A Study Of Love
A Billionaire Romance
AMY SANDERLIN
Copyright © 2018
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Description
A university student has a research for which she is assigned to work closely with a billionaire. The two hate each other at first but slowly warm up to each other.
Beverly Jameson can do without the constant advertising of her university’s poster child, James Anderson. She hates the sight of him but when she is forced to go to a seminar where he is speaking; she can’t help but be captivated by him. His manner of speaking catches her instantly and she eagerly goes to work for him except he turns out to be exactly what she thought he would be and more. Regardless as the two begin to build an uneasy truce with each other, can Beverly control the feelings that seem to grow or will the two remain professional until the end?"
Table of Content
Copyright © 2018
Description
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
About The Author
Second Chance
The Investor
A Night with the Wolves
Chapter 1
“Are you listening to me?”
Beverly Jameson looked up from her lap where she had played with a paperweight. Her eyes focused on her adviser, Professor Kieran Williams, who was looking at her with disapproval through his blue eyes. She sides and put the paperweight back on the small table beside her.
“Of course.”
That was a bare-faced lie. Beverly hadn’t listened to a word that Professor Kieran had told her. She had been more engrossed with the texture of the paperweight, but that wasn’t because she was easily distracted, it was because she had heard everything that Professor Kieran had to say a dozen times already and she had no intention of listening to him.
“I keep telling you Beverly,” Professor Kieran said with an exasperated sigh. “You have to start working on this project, or you are going to be in trouble. You have been delaying your project for a semester already.”
“I am telling you, I’ll work on it when I find a suitable person,” she responded.
“You already have a suitable person. One who is connected to the university and wouldn’t mind having a student around him so that she can conduct her research.”
Beverly pretended that she didn’t hear him and said, “I can’t do anything without finding a suitable person.”
Professor Kieran sighed again in frustration. “You are going to have to tell me what problem you have with James Anderson because I can’t find anything that could be a problem.”
“It’s nothing,” Beverly muttered. “Nothing that’s any of your business.”
Professor Kieran rolled his eyes at her and settled back into his chair, pulling his stack of papers towards him. She was lucky that Professor Kieran was one of the nicer professors in the university or she would be on her way to being committed to disciplinary action.
“Regardless of whether it’s any of my business or not, he is hosting a seminar in the afternoon. You should go check it out. Maybe that’ll convince you that he is good enough for your research.”
Beverly was about to respond in the negative when Professor Kieran fixed her with a sharp look.
“If you do not complete it within this semester, I cannot stop the higher-ups from taking action. It is imperative that you finish it.”
“Fine,” Beverly huffed, getting up. “I am going to go to this seminar, but I will not guarantee that I’ll take on James Anderson.”
Professor Kieran laughed. “Unfortunately, you do not have any say in taking on James Anderson. It’s more so if he’ll take you on.”
Beverly glared at Professor Kieran and then turned to walk out of the room as Professor Kieran snickered behind her. Outside his office, she sighed deeply, pondering over his words. Everything she had said inside had not been evidence of her bravado, James Anderson was the last person that she wanted to take on as the subject for her senior project.
It wasn’t that Beverly hated the person, or maybe that was the case. She had never interacted with James Anderson, but she had seen enough of his posters hung around the university not to like him. He was the poster child for the university, having graduated years ago and then gone onto from his pharmaceutical company. The company took off immediately, and he was now the star billionaire that the university wouldn’t stop bragging about.
Even now, as she walked along the hallway, she could spot the seminar poster with James Anderson’s smiling face on it. She frowned at the image, taking in the handsome face and then turned around, muttering under her breath. Kieran was right in one aspect, he was a good subject for her senior project which was geared towards finding out the relation between medicine and business, but she didn’t want to do it under someone like him. Even though Beverly had never met the man, she had formulated her version in her head, and she was sticking to it.
The James Anderson in her head was rude and inconsiderate, with hints of snobbishness. She refused to believe that a person like him could be good. A part of her did berate herself for making such an assumption without having met the person or even attending one of his seminars, but she was sticking with it.
Beverly was about to leave the poster behind, but she stopped in her steps and turned back as Professor Kieran’s words ran through her mind again. She did technically promise him that she was going to attend the seminar.
I’ll attend, she told herself. And then leave within ten minutes.
Feeling happier about her decision, she left the poster behind so that she could go home to freshen up.
Chapter 2
The loud music was distracting.
Beverly glared at the wall, wishing that her neighbor would stop the music but as the rock music continued to blast, she went back to ignoring it and checking herself in the mirror. The seminar was in fifteen minutes, and she had yet to leave her apartment. It didn’t matter; she lived near the university, so it wasn’t a concern for her.
For now, she focused on her reflection, touching her light brown hair and smoothing it down so that it reached her shoulders. She touched her cheeks, brushing away any signs of the light makeup she had applied and did the last check-over. Her dark eyes shone, and her face looked fine. That was how she always summarized herself. She looked fine.
“Either way, it was good enough to attend a seminar,” she thought while she picked up her bag and walked out of her bedroom. Her small apartment was a mess, as always. She had been so in her studies that she had forgotten to clean up and the sight of her sprawled clothes made her nose wrinkle.
However, there was no time for that so she left it behind, telling herself that she would clear up later even though she would do nothing of that sort. As she walked to the university, she made a checklist in her mind for things that she had to do. She had to buy groceries for dinner and think of other potential subjects for her research. It sufficed to say that James Anderson was the farthest thing from her mind.
It was clear to her that she had wasted too much time at home because it was hard for her to find a seat. She had underestimated the power of James Anderson because the front row was jam-packed with students and she had to resort herself to the furthest seat in the back of the gallery. That didn’t make her very
happy, but “it would easier to leave,”.she consoled herself.
As she waited for the speaker to arrive, she started to reconsider her biases. Maybe she was unfair. It wouldn’t be right for her to be sorely against the man and so she decided that she would judge the seminar fairly. Just as she noticed that there was an increase of chattering, she spotted the speakers entering. Her eyes naturally found James Anderson, and she was taken aback by the way her heart skipped. He was more handsome than his images with his messy brown hair and the wide smile. His eyes were a light shade of green, and as he sat down, she watched his white t-shirt clinging to his body.
Her eyes widened, and she swallowed nervously as the seminar started. Beverly was already starting to feel that she had somehow gotten herself into something she shouldn’t have. The introductions ended and finally, James Anderson came up to speak.
The moment he opened his mouth, she reconsidered every single one of her biases. She was wrong in every aspect. He was funny, charming and friendly all throughout the talk. There was an ease in his body language, and he captured everyone, including her. Her previous objective, to leave after five minutes, disappeared into smoke as the seminar went on and too soon, it was over, and they were giving their goodbye address.
As soon as it was done, the front row listeners went to claim James Anderson’s attention while she remained seated, wondering why on earth she hadn’t started working early. She cursed herself and got up, walking down with one thought in mind. She had to start working immediately.
The first thing she did after exiting the gallery was to run towards Professor Kieran’s office. He was inside when she walked in, wide-eyed and breathing heavily, the only thing he said was,
“You start working on next week.”
Chapter 3
Beverly hated being late.
It was her pet peeve. She could compensate herself for five minutes but being ten minutes late to a meeting was unacceptable. She had spent too much time in trying to dress up. She had gone through an aneurysm trying to dress in the morning, finally having settled on a white t-shirt and black pants with her hair back in a portal. To her, that was the perfect mix of casual and professionalism.
Unfortunately, it had wasted many precious minutes, and she cursed herself as she caught a cab to get to the headquarters of the Anderson office. Professor Kieran had secured an interview with James Anderson where the two of them would flesh out how she was to continue with her work in the following days.
As the cab moved, she couldn’t help the small fissure of excitement inside of her. It was exciting to think that she was going to be working with Anderson. It wasn’t as if she was suddenly one of his fan-girls, but his way of speaking and charm had caught her attention, so she was ready to work with him,
The cab stopped in front of the office, and as she alighted, she admired the large looming structure. It was sleek and modern and almost intimidating. She snapped out of the reverie, realizing that she was wasting more time and rushed inside, meeting the receptionist and telling her that she was here to meet Mr. Anderson.
The receptionist gave her a smile, a cool smile, and indicated that she sit down. Beverly did so, and a few minutes later she was given instructions to reach his office. That was when she got her look into how the office operated as it took her five minutes to catch an elevator amid the rush of office workers and the ride up was longer than she anticipated. It bred more time for her thoughts, but she tried to keep herself calm.
Mr. Anderson’s office was all the way to the top. She was surprised to see that it only had one office instead of the row of cubicles and rooms that she expected to see. Another receptionist greeted her and without a word, ushered her through the double-sided doors.
Beyond the doors was a scene that she wasn’t expecting. To her right were large windows that showed off the view outside and let the natural lighting illuminate everything. Before she could check it further, a cough brought her back to the main person sitting in front of her.
James Anderson looked even more arresting than before with a blue shirt which was unbuttoned to give a tease of his chest. She walked over to sit in across from him, and as she did so, he leaned forward, making her heart race.
“You are fifteen minutes late,” he said.
That snapped the delusion, and she was brought back to Earth by his words.
“Yes, I had a bit of a problem catching an elevator,” she said.
“Not an excuse,” he said, standing up. “I expect my appointments to be on time.”
“I apologize,” she said stiffly.
“Make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said coldly.
Beverly curled her hands into fists under the table and glared at him. She had been right before, he was probably not the person that he reflected in seminars, and she cursed herself for having fallen for it so easily.
“So you want access to my labs and some data from me for your project?” he said.
“Yeah, so my project is…”
“I don’t need to know about your project. Professor Kieran already sent me everything,” he said shortly.
She closed her mouth and stared at him with disbelief.
“I am a very busy person so you’ll have to schedule meetings with me a bit later than you are used to,” he said. “As for the lab, you can go anytime you need to. Just consult with Gloria, my assistant.”
“How late?” she asked.
“After five,” he said.
Beverly swallowed down her retort. After five? That was inhumane! That late?! Regardless, she let him continue as he laid down the rules for her. She wanted to quit. Even though she was indulging herself in a dramatic imagination where she was told him to stuff it, she knew that she was trapped because she had already submitted all the paperwork that she needed for the project.
He knew that, the bastard. No wonder he was so standoffs and rude.
“I think that should be it. Our first meeting will be at five tomorrow,” Anderson said, standing up.
Beverly nodded stiffly. She was about to leave when she noticed his raised hand. With sudden shyness, she slipped her hand in, and the first touch of skin made her heart go haywire. She looked up to meet his eyes, which were boring into her own.
For a long moment, the two of them stared at each other with their hands midair in front of them, and then they backed away.
“Goodbye,” she said breathlessly and walked out without a glance back.
She had to calm herself as she exited and forced a smile at Gloria, the assistant. What was that? Why was her heart now going crazy?
Control yourself, she told herself. You have to get through the next couple of months, so don’t fall for him or something.
Little did she know that she had already sealed her fate by that statement.
Chapter 4
To her consolation, everything seemed to proceed smoothly.
But that was likely because she didn’t have to deal with him herself. Throughout the next two weeks, she kept herself busy in the company’s where she was allowed access to the scientists and the opportunity to ask them everything that she needed to know. It was perfect for her.
If she had to tell herself honestly, she didn’t even need his advice, but that didn’t stop her from asking Gloria about his schedule so that she could come and discuss everything with him. Finally, on the third week, Gloria told her that he was available and so she rushed to the office, ten minutes before five so that she could be on time.
When she walked in, he didn’t address her but only gestured that she sit down. She was about to say something but noticed that he looked worn out and tried. Regardless of how he had behaved with her last time, she wasn’t the kind of person to impose on someone, so she said in a quiet voice,
“Should I leave?”
“Why would you do that?” he snapped.
“You seem tired,” she said. “Its fine, the meeting can wait.”
“Is this another ploy?” he snapped.
“I am sorry?” she said shocked.
“Isn’t that what all the girls do?” he said, his voice agitated.
“Pretend to care so that they can get closer to me?”
That pricked her. Beverly had her pride, and she would never resort to such cheap ways, despite how attractive the person was and so she stood up, glaring at him as she did so.
“If that is your impression of me, you are sorely mistaken. I am not the kind of person to impose on someone or try to impress someone with cheap ploys. I’ll see myself out.”
She stalked away from him, fully intent on calling Professor Kieran and canceling the project, her grades be damned, but James called out,
“Wait.”
She turned back to see that his face had relaxed to the one that had attracted her.
“I am sorry,” he said. “It’s just, a lot of the girls from the university come to research with me but they always end up hitting on me, so I am cautious about it. I thought you were one of them too, but I was wrong.”
“Yes, you were,” she huffed.
He smiled a little and it made her melt.
“How about we move on from this?” James said. “Let’s have another introduction. My name is James Anderson, I am the owner of Anderson Enterprises, and I am honored to help you with your project. Please call me James.”
“My name is Beverly,” she said, smiling. “I am happy that you took me on.”
“Great, I’ll call Gloria for some coffee and then we can sit down.”
“I don’t take coffee,” she said. “So you can order one for yourself.”
“Sure.”
He smiled again, and she felt her heart race. This wasn’t going to be great for her.
James kept his word.
He was on his best behavior, and the two of them formed a steady friendship as they continued to work together. He was helpful, and despite his busy schedule, he made a plan for the two of them to meet three times a week which was more than enough for her. Beverly couldn’t help but admire his drive, and she noticed that she was becoming more and more aware of him as the time went by. Especially when he pulled off touching stunts as he did with her reluctance to drink coffee.
A Study Of Love_A Billionaire Love Romance Page 1