“It’s not funny!” she chided. “It was so embarrassing!”
They hit the streets of Manhattan and started their short walk three blocks to work. Upon entering the building, they each signed in and were given and ID badge and a large stack of paperwork to fill out. Once that was done, they were directed upstairs to a large conference room where they were going to meet their new bosses for the summer.
Excitement buzzed in the room as Brianna took in all of the new faces she’d be working with the next twelve weeks. There were chairs set up in the room for a presentation, complete with a podium at the front, and large screens and monitors on either side of the podium. Eleanor was helping herself to the free coffee while Kevin found two empty seats next to each other and shooed a man down a chair for the third seat.
“Thanks, Ellie.” She murmured as Eleanor handed her a steaming cup of coffee.
“Can you believe this, Bree? I can finally get out from under my stepfather’s thumb when I make this job permanent.” Eleanor gave a wistful sigh.
“I can get away and move on too.” She thought that she whispered to herself, but from the look Eleanor gave her, she’d heard.
“We all have a story.” Ellie gave another sigh and they headed for their seats.
The room quickly became crowded and people rushed to find seats as an overweight, balding man walked into the room flanked by two other older men. A younger, very beautiful, Latina woman rushed in behind them. For a moment, Brianna thought that she was an assistant, but when she took a seat in the center of the men, it became clear that she was equal to or more powerful than them in the company.
A hush fell over the crowd as the balding man stepped up to the podium. This was it. This was the hopeful new beginning to her new life. Her stomach was filled with butterflies and she was surprised and comforted when both Ellie and Kevin grabbed her hands in anticipation.
“Good morning, recruits. I am John Holt, director of Human Resources for KLS Global. Introduction from left to right is Paul Lancaster, head of Public Relations, Vanessa Gonzalez, corporate attorney and personal attorney to our CEO, Mr. Spence, and Brian Johnson, from our Board of Directors.” He said. Bree tried her best to memorize names and faces.
Everyone around her seemed to have a tablet out, taking notes, so she pulled out her phone and did the same. After ten minutes of talking about the company, it’s three founders, and the summer job program, Mr. Holt finally got to the good part as a line of people walked into the room from a set of doors close to the podium.
“Everyone will be working with a team in each division of this company. This year, our three founders, Gavin Kline, Thomas Lomax, and Andrew Spencer, who prefers to be called Spence, have each decided to take on one individual to personally mentor.” He said. The doors opened again, and Brianna’s heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. “And here they are now.”
“Oh holy hell!” Eleanor gasped. “That’s the guy from last night! The panty melter, as you called him.”
“I think my boxer briefs just got a little constricted.” Kevin added.
Brianna couldn’t breathe. This couldn’t be happening to her. Not again. Another billionaire mogul. Another corporate badass who probably had a girlfriend stashed somewhere. Another Lucian introduced to the crowd as Andrew Spencer.
Andrew’s eyes scan the crowd until they skimmed over her and then snapped back. When their eyes locked, a smoldering look crossed his face along with a small smirk that made her squirm in her chair. She had no idea why he turned her on so much with just a simple glance, but she was ready to storm the stage and take him in front of everyone in the crowd.
Her panties were now a puddle.
He leaned over and whispered something to Gavin Kline and then Thomas Lomax. They were staring at Brianna, Eleanor, and Kevin. God, they were going to pick them to be specially mentored. She was going to be working very closely to Andrew Spencer and the idea both frightened and excited her.
After a few minutes of short speeches from Lancaster, Gonzalez, and Johnson, everyone in the front of the room gathered in a small circle and started talking. Mr. Holt returned to the stage a couple of minutes later with a tablet in front of him. He started naming off names and directing people into groups for different departments.
She was pretty much shocked when her name was called to work for one of the executives who runs the money. Accounting, billing, bookkeeping. Ugh! She wasn’t at all happy about it, but she was grateful all the same. Her heart sank when she realized that she wouldn’t be working with Andrew, but she was also relieved. She didn’t know if she could handle that kind of pressure mixed with the inevitable sexual tension.
When the meeting was over everyone headed off to their separate departments. Brianna made plans with Eleanor and Kevin to have drinks on their way home to celebrate their first day. It was already hard enough for her to stand on her own two feet and the world around her was spinning from the moment she jumped out of Andrew’s bed earlier, but coming down from a hangover took a little more alcohol sometimes. Hopefully she would be able to function better the rest of the week.
Her boss was a woman named Regina Houston who was a little mean and standoffish. The first thing the woman did was look her up and down and assign her to a cubicle until further notice. She knew what that meant right away. She was immediately disliked and she was going to be Regina’s punching bag for the summer.
And if things couldn’t get worse, at the end of the day she saw Andrew and Vanessa Gonzalez walking together with her arm looped through his. He said something to her and she was laughing as they climbed into the same car together.
“Well, there goes our bet.” She murmured as she waited for Kevin and Eleanor to meet her in the lobby.
“Ready to go?” Kevin asked, putting an arm around her shoulder.
“Champagne, a couple of drinks, then dinner, and bed before eleven.” Eleanor came up behind them. She looked exhausted, but still wore an almost perky grin. “My boss is a pig.” She stage whispered.
“Let’s go before Little Miss Sunshine gets us all fired.” Kevin put his arm around both of their waists and led them through the door.
They were halfway down the block when Brianna received two texts.
You did good dropping that rich asshole. You owe me a conversation, Bree. We need to talk about what happened and how you’re going to make amends with me.
“Fucking James.” She murmured, suddenly afraid. Then she read the next one.
We need to talk. I’m coming to NY.
“Fucking Lucian.” She murmured again.
“Girl, you look like you need something stronger than champagne.” Eleanor observed as they walked into the restaurant.
“Yes. Hell yes.” She said.
Alcohol. She needed alcohol.
Eighteen
She’d been in New York for three fucking weeks and she hadn’t even attempted to get in contact with him. She avoided his texts and calls and he’d been out there twice trying to talk to her, but she wouldn’t even meet him in the lobby of his hotel just to talk. He was becoming more and more frustrated with the situation.
He was also engaged.
It’s not that he didn’t love Samantha. He loved her a lot. He wanted her in his life. But he just couldn’t get Brianna out of his head. She was having his child and she wouldn’t even talk to him. It was becoming an obsession. He just wanted a taste of her, and now he was going through withdraws. She’d quickly become an addiction. She was bad for him. She didn’t fit into his life, but she was pregnant and he couldn’t help but to wonder if I was a sign.
“Lucian!” Kelsey answered the door and threw her arms around him.
“Hey Lucian.” Amira gave him a sweet smile. Her smile faltered when she saw Samantha behind him.
“I need to talk to you alone.” He told Kelsey and ushered her toward the back of the apartment.
When they entered her bedroom, he closed the door and locked it. He definitely didn’t wan
t Samantha walking in on this. He placed her iPod into the docking station and started playing music, then he spoke softly to his sister.
“Have you heard from Brianna?” he asked.
Kelsey eyeballed him suspiciously, but nodded. “Yeah. We made plans for dinner next weekend. Why?”
“Don’t get pissed. As a matter of fact, don’t react at all to this.” He warned her.
“Okay.” She sat in her chair and stared up at him with her big baby blue eyes and innocent little face. “Lay it on me, big bro. What’s going on between you two? I’ve noticed something’s amiss since the day after I got back from Mexico.”
He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced around the room nervously before letting out a long breath. “I got her pregnant.” He said.
“What!” Kelsey screamed and jumped out of the chair.
“It’s a long story, Kels.” He told her.
“Obviously.” She frowned.
It took her a moment to calm down enough to be rational. It was hard not to hug her when she was so obviously excited to be an aunt, since she was jumping up and down singing, “I’m going to have a new niece or nephew to spoil.”
“She won’t talk to me. She won’t include me. She’s pushed me out.” He sighed.
“Because of Sam.” It wasn’t a question, but he nodded anyway. “Tell me the whole story, minus the sex. I don’t need to hear about how this baby was conceived. Just the story around it. And what about Sam? Does she know?”
“Sam doesn’t know.” He said.
“She’s going to kill you! And Bree!” she gasped. “What are you going to do? Are you going to go for rights or just send her money? Oh God! Do you think she did it just for the money? I never took her as a gold digger. I mean, she seems genuinely mad at you…..”
Kelsey was babbling. That meant she was just as nervous as he was. And he loved her for how much she cared, he just didn’t have time for it.
“Kels, sweetheart, I need your help.” He said. She glanced up at him and nodded. “I need you to not tell her that I’m coming to dinner with you next weekend. As a matter of fact, avoid her until then. I don’t need you spilling that you know anything about this.”
“Fine.” She pouted. “But I’m so going baby shopping tomorrow.”
He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. He couldn’t wait to buy things for this baby. His baby. His first born.
“You like her, don’t you?” Kelsey asked.
“I do.” He admitted.
“But you’re still going to marry Sam.” She frowned.
“I love Sam.” He said.
“How long have you been seeing Bree behind her back?” she asked, making him cringe a little.
“I paid her twenty five thousand dollars to spend the week with me.” He told her. He watched the shock spread over her until her eyes looked like they were going to bulge from her head. “It was a challenge, and you know that I never back down from a challenge. She didn’t think I would pay her that much. And she still hasn’t cashed the check. I don’t understand.”
“It means she’s really pissed at something you did, probably this thing with Sam, and she wants nothing to do with you.” She said. “I haven’t seen anything different about her lately. We had lunch a few days ago and she was perfectly the same. Maybe she’s so pissed at you that she had an abortion.”
The thought literally made his knees weak. He flopped down on her bed and put his hands through his thick dark hair.
“It was only supposed to be one night. Then two. Then a week. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I don’t want to hurt Sam, but during my week with Brianna, sparks flew. I didn’t…. There wasn’t a lot of time spent together, but there were definitely sparks.” He sighed.
“Sparks lead to fire, and fire is dangerous.” Kelsey interjected.
“Fire is also hot…. Sexy.” He mused.
“Eww! So didn’t need to hear that!” She snorted and threw a pillow at him. They laughed for a moment, and then she suddenly got serious. “You have to make a decision, Lucian. And no matter what, that child has to come first.”
He nodded again and stood up. He knew that he’d chosen Samantha. That wasn’t going to change. He just needed to corner Brianna alone and straighten things out with her. After that, he was done.
Nineteen
Three weeks she’d been working at KLS Global, and it was a fucking nightmare. Ms. Houston was a goddamn slave driver and an all-around bitch. The only saving grace about Brianna’s time in New York was Eleanor and Kevin, and her time with Kelsey. Despite Amira tagging along, she was having a great time with her friends. They were all becoming close really fast and she knew that she was going to miss them like crazy when their time in the city was over.
They spent almost every night checking out different bars, but at least once a week, Kevin would drag them back to Flannigan’s, the bar that they’d originally started in. The one where she’d met Andrew Spencer. The same Andrew Spencer that was now acting like he didn’t know her, but she’d catch him on her floor talking to Ms. Houston and eye fucking her at the same time.
Today was no different. He was talking to Ms. Houston but this time he seemed really pissed off about something, which in turn made her boss start yelling at her out of all the people working in the office. Then, she did something strange.
“I’m not explaining shit to that asshole anymore. Ms. Michaels, you take this report up to the top floor and don’t put it in anyone’s hands except either Mr. Spencer or Mr. Kline. Lomax could give less of a shit about this stuff.”
Her heart was racing as she accepted the heavy binder from Regina and headed for the elevators. She definitely didn’t want to see Andrew, so she’d head for Gavin Kline’s office. And that’s where she was headed as soon as the elevator stopped. She stepped off and gasped.
It was really plain on the top floor. Too much silver on the walls, one small couch off to the side, framed my Manhattan’s skyline, and a single receptionist desk with a name plate that read Tianna. Brianna stepped forward and the pretty blonde woman sitting at the desk looked up and smiled.
“Ms. Houston already announced your arrival, Ms. Michaels. Mr. Spencer is in a meeting, but Mr. Kline is waiting for you in his office. Just go through those doors and follow the hall.” Tianna said.
“Thank you.” She nodded and headed for the doors. Tianna buzzed her inside.
She walked along the long corridor, checking out the names on all of the doors. On one side were the names of the owners and on the other side, their personal assistants. She walked until she found Mr. Kline’s office. She knocked gently on the door and waited for him to open it. She heard laughter coming from one of the other offices before Mr. Kline opened the door.
Holy Batman was the man sexy as hell. It was like God decided that all young billionaires suddenly had a sexy quota to fill. He reminded her of the late actor, Paul Walker, with his curly blonde hair, baby blue eyes, sexy form, and full lips. She had to blink three times before her lips could form words.
“Ms. Houston asked me to give this to you.” She said.
He gave her a deadly serious glare before he took the binder from her. She was ready to turn and walk away until his words stopped her in her tracks.
“Come in, Ms. Michaels.” He commanded. His voice was like silk and it made something in her stomach skitter.
She stepped into his office and he shut the door behind her. The room was kind of on the dark side because the windows were tinted. He had a long, heavy wooden desk in front of the windows, a row of bookshelves on one of the walls, and a leather sofa with a painting of himself hanging above it on another wall. She was looking for a place to sit in front of his desk, but remembered the rumor she’d heard about how if you were in his office, he preferred you to stand so that he could assess you.
And that’s what he was doing to her. He didn’t even open the binder. He just put it on his desk and focused his attention on her.
“T
ell me. Where are you from?” he asked.
“Colorado.” She told him.
“So you’re the Colorado girl. Impressive application.” He commented.
“Thank you, sir.” She responded. She watched him reach into his pocket and pull out a cigar and light it. He took two puffs before settling it between his fingers and staring at her.
“You’re a very attractive young woman. And there’s a lot of buzz about you and a few others going around the office.” He said. She swallowed hard, wondering if he was going to ask for sexual favors in order to keep her job. Would she even do it? She’d been Lucian’s whore for a week and the ending was unbearable.
“Thank you?” she didn’t know if it were a compliment or what.
“Young, attractive girls are usually just gold diggers, looking for a rich man to help them up, but you’re a hard worker and you’re trying to do this with your head down.” He said. “I like that. Most of the women get into this company and start throwing themselves at the executives right away, but not you. And I admire that. I have my eye on you, Ms. Michaels, and so does Lomax and Spencer. Keep it up.”
With that, he waved her out of his office. She couldn’t believe the grin that was on her face. He was hot as hell, and he’d complimented her on her hard work and not just her body, even though he’d admitted that she was attractive. She was actually blushing and smiling when Andrew’s door opened and Vanessa Gonzalez stepped out with a sensual grin. Andrew stood in the doorway, ending his conversation with her. She gave him a sexy smile and stepped away, almost running into her.
She stepped out of the way and started for the doors to the reception office, but her name stopped her.
“Brianna.” Andrew said, making her turn around. Vanessa turned around as well, and for the first time in three weeks, she gave her an appraising look before she wrinkled her pretty nose and walked away. “What are you doing up here?” he asked.
She blushed again and he tilted his head, staring at her.
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