His Property (Book Two) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance)

by Hannah Ford

  “And I have a lunch to eat,” Xavier said. “But unlike yourself, my guest is a friend, not someone I pay to spend time with me.”

  “I have a hard time believing anyone dines with you because they actually enjoy it,” Cullen said.

  “You’d be surprised,” Xavier quipped, but his eyes were focused entirely on Ivy.

  “I would indeed,” Cullen said, guiding Ivy away from Xavier Montrose and towards The Observatory.

  They crossed the sidewalk as a doorman nodded and opened the door for them. Once they were inside the restaurant, Ivy pulled away from him, and his hand drifted off her lower back.

  He turned towards her. “I need to speak with you,” he said, his jaw hardly moving. His eyes were piercing.

  “We’re late,” she replied.

  “The luncheon won’t start without me,” he said. He crossed his arms. “I don’t like what I just saw out there.”

  “And I don’t have time for the third degree.” She started walking down the long, ornate hallway towards what she assumed must be the luncheon. In the distance, she could hear the noise of people talking and restaurant sounds of plates and glasses, silverware clinking.

  “Ivy,” he said, and his voice was so commanding that she stopped in her tracks.

  “What?” she asked, refusing to look at him. He was like a vampire—if she met his gaze, she wasn’t sure she could resist his charm.

  “I need you to promise me you’ll stay away from Xavier Montrose.”

  “I don’t even know the guy.”

  “But he’s taken an interest to you. He’s interested in anything that I’m interested in.”

  “Cullen, I hate to say this—but not everything’s about you.” She finally turned and locked eyes with him. “He started talking to me before you ever showed up.”

  The CEO’s expression hardened. “You don’t know the man, Ivy, but I do. And I’m trying to warn you—“

  “I can take care of myself. I’m a big girl—despite what you seem to think.” She turned her head again quickly, flipping her hair as she walked away from him once more.

  “Don’t walk away from me,” he growled.

  “Don’t think of it as me walking away from you,” Ivy said over her shoulder. “I’m walking toward the luncheon, which was so important to you just a few minutes ago.” She couldn’t help but smirk at her own line as she continued down the hall.

  Cullen, she imagined, was left standing in place, shocked.

  The luncheon itself was relatively painless. Lucas had kindly saved a seat next to him in case she showed up, and the food was actually quite good.

  A bit frou-frou for her tastes, perhaps, but on the whole enjoyable.

  There must’ve been approximately one hundred of them in a large private room with tables and white linen tablecloths, a DJ booth playing hip music, and black tie waiters and waitresses moving from table to table taking orders and bringing food and drink.

  Cullen spoke in the beginning, standing in the center of the room with a microphone, making a few jokes before telling everyone how thrilled he was to bring them to The Observatory to celebrate all of their hard work, and to show his appreciation for the team, meaning everyone who worked with him on a daily basis.

  Ivy noticed that Cullen often would gaze in her direction when he was talking on the mic, to the point where she grew distinctly uncomfortable.

  Other people around the room appeared to be glancing over at her, as if they were also catching on to Cullen’s focus.

  But then again, maybe it was just her overactive imagination.

  Before dessert was brought to the tables, Ivy excused herself and left the private room to go to the bathroom.

  As she was walking down the hallway, she passed by the main dining room and saw Xavier Montrose eating lunch with a gorgeous raven-haired woman wearing a low-cut dress.

  He looked up and happened to catch Ivy walking past the doorway, and she saw his eyebrows rise in surprise, and then he was saying something to the woman, and getting to his feet, putting his napkin on the table.

  Ivy kept walking, not sure what was going to happen next—or what she even wanted to happen.

  But then Xavier was coming out of the main dining area, calling her name.

  She slowed down and turned to face him. “I think it’s very rude that you left your lunch with that beautiful girl to come and talk to me. I wouldn’t like it very much if I were in her position.”

  “It you were at the table with me, I would never leave your side,” he replied, his green eyes glimmering with a mixture of mischief and allure.

  “You’re very quick,” Ivy told him. “Too quick.”

  “That’s never been my problem,” he purred.

  She felt her cheeks flush yet again. “I’m—I’m afraid I need to get back to the luncheon soon.”

  “Because that silly bastard Sharpe’s going to whine about you leaving him alone for too long?” Xavier chuckled.

  “He’s not silly,” she whispered, somehow feeling defensive on Cullen’s behalf.

  “I see I’ve hit a nerve. So you like him, then?” He watched her closely.

  Ivy flinched at the notion that she still had feelings for Cullen Sharpe after the way he’d treated her.

  “No, I don’t like him, but he’s my CEO and he’s a brilliant man.”

  “Brilliant is one way of putting it,” Xavier joked, a wicked grin crossing his features. “But you don’t have romantic feelings for him?”

  She hesitated.

  “Forget I asked.” Xavier put out a hand. “I don’t care about that. Just say you’ll come to dinner with me tonight.”

  “You’re date’s right in the next room!”

  “She’s not a date, I told you. She’s just a friend.”

  “Somehow I doubt very much that you have female friends who look like her.”

  Xavier laughed easily. “I have lots of friends. But I don’t have you—and you’re the one I’m interested in seeing tonight. If you’ll give me a chance.” He waited for her answer, a patient but bemused expression on his handsome face.

  She sighed. If it wasn’t for Cullen Sharpe, she certainly wouldn’t have turned down a date with a man like Xavier. He was good looking, funny, confident and seemingly normal.

  It irked her tremendously that she was feeling guilty because of Cullen, when he’d already rejected her.

  None of her mixed emotions made sense, and that made her even more perturbed.

  “You know what? I’m going to say yes,” she said, determined not to let Cullen play any part in her decision.

  “Here’s my card,” he replied, producing a gorgeous business card with his name on it. “Call me later.” And then he turned and walked back into the main dining area, leaving her alone in the hallway.

  She found herself examining his business card closely.

  XAVIER MONTROSE, PRESIDENT

  VELLUM PHARMACEUTICALS

  Her eyes narrowed as she realized that the man who’d just asked her out on a date was clearly a direct competitor with Cullen Sharpe and Biomatrix Pharma.

  No wonder the two men hated each other.

  When she looked up again, she saw movement near the far end of the hallway. It was Cullen Sharpe, watching her from the entrance to the private room.

  “Unbelievable,” she muttered, shaking her head. She spun and continued walking towards the restrooms, her heart racing as she went.

  He saw us together. He knows Xavier Montrose gave me his card.

  Who cares if he knows? You don’t owe Cullen Sharpe anything.

  And yet, as much as she tried to tell herself that she owed Cullen no loyalty, something inside her continued to struggle with the idea that he’d seen her take Xavier’s card.

  She knew that Cullen would be right behind her now, catching up to her. Any moment his hand would fall on her shoulder and that deep voice of his would speak, telling her how disappointed he was in her behavior.

  But when she reached
the door to the restroom and turned around, there was nobody behind her.

  Nobody at all.

  About an hour later, Ivy was back at the office and at her desk, working and trying hard to pretend that everything was normal.

  I’m just a girl working a temp job, doing data entry and making a little money. That’s it. There doesn’t have to be anything else going on.

  But she knew that things had progressed far past that point. She wasn’t just some worker bee doing her job and going home, living a normal life. The CEO had taken an interest in her—a very particular interest.

  She could still remember what it felt like to strip naked in front of him, to know that his hungry, cool eyes were watching, examining her nude body as she let him control her every move.

  And then he’d ultimately turned her down, found her lacking.

  But he was still sending very mixed signals, wasn’t he?

  Ivy pulled Xavier Montrose’s business card out of her blazer pocket and stared at it yet again. She fingered the intricate logo that was swirling in the corner of the card, thinking about whether she was simply considering the man’s offer because she wanted to somehow get back at Cullen.

  Or was she genuinely intrigued by Cullen Sharpe’s rival?

  She wished she knew.

  Sighing, Ivy put the card away and got back to her data entry. She’d begun to find the work easy but tedious. Some temps had been let go for falling behind pace or making too many errors, but Ivy was fairly certain she was in no danger.

  She found the work to be, if anything, not challenging enough.

  Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she replayed, again and again, what had happened between her and Cullen Sharpe early that morning at his home.

  The feel of his hand on her naked body, his finger sliding deliciously between her legs, soaking her…

  Even now, she was getting excited all over again, despite trying to distract herself and think of anything but him.

  Damn him. I hate him. What he did to me was wrong.

  She took a deep breath and refocused.

  Do your work and stop thinking about Cullen. When you leave work, you’ll call Xavier Montrose. He was friendly, funny, didn’t take himself so seriously. He’s a much better romantic possibility—he put himself out there without demanding capitulation from you.

  That settled that.

  And then an intranet chat bubble popped up on her computer screen. The internal chat system of Biomatrix Pharma was something she knew existed only because Lucas had sent her one or two chats.

  None of the other temps had ever chatted with her, though Ivy had a feeling they were all communicating amongst themselves. They just didn’t like or trust her enough to include her in such activities.

  But now the little box popped up on her monitor, indicating that someone was sending her a message. When she saw the name inside the chat bubble, Ivy felt dizzy and breathless.

  CULLEN SHARPE: I told you to stay away from him.

  That was all it said. She waited for him to follow up, but after a minute, she realized he wasn’t going to expand on the sentiment.

  Her anxiety transformed into annoyance. Her fingers flew over the keys as she wrote back to him.

  IVY SPELLMAN: He’s nice. And it’s none of your business.

  There was a long pause, and Ivy smiled, imagining Cullen reading it and his head nearly exploding from her defiance.

  CULLEN SHARPE: I’ve made you my business. And he’s not nice.

  She frowned, her belly tightening, a chill running up her spine. Her fingers flew over the keys yet again.

  IVY SPELLMAN: You’re not nice, either. Who do you think you are telling me what to do or whom I can speak with?

  Now the responses from Cullen were coming faster, as were her return volleys. They went back and forth, back and forth, so fast she could hardly keep up.

  CULLEN SHARPE: I’m the one in charge.

  IVY SPELLMAN: At work. Nowhere else.

  CULLEN SHARPE: Everywhere. And someone needs to protect you.

  IVY SPELLMAN: You call what you do “protection?” Don’t make me laugh…

  CULLEN SHARPE: Xavier Montrose is the lowest of the low. You don’t have a clue what you’re getting yourself into. Also, your disobedience is getting tiresome.

  IVY SPELLMAN: Then stop trying to control me and you won’t have to deal with my “tiresome behavior” anymore. Simple.

  CULLEN SHARPE: You are being childish. But I understand, you’re confused.

  IVY SPELLMAN: I’m not confused. I’m annoyed. You’re completely controlling and crazy, and you want to drive me crazy too. I won’t let you do it.

  CULLEN SHARPE: I’m a very difficult man. And I won’t inflict that on you…but I also can’t allow you to be hurt by outside forces.

  IVY SPELLMAN: I forgot to add paranoid to your list of charming qualities.

  CULLEN SHARPE: If only I was paranoid. My concerns for you are all too real. You’re very special, very unique. There are people in this world who would twist you to their own ends.

  IVY SPELLMAN: Sounds familiar…

  CULLEN SHARPE: I know that I hurt you. Believe me, that’s the very last thing I want to do.

  IVY SPELLMAN: Could’ve fooled me. Now please let me get back to work so I don’t miss my targets and get fired for it.

  She waited for his inevitable response, but it never came. And though she wanted to feel a sense of pride, knowing she’d stuck up for herself and told the entitled CEO to go to hell—Ivy couldn’t escape the sense that she’d gone too far.

  Maybe you don’t actually want him to leave you alone. The lady doth protest too much.

  She closed the chat window, closing her eyes momentarily. Even then, she saw Cullen Sharpe in the darkness of her mind, and he was still watching her.

  Work was mercifully over, and Ivy was leaving the office for the day. Lucas caught up to her as she headed to the T station a few blocks away.

  “Are you as sick of reading those case report forms as I am?” he asked, as he came along side her as they left the building.

  The cool, fresh Boston air was a welcome relief.

  Ivy smiled, laughing, but her heart wasn’t in it. “Yeah, I’m sure this is nothing compared to how we’ll feel a few weeks from now.”

  “If we’re still even here,” Lucas said. “You know they’re just going to keep cutting until we’re down to like five people that type one hundred and forty words per minute.”

  Ivy laughed, shrugging. “I might not mind getting fired at this point.”

  “They’ll never fire you,” he said.

  She shot him a look. “Why not?” she said, feeling like he was judging her, just as the other temps had. “I’m not going to get any special treatment, Lucas.”

  “Are you sure about that, Ivy?” he replied, nodding ahead of them, his eyes suddenly locking on something just up ahead.

  She turned and followed Lucas’s gaze, and realized that there was a black sports car pulled up a few yards in front of them, idling. Standing outside the car, leaning against it with his arms folded, was none other than Cullen Sharpe.

  “Fuck,” she whispered.

  Lucas raised his eyebrows knowingly. “Guess that’s my cue to exit,” he said, walking faster. “Good luck.”

  “Lucas,” she called after him, feeling bad and embarrassed.

  Lucas just waved, but didn’t look back as he sped up and almost jogged down the sidewalk away from her.

  Ivy put her head down and started walking past the CEO, but his pull was magnetic, and she couldn’t help herself. At the last second, she looked at him. “You’re humiliating me in public now?”

  Cullen didn’t reply. Instead, he moved aside and opened the passenger door of the sports car. “Get in,” he said.

  “No,” she replied.

  “I didn’t ask.” He pointed inside the car.

  “I must be crazy,” she whispered, and then she moved past him and got inside. But not be
fore she brushed past his face, smelled his aftershave, the clean and masculine scent of him—and it sent her head spinning with so many confusing emotions she could barely tolerate it.

  The passenger seat of the car was soft, the leather all encompassing, and the car smelled brand new.

  Cullen shut the door and then came around the driver’s side and got in next to her.

  He pulled expertly out into traffic, maneuvering the touchy, sensitive car like it was part of his body. Everything Cullen Sharpe did, he seemed to do perfectly, Ivy thought.

  And she hated that about him, because like everything else he did, it made it difficult to think she knew better.

  Even when it came to herself.

  They were both quiet for a time, and then finally she broke the silence.

  “Why are you doing this?” she asked. She stared straight ahead, unable to look at him for fear of her need and desire showing in her eyes.

  Cullen replied softly. “I can’t help myself.”

  His words stirred something deep inside her, and she felt her need growing. “Maybe you should try harder,” she told him.

  “I need to watch over you,” he said. “I know that I’m no good for you, but I can still make sure you’re safe.”

  “Don’t patronize me,” she said, finally turning to look at him.

  He was watching the road. “I’m not patronizing you.”

  “Of course you are. Pretending that you rejected me because you don’t want to hurt me.”

  “I didn’t reject you, Ivy.” He laughed as if the idea was absurd.

  “Whatever you want to call it—you pretty much kicked me out of bed.”

  “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

  “Please stop trying to rewrite history,” Ivy said, her voice feeling strangled. “It’s insulting. Do you know how awful it was to make myself that vulnerable and then have you walk out of the room the way you did?”

  Cullen finally glanced at her, and his eyes were full of emotion. “Walking out of the room took all of my willpower,” he said. “You have no idea what I would do to you if…”