by Claire Adams
"So, you like it?" I asked.
"It's so much better than just sitting around waiting to go back to school," she nodded. "I wish I didn't have to, though."
"You'd rather study with a tutor than go to school with all of your friends?" I asked surprised.
"I don't have any friends, Leah," she said dropping her head and biting her lip. "No one likes me, and I don't like anyone at school. Well, except for Becky, but she's not in my grade."
"I'm sorry about that, Riley," I said reaching out and rubbing her arm. "We'll see if we can't do something about that once we get our own place. Maybe you need to go to a different school."
"Can't I stay here and study with the tutor?" she asked.
"I'm not sure that's possible, sweetie," I said, trying to think of a way to break it to her that I couldn't afford the services of a tutor like the one Betty had employed. "I don't know if your tutor will travel to our new place."
"Oh, nonsense," Betty said as she stepped into the room smiling. "We'll find a way to get her to you when you move to your new home. Either that or you can come here once a week and study with her, if need be."
"Seriously?" Riley asked as she jumped off the bed and ran over to hug Betty.
"Seriously," Betty said as she hugged the girl tightly. "Leah and I will figure it out. Don't you worry. Now, don't you have homework to complete for tomorrow, young lady?"
"I do! I'm working on it," Riley said as she ran back to the bed and threw herself across it. I stood up and turned to go, but before I could, Riley pushed herself up and threw her arms around my waist saying, "Thank you, Leah. I'm glad you decided to let us stay here."
"You're welcome, kiddo," I smiled as I hugged her back. "We'll figure something out. Don't worry."
Betty and I exited the room and quietly closed the door behind us before heading down to the sitting room where she had had the kitchen staff lay out tea and dessert.
"I hope you don't think I'm interfering," she said as she poured us both a cup of tea. "I don't mean to, but Riley is such a smart girl. She loved working with Bree."
"I don't mind at all," I admitted. "But I worry that I'm setting her up for disappointment once we return to our regular existence."
"I know we live a rather extravagant lifestyle," Betty said as she sipped from her cup. "But having you and Riley around makes me realize how much I miss having people in the house. Since Bernard died, it's been so quiet around here and I've felt lonely. The two of you, and Jack of course, make the house much livelier."
"Well, it's been wonderful for us, too," I said. "I can't thank you enough for inviting us to stay with you."
"What are your plans for your next move?" Betty asked.
"I've been looking for an apartment near Riley's school, but she just told me she doesn't want to go back to it. So now I'm not sure where to look," I said, feeling overwhelmed by everything I needed to do. "I guess I'll have to scout out schools."
"I know some excellent ones," Betty offered. "I can give you a list of them, if you like."
"That would be great," I nodded, knowing that the schools she'd recommend were likely to be in neighborhoods where my salary wouldn't make it possible to rent.
"Meanwhile, we'll figure out a way to keep Bree coming to visit Riley once you two are settled again," she said.
"Thank you, Betty. I know Riley would love that," I said. I stood up and excused myself, saying that I was exhausted and needed a hot bath before bed. Betty wished me a good night, and I climbed the stairs, feeling more tired than I had in a very long time.
BAD BOY BILLIONAIRE VOLUME IV
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Jack
By the time I got home that night, I was exhausted, but also revved up about the plan to thwart Lincoln and Sloan. We'd put most of the pieces in place, and now all we had to do was wait for the two traitors to out themselves on their own. I knew we'd have to be careful about how we proceeded, but since Leah, Norma, and I were the only ones who knew what the plan was, I felt confident that no one would let the cat out of the bag.
The house was dark, but as I walked down the hallway to my room, I saw a sliver of light shining from under Leah's door. I stopped and listened, and then tapped lightly on the door.
"I told you to go to—oh, Jack, sorry, I thought you were Riley," Leah laughed. She pushed a strand of wet hair out of her eyes as she smiled at me and asked, "How was your day?"
"It was, um, productive," I said as I stared at her. She must have just taken a shower because she looked fresh and smelled like lavender and sage. My mind immediately recalled what it had felt like to hold her close, and I had the urge to push the door open a little wider and take her in my arms.
"Jack? Are you okay?" she asked, pulling me back to reality.
"Oh, yeah, fine," I said, shaking my head to clear the thoughts. I could feel myself being pulled to her, and every day the pull was stronger. I wanted to tell her what I was thinking. I knew that if I did, I risked not only being rejected but also losing an incredibly valuable employee. How much longer could this go on?
"So, we figured out a way to manage the shipments that wouldn't interfere with the plan we devised," I heard her saying as I watched her mouth moving. I wanted so badly to kiss her lips.
"That's great, Leah," I said nodding as I stepped closer to the door. Leah backed up and opened the door wider.
"Do you want to come in?" she asked.
"I've been meaning to talk to you about something," I began deciding that it was now or never. I needed to say something or else I'd explode.
"I know," she said looking down at the floor as she bit her lip. "I've been thinking about it, too."
"You have been?" I said surprised that she was being this open with me.
"Yeah, I know it's probably been really difficult for you, so I've been trying to think of a way to talk to you about it," she said looking up at me. Her eyes were a shade of deep blue that reminded me of the ocean off the coast of Santorini, and I was mesmerized by them.
"You have been?" I repeated dumbly.
"I've been trying to think of a way to bring it up since the funeral, but I didn't know how to say it without scaring you off or offending you," she said as she held my gaze. "But after everything that's happened in the past few weeks, and now that Riley and I are staying here, I thought it was probably time to bring it up."
"I see," I said, feeling the blood rushing away from my brain as I anticipated her next sentence.
"Yeah, I don't know quite how to say this, but Jack …" she hesitated for a moment and then took a deep breath and let it all spill out. "I really need a raise. I'm doing a lot of work in the warehouse and taking on a lot of responsibility and with the fire and my mother and Riley, I need a raise so that I can afford to pay for Riley's tutor and move her into a better school. We need to get our own apartment because it's really nice of your mother to put us up like this, but she can't have two guests living in the house indefinitely. Plus it's kind of weird for an employee to be living with her boss, don't you think?"
I stood staring at her as the words tumbled out in rapid succession, shocked that they weren't what I thought they were going to be.
"Ah, yes," I said to hide my disappointment. "Well, then tomorrow we'll talk about what a fair raise would be. I definitely can't afford to lose you."
"Thank you, Jack," she said, smiling up at me. "I appreciate your understanding and your willingness to consider my proposal."
"No problem," I nodded as I turned and walked out the door.
"Sweet dreams!" she called as I pulled the door shut behind me. I went back to my room and took a long cold shower, hoping that it would quell the aching need, but as I climbed into bed, I realized that nothing but Leah herself was going to accomplish that.
The image of her pretty face and her curvy body under the nightclothes she wore would not leave my mind, so I lay under the sheet stroking myself. The release gave me enough relief to fall asleep, but my dreams were full
of Leah.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Leah
I arrived at the office the next morning, ready to take on the challenges of negotiating a raise and finding out what the next steps would be in the plan to stop Lincoln and Sloan. I checked in with Norma. She said Jack was in his office with the door shut, and she had instructions not to disturb him.
I set to work on the day's orders and double-checked what had gone out the day before.
"Yo, boss lady," Burt teased as I walked through the warehouse inspecting the inventory and making sure the deliveries had been unpacked and stored. "How much longer before the construction crew is done and gone?"
"I'm not sure," I said as I looked down at my clipboard and back up at the stack of diapers on the shelf. "I'll ask when I go to the meeting later, but I'm fairly certain that it's only going to be another week or so."
"Good, the guys and I are getting a little tired of them shoving us out of the way while we're trying to work," Burt said.
"I'll make sure I mention it to Mr. Yates," I replied, being careful to maintain an air of distance from Jack. I didn't want anyone to know I was living at his mother's house, and I especially didn't want them to know that I'd fallen for Jack.
After lunch, Norma called down to tell me that Jack was going to visit the warehouse around four and that he wanted a run down on the status of the new orders along with a summary of the status of everything we had going out this week. I assured her I'd have it all ready for him when he came down.
I spent the rest of the afternoon compiling reports while I fought back the memory of Jack's arms around me and the feeling of his lips on mine. I had no idea how I was going to negotiate a raise while I fantasized about what it would feel like to pull off his shirt and press my naked breasts against his skin.
"Knock it off, Walsh," I muttered to myself as I typed up a summary report. "If you're not careful, you're going to get yourself fired for inappropriate behavior."
I reminded myself that men like Jack didn't fall for poor, Irish girls from the wrong side of the city. Any fantasies of that happening would be relegated to nothing more than my imagination.
But I still held out a sliver of hope that the impossible could become possible.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Jack
All afternoon, I'd been making urgent phone calls as I steadily worked to put the pieces in place for the plan to save Baby Steps from destruction. By the time I looked at the clock, I realized I was late for my meeting with Leah.
"Darlin', you need to get a move on," Norma called from the front office. "You were supposed to meet with Leah an hour ago. Oh, and the construction foreman said Leah's office is finished, so you might want to go take a peek at it.
"I know, I know!" I said as I grabbed the folder with her employee file in it. I rushed past her desk without stopping to check my schedule for the rest of the day.
"I'm out of here in a bit. I’m having a party for my granddaughter tonight, and I still need to frost the cake!" she called after me as I headed for the back stairs. "Your schedule is clear!"
"Thanks, Norma! Have a good night!" I called over my shoulder as I headed for the back stairs. I quickly ran down the stairs to the ground floor and headed for Leah's office without stopping to see the progress the construction crew had made. I tapped on Leah's door, "I'm sorry I'm late, got hung up on a call."
"No problem," she said without turning around. "I was just running the last of the numbers so that I could show you where we are."
"While that's printing, do you want to go see your new office?" I asked. "Norma said the construction crew finished it."
"Sure. Let me say good night to the warehouse crew, and then we can check it out," she said, finally turning around. I felt my breath catch as I looked at her.
She was wearing her usual warehouse uniform of a t-shirt and cotton skirt paired with sturdy boots, but she'd done something different with her hair. It was pulled back. A few tendrils had escaped and were framing her face. Her eyes looked bluer than I'd seen them before, and I could see that she'd applied mascara and lipstick at some point during the day because both were a little smudged. I smiled as I nodded, leaning against the doorframe and waiting for her to finish.
A few minutes later, she stood up and followed me down the hallway to the warehouse floor where we talked briefly with Burt and the guys before heading to the corner where the construction crew had shaped the space to fit Leah's managerial and personal needs. I pushed the door open and urged her to go in first. I was glad I did because hearing her gasp in surprise at the finished office was worth every ounce of effort I'd put into it.
"Oh, my gosh, Jack!" she whispered as she looked around the room and took in the entire office. To the left of the door was a small seating area with comfortable chairs and a couch that could be converted into a bed should she ever get stuck in the office overnight. Behind the seating area was a conference table that could seat all of the warehouse workers comfortably so that Leah could hold meetings in her office rather than on the warehouse floor. To the right of the conference table was a desk that held a large computer screen and was connected to shelving with all kinds of storage compartments neatly tucked into the design. The whole office was done in soothing earth tones and felt calming.
But the best part of the place was the small bathroom that contained not just a toilet and sink but also a tiled shower and radiant heat flooring. I knew how dirty it could get on the warehouse floor when the orders were deep, and I knew that she'd probably want to clean up before heading home. It was a relatively small expense given the large expenditure for the warehouse update, so I'd gone with it.
"Jack, this is an amazing office!" she exclaimed as she walked around opening doors and looking at all of the features. "I can't believe I get to work here!"
"I'm glad you like it," I said as I pushed the door shut to show her the storage space built into the wall for her boots and coat to drip dry when winter finally hit.
"This is absolutely amazing," she repeated as she turned around in a circle, taking in all of the elements.
"I'm assuming that since you like this so much, you're willing to stay and continue working here," I teased as I gripped the file in my hand.
"You're nuts! Of course, I'm staying!" she laughed as she reached out and gently smacked my arm.
"All right, then we need to talk about your salary increase," I said as I showed her the file and gestured to the sitting area where I sat on the couch. I laid the paperwork on the low table in front of it. "In my estimation, you are overdue for a raise. As best I can tell, my father didn't give you a raise for over five years. Is that right?'
"No, he didn't, but he did give me benefits," she said defensively. "He wasn't a bad boss."
"I didn't say anything about him being a bad boss," I replied brusquely. "I'm talking about monetary compensation for a job you've been doing exceptionally well."
"I'm sorry, Jack," she said laying her hand on my arm. "I just feel like your father did so much for me. I don't want you to think he was a bad guy."
"It's okay," I nodded, feeling my body respond to her touch almost immediately. "He's a touchy topic for me."
"I know," she said, sliding closer as she moved her hand lower on my arm. "You don't have to be so defensive with me, Jack. I understand what it's like to live with a difficult parent. I know they have the nice side that they show other people which is so different from the one we get."
I nodded, but the tenderness in her voice and the feel of her touch were almost more than I could stand. I knew that if I were going to stop anything from happening, now was the moment to stand up and walk out the door. I felt frozen in place as her thigh pressed against mine and her fingers gently caressed my forearm.
"Leah …" I began as I looked down into her deep-blue eyes. I couldn't stop myself. The dam broke as I reached out and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her body against mine as I sought her lips. I kissed her hard at first, a
s all of the things I'd imagined flashed through my mind. I pulled her onto my lap and ran my fingers through her hair as I felt her responding to my kiss. She moaned softly as I undid the clips that were holding her hair away from her face and slid both hands deep into the soft, beautiful curls.
"Jack …" she groaned as my hands began to move lower. "We shouldn't …"
"I can't help it," I whispered into her lips. "I can't help wanting you…"
She moaned again as I ran my fingers down her back. She put her palms against my chest and pushed herself up off my lap and out of my reach. Her eyes were as wild as her hair, and she quickly walked to the door and turned the knob only to find it locked.
"What the hell?" she said looking down and flipping the mechanism before trying the knob again without success. "We're locked in!"
"No we're not," I said trying to hide my disappointment. "I'm sure it's just caught."
"Jack, we're locked in this room," she said trying the door more forcefully. She turned and looked at me suspiciously, "Did you do this on purpose?"
"What the hell?" I shot back. "No! Why in the hell would I want to lock us in this office?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because it's the one place we could be alone, and you thought I'd give in to your seduction," she said in a voice that gave away the fact that she was more than a little irritated.
"Are you kidding me?" I said, stunned that she'd think this mistake was intentional. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!"
"Don't get mad at me," she warned. "I didn't set this up so that we'd be trapped together here."
"I didn't either!" I shouted as I strode over to the door and tried unsuccessfully to force it open. "Well, we'll just have to call someone to come down and let us out."
"I don't have my phone on me, so you'll have to call, Mr. Big Shot," she said dryly. I reached in my back pocket and realized that I had left my phone on my desk upstairs.