The Bastard Billionaire

by Jessica Lemmon

  “Don’t you find sex invigorating?” She tapped the keyboard of her laptop again. She’d also grabbed a sleeve of crackers and two cups of coffee on the trip for her laptop. Eli’s mug was steaming away on the nightstand. Hers was half gone, its handle in one hand while she typed with the other.

  “Intense, yes. Amazing, absolutely. Invigorating, not quite. All I want to do is nap.” He reached over and cupped her thigh with one hand, his eyes sliding shut. She liked how comfortable this was. How their worlds had intersected, finding a happy medium they both could live with.

  Who knew sex was such a great equalizer?

  “You should.”

  “Can’t,” he answered. “Shit to do.”

  “I hear you. That’s why I gave my assistant a promotion.”

  His eyes opened. “Oh yeah?”

  “Oh, yeah. Chloe and I discussed a partnership, but we agreed her taking on the role of senior manager was a better fit. Now we have to hire a new assistant for the office.” She pursed her lips as she thought. “Maybe more than one. With two people running the office, there’s bound to be twice the workload.”

  “Yeah.” Eli’s eyebrows dipped. “So…” His intake of breath stalled his words.

  “So…,” she prompted.

  “I was considering something similar with Refurbs. Hiring someone to run it.”

  “But?” She could hear his doubt.

  “But it’s not easy to give up control.”

  “No, but it’s smart. A team can do tenfold what you can do alone. You know this.” She nudged him. “Crane Hotels couldn’t be what it is without thousands of staff members and a board of directors.”

  He grunted. For whatever reason, none of the Cranes were fans of the board. Eli had told her that much, but hadn’t expounded.

  “Without a staff, you’re weighed down by the little things. If you found someone, or a few someones, to run the charity—handle the e-mail, flyers, website, scheduling—then you could be free of the duties weighing you down.”

  He watched her, not saying no, which was as good as a yes from him.

  “I can make a few calls. I know a lot of very capable people. Then you could be involved but only do what you want to do.” She sipped her coffee. “That sounds like you, don’t you think?”

  He rolled his eyes when she grinned in triumph.

  “What would you do instead?” she asked, because she wondered if he was considering the Crane Hotels COO position. He really would be so great at it. Eli was sharp, swift, and didn’t take shit from anyone. His natural air of mystery and intrigue would go a long way for him. And his family would be thrilled.

  “Hmm. What would I do instead of work?” He stroked his chin, pretending to consider. “Lie in bed and watch TV? Start a harem?”

  “A harem!” she barked. He chuckled, obviously kidding, but when she pictured him with another woman in bed, her hackles shot straight up. She cleared her throat and went back to typing. “Not that it makes any difference to me.”

  “Hey.” It was a gentle call for her attention. “Do you see any women hanging around waiting to join us?” He moved his palm from thigh to her ass and gave her a light squeeze.

  “No,” she mumbled. But she wondered if there was ever a woman hanging around. If he’d been in love before. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask, but she swallowed the question. She wasn’t scared to ask. She was scared of his answer.

  Isa didn’t know what they had, or what they would have, but she was fairly certain now was the wrong time to dig into his romantic past—if he had one. They hadn’t established any boundaries, but she was happy. Happy to work with him, happy he trusted her, and happy they shared the enjoyment of getting naked together.

  Really happy about that.

  Eli stretched out on his back, both hands behind his head. “It would be nice to let go of the particulars in Refurbs.”

  She admired the way his long eyelashes shadowed his cheeks.

  “But it’d have to be the perfect candidate. I can’t let this go to just anyone. It’s too important.”

  “Believe me, I understand putting your passion to work.”

  His eyes closed. “Maybe you could ask around for me.”

  “No problem.” She leaned over him to set her coffee on the nightstand, opened her e-mail, and started drafting a request. Until they found an assistant, Chloe was pulling double duty.

  “Not now.” He opened his eyes.

  “Why not?”

  “Because we have other things to do.”

  “Like what?”

  He answered by setting her laptop on the nightstand next to their coffee mugs. Then he pulled her down next to him and tucked her against his side.

  “Like sleeping.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Or”—he stroked his fingers over her arm—“resting.”

  “Resting?”

  “You’ve heard of it, right?” he asked, his voice heavy with impending sleep. “It’s when you lie still and listen as your heart rate slows.”

  Isa rested her head on Eli’s chest, taking a deep breath and listening as his heart rate did just that. And then she listened as his breathing shifted into a contented snore. He was three things she’d never imagined he’d be: warm, snuggly, and in this moment, all hers.

  * * *

  Eli woke from his nap refreshed, but alone.

  Wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, he walked out of his bedroom to find Isa dressed, her hair tied into a ponytail at the back of her head. She glanced up, then took an even longer gander, her eyes wandering down his form as a cat-got-the-cream smile stole her mouth.

  She made him feel capable. He liked that. It’d been a while since he’d felt like a hero, arguably wasn’t feeling quite that way now, but this was a step in the right direction.

  “You’re terrible at resting.” He lowered his face to hers and she tipped her chin to place a kiss on his lips.

  That move, he liked a hell of a lot.

  The way her eyes fluttered closed, the way her hair swung behind her when she lifted her mouth to his. The way she was here, in his space. He didn’t think he liked anyone in his space, but like everything else he’d experienced with her, Isa was the exception.

  “While you were sleeping, I found two candidates perfect for running Refurbs,” she said. “They have past charity experience and one of them is a personal friend of mine. I put together a sort of fact sheet on each of them.” She clicked a button and the printer purred to life in his office and started spitting sheets.

  “You like lists,” he observed, his eyes wandering over her open planner and notebook filled with to-dos. Nearly every item had a line through it.

  “I do. Nothing gets done unless I write it down first.”

  “Have you always been like that?” He eased into the chair next to her, genuinely curious. About what she preferred, what she liked. What made her tick.

  She watched him for a second before lifting her shoulder into a cute shrug. “I…yeah. I have. Organized. Neat. Ready to help.”

  “But it didn’t sit well with your parents when you didn’t want to run their empire,” he said, grateful his parents hadn’t been that way. Reese was always the one. He knew it, Mom and Dad knew it, and Tag and Eli had aspirations separate from running a corporation.

  “I wanted to pave my own way.” She dropped her chin on her fist. “What about you? What is it about Crane Hotels that makes you run and hide?”

  “I’m not hiding.” He felt the jerk in his shoulders when he pulled them back, ready to argue. He’d do anything for his family…like stay out of the way when he couldn’t add value. “I’ve been busy.”

  “Not anymore.” She pointed at her computer screen. “You can do Crane work once we have Refurbs handed off to a responsible manager. Then you can park in a big, plush office and get an assistant who answers your ringing phone.”

  “I have an office.” He grabbed the back of Isa’s chair and yanked her closer. “I have an assistant.”
/>   Another kiss left them both breathless.

  “You smell good, Sable.”

  “So do you.”

  They shared a moment of silent appreciation, one that he ended with another kiss he couldn’t resist stealing.

  “I don’t expect you to stay forever,” he told her, suspecting her mind went down that same path.

  “No?”

  “No. Stay until I wrap up Refurbs. Finish my unfinished business.” His thoughts jetted to Benji’s widow. Michelle was unfinished business, and until he’d checked her off his mental to-do list, he wasn’t willing to let Isa go. Her being here in any capacity gave him the strength and courage to do what needed to be done.

  What an odd realization. But nonetheless true. Isa made him better in every way.

  “Is that a demand?” Isa raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t hear a question mark at the end of that statement.”

  He released her chair and sat back in his. “Not a demand.”

  It wasn’t fair to keep her longer than she preferred. God knew he wasn’t one to sink his hooks into anyone. As a man who’d made most of his life about fighting for freedom, he would never restrict Isa from spreading her wings.

  “A request,” he said.

  “In that case, I’m glad to stay.” She fiddled with her ink pen and avoided his eyes. “And if you need me to help with your transition to COO, I’ll stay a little longer.”

  “You’d do that?” He hadn’t meant to ask, but her offering to stay when he knew she had more to do than answer to his whims was humbling.

  “Of course.” Whiskey-brown eyes hit his and held, as if there was no question she’d continue showing up simply because he wanted her to be here.

  He liked how she was willing to stay. With him. To see things through. He wondered how long it would last as much as he wondered why he wanted it to so badly. He’d long lived a temporary lifestyle where relationships were concerned.

  His ex had lived with him, but his commitment hadn’t extended further than companionship. With Isa, he felt the low hum of possibility in the center of his chest. That hum enthralled him.

  And Eli Crane wasn’t easily enthralled.

  “Whatever you think is best.” He stood up from the chair and kissed the top of her head and swaggered toward his bedroom—How about that? A swagger—to grab a shower and dress for dinner.

  He paused in the hall and turned back to Isa, who was jotting something else into her open planner.

  “Sable.”

  She blinked up at him.

  “Do you have plans for dinner?”

  Chapter 12

  Isa agreed to dinner, but she insisted on going home first to change. Not because she needed to dress fancy—not in the casual atmosphere of Eli’s house—but because she was about to sit down with his family. She’d met Tag, Rachel, Merina, and of course Reese, but this would be the first time she’d spend time with them outside of work.

  After making love with Eli today, she’d radiated sexual satisfaction. She’d toned her wardrobe down a bit—changing into a dress that wasn’t wrinkled and combing her hair so she didn’t look as if she’d been rolling around on Eli’s bed all afternoon.

  JBF hair, indeed.

  She was a little floored he’d invited her tonight, but was trying not to overthink the invitation. Plus, this was rapidly becoming the norm. He’d floored her a lot lately. They’d fit sex into their workday and were able to talk like normal human beings afterward. Call her crazy, but she hadn’t pegged him as a guy who was into snuggling after naked time.

  Things had changed between them. The only problem was she wasn’t sure where to draw the line. Having not been in a relationship for three years had made her rusty. Was it a good sign that she’d been invited to dinner with his family, or was Eli regretting asking her?

  “Isa, seriously,” she scolded herself as she threw her car into park in Eli’s lot. She was starting to remind herself of an unsure teenager. She pulled her purse onto her shoulder and stepped out as Tag slipped into the spot next to hers in the shiniest, sexiest black car she’d ever seen.

  Rachel climbed out first.

  “Oh, I’m so glad you could make it!” the blonde chirped.

  Tag unfolded from the driver’s side and Isa watched as he stood. He kept going until he was towering over them both. And Isa was a few inches taller than Rachel. How did that work?

  “Hey, Cap’n,” Tag said with one of his signature lazy grins.

  “Are you addressing me?” Isa asked, amused.

  “He does that.” Rachel rolled her blue eyes, which made her look even cuter. Isa hadn’t thought that was possible. “He calls me Dimples.” She smiled and poked the divots dotting each side of her face.

  “That’s because you have two of the cutest ones I’ve ever seen in my life.” Tag leaned down and covered Rachel’s lips with a kiss—a kiss that lasted a really long time—and right then, Isa saw exactly how Tag and Rachel “worked.” Because they were drop-dead, head-over-heels, hold-my-drink-so-I-can-do-a-cartwheel in love.

  Isa’s chest filled with hope at the sight. She wanted that. Someday. Today was a little premature for the fantasy, considering she and Eli were…well, she didn’t know what they were.

  “He does that, too,” Rachel said with a breathy sigh when Tag set her on her heels again. Though her grin suggested she didn’t mind him grabbing her and kissing her. Isa couldn’t blame her. Tag was an attractive guy, and there was no denying his sex appeal. Any girl would feel safe in those tank-sized arms.

  But it was Eli who caused Isa’s blood to warm significantly. He was the right mix of moody and gruff. He had an honest way about him, unlike Josh who had always been hell-bent to impress. Her ex had laid it on thick in the charm department. Shortly after they’d started dating, Isa had learned the true meaning behind the saying “hook, line, and sinker.” He’d totally reeled her in. Eli’s bald honesty was one of the reasons she’d been so drawn to him.

  Tag, on the other hand…Isa eyed the fun-loving giant who kissed Rachel on the forehead, his arm looped around her neck. Yeah, he was made for the punchy blonde at his side.

  “Perfect timing,” Tag said as a Porsche growled into a parking space next to his car. “Looks like we won’t waste away waiting for sustenance.”

  The Porsche pulled to a stop and Reese stepped from the car. He was tall, too, but more Eli-tall than skyscraper-sized Tag. Merina climbed out next, her straight, golden hair resting on her shoulders. She smoothed a hand down her slim pencil skirt and gave Isa a smile.

  Isa had always admired Merina. The woman was the epitome of a business matriarch, yet approachable and warm. She was also the reason Isa had received a call from Reese requesting aid from Sable Concierge in the first place. Without Merina, she’d never have met Eli. How about that?

  “Well, well, if it isn’t Elijah Crane’s personal assistant,” Merina said with a wink as she rounded the vehicle.

  “We were surprised to hear we were adding a meal for you,” Reese announced, his tone uncharacteristically light. He opened the back door and pulled out several bags from a local sushi restaurant.

  “He means ‘happy,’” Merina corrected. “We were happy to hear you were joining us.”

  “No, I meant surprised,” Reese said. “Eli has a way of pushing people away.”

  “It’s a gift,” Tag said, taking one of the bags from Reese.

  “You haven’t gone anywhere even though he’s fired half your staff,” Reese said to Isa.

  “A third, actually.”

  Reese’s smile warmed his eyes. She’d never seen him out of business mode and in that moment completely understood the gentler side Merina had access to—and had fallen for.

  “I can handle Eli,” Isa said.

  “I’ll bet.” Tag’s voice lilted.

  “I meant the workload,” Isa quickly corrected when Reese and Tag narrowed their eyes in interest. It was like they could see right through her. She reached for one of the bags of food i
n Reese’s hand. “Here, let me carry one.”

  “Leave her alone,” Rachel said, taking the bag instead. She elbowed Isa. “You should keep your arms free to greet Eli.”

  Those dimples appeared again. Isa would bet Rachel got away with murder with those things.

  After dinner, and clearing the table of takeout containers, the girls moved to the living room with glasses of wine while the men lingered in the kitchen, beers in hand.

  “You are missing out not getting to meet Alex Crane,” Merina said, elevating her wineglass. “It’s easier to understand where those three are coming from when you meet the cloth from which they were cut.”

  Rachel threw her head back and laughed and Isa smothered a smile. Eli, standing in the kitchen with his brothers, looked over his shoulder and held Isa’s gaze a moment before a small smile curved his lips. Isa’s heart tommy-gunned her rib cage.

  “Holy shit,” Merina said, keeping her voice down. “That was some serious eye-fucking.”

  Rachel laughed again. “I love you.”

  Merina and Rachel cheersed with their glasses. Isa felt a zing of satisfaction that someone other than herself had noticed the way Eli looked at her.

  “I presume the actual fucking is better.” Merina drained her wine and set the glass on the coffee table in front of her. She studied Isa, eyebrows raised, waiting on an answer.

  “Uh…”

  “This is Merina off the clock,” Rachel said. Then she frowned. “Though, I’m pretty sure this is Merina on the clock, too.”

  “I have no clock-in or clock-out time. It’s all the same to me.” Merina turned her attention to Isa and leaned one hand on the sofa, stretching closer, to say, “Crane men are difficult, but worth it if you’re willing to push.”

  “And pull,” Rachel added.

  Oh boy.

  “It’s a little soon…” They were the only four words Isa said before Merina held up both hands in surrender.

  “You’re right. I’m sorry. These things take time. I forget not everyone is married instantaneously, then work the hard stuff out after.”