The Billionaire's Saving Grace: A contemporary romance

by Fiona Miers

  Emily was just plain strange and intriguing.

  “The best sex I ever had was my first time, actually.”

  “What?”

  He sat up straighter, his mind whirling with the implications of that. She couldn’t possibly be that inexperienced? Impossible.

  He clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes at her.

  Keep focused. Women always lie about their experience.

  He’d definitely found that one out the hard way.

  She laughed without malice, the sound as musical as the classical Bach they had playing over the speakers. She glanced over his right shoulder, her eyes losing their focus as she remembered something in her past.

  “It was clumsy, too short and...”

  “And?”

  She looked up at him then, her brown eyes shining with love. “Full of wonder and excitement. We’d been dating for over a year and he was moving away for work. We decided to have our first times together and it was…great. He was my best friend, and someone who really loved me.”

  Nate’s belly tightened as he remembered the coldness of his first time. Some woman he’d met at a party who’d dragged him home and deflowered him without even removing her clothes, or his, for that matter. It had been one step better than masturbation.

  He shuddered and clenched his teeth. He didn’t like the feeling he was getting from this woman. Every one of his guards was slipping and his shoulders ached from trying to keep them up. She was faking it, she had to be. No one was this sweet.

  “You can’t be serious? Your partners since then must have known what they were doing.”

  Emily shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose, but I’ve never quite had that excitement again. The connection. I don’t know...” Her voice trailed off again and she took another drink, her throat working as she swallowed hard. Were her eyes shimmering a little too?

  Oh fuck, this girl can really turn it on.

  “Sounds like you need a proper man, Emily.”

  Her eyes snapped up and he held her gaze, although part of him marveled at the smarmy tone he was using. He didn’t want to bed her. A woman like this wouldn’t survive one moment in his life and if she invoked the feelings he was most afraid of, then she’d make his life hell too.

  She cocked her head to the side and blatantly ignored his statement.

  “My turn. Last question. Hmmm...” She tapped her pointer finger to her chin and Nate picked up his knife and fork, cutting up his steak. He concentrated on that menial task and swallowed some of the juicy red meat while the strange woman in front of him thought of another probing question. Why was she interested in him anyway?

  “Okay, if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?”

  “That’s easy. In my bed, naked with you.”

  She frowned at him and he grinned back, a tingle of happiness and power vibrating along his spine. Nothing like the honest truth to push someone to reveal their true self.

  “That’s not funny, Nate.”

  She put her fork to her lips and continued eating, her dark eyebrows drawn into a frown.

  “I wasn’t joking. I have a king size bed that is pure heaven, and I honestly couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather share it with at this point in time than you.”

  Again, she just frowned at him and he began to wonder when he’d lost his touch. Sure he was lying a bit―he didn’t want to take her to bed―not yet, anyway. But what was with her resistance to him? These lines usually had women eating out of the palm of his hand.

  “Anyway, your final question?” Her voice had taken a frosty tone that would have made an ice queen proud and Nathan found his chest and arm muscles tightening up in response to her change of attitude.

  That’s more like it sweetheart. Show me the real you.

  “Why won’t you sleep with me? There’s obviously an attraction here.”

  “I don’t sleep with people I work for, or with, Nathan. It’s not smart.”

  Oh, I’m Nathan again, am I?

  “So you agree we have an attraction?”

  Her mouth thinned and she snorted out her nose. “You know there is, you’re a very attractive man. But I’m not promiscuous and I respect myself a little bit more than resorting to being a notch on your bedpost.”

  Geez, she can’t be serious.

  “Hardly the worst thing that could happen, Emily.”

  Women in his past had given anything to be in his bed, literally trampling over their opposition to be the one on his mattress at the end of the night.

  “Oh really, Nathan? Tell me more.”

  He let a smile spread across his lips and injected warmth into his tone as images flickered across his brain. Her on his bed, writhing with passion as she screamed his name and grabbed for the sheets with clenching hands.

  “What could be better? A night full of passion between two consenting adults. It’s true that I usually don’t mix business with pleasure but I’m sure we’re both mature enough not to let it get in the way of our work.”

  A voice inside his head was screaming at him to stop. He was talking to a woman who worked tirelessly for the underprivileged and classed her first time with her high school sweetheart as the best sex she’d ever had.

  This woman had a heart. A quality that was so rare it called to his own long-dead organ and made him feel like a teenager again. An uncontrollable youngster. Not something he ever wanted to feel again.

  She was hot, but she was definitely not a woman you could put into the one-night-stand category. And the main requirement of any woman he bedded was a lack of entanglement. They needed to be single, highly sexed and easily discarded. He didn’t want to worry about hurting their feelings, or anything else for that matter.

  Emily picked up her napkin and wiped her perfect mouth clean.

  She stood up and smiled at him, the light in her cool, brown eyes now missing. “Thank you so much for dinner, Nathan. It was lovely. I will see you in a few days and I’ll be in touch in regards to Eleanor’s House.”

  Nathan pushed back his chair and jumped to his feet as Emily picked up her bag and began making her way to the front door. He took a few steps forward and grabbed her arm, halting her progress.

  “Please let me go, Mr. Johnson.”

  The use of his title on her lips made his gut clench and he squeezed her arm as a cold panic shivered over his skin like a hive of bees.

  “Hey, I thought we were having fun.”

  She pulled her arm out of his grasp with a sharp twist. “Good night, Mr. Johnson.”

  Emily walked out the door and he watched her go. That oversized suit swimming around her lush figure annoyed the hell out of him. He was sure she was quite beautiful under all of that black material. He’d seen it the night of the ball. Why didn’t she have some decent clothes?

  “Sir, have you finished your meal?” The maître d’ stepped up next to him and Nathan forced himself to shake his head and walk back to his seat. There was no way he was letting a little thing such as this unsettle him.

  He picked up his knife and fork and set about finishing his steak and the small pear and spinach salad. It was delicious, crisp and perfect for an evening meal.

  It sat like lead in his gut. Heavy. Awkward. Painful.

  His eyes darted to the double glass front doors and then back to the half-eaten risotto and the white napkin she’d tossed onto the table.

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through several unread messages. His Uncle Nathan, the man he was named after, was first.

  Bleh. No way. Next.

  Two ex-lovers and a woman who had tried to pick him up at the airport.

  He rolled his eyes and focused on the lewdness of one of the messages.

  He waited for something to stir in his belly, a smile to crook his mouth or at least a tingle to say that he was interested.

  Nothing.

  Shit.

  He called over the waiter, asked for the check and pulled out a credit card
.

  Thanks to Emily, his sex drive was gone and his interest in other, available women had diminished. When had he ever let a woman affect him in such a way? He searched his memory and came up with zip.

  Double shit.

  He actually liked Emily. He wanted to get to know her, talk to her again, and of course, get her into bed.

  No bloody way.

  It was too dangerous, for her and for him.

  He growled in his throat as he pressed the dial button and attempted to get a cute blonde from a month ago on the phone. The ringtone sounded once and he hung up.

  He shuddered in his seat for a moment and then forced a calm over himself.

  He didn’t need to prove anything to anyone. How many women had he bedded in his life? Too many to count. He didn’t need another forced coupling with some random woman tonight. He’d go home and get an early night. He’d been burning the candle at both ends for a month. A whisky and some football were all he needed.

  Chapter Five.

  Emily sent the acceptance letter to Johnson Property Development the next day. She’d handled older men in powerful positions before and Nathan wasn’t going to make her appear unprofessional.

  She dove into her work, the hours flying by as one case after another took her attention. More money, more mergers, another day, another dollar.

  A sigh settled in her chest and she let it escape. This was her life and she was grateful for it. Nothing to complain about.

  “Good job with landing Nathan Johnson’s company, Emily. I just heard.”

  Emily looked up and standing over her was her boss, Mr. Nelson. He was obviously on his way out for lunch, but he’d paused and was smiling at her through his large moustache.

  She smiled up at the man she’d barely said two words to since she started two years ago. “Oh, thank you so much, Mr. Nelson.”

  The rotund, balding man gave her a once over, assessing look and strode towards the door.

  “Wow. What did you do to land that deal? Sleep with the boss?”

  Emily whirled around as Kristy spun her chair into Emily’s cubicle.

  “Hardly,” Emily replied and glanced away before the truth of her misdemeanor became clear. She'd been accused of such a thing before in jest, but this was the closest it had come to being the truth.

  “Then how'd you get a job there? I've heard they have a small internal team and rarely hire outside help.”

  A warm kernel of pride blossomed in Emily's belly but she tried to dismiss it as quickly as possible. Thinking too highly of Nate and his opinion of her was going to get her into trouble.

  “It's probably just because I do so much volunteering at Eleanor's House. Nathan Johnson owns it.” Which was technically the truth according to Kristy, although if Kristy was right and they never outsourced, she was indeed honored to be asked.

  “Wow, maybe I should start volunteering there.”

  Emily laughed and shook her head. “Oh, I think that might be pushing it a bit, don’t you, sweetie?”

  Kristy stuck out her tongue and rolled out once again on her chair. Emily giggled again and got back to her own work with a smile still firmly placed on her lips. What an idea! Kristy volunteering at Eleanor’s House! The girl was sweet, but her version of underprivileged contained people who didn't spend two hundred dollars on a pair of jeans. She wouldn't fit in at all.

  An email dinged in her inbox and she opened it to find one from Martine.

  Emily,

  Thank you for your acceptance letter. It has been printed and filed, and if you could bring a printed and signed version of the official contract with you next time you’re in the office, it would be much appreciated.

  I have two new contracts for your perusal. Can you come in tomorrow?

  Warm regards,

  Martine.

  Emily’s eyebrows rose on her forehead as she stared at the email. Did they need her already? More hours meant more money. Well, okay then.

  Hello Martine,

  Yes, of course. I have a meeting in the morning but can give you the afternoon. 1 p.m. onwards.

  Thanks

  Emily.

  Emily frowned at the email, one of the most casual business emails she had ever sent. Oh well, she was just copying the style of Nathan’s assistant.

  She pressed send and her belly clenched. Would that mean she’d have to see Nathan while she was there?

  She shook her head and pulled out another file.

  No. Concentrate on work. Nathan is nothing to you.

  She put her head down and spent the rest of the day and night on her huge pile of paperwork that didn’t give her much satisfaction, other than the billable hours she’d pull for the day. She’d have her house paid off in no time.

  ****

  Jab, jab, cross.

  Jab, jab, cross.

  Nathan’s hands ached but he kept up the pace, sweat dripping down his back as images of Emily’s beautiful face floated around his mind.

  “Argh!” He screamed and put all of his body weight into an uppercut and cross. The punching bag swung away and then came straight back at him.

  He staggered away, his legs like jelly and his arms burning after almost an hour of body-punishing exercise.

  He wasn’t feeling like himself at all and it all came down to the woman he’d had dinner with last night.

  Martine had informed him that Emily was coming in to deal with the contracts for the new commercial buildings he’d been commissioned for.

  Great. Now he had to stay busy all day so that he didn’t go searching for her. Not that staying in his office should be hard. He had more work than he knew what to do with, but...

  Fuck.

  He pulled off the gloves, unwrapped his stinging hands from the clinging white tape and threw himself down into a chair.

  He gazed around his home gym, fitted out with every modern machine and piece of exercise equipment. A deep exhaustion filled him up until he could barely lift his arms.

  It was time for a hot shower and bed. Alone.

  ****

  Emily walked into Johnson Property Development with her head held high and an email on her phone from Cindy asking her if she’d managed to get Nathan to agree to speak at the anniversary night gathering.

  And damn it, she hadn’t. She’d had him all to herself two nights ago and she’d folded at the last minute. She’d shot out of there so bloody fast she hadn’t thought about using the time with him for something more constructive.

  Instead, she’d wanted to know about him and his past, his personality. She was intrigued and it was going to be the death of her, she was sure.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  She took the lift up to the sixth floor and walked out into the foyer and turned into the office where Martine sat behind her pristine desk.

  “Good afternoon, Martine.”

  “Emily. Lovely to see you. Please come this way. I’ve set up one of the conference rooms for you. I’m not sure how long you’ll need but I work until nine most nights.”

  They stepped into a large, light-filled room and Emily placed her bag and briefcase down. This was so much better than her desk at her firm. She was going to enjoy working here.

  “Thank you so much.”

  “Thank you. I’m glad you’ve come to work with us. You’ll be an asset to the company, I’m sure.”

  Emily smiled as brightly as she could at the woman who had just managed to give her a truly warm and fuzzy feeling in her gut. She loved it when everyone in a business used the royal “we” or “us.” It meant that the higher-ups had established a proper family and their employees felt it.

  Which was a great reflection on Nathan.

  She set to work and soon realized that she was going to be here all night.

  As the sun set and darkness filled the room, Martine knocked and stepped into the conference room, which was currently set up as Emily’s office.

  “Still here, I see.”

  Emily glanced up, the
orbits of her eyes throbbing with each pulse of her heart. She needed a break. “Yeah, I was hoping to get it all done tonight but I think I’ll need to come back tomorrow.”

  Martine chuckled. “I expected you to take a week. I’m amazed if you’re anywhere near finished.”

  Emily rubbed her tired eyes and stretched her arms above her head as she leaned back in her chair. “Well, thanks. I work fast when I’m not interrupted, which is great here.”

  “You want me to wait for you?”

  Emily glanced back down at the folder she was holding and shook her head.

  “No, I need to just tidy this up and then I’ll head out. There’s security around, yeah?”

  “Of course, and there’s a few others still working. So I’ll see you tomorrow, Emily?”

  “Absolutely.”

  The blonde assistant turned away and Emily called out to the woman who was the closest person to Nathan that she knew of. “Hey, Martine, can I ask you something?”

  “Of course.”

  She bit her lip for a moment and weighed her words. She was going to need to say this right to get Martine on her side.

  “I need to ask Mr. Johnson to make a speech at Eleanor’s House and I was wondering how to approach him.”

  “Why are you asking me?”

  Emily sat up straighter in her chair and leaned forward. “Because I know that you know him better than anyone. You’ve obviously worked together for a long time.”

  Emily let her lips lift in a soft smile as Martine’s eyebrows lifted high.

  Initially, she had assumed Martine was sleeping with Nathan, or at least held a candle for him. But something had changed since she’d spent some time with them and she now saw their relationship for what it was—a fantastic business relationship that was closer to the strength of a brother and sister. That was just her intuition speaking of course, though it was rarely wrong.

  “We have. Almost ten years, actually.”

  Emily waited and Martine pursed her glossed lips for a moment.

  “He won’t want to talk at Eleanor’s House. He doesn’t enjoy speaking in public at all, and if he does, it’s short and impersonal.”