Billionaire by Design (A BWWM Romance)

by Tiana Cole

  “That’ll be $6.78,” she said politely as she snapped back to reality. Of course he hadn’t been checking her out, she chided herself. The lack of sleep due to school and work was clearly affecting her judgment.

  “Thank you,” he replied as he opened his wallet. In a modest move that didn’t go unnoticed by her, he kept it facing himself as not to flaunt his wealth. Despite this humble effort, she could see him flipping through a number of bills that she could only assume were large denominations. He finally landed on a twenty and handed it to her with a warm smile.

  “And what do you do?” he asked with a look of genuine interest. “I mean, aside from working here. What do you do?”

  She was a bit surprised by the question and the sincerity in which he asked it. After a brief pause, she answered, “I’m going to school, actually. U of A. Getting a degree in graphic design.”

  “Oh?” he responded, his eyes widened in fascination. “I have a group of graphic artists working for me at my firm. Are you any good?”

  “I’ve been told I am, but I’m really critical of my work, so it’s hard for me to judge,” she replied with a shrug.

  “Trust me, nobody understands that better than me,” he chuckled under his breath.

  “This is my fourth and final year, and then I’m hoping to get out of this place,” she said as she looked around the restaurant.

  “Ah, bachelor’s degree, I take it?” her suited mystery man asked, once again showing an earnest curiosity in her.

  “You got it,” she returned without hesitation. “Been a lot of work, but totally worth it.”

  “You’re an interesting young lady…” he trailed off as he leaned in closer to read her name tag, “…Jenna. Pretty name.”

  “Thank you,” she blushed, shyly averting her gaze by staring down at the register.

  “I’m Zane. Zane Talbot,” he introduced himself with a smile as he extended a big hand towards her, his other still gripping his thick leather wallet. “Nice to meet you.”

  She returned her eyes to his as she shook his hand, feeling his strong yet gentle touch and hearing herself say the words, “Nice to meet you, too.” Her heart fluttered in her chest as his hand engulfed hers, his pale skin contrasting with her dark complexion as their eyes remained locked for a second too long.

  “So,” he cleared his throat as he shook the moment off, “do you have anything I can see?”

  “Any artwork? Not on me, but I have some on my Facebook,” she replied as the cooks in the kitchen behind her scrambled to put the order together.

  “I’m a bit too busy for Facebook, unfortunately,” Zane sighed. “Anywhere else I can go to check out your stuff?”

  “Umm…” Jenna began hesitantly. “Well, I did do the artwork on those signs, but it’s not very good,” she answered timidly as she pointed at the storefront signage.

  “You’re kidding me?!” Zane exclaimed in surprise. “I was checking those out before I came in here. They’re awesome!”

  “Really?” she replied bashfully with a slight look of embarrassment. “Nah…”

  “The burgers, fries, and drinks? Yeah, they’re great!” he reassured her as he turned to admire the work once again. Although the back of the signs were facing him, he could still see the art plain as day thanks to Tucson’s bright sun shining through the white paper stock.

  “My manager did the lettering, I just drew the pictures,” she explained modestly, yet again fidgeting with the corners of the register.

  “The pictures steal the show. That’s some real talent. Must have taken you hours to do all that, huh?”

  The front door’s entrance chime sounded as an elderly man and a boy who appeared to be his grandson strolled into the restaurant.

  “Actually took me about an hour,” Jenna answered as she shot a big smile and friendly wave to the new customers.

  “Only one hour? Jesus…” Zane commented in stunned disbelief. “Listen,” he began as he politely gestured with a raised finger and kind smile for the old man and little boy who’d sidled up next to him to give him another second. “My firm’s been looking for a new logo for our company letterhead. My artists are great, but they think a lot alike and everything they’ve come up with kind of looks the same. I could really use a new pair of eyes. How about you see what you can come up with, and if I like it I’ll buy it off of you?”

  “I don’t know…” she answered as Zane looked at her almost pleadingly with his captivating eyes. “I don’t think I’m good enough for—”

  “Nonsense,” he interrupted. He reopened his wallet and fished out a business card. “If you hand drew those signs, I have faith that you can do it all. Plus I’d really like to see some more of your work. My company’s always looking for talented artists.”

  He handed her a business card that she briefly looked over before shoving it into her back pocket.

  “When do you need it by?” she asked as the elderly man and his presumed grandchild stood waiting patiently.

  “How’s one week sound? I also want to see some of your other stuff. The address and phone number are on the card. Just call my secretary and set up a meeting. Deal?”

  “Fair enough,” Jenna replied as Zane stepped aside to let the aged man and young boy place their order.

  “Order fifty-eight!” a voice sounded from the back. Michael appeared two seconds later with Zane’s bag of greasy food and handed it to him with the same friendly smile he’d been trained to deliver. Zane thanked him, then stood patiently while waiting for Jenna to finish up with her two customers.

  “Just wanted to say how lovely it was to meet you, and I look forward to seeing you in one week,” he winked while flashing his perfect smile.

  “I’ll be there, but no guarantees you’ll like what I come up with,” she sighed as she shook his hand goodbye, her heart once again thudding at his touch and her knees weakening as his blue eyes seemed to peer into her soul.

  “Confidence,” he said over his shoulder as he made his way toward the door, “is the key to success. One week!”

  Chapter Three

  Back in the parking lot, Zane found a defeated Carl sitting in the driver’s seat with his window down, listening to talk radio. His chauffeur killed the volume at the sight of his approaching boss and leaned out the window to give him the news.

  “Tow truck’s on the way. Company’s sending a new car to get us. Should be here any second.”

  “Thanks, Carl,” Zane nodded as he reached into the bag and pulled out the man’s order of fries. As Carl stuffed them down, Zane stood outside the driver’s side door making small talk with him between bites of his burger. It was far too hot to be standing in the sun wearing an all black suit, but the interior of the limousine wasn’t much cooler. Thankfully, the tow truck arrived moments later, and their new set of wheels shortly thereafter.

  By the time Zane arrived back at the office, the Eegee’s meeting had long since wrapped and Phil Miller had appropriately gathered the art department in the conference room to discuss their new strategy. Not wanting to interrupt their creative process, Zane waited until they’d dispersed before tracking Phil down in the break room to grab the day’s highlights. Phil, the chubby marketing whiz who was already balding at only twenty-eight years old, was great at his job despite being somewhat of a loudmouth. He was nothing but professional in front of clients, which was of the utmost importance, but when he wasn’t working, he could be overbearingly rambunctious… especially while drinking.

  Phil enjoyed his liquor to the point where Zane had to instate a policy barring alcohol from the building after a drunken incident that almost cost the firm an arm, a leg, and the reputation they’d worked so hard to achieve. Three years earlier, Phil, having downed a celebratory bottle of vodka after scoring BMW as a client, decided it would be a great idea to slide a hand up his secretary’s skirt.

  Suffice it to say, that didn’t end well, but a lawsuit was avoided after a hefty payout. Understandably furious, Zane had come e
xtremely close to letting Phil go, but his protégé’s groveling and tears got the best of him. He decided to keep Phil on board but warned him that such forgiveness would never be seen again. He also docked Phil’s pay to reimburse the company for the large check he had to cut the drunkard’s former secretary.

  Since then, Phil managed to snag the firm another twenty clients while remaining sober, at least in the office, the entire time. His knack for running his mouth, however, hadn’t changed, but Zane was able to overlook that since the guy had made his company a tremendous amount of money over the years. Yes, despite his cocky demeanor and boisterous behavior, there was no denying that Phil was hugely beneficial to the firm. He was amazing with clients, able to lay on the perfect balance of humor and charm, and Zane had entrusted him with the company’s largest accounts.

  “There’s the man!” Phil sounded his familiar greeting as Zane strolled into the break room. “Good job missing the Eegee’s meeting.”

  “Car trouble,” Zane shook his head in reply as he made his way to the coffee maker.

  “I heard. But don’t sweat it. The meeting went great. I got it all worked out,” Phil boasted with a toothy grin as he sat with his feet resting on one of the break room’s circular tables.

  “So…” Zane asked as he poured himself a mug of coffee. “Details?”

  “We’re going to put more of an emphasis on their sandwiches. I convinced them to switch their bread recipe up. We’re going to market them as a healthy alternative to fast food. You know, kind of like Subway does,” Phil explained before pretending his hands were guns and making his ridiculous “pow, pow” noises.

  “A healthy alternative to fast food? Isn’t this the place that sells French fries smothered in ranch dressing and topped with bacon?” Zane laughed.

  “Yeah, well, we’re going to downplay that part,” Phil chuckled in return. “And we’re going to have them offer fresh cucumber and apple slices as well. You know, things like that.”

  “I like it,” Zane smiled as he took a seat across from Phil. “Slogans? Advertising?”

  “Got the art department working on it already, my man,” Phil replied confidently.

  “Good work,” Zane praised as he waited for his coffee to cool down. No cream or sugar for him. He liked it black. He found his mind drifting back to Jenna, the gorgeous young woman he’d met earlier in the day by pure happenstance. Her long, wavy hair and big, brown eyes were hard to forget, but from the moment he’d laid eyes on her, he’d sensed that she was much more than just stunning good looks. He’d always been good at reading people, and his instincts hadn’t failed him when it came to this breathtaking beauty. Even though he’d only seen the few drawings decorating Family Burger’s storefront signage, they’d been enough for him to tell that she was quite the talented artist. He couldn’t help but wonder what other surprises this aspiring graphic designer had in store, and he truly hoped to see her again in a week. His thoughts were interrupted by the snapping of Phil’s fingers.

  “Hey! Hey! Where are you?” he smirked from across the table.

  “What? Oh, sorry. Just have a few things on my mind,” a flustered Zane replied as he placed the mug to his lips only to decide the coffee was still too hot. “Listen… I want to revisit the Family Burger account.”

  “Family Burger?” Phil scoffed incredulously. “Family Burger? Hell, I forgot they were even a client still. Why the fuck would you want to revisit them? Aren’t they one of our smaller accounts?”

  “I started this company to help businesses succeed,” Zane began in his typical matter-of-fact tone. “I drove by one of their restaurants earlier and they don’t exactly look like they’re succeeding anymore. I want to fix that.”

  “Poor management isn’t our responsibility and you know that, man. If I recall, we gave them an awesome campaign they did great with for quite some time. If they’re not doing well anymore, it sounds like it’s their fault and not ours.”

  “First of all, I gave them an awesome campaign, not we,” Zane corrected. “Secondly, I don’t want to see any business fail.” After a moment of thought he added with a chuckle, “Unless they’re our competition, of course.”

  “Right on,” Phil laughed and gave his boss a fist-bump.

  “Plus I forgot how good their food is. Especially for the price.”

  “Wait, you ate there? I thought you said you just drove by,” Phil said with his eyes widened in disbelief.

  “Okay, okay… I might have grabbed a burger,” Zane smirked.

  “Zane Talbot, goddamn billionaire, pulling over to grab a meal at Family Burger,” Phil threw his head back and bellowed laughter. “I never thought I’d see the day!”

  “Whoa, slow down. I’m not a billionaire yet,” Zane grinned. “A few more clients, maybe…”

  They shared another laugh, then went on to discuss the possibility of expansion as Zane casually finished his coffee. With roughly one hundred and twenty clients, yet only fifty overworked employees on payroll, they’d have to undergo another round of hiring if they wanted to snag more accounts.

  Setting up an East Coast branch in New York City and joining the ranks of the Madison Avenue elite weighed heavily on his mind. He’d worked hard to build a successful marketing firm in the Southwest, the most unlikely of places, and knew a location in New York City or Los Angeles was inevitable if he wanted to take business to the next level by forming a corporation. Yes, big changes would have to come soon, and even though he’d only met her briefly, he hoped Jenna would be a part of them.

  Chapter Four

  “So, who was the suit that was chattin’ you up?” Michael asked Jenna after handing order fifty-nine to the elderly man and the young boy accompanying him.

  “Said his name was Zane,” Jenna answered as she grabbed the business card from her back pocket and studied it more thoroughly. “Zane Talbot from Enterprise Marketing. Oh, and he wasn‘t ‘chattin‘ me up,’ you goof.”

  “Sure looked like it,” Michael teased.

  “Shut up,” she giggled as she rolled her eyes. Michael was only one year older than her, and they’d become chummy since he began working at Family Burger a year earlier. When he wasn’t shouting out order numbers, he was rather soft spoken and extremely nice, despite his menacing appearance. One hundred pounds overweight and tattooed-up with a long, thick beard and facial piercings, he was the poster child for never judging a book by its cover.

  “What’s his story? Not every day we get a suit like that in here,” he asked as he looked over her shoulder at the business card.

  “I told him I was going to school for graphic art and he asked me to design him a logo,” she shrugged as she stuffed the card back in her pocket.

  “Think he’s legit?” Michael questioned. He headed back to the sink to wash his hands with Jenna following behind him.

  “Didn’t you see his limo parked out front?” she replied.

  “Gee, I guess I must have missed that. Sorry the grill doesn’t have much of a view,” he joked as he reached for a paper towel to dry his hands. Jenna felt silly for asking such a dumb question. Of course Michael couldn’t see the limousine parked out front from his station in the back.

  “Well, it was out there. Between that, his suit, and his business cards… I think it’s safe to say that, yeah, he’s probably legit.”

  “Rich guys don’t typically eat at Family Burger, Jenna,” Michael reminded her with a chuckle.

  “True, but I’m pretty sure he only came in because his car died. I watched it get towed and some other car picked him and his driver up a few minutes later,” she recounted.

  “His driver? How fancy,” Michael scoffed, then added, “So, you going to give it a shot?”

  “Eh, I don’t know,” Jenna sighed. “I mean, I want to, but his company looks pretty major and I’d probably wind up looking stupid. I’m sure he’d look at my designs and laugh.”

  “Oh, knock it off,” Michael snapped back. “If the guy’s really on the up and up, y
ou’d be dumb to miss out on such a good opportunity. Aren’t you almost done with school? You’re going to need a job and this sounds like a good in.”

  Conversations like this were why she respected Michael and valued his friendship. She knew he had feelings for her since he’d confessed them to the same coworker who was also her roommate.

  The news had quickly made its way back to her, but she didn’t want to make the workplace uncomfortable or jeopardize their friendship by discussing it with him. He never once made a move on her, never attempted even the slightest flirtation, and always showed her the same level of selflessness that he showed everyone else.

  He could have easily dissuaded her from pursuing this opportunity in a selfish ploy to keep her working at Family Burger longer, but he simply wasn’t wired that way. He truly wanted what was best for her, not what was best for him, and she appreciated that tremendously. Her manager, Juan, was much the same way.

  “True,” she agreed after some deliberation. “Maybe I’ll mess around with a few ideas and see what I can come up with. He wants something by next week. That should be more than enough time.”

  “Yeah, seriously, especially with how fast you work!” Michael nodded reassuringly. “You got this.”

  With Michael’s confidence boost, she finished her shift and made the short drive home to find her roommate, Leigh, relaxing on the couch with the television on. They’d met and immediately hit it off at Family Burger four years prior, and had lived together now for almost as long.

  Leigh’s previous roommate had abruptly moved out, and needing somebody to help split the bills, she had invited Jenna to take the open room. Jenna, who had been alternating between her car and a seedy motel, jumped at the opportunity.

  They’d managed to remain close, despite not seeing each other as often as they used to. Leigh had begun taking evening classes at Pima Community College, and had switched her schedule around to work mornings at Family Burger. Their shifts occasionally overlapped, but it was the nights at home relaxing on the couch before bed when the two really got to spend time together. Tonight, however, there would be no time to socialize. Jenna gave Leigh the short version of events while her friend listened attentively, then headed to her room to boot up her computer.