by Ashlee Price
“She isn’t a bimbo, Brandon.”
“Oh, so what was she, Drake? Did you find you another college girl to make you feel young again?”
I kind of frowned and thought about why he would say that. It was apparently not the first time I had made a mistake like that, but that was before. That was before Erin… I stopped and thought about what had just run through my mind. Why was I still thinking about her like she was permanently in my blood? I had known when Brandon called to pull me away from her this morning that I was not prepared to give her up yet. One time was just not going to be enough with Erin.
“It isn’t like that, Brandon. So what are we talking about?” I wanted to talk about anything but what we were currently discussing. I didn’t know why he was so interested or why I was so defensive, but I didn’t want to talk about Erin like that. She was different, and I wasn’t going to explain myself.
“We are talking about that museum. I’m going to have everything ready for signature in a couple of days, and I wanted to make sure that the details are what you wanted. I know how you are about the contract, so I figured going over it now would help out for later. If you don’t like something, all you have to do is let me know and I will take care of it.”
I raised an eyebrow and told him that he was being too helpful. “Why are you so eager to get this deal signed?”
He shrugged and then sat back at the bar. It was too early to be drinking, but ‘too early’ didn’t seem to be a time on Brandon’s clock, and he had already drunk two beers while we had been there. “I’m ready for a vacation and I need the funds. This deal will give me a big chunk of change.”
I just shook my head. I don’t know what he did with his part of the money, but I had a good feeling that a lot of it went to booze and women.
“It will be signed, Brandon. Get the details right and there will be no problem.” My mind went to Erin and I wondered if that was true. I had made her a deal, one that I had no intention of following through with, and now, after the night we’d had together, I was starting to really regret that dishonesty. I was not supposed to want her, but I did. There were a lot of things that were supposed to be happening, but at the end of the day, I wanted to keep her. The museum wouldn’t be sold for a little while longer, but soon she would know the truth. I was going to have to make the most of the time we had together and somehow make her need me so much that she would be able to forgive me for the lies.
Brandon knew something was up, and he wanted more details about the woman who’d made me look how I apparently did. I didn’t tell him much, but I liked that he had noticed the difference. Erin had to be different because what I felt was so different from anything before. I was starting to think that I was falling for her.
***
The contract was in front of me and it had mine, Brandon’s and two other signatures on it. The deal had been struck, and even though everyone else was celebrating the achievement, I didn’t feel like celebrating anything. What I felt like doing was getting out of there. What the contract meant to me was not a little more money in the pot. It meant that my time with Erin was quickly coming to an end, and I knew that I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready to be done with her. I needed more time, and now I didn’t have any more. As much as I hated to even think about it, I knew that I was going to have to tell her soon. I wanted her to hear about it from me rather than learning about it somewhere else.
I picked up the phone to talk to her, but I was already hanging up before she answered. I just couldn’t figure out what to say. After a time I realized that it wasn’t something that I was going to be able to do over the phone anyways. I didn’t know how she was going to take it, but I knew that if I had my hands on her and was able to kiss her, she would come around. Erin would see that she didn’t need that job anymore, and she would see that I didn’t have a choice. It was just business, after all.
As I was getting my briefcase packed for a little work when I got home, I saw Mary coming in. It had been a little strained around her since I’d turned down her sexual advances, and it was again a day that I didn’t want to deal with her. The blonde hair reminded me too much of Erin, and too much about the time when I’d had everything I wanted. Now was not that time.
“So how did everything go?”
I thought of the last night with Erin and how well it had gone. It took a minute for me to remember that she was more likely talking about the contract. It was a big one, and everyone was counting on the bonuses that would be derived from it. There was always something more for her, though. She always wanted something more from me, and I knew then that this was no different.
“I just met with Brandon and got everything signed and ironed out. It will be a good quarterly bonus.”
She smiled and shook her head. For a moment I wasn’t sure what ill I had seen in her. I didn’t see it now. All I saw was a woman who I used to like, who just wasn’t enough anymore.
“I’m just happy that you got what you wanted. I know how you get when something is a bit too challenging.”
Her words were accompanied with a look that I had to look away from. I didn’t want her anymore. Instead I sent her ahead to see about making sure everything was in place with the PR for the new club. That was her job, after all, and the reminder seemed to get her into gear. At least it got her out of my office. I got a funny feeling about her, but I didn’t have anything else to go off of than a feeling in my gut.
Chapter 7 – Mary Whethers
I left Drake’s office and I was steaming. It was almost as bad as before when I had literally fallen at his feet and he couldn’t appreciate the gesture. Instead I was ordered to run around and do more for him. I was supposed to make sure that everything went smoothly with the second club, but I was not focused. I was more focused on the blonde that I’d seen Drake kissing before. That image was burned into my memory, and now that he was turning me down, I had to think that there was something going on.
Drake didn’t seem in the mood to talk, so instead of embarrassing myself I just decided to do what he wanted. I didn’t see what the big deal was with the museum. It was too small, as far as I was concerned, but he was convinced that it was the perfect place. He had spent more time on this deal than anything else in a long time. What was the big attraction?
When I pulled up to the parking place in the back, the front of the building was packed with cars. Ever since the museum had been sold there had been more activity there than usual. I thought it was an effort to try to keep it open, but little did they know: Drake never backed down when it came to business.
I tried to find the owner, the one who needed a copy of the contract delivered to him. All I had was the name of Bishop and it took several tries to find someone who knew what I was talking about. I was directed to the curator, and I was more than a little surprised to see that I recognized the young blonde. She looked different than the last time I had seen her, but I was sure when we shook hands that it was her from the club.
“Hi, I’m here to leave some contracts for the buy-out. I was looking for Bishop. Is he in?”
Erin shook her head that he wasn’t and reached out to take the paperwork for her boss. I handed it to her. I could tell that she wanted to read what was inside of it. The curiosity might not be fulfilled, but she was certainly thinking about it.
“You guys must be really devastated about the closure, huh?”
“It was quite a shock, but I have a feeling that the new owners will see how great the place is and want to keep it intact.”
I kind of snorted before I pulled it together. The young woman was so naïve that she really seemed to believe it. I didn’t know if I should be envious or happy that I no longer thought things could all just work out and everything would be okay.
“I don’t think that will happen. This is to be the second location for the club. Drake sent me down here personally to meet with Rose Woods and get the PR campaign just right.”
I could tell that Erin did not like w
hat I was saying. She had seemed rather convinced that everything was going to work out, and I wondered if Drake had made promises to her. As her face fell a little more with every word I said, I started to think that was exactly what was going on.
“Drake sent you?”
I nodded and smiled like I was trying to be helpful. I wanted to scratch her eyes out for touching Drake, but I knew that I couldn’t show that side of me. So instead I explained how everything was going to be changed and torn down to make the club perfect. I could tell that I was getting to her, and I should have stopped, but I couldn’t. More importantly, I just didn’t want to. I wanted her to feel the way I had felt when I had caught the two of them making out in public, something that Drake had always refused to do with me. I could still see it burned into my mind, and thinking about it really irked me.
“Well, thank you for bringing over the contract, Miss Whethers. I will make sure that Bishop gets it right away.”
Erin was shocked and a little paler than she’d been before. I wished I could know what she was thinking. On the outside she looked like she was okay, but I had a feeling there was a lot going on beneath the surface. She looked like she had a lot of questions to ask, and I knew that I would hate to be Drake when she did ask them.
“Sorry if I brought you bad news.”
She kind of smiled at me and for a second I saw another side of her. “No, I thank you for your candor, Miss Whethers. Having staff like you around says a lot about Drake.”
Erin turned around and I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel. I felt like I had been put down in a way, but I wasn’t quite sure. Maybe Erin was not the innocent young woman that she seemed, but it didn’t matter. I had told her enough for her to see things for what they truly were. She had mentioned something about him making her a promise, and I would have been remiss to make her think that he would keep it. Drake was good at breaking hearts. I should know, because he had broken mine. Drake liked to make and break promises, sometimes unsaid promises, but promises just the same.
To be continued…
THE PRICELESS ONE
A Billionaire Romance
(Contemporary Romance Novels)
FOUND
Book 3
Description
Erin is devastated when she finds out that Drake has used her. He used her to get his way, and now he isn’t going to hold up his side of the bargain. She is going to lose her job and her residence because of the sale of the museum, but worse than that, she has lost her heart to a man who doesn’t care. When his assistant tells her the truth, a sinking feeling takes over in her chest and Erin finds it hard to breathe.
She runs away from her problems and hides from Drake. She doesn’t want to hear his velvety voice trying to explain things. She doesn’t want to know why he hurt her, because Erin can’t get over the fact that he has. Erin goes to her best friend’s house and stays there for several weeks licking her wounds. But she knows that she has to face the museum closure, and more importantly she has to finally deal with Drake. Will she be able to listen to him and be close to him without falling for him once again? Erin isn’t sure, but she knows that she can’t put him off any longer. She has to face him and face the love that she has for the man.
Chapter 1 – Erin
I don’t know why, but as I watched Mary leave, I knew that she had found far too much pleasure in telling me the news. I had always been warned to stay away from people like her, and now I knew why. She was the vicious sort, and it made me think that she had something for Drake. She wouldn’t have had so much venom if there wasn’t something extra.
After I called Bishop, I opened the contract and looked it over. I just wanted to see for myself that Drake had actually gone through with it. I don’t know why I actually needed to see it, but I figured that if I saw it in black and white, I would finally get it through my head. It had all been a game to him, and I had fallen for it. I had fallen for him, and I should have known better. It was silly of me to think that he actually wanted me for anything more than a little entertainment.
Seeing it was worse than hearing it from that vile woman who worked with Drake. Of course he had sold it, and I knew then that he had no intention of keeping it as it was. He was going ahead with his original plan. I’d been stupid to think that he would keep his part of the agreement. People like Drake may have inherited most of their wealth, but they also knew a lot about how to keep it. His ways and his family’s ways were not exactly moral.
I set the papers down and was thankful that it was almost time to leave. I knew that I was supposed to be worried about other things, but I wasn’t. I didn’t care that I was still going to lose my job and my place to live. I was just bummed out that he had lied to me. I felt used, and I knew then that whatever I had felt for him was based on a lie. He had gotten what he wanted, and now that the sale was final he wouldn’t have any use of me. It was all just a game, and I felt like the real loser.
The only good part about all of it was the fact that it was almost time to go for the day. It was Friday and I didn’t have to worry about coming to work the next day. The way I was feeling, with the sinking thoughts in my head, I wouldn’t have made it in anyways. Why was I killing myself for a sinking ship? I was ready to just call it quits right there, but I knew that I would feel better by Monday. I just needed to get away from it all, and living above my work wasn’t helping.
I called the only person I ever wanted to be around when I felt like this. Luckily enough, Rose was home. I didn’t know when she was leaving again for work, but I knew it would be soon. When she answered, I felt a rush of relief. I just needed to get away, and she was the one person who could make me feel better about it all.
When she told me to just come down, I packed a few things and made my way to the south side of the city. I tried to think of anything else but Drake. It was hard, though. I had spent every single day of the last couple of weeks with him, and the last few nights he had made love to me like no one else ever had before. My body wanted him badly, although my mind rejected the whole idea of it. I was never going to see him again, and if I did, I was sure that it would be too soon. I wasn’t going to be an idiot for him again. I knew that my heart couldn’t take another blow like that. It had barely managed to heal from the first time I realized that he had played me. Now that I knew for sure, and I had fallen for him, the reality of it was so much harsher.
Pulling up to Rose’s apartment, I turned off the car and sat there for several moments trying to regain my composure. I was sure that there were things going on that I didn’t understand, but I did know that he had lied, and that seemed to be the most important part of it all. I pushed the tears out of the corners of my eyes and tried to straighten myself up. I pinched my cheeks a little to make my eyes look less red. It didn’t help much, but I knew that Rose would see right through me anyways.
When I got upstairs to her apartment, I could smell some kind of foreign food being cooked. I knew that she had her boyfriend there, and while I was eager to meet the one who made Rose so happy, I wished for a few moments that it was just her up there and we could have the talk that I needed to have. I was in a situation that I had never been in before, and I truly did not know what to do.
I saw her and she just looked at me with her lips out. “Honey, come here.”
I don’t know how she knew this, but she knew that I was a wreck. It was one of those times that I needed her. After a while I got myself together and made sure that I was not crying anymore. It turned out that her boyfriend was gone, and she just kind of waved him off when he came in later. It was good to know that for the time being, I still had my friend.
“So do you want to talk about it, Erin?”
I told her that I did, but I didn’t really know how to start. How was I going to tell her that I had fallen in way over my head, my life was in tatters and all I could think about was the few nights that I had spent with Drake? It was all just too much, and I was the one living it. I knew that
it wasn’t going to be any easier for her to take it all. So I just told her everything that was going on. It was a lot, and her eyes widened several times during my little tale. I didn’t know what else to tell her to make it all better. It was a mess, and I could really feel that now.
“Wow, Erin. Why didn’t you tell me about all of this?”
I kind of shrugged. Rose was always busy. There was really nothing that I could do but just give out a big sigh. “I just couldn’t. I didn’t even know what was going on, really. I knew that it wasn’t going to last long, but then in the end there I kind of thought there was something there. I guess there wasn’t, is all. It was all just to get into my pants. Now I still have no job and no place to live in a couple of weeks, so I am just hiding out for the weekend. You don’t mind, do you?”
“I don’t mind, but maybe it isn’t as bad as it seems. You should try to call him and see what is really going on. That Mary lady doesn’t sound like the nicest person. She could have just been jealous or something.”
I wanted to believe her, but I was almost certain that it wasn’t like that at all. I was sure that he had just used the museum to get what he wanted. I had fallen for it too, hook, line and sinker, but that was a little harder to admit than all of the rest. I had fallen so hard, so fast for a man who was just using me for amusement. That really was the worst of it, and the hardest part to get over.
***
Drake made it even harder, because he wouldn’t leave me alone. I don’t know what his problem was. I sent him one text congratulating him on the deal. I may have been a little snippy about everything, and the congratulation was not heartfelt, but at least I had said something to end it. It was a little bit of closure for me, but Drake took it as an invitation to keep contacting me. He wouldn’t stop calling and texting for a whole week. I finally just turned my phone off all together and got a new number. I got rid of everything that reminded me of Drake on my phone and tried to get on with it all.