Keeper (A Billionaire Romance)

by Belle Roberts

  We walked out, ignoring the perplexed looks of three women waiting to get in, and hurried out across the lobby and through the revolving doors and into the warm night where his large, sleek, black car was parked waiting.

  “For me?” I breathed, looking at him.

  He nodded.

  “You have my business card, Kate. Use it. I’m going to be in Hong Kong for a week but I want to see you when I return.”

  “Jonathan…”

  He put a finger to my lips, his eyes serious again.

  “Don’t say it. I get it. You’re complicated and sworn off men, but you haven’t met me properly yet.”

  “I just can’t…”

  He kissed the side of my mouth, lingering there momentarily before opening the car door and helping me inside.

  “James will take you anywhere you want to go,” he said.

  “Thank you for tonight, thank you for everything…” I began but he stopped me.

  “Don’t thank me Kate. I should be thanking you. Thank you for changing my perspective. Thank you for being real.”

  He closed the door and made a signal to the driver who looked back at me.

  “Where to, Miss?” he asked.

  I gave him my address and we pulled away from the entrance of the hotel slowly. I looked back out the window and watched as we drove further and further away from Jonathan who stood watching us. I wasn’t sure what it was that I felt, but I knew I was still treading on dangerous ground. Someone was going to get hurt and I was almost certain that person was going to be me.

  Jonathan

  I watched the car turn out onto the main road taking Kate away, and even a while after it had gone I remained outside in the warmth trying to make sense of everything that had just happened.

  At the start of the night, if anyone had asked me what I wanted in life I would have told them I wanted fortune and that was all. People had always asked for advice on how to make money and how to grow a company to success, and all I could tell them was not to settle down. Don’t get yourself a girlfriend, fiancé, or wife and certainly don’t have a family. I’d followed that mantra all of my adult life. I ate it, breathed it and slept it, but as soon as I saw Kate at the bar, all of that faded into obscurity.

  I wanted her.

  I wanted her all to myself, but I just didn’t understand in what capacity. She’d made it clear that she wasn’t looking for love or anyone remotely special in her life and I was okay with that. I wasn’t either… or was I?

  I went back inside and up to my empty suite, pouring myself another drink only this time something a little stronger as I stood by the window and looked out at the city lights.

  I thought back over my life since I’d started my company and back through the women that I’d been surrounded by, women I knew wanted me purely for my bank balance and offered everything they had on a platter. Life wasn’t a challenge anymore now that I could get whatever and whoever I wanted, but the thought that Kate had still left me despite everything had piqued my interest.

  I couldn’t stop thinking about her and thinking about what I couldn’t have. I didn’t know if I wanted her for all the right or wrong reasons—it was impossible to tell—but there was one thing I knew for certain.

  Kate was going to be mine. She just didn’t know it yet.

  Chapter Two

  Three Weeks Later

  Jonathan

  Silence descended over DavenCorp as I came out of the elevator, and Helen, my long-standing and gracious assistant, hurried over to me with a handful of letters as I walked to my office.

  “The Jackson group called and they need an ‘okay’ by tomorrow so they can go ahead.”

  “Fine. Okay.”

  “And there was a message overnight from Carolyn about the documents you requested…”

  “They’re on my desk ready for shipping.”

  “Also, the guys at Peterson and Co. want to reschedule the meeting tonight…”

  “Tonight?” I turned to her, disappointed. “I’ve been trying to meet with that bunch for a month now. Is it urgent or can I refuse the reschedule request?”

  She looked at me, slightly nervous, and I rested a hand on her shoulder for reassurance.

  “Unfortunately Jonathan, there was a death in the family. A traffic collision or something. The company’s closed for a few weeks during the mourning process…”

  “Oh shit! Okay, fine. Let’s reschedule for the last time, and I want their date in writing.”

  “Yes, absolutely!”

  I unlocked the door to my office before turning back to her.

  “Helen?”

  “Yes?” She was back by my side immediately, eyes open wide ready to receive my orders.

  “Has anyone else called the office? Anyone at all?”

  “No, they haven’t. Sorry,” she replied, slowly eying me suspiciously. “Should there be? Am I expecting a call?”

  “No, no. I was just wondering. Thank you. I’ll have my usual coffee a little later today.”

  She nodded and we parted ways.

  Back in the confines of my office, I pushed the slight hint of disappointment out of my mind and unlocked my desk drawer, pulling out the piece of paper that I’d been looking at for a week.

  James had written down her address, and even though she deserved her privacy I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had to do something.

  A taste of her, with a brief couch kiss and then fumble in the elevator, wasn’t enough to satisfy my craving for her. I wanted more. I wanted to hold her breasts as I slid in and out of her. I wanted to see her face as her orgasm rippled through her body. The orgasm that I so willingly wanted to give her. Everything about her had me up on edge, and even the thought of having sex with her drove me crazy. She had such an impact on me that I’d be damned if I’d let her go. No one had ever had that effect over me before. Ever. I couldn’t remember a time a woman had lingered on my mind a few weeks after we’d kissed. It wasn’t love, I knew that much, but I also knew that the connection I was experiencing was too strong just to ignore.

  The phone on my desk rang and I picked it up quickly, anticipation rising until Helen’s words fully sunk in.

  “Jonathan, there’s a woman downstairs saying she needs to see you? She said she hasn’t heard from you in a while and needs to ‘finish what was started’?”

  “Finish what was started?” I repeated and I thought back to the elevator ride down from my suite and Kate’s firm touch on my body before we were rudely interrupted.

  Without thinking, I allowed her to come up.

  The anticipation of sex in my office with Kate made me hard again and I straightened my suit, ready to stand when she came in.

  The door knocked and Helen walked in, but it wasn’t Kate behind her, in fact, it couldn’t have been further from the woman I’d been expecting to see, and almost instantly my member shrank back.

  “What the…?”

  Helen closed the door and we were left alone.

  “Jonathan, you haven’t returned any of my damn calls!” She snapped, instantly creating tension in the room.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, more annoyed than anything else.

  “What am I doing here? You say it like you’ve forgotten me or something?”

  She walked closer towards the desk, her finger extended out towards me.

  “I haven’t seen or heard from you in almost two months. Two months, Jonathan. Do you know what that kind of thing does to a woman?”

  “Yeah, I can pretty much see, thanks.” I said gesturing at her.

  “Oh please, right? We’ve got a comedian now have we?”

  I got out of my chair and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows that weaker men than me would have jumped out of rather than be bombarded by a woman scorned. I took the opportunity to look down at the city below, listening to the sound of Michelle behind me, her high-pitched angry voice grating through me like nails on a chalkboard. Was I really this bad in my
judgement of women? How could I not have anticipated that a two or three night stand with her would end up like this?

  “Are you even listening to me?” she demanded, pausing for air.

  I turned to her, trying my best to look as though I had been listening to and soaking in every word, but really deep down I hadn’t. She pursed her lips into a thin angry line and walked towards me.

  “You’re a piece of work, Jonathan,” she hissed, pointing her finger. “Is this how you treat women? You don’t think I have feelings? I thought we were serious. I’m supposed to be your girlfriend.”

  Her words hit me and I watched her, watched the anger in her eyes and the way her nostrils flared, and I was sure any minute now she was going to lift her hand and slap me around the face, but the truth was, I didn’t do labels and this was exactly why. I’d only had sex with her a few times over the course of a month, yet here she was standing in my office, hurling abuse at me as though I owed her a ring. She knew what she was getting into when she went into bed with me. She knew I didn’t want drama and I didn’t want to settle. She knew I wasn’t ever going to be the ‘boyfriend’ to anyone.

  “Aren’t you going to say anything?” she barked, her once pretty face that I remembered when we met, now twisted into an ugly frown. She’d been good in bed, and despite her over-crazed girlfriend persona that she’d unleashed on me I’d actually enjoyed having her around. I’d enjoyed our post sex conversation and the fact that at the end, she would leave happily. No complications, no disappointment and no erratic behavior… until now.

  “Listen, Michelle…”

  “Shelly!” she interrupted. “My name is and always has been Shelly!”

  Shit.

  “Sorry. Shelly, look, I thought we both agreed that it was just a bit of light fun? We had a good time, right? We knew it wasn’t going to be something permanent.”

  “You’re an asshole, Jonathan! A big billion-fucking-aire asshole with your fancy building and bimbos hanging off your cock, but look at you. You’re going to be alone for the rest of your life. If it was so good with me, why haven’t you been returning any of my calls, huh? On to the next one? Is that why? That’s what you do isn’t it? You move on when you start to really feel something. Always running away from being ordinary. Why didn’t you just end it with me?”

  “Because we never had anything in the first place!” I snapped, swiping several items off the desk in front of me in annoyance at her completely unnecessary attack. “Is that what you came here for? Is that what you wanted to hear? You and I never had anything!”

  She narrowed her eyes at me but remained speechless. She’d probably never expected me to be the sort of person to have an outburst like that, and I’d even surprised myself. I knew I should have stopped and taken several steps to calm down, but she’d gone too far and there was no one there to hold me back.

  “We’ve never been together. We’ve had fun, I’ve taken you to some amazing places, but we always knew this was fun. We enjoyed each other with no strings. What changed? What made you think you could change me?”

  We looked at each other in silence and momentarily I thought I saw hurt in her eyes. Damnit. I took a deep breath, holding my hands up.

  “You know, Shelly, I think we’ve both said enough. We’ve said what we needed to say. It’s not the right place for this discussion. I’ll have Helen call you a cab as I really don’t have time for this…”

  “You don’t have time?” she laughed and took another step forwards. “You know what, Jonathan? You’re not worth my time. I’m done. I can’t do this anymore. You treat every woman like shit and I have better respect for myself. That’s it! We’re over! This is over! Don’t ever call me again!”

  She turned, picked up her bag from the chair, and stormed out. I watched her go, confusion being replaced with relief as Helen crept in slowly and rushed to the floor to pick up all the things I’d knocked off.

  “What on earth just happened in here?” she asked.

  “Michelle… no, Shelly happened.”

  “The one from the spoken word evening? The one that Evan Jackson knows?”

  I nodded.

  “Yes, that one. I’m almost certain she’s been following me.”

  Helen laughed and stood up.

  “Shall I add her to the list?”

  I nodded. The list was a book of women that were banned from the office and women that were no goes for invites to company events due to their crazed outbursts and possessiveness.

  She put the papers back down on the desk in front of me.

  “I think you’re dating the wrong type of woman,” she said. “I know a few nice ladies at the church I attend. Perhaps I could introduce you to some? You know, blind dates?”

  I thought about it, thought about taking a carbon copy of Helen to bed, and the thought almost made me laugh. She wasn’t ‘taking out’ material. Not in a bad way, but in the way that to me she was like a warm sweater or blanket. She was comfortable and in no way sexy, which was why we worked so well together. She wasn’t ever going to be someone that distracted me from my work. I’d lost a few assistants in the same tone that Shelly had walked out on and I couldn’t risk it, not with my business.

  “Honestly Helen, I don’t think that would be anywhere near appropriate.”

  “Why not? They’re homemakers and they look after their men. They’d be loyal, dependable and fit in around your plans…”

  I threw my head back and laughed.

  “God, Helen! Are you describing your friends or a shoe? I don’t think they’d be able to keep up with me. Thanks, but I’ll have to turn down your extremely generous offer.”

  She laughed and shrugged.

  “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Us boring gals can actually turn out to be much more entertaining.”

  I watched her turn back towards the door and my mind switched to Kate as I remembered the paper with her address on it.

  The encounter with Shelly had reaffirmed my decision to stay away from any romantic involvement with women, especially those whose agenda was based solely around familiarizing themselves with my money. I needed, wanted, and craved sex, but the idea of emotional attachment with a woman who turned up at my office hurling abuse in front of everyone was almost not worth it.

  I wanted uncomplicated passion. I wanted to kiss every inch of a woman’s body hot and ravished between Egyptian cotton sheets and say goodbye without the pressure to call her for a couple of days if I didn’t want to.

  I wanted all of that, but I wanted it with Kate.

  “Helen!” I called just before she left the room.

  She turned on her heels, looking at me expectantly.

  “Yes?”

  “Since Peterson and Co. have cancelled for tonight, can you clear my afternoon please? I’m taking the rest of the day off.”

  “But…”

  “Can you have James meet me outside now?”

  “What about…?”

  “Tell them, tell everyone I’m not here. I won’t be back until tomorrow, you’ll have to hold the fort.”

  She looked slightly panicked, but if I didn’t think she could do it I wouldn’t have left her in charge. Understandably, it wasn’t the best time to leave her, but there were things I had to do and the more I thought about them, the more impatient I became.

  “Will you be on the end of the phone?” she asked, following me to the elevators. “I mean, if there’s a problem can I call you?”

  I nodded and stopped to look at her.

  “Helen, breathe. You can do it. Just man the phone. Call me if anything urgent arises, if not leave it on my desk. I’ll get it tomorrow.”

  “And…” The door slid open and she looked at it and then back at me. “What about the Jackson merger? You’re leaving the office at such a critical time. Evan said that…”

  “Evan’s a friend, Helen. He’ll be okay if I call him tomorrow.” I put my foot in the door to stop it from closing. “Just hold the fort. It
’s going to be okay, I promise.”

  James was standing by the car when I walked outside into the sun. He opened the door and I got inside after saying hello to a number of employees.

  “Where too, Sir?” he asked over his shoulder.

  “No business today. I need to see family.”

  “Your mother?”

  “Correct.”

  He pulled the car away from the curb and I sat back. I kept my family life personal and no one, not even Helen, knew how important my relationship to them was. It was a side of my life that I’d always kept private and as I sat in the back of the car weaving through the New York traffic to see my mother, I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that washed over me.

  Kate

  “Where am I supposed to go?”

  My roommate looked at me, her eyes almost pleading for me to take it better and not put up a fight, but how could I not? What kind of person would lay back and let someone force them to leave without protesting?

  “I lost my job Erin, and now you’re going to kick me out too?”

  “You’ll find another job and we need the room,” she said regretfully. “We didn’t plan this pregnancy, but it’s here and we need to prepare. We’d like to do up the nursery and…”

  “Save it, it’s fine.” I answered, my mind still trying to process the information. I didn’t have anywhere else to go or anyone else to turn to. I was going to end up on the streets with all my belongings if I didn’t think on my feet fast. It wouldn’t have been the first time, but I couldn’t go back, not when I felt that things had been picking up for me.

  “I’m sorry, okay?” she said, her hand over her barely-there bump. “I’m sure you could stay at the hotel for a few weeks until you find somewhere. I had a friend who did that once…”

  “Unbelievably expensive,” I retorted, panic making it’s way through my body. “It’s fine, it’s okay. I’ll find somewhere else. I mean, it really is that easy, right?”

  I got off the couch angrily and headed towards my room, throwing myself down onto the bed. It was always the same wherever I went, people always let me down and existing in a world where you had no one to depend on was always going to be hard, but in the city with no job, nowhere to live, and no security or family was torture.