up to me all over again. Maybe once she got to know me again, she would see I wasn't all bad. Yes, I’d done some stupid things and made some bad choices, but deep down, I meant well, and I was inherently a good person. “And thanks for lunch, too.”

  Almost immediately, I wanted to invite her over for dinner, to spend the night with me, but I forced myself to stop because I knew that it would be a terrible idea. She wasn't ready for that again, and neither was I. To be able to even slightly make this work, we needed to take things a little slower, to work out what we meant to one another, before we dove in once more. Maybe we would figure out that all we could be was friends; maybe we couldn't even manage that. Of course, I wanted to drag her back into my bed and do all kinds of crazy things, but I couldn't. Not yet.

  On top of the massive complications between us, there was still the huge issue that I hadn’t decided what to do about the money yet, and I knew for a fact that there were no major life changes I could facilitate until I had. Luckily, since no one knew, I could make that choice by myself, but the information had already been dropped that the winner lived in Florence, so there was a hushed tension hanging over the town, one where people weren’t quite sure where they stood.

  My mind kept flickering with indecision, bolting between the choices, and until I was certain, that was how it would stay.

  “Anyway,” she smiled at me, standing up. “I have to get back to work, but I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

  With that, she flounced from the room, taking my heart with her. A sadness crept through my body as I tried to accept just how difficult this was going to be for me, but by the time I got back to my own office, that had subsided slightly. I knew why I’d hired Ashlee, I knew the reasons why I was doing it; everything else was simply outside noise that I needed to do my best to ignore.

  I pushed the door open, trying to get myself back into the mindset of work, but when I saw Terri standing there with her back to me, my heart sunk all over again. Terri had her own work to be getting on with, so why the hell couldn't she just do that? Why did she always have to be bothering me? What more could I say to her to make her understand? It wasn't like I hadn’t told her from the start that we were only hooking up.

  “Terri, I have a lot to do,” I tried to tell her wearily, but almost the second those words left my lips, she spun around to face me with an ecstatic expression on her face. At first, I didn’t understand it, considering her attitude the last time I’d seen her, only a short while before, but then my eyes drifted down to the two items she was clutching tightly between her fingers...

  My wallet and the lottery ticket. Fuck! This was about to get messy.

  “Oh my God,” she squealed. “Why didn’t you tell me? And why are you so worried about work when you have a billion dollars coming your way soon?” She moved closer to me, wrapping her arms around my neck, and in my shocked state, I didn’t immediately throw her off. “This is going to be amazing; we can go on holiday, somewhere hot and sunny... Oh, we can swim with the dolphins! Then we can get a house together, start our lives. Can you imagine the sort of property we’ll be able to buy with this kind of money?”

  Would this be what my life was like if I had the money? A never-ending nightmare of needy wannabes? Would I face a whole range of people creeping out of the woodwork, determined to get a piece of what I now had? I didn’t like that prospect at all. I wasn't sure how I would cope with the limelight, that wasn't me at all.

  “Terri,” I said lightly, pulling her off me. “You and I will be doing nothing with the money.” I snatched the items from her before moving out of her reach. “Because there is no you and I, and there never has been.”

  “But...” she started, looking dumbfounded, but I had no intention of letting her get a word in edgeways. I wasn't in the mood for one of her crazy rants right now.

  “Yes, we’ve hooked up a few times, but that’s all it’s ever been. I made that very clear to you from the start and you said you understood.” I needed to be firm now, to make her see once and for all. There couldn't be any more beating around the bush. “I’m sorry if that upsets you now, but nothing’s changed just because you’ve seen some lottery ticket whilst snooping through my wallet.” I was pissed off about that, too, but I was choosing to pick my battles. “So, I think that you should get the hell out of my office, don’t you?”

  “This is because of Ashlee, isn’t it?” Nastiness dripped off her tongue. “I knew she was going to be trouble for us the second I laid eyes on her damn face.”

  “She was never going to be trouble for us, because there is no us,” I reiterated firmly. “Now, please will you just go?”

  She shot me one more nasty look, before racing from the room, slamming my door loudly in the process. How the hell was I going to keep this a secret now?

  Admittedly, I didn’t know much about Terri, apart from the way that she liked to be screwed, but I did know that a woman scorned wasn't something that you wanted – especially not if you had a secret this big to hide. Either way, it was likely to get out now; I just needed to decide what I was going to do with it. There were so many pros and cons that it was incredibly difficult to know what was best.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ashlee

  Wednesday

  It felt good to start settling into my brand-new role. In a weird way, I was already starting to feel like this was a job I’d been working in for a very long time, and that I’d never worked in any other office at all. All thoughts of my old life, the one that I’d been living in New York for a decade, simply fell away. This felt far more real to me than any of that ever had. Dan, Eileen, and the rest of the gang felt like invisible friends I’d had many moons ago.

  It was strange to think that it had only been a few days.

  I swung the door open quickly, clicking my heels along the floor. My mind was already zoned in on work, on everything that lay out in front of me, and all the new plans I’d been creating for patients in my mind. It seemed like word had spread about my services, and I was quickly becoming inundated with new people. Just the way I liked it.

  “Hi,” a bitchy voice rang out, causing my head to snap up in shock. Of course, I knew that Terri was going to be there; she did work there, after all, but I didn’t expect her to be in first. As I glanced around, though, it quickly became clear that Matthew was nowhere to be found. “How’s it going?”

  “Erm...fine?” I replied anxiously, remembering how well our last conversation had gone. There was clearly something about me she didn’t like; she wasn't shy about letting me know that. “How are you?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m good,” she replied, with a sneer to her tone. My heart started to race a little, expecting the absolute worst, and I was right to be fearful. That was about to become very clear with the next words that fell past her lips. “I’ve heard about you and Matthew.”

  An icy chill ran through me, and I instantly felt my face heat up. How the hell had she heard anything? Did Matthew tell her? What the fuck was that all about? How embarrassing! “And I think that there are some things a
bout him that you should know.”

  Really? I’d known Matthew for most of my life. Okay, so we hadn’t exactly been close for the past few years, but this crazy chick thought that she could tell me something about him? I almost exploded, unleashing a whole bunch of pent-up aggression on her, before I forced myself to stop. My brain stepped in and reminded me that the smart thing to do would be to just give her the opportunity, just in case.

  “You do, huh?” I tried to sound uncaring as I said this, but the wobble in my voice was evident. “Go on, then.” I folded my arms across my chest in a self-protective gesture while I waited.

  “Well, first off, I think that I should tell you that he’s a massive womanizer.” I rolled my eyes at that one; how damn predictable for her to throw that one out there. Maybe it was true, maybe it wasn't; it certainly didn’t matter to me. I highly doubted that he would wreck our lifetime bond by pulling any of that shit on me. “Which I wish someone had told me before I started hooking up with him.”

  I opened and closed my mouth a few times, unsure of what I should say back to that. It was clear from the pain radiating from her eyes that there was at least some element of truth to that, which tied me all up in knots. Maybe he had been acting like the heartless bastard in this case. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, at all.

  “I mean, we’ve been screwing around with one another for a very long time now,” she shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant about it. “I always assumed that we would eventually become something more serious. I thought that we were heading that way.”

  God, was I about to hear some crazy break up story? Something to reveal her as the twisted, bitter bitch she might be? I took a step back, not wanting to deal with that right then. I had no idea what I would even say.