The Billionaire Affair

by Parker, Ali

  “Fuck discrimination. Young, beautiful single girls shouldn’t work for young, beautiful single men. Or vice versa, for that matter. It’s not good for productivity.”

  “Firstly, never let HR hear you say fuck discrimination.” Neil was teasing, even though he knew exactly what I meant. “Secondly, you should be fine then. It’s the ruggedly handsome men like myself who would have problems.”

  I shot him a glare, scratching the tip of my nose with my middle finger to get my point across. “Let’s go meet some of these people, shall we?”

  Neil shrugged. “I met most of them, but sure. Let’s go. Hey, you know how when you pass a car wreck people know they shouldn’t look, but they always do?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Watching you with these candidates is going to be like that.” He was borderline gleeful about the prospect. “I can’t wait.”

  Neil was like a second big brother to me growing up. More so now that Jack was gone. Times like these reminded me exactly why.

  We approached the first group, and Neil introduced me. He couldn’t remember all the candidates’ names so he stepped back. The bastard was really only going to watch.

  “Mr. Williams,” a buxom redhead crooned. “It’s so nice to meet you. Would you mind signing this napkin for me? My mom loves you.”

  Her mom? She was younger than I was. Pass.

  Another girl at her table sat up a little straighter, pushing her breasts out until they were straining against her shirt. I didn’t know if she realized it, but her nipples were rock hard. “Jeremiah, lovely of you to come to lunch.”

  What was this? A Sunday afternoon get together? Pass.

  Two guys sat at their table, both of them in decent suits. Their handshakes were firm, but as soon as the first one opened his mouth, he dropped off my list. “Dude, awesome to meet you. It’s always been a bit of a fantasy of mine to grab some shots with you and your crew.”

  My crew? No. Just… no.

  The last guy didn’t blow it as badly until he started coughing and wouldn’t stop. Loud, painful sounding coughs. I was sympathetic at first. “Flu?”

  “Nah, it’s the city, sir. I’m having trouble adjusting to the obscene amount of pollution in the air. Did you know that…” I stopped listening.

  That was a no.

  Neil and I moved from group to group, chatting to various people. Most of the conversations were as miserable as they had been at that first table. I turned to Neil about halfway through. “What the fuck were you thinking with these people?”

  “Their resumes all meet the job description. You should have seen the ones who didn’t make it this far.”

  A shudder traveled down my spine when a woman wearing a bright pink jumpsuit seated at the last table we chatted to, licked her lips when she caught my eye. “No, I’d really rather not. Where are the normal people?”

  “They’re here,” he replied. “Few and far between, but here. You know, maybe they’re the normal ones, and you’re the different one.”

  “You’re making fun of me? Right now?” I groaned, hesitating before we hit the last few tables. I hadn’t even started the formal interviews yet, and I was already sick of it.

  Neil nodded enthusiastically, tugging at his red tie. “It’s called payback, Williams. For so many things.”

  “You’re an asshole.”

  “Loud and proud baby.”

  “That’s a disturbing visual.”

  He pointed at two girls balancing food on their noses. “More disturbing than that?”

  “No way.” I shook my head, watching in dumbstruck awe as one flipped a small piece of salmon from her nose straight into her mouth and smiled proudly. “Holy shit. She’s better at that than any dog I’ve seen.”

  “So many hidden talents among the youth,” Neil mused jokingly. “Who knows? Maybe it’s the next big thing.”

  “Thank god you don’t work in research and development.”

  “Always something to be thankful for,” he sing-songed happily. “You can always be your own secretary? Talk in a different accent every day, throw dramatic fits one day and be all uptight the next.”

  “Or maybe you should be my bitch,” I suggested.

  Neil scowled. “Not funny.”

  “No? I thought it was.”

  “Let’s get these miserable groups done with so I can go back upstairs and do my actual work,” Neil said. “I’m done being your bitch for today.”

  “Oh, but there’s always tomorrow.” I rubbed my palms together and gave him an evil grin. “What? Can’t take the tables turning on who’s making fun of who?”

  “You know I can,” he retorted, his attention drawn to the last table. “Let’s go over there, I really liked that girl. She’s funny, and she’s totally real. None of this phony shit.”

  That peaked my interest. We sat down at the last table. I looked up with an easy grin on my face, wanting to come off as approachable to this candidate Neil thought might be the one. Only, when my eyes lifted, my grin froze.

  She was the one, alright. The one I’d completed a jerk-off hattrick to just this morning in the shower. “What are you doing here?”

  Her eyes were as wide as mine. As I’d suspected, they were light blue with rings of almost indigo in them. Fucking beautiful. Her dark hair was pulled back today, hanging in a sleek ponytail down her back.

  Skimpy little black dress hopefully intact at home for me to rip off some other time, she’d opted for a navy pencil skirt, a white shirt that didn’t show nearly enough skin for my liking and a neat jacket. “I’m here to interview for the secretarial position. You?”

  If it wasn’t for the people around us, I would’ve given her the job there and then. She looked up at Neil. It pissed me off that she would look to him when I was right there to ask. He stepped forward. “This is Jeremiah Williams.”

  Her lips formed an O, but no sound came out. I was as completely drawn to her as I had been on Friday night. And what were the odds of her being one of the candidates to interview for the one position on my staff? There were millions of people in this city.

  I leaned forward, not able to totally ignore the urge to be closer to her. “And you are…”

  My father appeared in the doorway of the canteen directly behind her, his eyes laser like pinpricks on me. Fuck. What am I doing?

  I had to pull back. I couldn’t be friendly with her. She was interviewing for a position as my secretary. I was the billionaire’s son. I had nothing to offer her but a job, not to any of these lowly half-educated people.

  “And you are delighted to meet me, I’m sure,” I said, changing course completely from where I was going with that sentence. “What makes you think you’re qualified for this job?”

  “What makes you think I’m not?” she retorted. Feisty. I could see why Neil liked her.

  Of course, feisty was something I had to find away from this building—not in it. I raised a brow at her. “Well firstly, because that jacket still has a piece of lint from the shop on the lapel. I don’t need my secretary ‘borrowing’ clothes from shops to look the part.”

  Her jaw loosened. “I...”

  I held up my hand, letting the asshole in me flow freely. “Secondly, because you interrupted me. Thirdly, you’re not wearing any makeup. My secretary is the face of my office, yours won’t do.”

  Eyebrows shooting up to her hair, she pushed her plate away, got up and left. Damn it, that went way too far.

  I liked her face just fine. More than liked, she was stunning. What the hell did I just say?

  Without stopping to think about it, I got up and went after her. “Come back, please. Interview at least.”

  She spun around, anger blazing in those big, round eyes. “What the fuck was that?”

  “It was me being a rich bastard,” I answered honestly. “It happens from time to time.”

  “Not to me,” she spat and turned to leave again.

  “I want your name, at least,” I called after her. My heart
hammered in my chest when she stopped, her back still to me.

  Waiting for her answer, I sucked in a deep breath and didn’t release it right away. Please just give me your name.

  Chapter 11

  STEPHANIE

  What an utter asshole. “Nunya. Nunya business, rich bastard. Have a nice life.”

  I flipped him off and stomped my way to the parking garage where Tiana was going to meet me. Mr. Rich Bastard glared after me, looking like he was in two minds about chasing me down. I sped up to lose him before he got any ideas.

  I didn’t want or need him following me. He was a douchebag of the highest order. Thank god I didn’t go home with him at the club. What a nightmare that would’ve been.

  My heels clicked against his fancy tiled floors, gleaming like they were scrubbed every morning. I rolled my eyes. The floors were probably scrubbed every morning, by more people whose clothes and faces weren’t good enough for that snobbish bastard.

  Half-way to the parking garage, I changed my mind about telling Tiana I was done and meeting her at our pre-arranged spot. Stewing in my anger over his ridiculously pompous insults was only going to end badly.

  I was tempted to take Tiana’s red lipstick and scribble curses on Jeremiah’s glass walls. His father’s walls. Whatever. I didn’t know who the building belonged to, but it was named after their family, so it had to be theirs.

  Baseball wasn’t my sport, but if Mr. Williams bought the Yankees, I would become the most vocal supporter of any team playing against them. Fuck ’em all. Take that, Mr. Rich Bastard.

  I found a sign that directed me to the lobby and followed it, crossing the large, open space and pushing my way out through the revolving doors I’d entered through earlier. It was embarrassing how optimistic and excited I was coming in here just this morning. I couldn’t wait to put this little error in judgment behind me and move on.

  With that in mind, I spent my last twenty dollars to grab a cab and get to my real job. It wasn’t exciting, and god only knew I was ready to stop living the way I was, but not at the expense of my dignity or my soul.

  I wasn’t scheduled for a shift at the bookstore, but there was usually one I could pick up. Tim looked up when I opened the door, surprise crossing his features. “Steph. I thought you took the day off.”

  “I did, but it turns out it wasn’t necessary.”

  He narrowed his eyes, taking in my outfit. “Not that you don’t look great, but you know we have a uniform. Why the suit?”

  “I went for an interview.” Tim wasn’t the owner of the bookstore, only the manager. He wouldn’t get me in trouble for knowing I was out searching for a new job.

  “How did it go?”

  “It didn’t.”

  Tim made a rolling motion with his hand. “Give me something to go on here. Did you get the job?”

  “Nope.”

  The door opened again, and I jumped. For a fraction of a second, I tensed, immediately wondering if Mr. Rich Bastard had followed me. I relaxed when I saw it was our usual delivery guys.

  “Hey, Steph.” Brent waved, lifting his ballcap off his head and wiping his brow. He frowned at me. “Bit overdressed for the store, aren’t ya?”

  “I am, but whatever.”

  “She went for an interview,” Tim informed him, taking the clip with the delivery note from Brent to sign.

  Brent leaned on the countertop, leaving his co-worker, a new guy called Jake to wrestle with their box laden trolley. “You get the job?”

  “I just asked her that,” Tim said, signing the note and passing the clipboard back to Brent. His eyes slid back to mine. “You didn’t get the job?”

  “I didn’t,” I confirmed.

  “Why not?” Brent asked, directing Jake to the storage room in the back. Once he pointed out which door, his attention turned back to me. Looked like poor Jake was doing all the heavy lifting himself today.

  I wrapped my ponytail around the elastic band already in my hair and snapped another off my wrist to fasten my hair in a bun. If we were going to be unpacking this order, I didn’t want my hair getting in the way.

  I shrugged, choosing to forgo the details and stick to the basics. “The guy I was going to be working for is a prick. I don’t want to work for a prick.”

  Tim laughed. “Uh, I’m a prick.”

  “But you’re my prick.” I smiled.

  Tim’s chin dropped to his chest while Brent’s brows shot up. Even Jake snorted with laughter in the back. It dawned on me then what I’d said. “Wait. No. That came out wrong.”

  The guys laughed so hard Brent had to smack Tim on the back when he started coughing. “You should look into having that filter installed on your mouth.”

  Tim’s words were sputtered between choked breaths. It was a running joke around the store that I needed a filter. I spoke my mind too bluntly and too often for more sensitive listeners.

  I snorted. “No way. I call it like I see it. You and I have an understanding. I don’t think that guy understands a thing outside of his silver-spoon world. He can shove the damn thing up his ass as far as I’m concerned. He’s a bastard.”

  “I don’t even want to know.” Brent laughed at my colorful description and picked his clipboard up from the counter. “Glad you’ll be sticking around for a while though. Things are more interesting when you’re around. See you guys.”

  “See you.” Tim and I waved them off, then Tim swept his arm in the direction of the storage room. “Want to get to it? The authors of those books are coming in to do a reading and signing this weekend.”

  “Oh, the excitement.” I rolled my eyes, winking at Tim when we both started laughing. The owner of the store always got overly excited when authors came.

  “I know. I don’t know how I’ll sleep until then.” We walked into the back and started hauling out the boxes, setting up two separate displays for the two authors who would be coming in.

  The shift went by fast. Tim and I stayed busy, but we had both displays completely set up and all the ads in the windows by the time we were done. Tiana was waiting for me at home, two glasses of red wine sitting on the coffee table in front of her.

  She grabbed the remote when I walked in, muting one of her reality dating shows. Sitting up on her knees, she reached for the glasses and took one for herself and passed one off to me. “How was the interview? What’s the Jeremiah Williams like in person?”

  “The Jeremiah Williams is a complete and total dickwad. I didn’t even stay for the interview. Met the man over lunch and decided my integrity was more important to me than being his secretary.”

  Tiana frowned, the corners of her mouth turning down. “You didn’t even do the interview?”

  “I didn’t.”

  I watched as a shadow crept into her olive green eyes. She was less than happy with me. “Why the hell not? You would’ve been great!”

  “No, the guy’s a dick. Dicks aren’t worthy of greatness.” The words slipped out before I thought them through. Again. The corners of Tiana’s mouth quirked up. “You know what I mean.”

  “Sure, but seriously. So what if he’s a dick? You’re not applying to for a position as his wife, you’re applying for a job. Go back, like tomorrow. It’s still a great opportunity.”

  “Seriously?” I sipped my wine, looking at her over the rim. “He’s a giant ass.”

  My phone beeped with an incoming text. I reached over to where I’d plopped it down on the floor beside the couch I was on and fished around until my fingers closed around my plastic case. About to silence it and convince Tiana why it would be a bad idea for me to go back to Williams Towers, I glanced down to check who it was. My eyes widened in surprise.

  The text was illuminated on my lock screen. It came from a number I didn’t have, but the name of the sender was right there at the end of the message. Neil Colman.

  Stephanie, please come back and talk to me. Tomorrow morning, 9 a.m. Kind regards, Neil Colman.

  “What the fuck?” I muttered. He sa
id to come back and talk to him if Jeremiah wasn’t interested, but he heard and saw what happened between us. Why was he still contacting me?

  “What?” Tiana asked, leaning over to take a peek at my phone. “Who’s Neil Colman?”

  I thought back to our conversation and how easy Neil was to talk to. Maybe I could get a position as his secretary instead. Fine, I would go. On the off chance I would be interested in what he had to say. “I guess he’s the reason I’m going back to Doucheville tomorrow morning.”

  Chapter 12

  JEREMIAH

  Keeping things professional didn’t mean I had to be an asshole. “Let’s start over. Jeremiah Williams, it’s nice to meet you.”

  I smiled at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, then dropped the act because I realized “let’s start over” would remind her of the start we actually had. Fat chance she forgot it.

  A frustrated growl ripped free from my chest. I shoved my hands through my hair, smoothed it and adjusted my tie. The executive bathroom at my office was empty—thank god. I checked the stalls before embarking on this foolish mission.

  I knew Neil invited the girl to come back. After the second round of interviews yesterday, he was convinced she was the best candidate for the job.

  I, on the other hand, just wanted the chance to prove I wasn’t only the rich bastard she’d seen at lunch. Why I had this compulsion, I didn’t know. I was that guy more often than I cared to think about, yet I never felt bad about it after. Until now.

  First time for everything. I sighed, forcing my tabloid-ready smile to my lips. “Jeremiah Williams, please have a seat.”

  My voice reverberated around the empty bathroom, sounding insincere and full of shit even to my own ears. No way she would buy that. If she did, maybe Neil was wrong about her anyway.

  The low hum of the unforgiving lights kept me company as I tried to think of a new plan. In the back of my mind, I also still wondered why the fuck I needed a plan at all. Insulting people wasn’t something I thought twice about. So why couldn’t I stop thinking about the hurt in her eyes and the angry, indignant set of her shoulders as she walked away from me?