by Tee, Marian
"Shall I wait for Ms. Wakefield by the elevator, sir, or would you like to have the honor—-"
"She's just the nanny, dammit."
"You're absolutely right, Mr. Hardwall. And as I'm too old for her as well, it would be best if I have one of our executives who's her age to meet with her and—-"
The billionaire strode past him without a word, and the door slammed shut in the older man's face.
Mission accomplished, Jim thought with a satisfied smile.
Logan's irritable mood only worsened by the time he made it to the end of the hallway and saw the small circle of employees and executives that had gathered around Tilly and his nephew.
Ninety percent of which consisted of men, the billionaire couldn't help noticing darkly, and the thought gifted him with a violent urge to punch each and every one of their faces.
Tilly absently looked up, and her startled gaze was immediately captured by brooding dark ones.
Logan!
He saw her pretty face immediately glow, and the sight helped in smoothing the roughened edges of his mood. She was glad to see him. It was written all over her face, and damn if he could understand why that mattered to him.
"Excuse me please, it's Mr. Hardwall."
His name worked like magic, the men instantly moving back and sliding away, like the Red Sea parting open.
Because Logan was Moses, Tilly reflected with good-natured humor, and his word was everyone's command. And since she, too, was under his authority, albeit voluntarily...
Logan's beautiful face was shuttered when she and Liam finally reached him. "Good afternoon, Mr. Hardwall."
The impish smile on her lips was a total contrast to her angelic face, and God, he couldn't recall being this turned on, and the effort it took to control his urge made his voice harsher than usual as he asked, "What are you doing here?"
A part of him was already expecting her to look understandably hurt, but instead her eyes sparkled with impish mirth even as she spoke in a deceptively demure voice. "I'm so sorry for coming unexpectedly—-"
Liam, having looked up and realizing who was standing next to them, immediately interrupted with childish glee. "Papa!" That one word had everyone in the office, the billionaire included, coming to a standstill.
Good boy, Liam, Tilly thought approvingly. Even now, the little boy was doing a great job, with the way his arms stretched out to his uncle, and the billionaire, unable to resist Liam's wordless request, took the baby boy into his arms.
Women around them swooned at the sight of man and boy together, and Tilly studiously avoided Logan's gaze as this had him glaring at her.
"That's what actually I came here for," she said instead.
Tilly sounded worried, but Logan wasn't buying it. If learning about her sister's life-threatening condition hadn't been enough to have her come apart, he highly doubted Liam suddenly deciding to call him Papa was even enough to make her blink.
This little troublemaker was up to something, the billionaire thought, and the only thing left to do was wait for her to reveal what it was.
"I think Liam's unconsciously missing his parents," Tilly was saying, and Logan managed not to roll his eyes at the way she was wringing her hands and had everyone convinced of her anxiety. "It's made him think of you as his dad. He obviously misses you so much..."
Tilly looked up then, and Logan's brows shot up. What the fuck? She was looking up at him in a way that would make it obvious to anyone...it was really her, not Liam, who was missing him.
"Last night was just so good, you know..."
The billionaire choked.
"Because we played around..."
And now everyone else was choking.
"With Liam, I mean," she said innocently. "And you know..." She deliberately licked her lips, and it had the billionaire staring at her mouth. Fuck. God, that fucking mouth. It was uncanny, but also sexy as hell, the way she could so easily switch between angel and seductress, and he could feel his cock practically near to bursting out of his pants as her sigh drew his attention to the rise and fall of her breasts under her blouse.
"It's been so long...and hard..."
WHAT. THE. FUCK. WAS. SHE THINKING. OF.
But even as she had him torn between having her carted off to the nearest asylum and shaking some sense into her, neither could Logan stop remembering the way his long and hard cock had been buried inside her sweet little pussy.
And it seemed as if all the men under his employ were thinking the same thing.
Fuck.
Logan's jaw clenched at the way they were staring at Tilly. This was all her fault, dammit. She should just fucking stay at home, where he alone could look at her. He glared down at Tilly, warning her against further playing with fire, but this only had her eyes sparkle brightly with laughter in response.
"I'm just talking about the time Liam spends apart from you." Her voice was full of earnest innocence, but no fucking way was he buying this either. "It's seriously been so long—-" Her tongue darted out to slowly trace her lips. "And hard..." Her teeth sank into her lower lip.
Dammit.
Dammit.
God fucking damn this woman for being impossible to resist.
The billionaire's mouth swooped down to cover hers, and a silent but chaotic kind of madness appeared to take over the crowd. A couple of men couldn't resist hooting, a few even clapped, but mostly everyone simply gasped even as they very carefully and stealthily got their mobile phones out to take photos.
The kiss lasted only for a few seconds, but oh what unimaginably, magnificently rapturous seconds they were, with the way the billionaire had so very possessively taken ownership of her mouth, that by the time he lifted his head, Tilly needed more than a moment just to get her wits about her.
And it so wasn't helping, she thought weakly, that the billionaire was audibly breathing hard, and that he was still staring at her mouth like he was about to pounce on it any moment.
Pounce away
Tilly gave herself a mental shake. Concentrate, Wakefield!
She mustn't forget her reason for coming.
And that was...
Tilly leaned forward, and in the act of reaching to take Liam back into her arms, she whispered into his ear, "Stage 2 unlocked."
Incredulity had Logan jerking - had he really heard her fucking say those words - and he had his answer as soon as she moved away, and he saw the Cheshire grin playing on her rosebud lips.
"You—-"
And looking every inch like the goddamn cat that stole the fucking cream, she blinked up at him, saying very innocently, "Me?"
Logan battled against a very serious urge to give her a good, hard spank to her bottom. Stage 2 in their timeline, he thought irritably, was to provide the people around them subtle proof of their growing attraction to each other.
So where the hell was subtle in what just happened?
Chapter Fourteen
Uh oh. Tilly had thought the billionaire would appreciate her well-meaning little joke, but when Logan ordered Jim to look after Liam before wordlessly taking her hand to drag Tilly with him to his office...
Maybe she had overestimated his sense of humor?
His long-legged stride forced her to half-run after him past a sea of gaping faces, and when the billionaire slammed the door shut after them with a loud, hard bang—-
Definitely overestimated it, Tilly decided, and it was for this reason that she started moving back as soon as the billionaire let go of her hand. But with Logan advancing towards her at the same time, the distance only continued to shrink between them.
"I did it for you, you know," she tried convincing him. "It's in our contract, remember? That it's my responsibility to prevent this marriage from making you spend time away from work—-"
"Bullshit."
"Well, okay, that's true," Tilly felt obliged to acknowledge, "but all's well that ends well. Don't you believe that?"
"No."
He was so, so close now.
"Logan..." Her voice was pleading.
"Tilly..." His voice was mockingly pleasant.
A few more steps, and he would reach her.
So what now, Wakefield? Take it on the chin or use that one last card up your sleeve?
Tilly saw Logan start to speak, and since the idea of being on the receiving end of a non-physical tongue-lashing held no appeal...
“Um." She lifted her blouse up before the billionaire could even get the first word out. "Wanna suck?" Logan completely forgot what he had to say.
No bra, was his first dazed thought.
Hence her big...bare...breasts.
His dark gaze swiftly swept back up, and her face was once again that irresistible mixture of innocence and sexuality.
Fuck. He was so goddamn fucked. Because one look at her naked body, and he had no fucking chance.
Tilly's squeal of surprise at the billionaire suddenly lifting her up in his arms turned into a breathless little moan as he backed her against the wall. Oh my. His fingers were impatient and almost rough as he pushed her skirt up to her waist while hers moved with clumsy haste as she helped get his long, thick, hard cock out of the tight confines of his pants.
A now-familiar tearing sound played in the air - RIP, Panties #2 - and then he was thrusting into her.
"Logan!"
He didn't answer, his dark, burning gaze simply locking with hers as he started pumping into her, hard, deep, and fast.
"Oh God." It was too good. "Logan. God. Logan." Every syllable now tumbled out in heaving pants. "So good." And when her breasts started aching, she cupped them without thinking, and the billionaire immediately dipped his head to take one nipple inside his mouth.
He deliberately scraped his teeth against the sensitive pouting bud, and Tilly screamed.
The billionaire kept biting and sucking, and Tilly's mind spun out of control.
Oh God, this felt so, so good, and she could no longer control herself.
She moaned and sobbed. She clutched his hair and clawed his back. Pushed her nipple deeper into his mouth as he pounded into her over and over.
"Logan."
Her gasp as she came had the billionaire's head jerking up sharply, and he drank in the sight of her cumming. So fucking beautiful. He drove into her one last time, as deep as he could, and Logan heard her whimper as his back arched and a load of cum burst out of his cock and started filling her pussy.
Her legs clamped tightly around his waist a moment later, and the billionaire groaned as her inner muscles deliciously echoed the movement, and his cock twitched harder as it released another stream of cum.
Sex with Tilly always made him feel like he had gone and died to heaven, and not even the wildest bouts of fucking that he had experienced in the past could compare to it.
Not a single fucking one.
It was a disturbing realization, but even so, he couldn't make himself stay away, couldn't fucking stop himself from carrying her to his private bathroom and, after gently seating her on the marble counter and taking care of her, Logan still couldn't help himself.
He was petting her again, Tilly thought dizzily. The billionaire was stroking her hair and licking the curve of her ear. Nibbled on her lip and nuzzled her neck. And even when they were finally outside his office, his thumb absently rubbed over her knuckles as he held her hand while walking.
"Mama!"
Tilly could feel her cheeks turning red even though she knew she had nothing to be guilty about. She crouched down just in time for the already-running Liam to throw himself in her arms, and he grinned up at her as she rose back up, the toddler now secured in her arms.
Feeling Logan's gaze still on her, she couldn't help saying defensively, "I didn't teach him to say that." A pause, and then she couldn't help admitting, "But I did teach him to call you Papa."
Logan's lips pressed together.
"Are you mad?" she asked in a small voice.
"If you want the truth..."
Tilly winced at the heaviness in his tone.
"I'm not surprised at all."
Ouch. Was he basically saying he thought of her as manipulative or calculating?
"It is just like you to play such a joke, which is why I thought a little tit for tat right now wouldn't be amiss."
Her mouth opened so she could apologize, but then his words hit her, and Tilly's mouth snapped shut.
Did he just basically say all of this...was him simply pranking her back?
Her gaze flew up to him in shock, and Logan smiled lazily at her.
"Oh my God, you—-"
"Excuse me, Mr. Hardwall, Ms. Wakefield." Jim's tone was deeply apologetic. "I am very sorry for having to interrupt—-"
"What is it?" Logan asked right away, knowing that the older man would have only done so for a very good reason.
"Reception called. Ms. Berger is on her way up."
Tilly saw Logan stiffen and tried not to feel suspicious. You have no right to react, she reminded herself, regardless of who that woman was. But in her mind, she could already see herself Googling the heck out of the name, and Tilly realized in shock that she was actually jealous.
Jealous.
Tilly tried not to panic. I can't be jealous. I'm not. Because as a mail-order bride, the most she could hope for was a husband who would provide for her and Billie, one she could care for in return.
Care for.
But never be possessive about.
When the billionaire finally turned to face her again, Tilly had her smile in place.
"It's my lawyer."
Yeah right.
But out loud, all she said was, "I understand." She even managed to sound like it, too. "Liam and I could go home ahead of you, or we could wait for you, too." Tilly inclined her head in question. "It's all up to you, Mr. Hardwall."
Chapter Fifteen
A hardened expression formed over Claudette Berger's beautiful face as she watched a younger woman walk inside the daycare center with a chubby toddler in her arms. The kid seemed intent on talking her ears off, and the woman's laugh actually sounded genuine as she listened to whatever gibberish the little boy had to say.
What a gold-digging little whore, Claudette thought furiously as she spun on her heels and headed back to the elevator. Having seen the numerous photos taken by Logan's employees, all of which showed the hussy shamelessly using the billionaire's nephew to play up to him, Claudette had taken her chances by making a detour at the 10th floor.
It was where all employee amenities were located, and after a few minutes of waiting, her intuition had once again proven correct when she saw the bitch coming out of the elevator with the billionaire's nephew in tow.
The woman had been nothing like Logan's usual taste at all. Short, unsophisticated, and such crudely large breasts. The woman didn't even have the right hair color, for fuck's sake. So why did all the photos currently blowing up a viral storm in San Antonio show the billionaire looking at the bitch like she had just become his favorite dish?
She had been the billionaire's lover once, and not only that, but their relationship had also lasted the longest compared to all his other mistresses.
And yet he had never looked at her that way.
Never!
Although the thought was more than enough to make Claudette want to claw the other woman's eyes out, her cold-blooded streak of ruthless practicality eventually won over her livid emotions, and by the time Claudette entered the billionaire's office, she had all of her ducks in a row, her practiced smile in place.
But then the musky scent inside his office reached her nostrils, and realizing what it meant—-
Logan raised a brow when his normally graceful lawyer almost tripped over her own feet.
"Sorry about that." Claudette quickly righted herself even as she found herself hurling the vilest curses at the billionaire's nanny inside her head.
Whatever happened to his fucking rule about women not being allowed in his workplace?
Eve
n Claudette hadn't been spared from that, and she had only been allowed access when her role in his life switched from mistress to legal counsel.
So what made the nanny the fucking exemption?
"Are you alright?" Logan asked.
"Yes, of course. It's just a little sprain," she lied. "I injured myself while playing tennis last week."
"I'm sorry to hear that." The billionaire gestured for Claudette to take a seat before settling down behind his desk. "I assume you have a very good reason for the unscheduled visit?"
"Naturally. Or did you think I only came here because I missed you?" she asked archly.
"Touché." A slight smile curved over Logan's lips. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit then?"
"The Crown Prince of Najma," she said sweetly.
The billionaire's gaze narrowed. "You're sure of this?"
"The information didn't come cheap, but yes, everything checks out, and he's indeed the mystery investor we've been after." She gave a little pause. "He's a personal friend of yours?"
"We've known each other for some time," Logan acknowledged.
"Then nothing should seem amiss if you were to bump into him in the Oil Barons' Ball tomorrow night and strike up a conversation..." Claudette's gaze was deliberately thoughtful. "Tickets have been sold out months ago, but we both know the committee will happily bend backwards to add your name to the list."
Logan had never cared to attend the event, seeing it simply as a shallow excuse for people to dress up and flaunt their wealth under the pretense of charity. But since he had long been keen to close this particular deal, the billionaire asked curtly, "You'll take care of it then?"
"Easily," his lawyer answered with a shrug. "And since it's a pair-only ball—-" Claudette's face was carefully blank. "Shall I go with you to help with negotiations, or do we attend separately?"
Several moments passed, and the billionaire said finally, "I'll send a car for you."
Claudette left soon after, but Logan remained in his office, unable to shake off the feeling that he had done something completely wrong, and the disturbing thought persisted even as he headed down to the in-house daycare center to take Tilly and his nephew home.