Geena managed a shaky smile. Price of the handbag she hadn’t wanted to lose. $75. Self-defense classes. $180. The look on the guy’s face when she’d leapt at him, screaming? Priceless.
Yup, she was definitely feeling better. And it was almost quarter past ten, so she should open the store.
First she drained her coffee and made another cup to take downstairs with her. Then she checked her hair and dress in the mirror to make sure she didn’t look as shocked and disheveled as she felt. Finally, she slicked on a fresh coat of lipstick.
But when she went to unlock the door, she hesitated. No doubt Damien’s warnings were adding to her paranoia, but for the first time she was acutely aware that she was in the store on her own and anybody could walk in. Don’t worry, Geena. That guy won’t be back. He was like a spider — he might have given you a fright, but you scared him more than he scared you.
Decisively, she turned the lock and flipped the sign over to show she was open. She refused to be afraid.
But she wouldn’t tell Damien what had happened. Not when he’d probably freak out and want to hunt the guy down, or lock Geena away in a safe house. No, today’s little altercation would stay her little secret.
13
Damien scanned the email from Magnum. The private detective had written a full summary of Geena’s background. He’d covered her family, her financial situation, even her school records. There were no red flags. No previous marriages, no aliases, no history of fraud. Nothing to indicate she was anyone other than who she appeared.
Not that he’d seriously thought otherwise, but when your company was valued at a billion dollars, it was amazing what some people would do to get a slice of it.
One thing that had come up were police reports Geena had made over the past couple of years. She’d reported several shoplifters, and had more than one incident of vandalism. She’d also had her bag snatched, proving Damien’s fears for her safety weren’t unfounded.
Damien handed his car over to the valet parker, and went into The Gee Spot. He was looking forward to seeing Geena. She made him smile, and that felt like a rare thing these days. If someone had told him last week that going into a sex store in Kings Cross would be the highlight of his day, he’d have thought they were certifiable. But this morning he’d suffered through two hostile meetings, and an interview designed to needle him into saying something he’d regret. Not to mention the unequalled delight of reading an editorial piece which was basically a two-page personal attack.
He hadn’t realized how many enemies he’d made when he’d lashed out after Cilla’s death. If only he’d kept his mouth shut. But now some influential people were making it their personal mission to make sure the council couldn’t select his bid for the entertainment center. Utterly ludicrous when his design was the best by far.
The Gee Spot was quiet and Geena was behind the counter, a pile of products on the counter in front of her. She was scribbling in a notepad. When she looked up and smiled, his heart leaped. It was as though he kept forgetting how beautiful she was, and each time he saw her he was freshly dazzled.
“I’ve been writing down my ideas for bachelor and bachelorette parties,” she said. “You want to hear them?”
“Sure.”
“So, I already have party offerings together here in special stands. But I was thinking I could make a lot more out of it. Like if I package items together and throw in something for free if they buy the whole bundle.”
So that’s what the products on the counter were — things people normally bought for their parties. He picked up a box and quirked an eyebrow at it. Vibrating panties? They would make for an interesting party. Were they worn by the bride, or the guests?
“Sounds like a plan,” he said. “Let’s tell the web designer to feature the packages on your website for maximum exposure.”
She picked up some printed sheets. “And I’ve written up some scavenger hunt lists, and other ideas for things to do at the parties. I want to sell those too.”
“Now you’re thinking like a true business woman.”
She glowed with excitement. “Can you help me put the packages together?”
He smiled. She was so bright with enthusiasm, her cheeks flushed with his compliment, that she’d never looked lovelier. He had to kiss her.
Her response was everything he could have asked for. Her body softened against him, her kiss instantly warming his blood to boiling point. What was it about her that drove him so wild? The way she smelled and tasted? Whatever it was, he was powerless against it. At least, parts of him were.
The door buzzer went, and Damien pulled away from her reluctantly. It wasn’t a customer, but the web designer he’d hired. Damien took a deep breath, getting his body under control. Forcing his blood to cool and his pulse to slow before he greeted the man and took him through Geena’s requirements.
It was a shame she had no website already, and the designer would have to start from scratch. It would be a time consuming job entering all her products into the system. But once her loan was approved, she could invest in a bar code scanner to make that job easier, and upgrade her old-fashioned cash till to a computerized system that would revolutionize her record keeping and accounts.
He kept glancing at her as he talked about the back end database, and the front end interface design with the web designer. She looked lost when they talked about the technical detail, but when they discussed the way the system would automatically keep track of her stock and stop her from having to manually enter details into a spreadsheet, she brightened.
“I can see how great it’s going to be,” she said after the designer had left. “I hate feeling dumb, and that’s how spreadsheets make me feel. I swear, they do it on purpose. Anyone else sits down at a keyboard, it behaves perfectly. As soon as I touch it, it self-destructs and takes all the data with it.”
He shook his head. “Geena, you’re a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for. If you just believe you can do it, you will.”
She shot him a sideways look. “How do you know?”
“From your ideas about the bachelor and bachelorette parties. From the way you’ve embraced what I’m trying to do with the store. Changing something you’ve invested so much of yourself into can’t have been easy.” He reached out and gently touched her cheek. “Underneath that alluring exterior beats the heart of an entrepreneur. You’ve impressed me, Geena, and not many people can do that. So I don’t want to hear you ever call yourself dumb.”
Her cheeks were pink and her eyes very green. She gave him a brilliant smile. “See, as much as you try to hide it, you’re a nice guy underneath.”
He snorted. “I don’t want to be nice. Nice guys finish last.” But he had to admit her good opinion made a pleasant change from what the public thought of him.
“You shouldn’t try to suppress your niceness. At least not in front of reporters.” She snapped her fingers. “Speaking of which, didn’t you have an interview this morning? When’s it playing?”
He glanced at the clock. “It was for the midday news so it’ll be over.”
She pulled out her phone. “Nothing’s over.” She tapped the screen until she found what she was looking for. She watched in silence, and he walked away so he didn’t have to hear it again. He’d tried not to glare or snarl. Until the interviewer had started needling him about the Kingston and it had gone downhill fast.
She stopped it at the end and gave him a reproachful look. “You didn’t smile once.”
He hadn’t. Geena was right and he had to try harder if he was to have any chance of changing his public profile. But for now they should stick to what they were doing.
“Set up what you’ll need for the bachelor party packages. While you do that, I’ll pull some data out of your system to prove how many of the items you sell now, and do some projections to estimate how many you’ll sell after we’re done. Then you can take those figures to the bank manager.”
She smiled. “You know what? I’m
starting to think I got a very good deal at that charity auction. I’m glad I went.”
He couldn’t help his lips twitching up in response. Yeah, he wasn’t sorry either. He’d been enjoying his time in her store. It was very different from visiting building sites and making decisions from the isolation of his board room. But the biggest reason he’d been enjoying himself had nothing to do with the store, and everything to do with the bright-eyed woman in front of him.
He cleared his throat. “Speaking of the deal we made at the auction, have you finished the blog post? I’d like to read it.”
The bell went as a couple of customers came in, and Geena glanced over to them. “It’s almost done, but I’d like to fill in a little more of the background detail. Can I interview you over dinner tonight?”
“It’s not that busy. You could ask me questions between customers.”
She smoothed down her skirt – a gesture he’d come to realize meant she was gathering her thoughts. Was she a little hurt he hadn’t accepted right away? “But if we do it over dinner, I’ll find it easier to concentrate and we’ll get a better result.”
He studied the crease that had appeared between her eyes. Yes, definitely hurt. But he’d made it clear he wasn’t after a relationship, and dinner at a restaurant seemed a little close to a date for his liking. His gaze went to the pile of products on the counter and he suppressed a smile. On second thought, they were clear about the boundaries of their arrangement, so what would be the harm? And if she was determined to go to a restaurant, why not enjoy it?
“I’ll agree, if you wear these.” He picked up the vibrating panties.
She burst into laughter. “You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Courtney.”
* * *
At eight o’clock, Damien was waiting for Geena to finish getting changed for dinner when his cell phone rang. It was Bryce.
“Tomorrow’s the photo op at the homeless shelter,” said the head of his PR team. “You’re going to need to pretend you want to be there or it won’t come off well.”
Damien cursed under his breath. If Bryce hadn’t been so adamant about this appointment, he never would have agreed to it. “I’m not sure I’m that good an actor.”
“So you serve a few meals. What’s the big deal? If the photos help people forget those comments you made about the homeless, it’s worth it, right?”
Damien pressed his lips together. Bryce was right. If this were the only way he was going to get to build his entertainment center, he’d just have to suffer through it and trust he wouldn’t end up serving food to the men who killed Cilla.
“And I’ve spoken to Rosalind to schedule your date with Alexa Worthington,” added Bryce. “It’s lunch. Friday at twelve.”
“Okay, fine.”
Bryce hesitated. “I saw your interview today. Started well, and the team all liked your tie. But that part about the Kingston…”
“No need to say more.” Damien clenched his teeth. “Let’s hope the blog article I’ve arranged does something to help.”
“When will it be published?”
“I’m going to dinner with Geena now, to finalize it.”
“Geena?”
“The business owner I told you about.”
Bryce puffed out his breath. “There’s nothing going on with her, is there? I’m sorry to get so personal, but you’re not in a relationship with the sex store owner are you?”
“Absolutely not.” Damien tried not to snap the words. Bryce might be prying into Damien’s private life, but he was just doing his job.
“Okay. Good. Because the article is supposed to be about you helping out a local business owner, so if people find out you’re, ah, intimate with her, any good publicity could easily turn sour.”
“Thank you for the warning,” he said flatly, ending the discussion. “Is there anything else?”
Bryce said there wasn’t and Damien hung up. He was used to taking calculated risks, and being intimate with Geena, as Bryce had put it, was definitely worth a little risk. Besides, they weren’t in a relationship. He was almost done in her store, and whatever was between them was about to end.
“Are you ready?”
Damien turned.
Geena walked slowly towards him, dressed in dark red with lips to match, her hair pinned up in a complicated-looking design. Her high heels gave her hips a sexy sway, and her smile promised a night of pleasure ahead.
“You might need this.” She put a remote controller down on the counter in front of him.
He raised his eyebrows. “The vibrating panties?” With the push of a button he could make her orgasm at will.
She walked to the door and he followed her with her eyes, admiring her curves. Shit, she was stunning. At the door, she turned and shot him a questioning look. “Are you coming?”
He took the controller off the counter, weighing it in his hand for a moment before slipping it into his pocket. “Absolutely.”
14
Geena sipped her wine and smiled at Damien. She’d insisted on choosing the restaurant so it wouldn’t be too fancy and she wouldn’t feel out of place. It was nice. Romantic. A candle flickered on the table between them and although the restaurant was mostly full, the tables were far enough apart that it still felt intimate.
Damien had put the remote controller for her panties on the table next to his knife, and though she’d spent the first half hour nervously wondering when he’d push the button, she was starting to relax. The wine helped. Damien had ordered it, so it was a million times nicer than the stuff she normally drank. She took another sip and licked her lips.
“Let’s get the questions you want to ask out of the way,” he said.
“Okay.” She pulled a pad and pen out of her handbag. “Tell me why you want to build the entertainment center.”
“Courtney Construction is by far the best choice to build it, because…”
She held up one hand. “We’ll get to that. First tell me why you want to build it. Why is Damien Courtney willing to subject himself to a series of interviews when he hates everything to do with the press?”
“The deal is worth several hundred million dollars.”
She groaned. “A stinking rich man wanting to get even richer? That isn’t going to convince anyone to join your cheerleading squad.”
“The money isn’t the main reason anyway.” He hesitated. “I guess when someone close to you dies, it makes you think about your own life. I want to give something important to the city. The entertainment center would be a legacy, of sorts. A way to live on after I’m gone.” He grimaced. “Don’t put that in the article.”
“No, it’s good.” She wrote it down. “Better than wanting to make more money, anyway.”
“Whatever ends up being built will be an important part of our city for a long time to come. It’s important we get it right. My team’s design is far better than any of the other proposals, and if the council chooses a different option just because I’m not popular…” He rubbed his jaw. “Well, I won’t let that happen. I’d rather resign as head of my company if that’s what it’ll take. Accepting one of the other designs would be a mistake.”
She bit the end of her pen thoughtfully. “I don’t think I’ll put in that bit about you being willing to resign. They’d probably want to go for that option right away.”
One side of his mouth twitched. “You’re probably right.”
“But would you really be willing to resign from your own company? And you still won’t consider rebuilding the Kingston?”
Did that mean he cared more about his dead friend than his billion-dollar business? She studied him a moment. Could she have been more than just a friend? Maybe he’d loved her. The thought brought to mind an image of him telling Geena he didn’t want a relationship, but she pushed it away. I refuse to be jealous of a dead woman.
“Don’t mention the Kingston in the article. It’s a sore point for a lot of people.”
“No kidding. I was at the protest. In fact,
I dived in front of the bulldozer trying to stop the demolition.”
His eyes widened. “That crazy fool was you? But she didn’t have pink hair.”
“It was a cold day and I was wearing a woolen hat and scarf with all my hair tucked in.” She frowned. “Anyway, how do you know? You weren’t there.”
“You think I’d miss it? My car had tinted windows, but I was parked down the street, watching the building come down.” He shook his head. “You have no idea how good it felt to watch the bricks fall. I spent a year negotiating to buy the damn thing, and I paid five times more than its value. It was worth every cent to see it turned into rubble.”
“And I tried my hardest to keep it standing.”
“You risked your life.” His voice was harsh. “It was a stupid thing to do. You could have been crushed.”
She shrugged. “It was a spur of the moment thing. I didn’t think about it.”
“Just like Cilla.”
She drew in her breath. He kept saying she was like his dead friend, and that wasn’t fair at all. Maybe it had been reckless to dive in front of heavy machinery, but everyone took risks sometimes.
“Are you ready to order?” The waiter smiled at them both, and Geena forced herself to smile back. Good timing. They could both take a moment to cool down.
“I’ll have the fish,” she said.
Damien ordered steak, and once the waiter left, he’d relaxed enough to sip his beer. “Do you have any other questions? I’d like to have our business finished with before the meal arrives.”
The Rich List Series: Contemporary Romance Box Set (Millionaire, Billionaire, CEO) Page 30