Arranged: A Clean Billionaire Romance (Mixing Love and Business)

by Trisha Grace

  “Thank you, Olivia. I’m sorry you had to stay late tonight because of us, and I’m sure we’ve caused some trouble for you in arranging this.”

  “It’s my pleasure.”

  Hayley thanked Olivia again, while Julian got back on his feet. His free hand hooked onto her hip, and they slowly made their way back to the fundraiser.

  Again, heads turned and eyebrows rose when they returned to their table.

  “Tired?” Julian asked.

  She shook her head. “You? How’s your legs?”

  He shrugged.

  They didn’t stay long. Once the lights were up again, they chatted with a few of his business associates before leaving for the car.

  She didn’t know she’d dozed off until Julian woke her up when they got home. She struggled to open her eyes. She was warm and comfortable, and she didn’t want to get up.

  “I’d carry you in, but I don’t think I’m up for that yet.”

  She smiled as Julian kissed her hair. Her eyes flew open then, and she sat up straight. “I’m sorry.” She kneaded his shoulder. “I didn’t know I’d fallen asleep on your shoulder.”

  Julian took her hand from his shoulder. “I love having you against me.”

  Hayley thanked God she wasn’t someone who blushed, but she was still flustered by his words. She pulled her hand out of his and reached for the car door.

  Julian didn’t stop her. He got out of the car and walked himself around to her.

  “Do you want the wheelchair?” she asked and glanced over at Desmond, who immediately headed to open the trunk.

  Julian shook his head and put his hand on her hip. “I can’t do this if I’m in the wheelchair.”

  She narrowed her eyes, but otherwise said nothing. She couldn’t deny that she enjoyed having his arm around her, having him next to her.

  “Thanks again for tonight. I had fun,” she said when they were in the elevator. It felt weird thanking Julian for a date. It felt weird that it was actually like a date, except she wasn’t agonizing over whether to kiss him goodnight. Her thoughts flitted back to the moment they had in the small makeshift theater room.

  “So if I were to ask, would you go on another date with me?” he asked with a smile, but she could hear the uncertainty in his voice. He really wasn’t sure if she would agree to go on another date with him.

  “I would, if you asked.”

  Julian turned to her, his smile growing wider. “So this is considered a date, right?”

  She nodded slowly.

  “Then at the end of the date, there’s usually a goodnight kiss.”

  “Which happens when you walk me to the door. We’ll be going straight into the apartment from the elevator.”

  “Then let’s have our kiss here.” He stepped closer and backed her into a corner. “Tell me to stop and I will.”

  She stared up at him as his eyes searched hers. Hayley didn’t blink or say a word.

  Julian leaned closer without breaking their gaze, and it felt like both forever and a split second had passed before his lips touched hers.

  She wasn’t sure when she’d closed her eyes, but she opened them when he broke the kiss. His eyes held hers again. Tell me to stop and I will. But she didn’t want him to stop.

  Hayley’s lips parted into a smile, and Julian was kissing her almost immediately. His kiss was still soft and gentle, but he took more of her this time. His tongue took its time exploring hers, and she melted against him, forgetting the rest of the world.

  Until the world around her plunged into darkness and a sudden silence.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” In the three years that Julian had lived here, the elevator had never malfunctioned before. He was tempted to continue on with his kiss, but he didn't want Hayley stuck in here.

  He moved away from her and lifted the emergency phone to his ear.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Nicholson. We’re sending a maintenance team to fix the elevator now.”

  He hung up the phone without replying. “Help’s on the way.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “Are you claustrophobic?”

  “If I were, I wouldn’t have appreciated you crowding me.”

  Julian moved back to Hayley, once again pressing her back against the elevator wall. “So you appreciate me crowding you then.”

  “I didn't say that.”

  He bent over her neck and trailed soft kisses from her shoulder up her neck. “I like the design of your dress. It gives me space to lavish kisses on you.”

  A moan escaped her lips, and Julian grew more frantic in his kisses. Perhaps getting stuck in the elevator wasn't such a bad idea.

  He rested his hand on the elevator wall and pressed one firm kiss right where her shoulder met the nape of her neck. No. It’s a terrible idea. As much as he enjoyed the darkness, he didn't like the idea of the lights coming back on and security seeing them.

  Grasping at his rapidly fleeing sense of control, he lifted his lips from her and straightened.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked with a slight tremor in her voice.

  “Yes, except I seem to have zero discipline when it comes to you.”

  Hayley rested her forehead against his chest and yawned softly.

  His lips curled back, and he cupped his hand around the back of her head. “I’ll hurry them up.” But there was no need. The lights flickered on, and Hayley flashed a sleepy smile at him.

  “Yay.”

  The doors opened after a couple of seconds, and Julian led Hayley out.

  “Miss Hayley!” Doreen took Hayley’s clutch purse. “Are you okay? The elevator has never done that before.” She leaned forward and studied the interior of the elevator as if it had the plague. No doubt she was linking this to the voodoo curse.

  “I think God wanted to give us a few minutes of privacy.” She grinned at Doreen. “Don't worry. All is well.” She looped her hand through Julian’s. “Can I wash up first?”

  Julian nodded, but Hayley didn't move away from him. She remained next to him, and they took their time walking back to their room.

  “I’m sorry for walking so slowly.”

  She shook her head. “Never be sorry about that. I much prefer this speed to trying to catch up with your strides.”

  He swallowed a sigh. It really was a miracle that Hayley had chosen to stay with him after how he’d treated her.

  When they got back to their bedroom, Hayley leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek before sashaying into the bathroom.

  Julian loved that simple gesture. “Need help removing your dress?”

  She glanced over her shoulder with a smile, then slipped the zipper down halfway before kicking the bathroom door closed.

  Julian laughed. “I love you,” he said, more to himself, as he sat on the bed and set his walking stick aside. He could only hope she would love him back.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  CHARLENE ADJUSTED HER shades as she stood across the busy street, staring up at the apartment building where Julian and his wife were living. She had never been to his penthouse. Julian had always kept his private life private, and she thought she could change that. She thought she could be Mrs. Nicholson.

  She would be so much better for Julian. She was smart and ambitious. Anyone would love to show her off on his arm.

  She’d given up a better job offer to become Julian’s secretary because her brother promised he could make Julian fall in love with her.

  “What are you doing here?”

  She turned at her brother’s irate voice.

  “What if the reporters notice you?” Her brother grabbed her arm. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  Charlene shrugged off the rough hand. “You said your love spells would work. They didn’t.” She’d thrown herself at Julian, but Hayley Espel had walked in and ruined everything. After that, Julian became ice cold to her.

  “I told you. You’d have to have sex with him before the spell would hold.”

  “You said you
r voodoo would make Hayley Espel sick. You said you’d send spirits to hurt her, and she’d pull out of the situation and run from Julian. That didn’t happen either.” She closed her eyes. “I shouldn’t have believed you.”

  Why was she stupid enough to believe in voodoo anyway? Just because her long-lost brother told her so?

  She looked up at her brother. She couldn’t even see the resemblance. Apart from the blood that ran in their veins, there was no similarity between them. She was a college graduate. Michael Paolo hadn’t even made it to high school.

  Then again, she had been luckier than her brother. She was adopted out of the foster system, while her brother rotted in it until he escaped by becoming a runaway.

  Michael ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know why it hasn’t worked on her. My spells have always worked.”

  “Always worked,” she scoffed. Michael must have weaved one of his spells over her then, and that must have been the one that actually worked. Why else would she fall for all this voodoo talk? Why did she agree to go out and get the boa constrictor for Michael? Why had she sent the snake and the doll to Hayley?

  “I told you. It worked when—”

  “Then why didn’t you use spells to get yourself a better life or job? Why be a pathetic truck driver?” That was something she should have asked right from the start instead of getting pulled into this. “And of all the people you had to crash into, you had to crash into Julian.”

  The crash ruined everything. If that hadn’t happened, Charlene would have had more time to work on Julian and they wouldn’t be in this situation now.

  Michael had promised her the stars. All she had to do was give herself to his gods and she would have whatever she wanted.

  He lied.

  “What happened was the will of the gods.”

  “Then your stupid gods delivered him right to his wife.” Charlene had heard the shouting match between Julian and his father. She knew he didn’t want to marry Hayley Espel. But because of the accident, Julian was suddenly reliant on his wife and Charlene had to be fired.

  “Watch what you say,” Michael hissed.

  “Why? Your gods couldn’t do a single thing about Hayley Espel but they will be able to hurt me?” She scowled at him. “You and your gods can—”

  Michael grabbed her arm, his hand cutting off the blood flow. “You watch what you say, Charlene. The gods are not as forgiving at I am.”

  “I don’t need you to forgive me.” Now that the scales of disillusion had fallen from her eyes, Charlene realized what a stupid mistake she’d made.

  Last night, out of the blue, her adopted father had reached out to her and spoken with her on the phone for hours. He apologized for pulling away from her after her adopted mother’s death. He told her that no matter what happened, she could always come to him.

  Charlene had sobbed for over an hour after that phone call, and she realized what she had done. She’d made mistake after mistake. She’d dug herself a hole, and she was going to be buried in it if she didn’t make things right.

  The only way to make things right? Begging for forgiveness from Hayley Espel. She would explain that she had nothing to do with the car accident, then apologize for everything else. She would beg; she would get on her knees. She would do whatever was needed as long as Hayley Espel wouldn’t charge her for what she’d done.

  There was something else she had to set right. She turned to her brother with a glare. “Take your things and get out of my life.”

  Her brother’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean that.”

  “I mean every word of it. I don’t want to see you at my place anymore.” She’d finally found her brother less than a year ago. Actually, Michael had found her, because in truth, she hadn’t thought much about him.

  She was young when she got adopted. Her adopted parents had always been upfront about her adoption, and they always answered all her questions.

  Did her biological parents love her? Her adopted parents were sure they did.

  Then why didn’t they give up their drug habits? Why did they give her up instead? Her adopted parents admitted they didn’t have the answers.

  When Charlene asked them about her brother, her adopted parents didn’t seem to know she even had a brother. The foster system was an impossible labyrinth of red tape and inefficiencies. She wasn’t sure when her adopted parents stopped trying to reach out to Michael. She wasn’t sure when she forgot about him, but she did.

  And she should have gone on with her life without getting involved with Michael.

  But her adopted mother had died after years of struggling with cancer and her adopted father pulled away from her. Charlene needed someone to lean on. That was when Michael showed up.

  Timing.

  Hayley Espel had the right timing.

  Charlene? She laughed once without humor. “You are the curse. If it weren’t for you, I’d have a good job.” If Michael hadn’t filled her with ideas of getting close to Julian and making him fall in love with her, she wouldn’t be in today’s situation.

  “You would’ve been able to get another job if you hadn’t pulled that stupid stunt with the interview,” Michael snapped. “If you’d trusted me—”

  “I’m where I am because I trusted you!” Her raised voice caught the attention of several of the reporters across the street. She quickly turned and hurried away from the building. “Get out of my life. I don’t ever want to see you again.” She stopped and glared at him. “And make sure you take all your stupid voodoo things with you.”

  “Here, Miss Hayley.”

  Hayley laid the ivory-white table runner across the middle of the new dining table, which was exactly like the previous one.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to change the dining table?” Julian asked, his arm around her waist.

  “I like the design of this table.”

  Julian had asked Hayley to choose another dining table, but she thought the design of the previous dining table suited the penthouse. Julian, however, didn’t like how everything in the penthouse was chosen by him.

  As a compromise, she’d sent Doreen out for some decorative items.

  Hayley set the clear vase down, then put in the fresh baby’s breath. Stepping back with a grin, she turned to Julian. “Is it too much?”

  “You can paint the apartment pink if you want.”

  “I might just do that.”

  He leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Go ahead.” He pulled out the chair for Hayley, then settled into his at the head of the table. “Is everything okay?” he asked when Hayley checked her phone again.

  “You said you invited Leanne to the event last night, right? Did she reply to your text?”

  He shook his head.

  “She hasn’t texted me back either.”

  “Maybe she’s busy.”

  “No. Leanne always has her phone with her. She replies to all her texts immediately, unless she’s ignoring you on purpose.” Was Leanne angry with her for not serving the annulment papers on Julian? They’d talked about it. Though Leanne didn’t want Hayley to waste her time on Julian, she understood why Hayley chose to stay.

  “Mr. Nicholson.” Doreen came back into the dining area. “You have a letter from FedEx.”

  Julian frowned. He took the envelope from Doreen, and took three steps away from Hayley before tearing it open.

  It seemed Julian didn’t want her to see whatever was in the FedEx flat pack envelope. “I’ll leave you to—”

  Julian reached over and grabbed her hand. “I just wasn’t sure what was inside. I wasn’t expecting anything from FedEx. I doubted another snake could fit or survive in this thing, but I didn’t want to risk having anything jump out near you.”

  She took a step closer, caught up in the thought of kissing Julian. But he broke their gaze and pulled out another white envelope from the FedEx package.

  Hayley turned away. She was in so much trouble. What happened to not falling back in love with h
im? But he’d been so sweet. She’d had doubts about him protecting her, then he’d leapt in front of a snake to keep her safe. Then he’d continued to protect her—even from herself.

  “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “Another letter from Ted Shears? Why is he sending a letter to you?”

  Julian slapped the letter against his hand. “It isn’t from Ted Shears.” He sighed. “It’s from Charlene.” He handed the letter to her. “And she’s addressed it to you.”

  Hayley took the letter with care, as if it would explode at her touch. She was actually surprised that Julian had passed the letter to her instead of ripping it up. “What does she want?”

  “Forgiveness, apparently.”

  She skimmed through the letter. “Wow.” It seemed Doreen wasn’t the only one who believed in voodoo.

  Hayley returned to the dining chair, reading through the letter a second time. Charlene explained everything in the handwritten letter: from how she was adopted to how she met her brother again. She went on to admit to sending the packages and begged for forgiveness. “I guess she’s afraid we’ll report her to the police.”

  “We’re still going to.”

  Hayley chewed on her lips.

  “Hayley.”

  “If this whole voodoo thing gets out to the press, they’ll have another field day.” She put the letter down. “She promised she’ll stop everything.”

  “You can’t just trust her because she said she’ll stop.”

  Hayley nodded slowly. “Keep the letter, then. It’s her confession. If she pulls anything else, we’ll hand this over to the police. Otherwise, perhaps we should just let everything blow over.”

  Julian stared at the letter for a few moments.

  Hayley folded the letter and stuffed it back into the envelope, then slid it over to Julian. “Keep it for now.” She leaned back and stretched. “Do you need to work? Do you want to watch another movie?”

  Julian had distracted her when she couldn’t shake the thoughts of the chopped-up snake. Now was her turn.

  He frowned at her, but that quickly faded as his lips curled back. “Sure. Why don’t you choose something for us to watch? I’ll keep this.”