Rekindled: A Billionaire Second Chance Romance

by Ashlee Price

  The rest of the meal was spent on safe subjects like the meeting we had just gone to. I knew that he was thinking bad thoughts, but he didn’t say them out loud, and I was grateful for that. The afternoon was turning into evening, and I mentioned that it was getting late. Greg didn’t seem too happy about leaving, but he got the check and helped me to the car. The driver moved back towards the company and I looked anxiously out of the window, trying to keep my mind away from the man next to me. His thigh was pressing into mine, but I refused to acknowledge it.

  “Do I make you nervous, Desiree?”

  I didn’t answer. I knew that he wanted it to be so, and it was clear to anyone around that I was. The neighborhood was getting familiar and I knew we were close. I just had to make it there and I would be safe.

  “You don’t make me nervous, sir.”

  “Then why is your voice wavering?”

  I closed my mouth and looked back to the window to see the large building coming up beside us. I let out a long breath and was thankful that I could see it. It meant that I wasn’t going to have to lose myself there with him.

  When the car stopped, I was out of it as soon as I could be. I didn’t look back at the laughing green eyes that I knew would be looking after me. There was no way that I was going to fall for it. I was almost out before I heard him call my name. I didn’t have a choice but to look back at him, and the look I saw made me shiver.

  “I will see you at work tomorrow.”

  I nodded my head, but no words came out. Greg looked like he’d just eaten the canary, and it became clearer than ever that I was the bird. I was next on his menu. My heart pounded in my chest before the door was shut and the car took off. I was left holding my purse tight in my arms and standing there alone in front of the building.

  I had made it through another day with Greg and had survived it. I didn’t know why he made me feel the way he did, but I had a strange urge to call him back. I knew that he wanted me, and the idea of Greg Jefferson wanting someone like me was hard to process. Why had I left the car so quickly? Why had I run away from him, when every fiber of my being told me that he was the one?

  To be continued…

  Billionaire Desireth Book 2: Billionaire Taketh

  An Alpha Billionaire Romance

  By: Ashlee Price

  Prologue

  Desiree is finding her new internship more challenging than she had anticipated. While she was ready for hard work and fierce competition for the one paying position that was open to her, she had not expected a boss like Greg Jefferson.

  Greg is hard to handle, and every time she’s around him, Desiree is sure that she’s going to lose herself in his green eyes and large arms. He’s everything that she wanted – and everything she wasn’t supposed to have. Even worse, everyone in the office is starting to realize that she’s fast becoming one of his favorites, and jealousy is becoming a problem in the company.

  With a blow-up and a slap to the face of a forward partner, Desiree quits and swears that she is never going to go back. Nothing is going to convince her otherwise. Not even Greg, no matter how much he asks.

  Chapter 1 – Desiree

  “I don’t know who she thinks she is coming in here dressed like that. It’s obvious that she is sleeping with the boss. Why else would she get to go to all of those meetings with him? It certainly isn’t her intelligence.”

  “I know. It just disgusts me that someone like her is going to get the position. Just because she gets on her knees, none of us will have a chance.”

  I heard a few more words and I felt my heart sink in my chest. I had known that they were talking about me behind my back, but I never would have guessed they would be so harsh. I didn’t have to hear my name to know that the two interns in the copy room were talking about me. Looking down at my outfit, I didn’t see much wrong with it, but it was clear that they did. It seemed like even my trying to stay away from Greg was going unnoticed.

  The only one who did seem to notice was Greg. Last week I had turned down several invitations to go places and this week was going the same way. He finally asked me why I kept refusing him, and I told him it was because of the way everyone was talking. He didn’t take it too well and hadn’t asked me in the last couple of days. I actually hadn’t even seen him at all, but none of that seemed to matter to the two interns gossiping about me. It felt like there was nothing good that was going to come from all of this.

  While I wanted to go into the room and say something to them, I just walked in nonchalantly like I hadn’t heard what they said. I wasn’t going to let them get to me, even though they had. I wasn’t going to let them see it.

  I felt their eyes on me and I swallowed hard. Smiling back at their sour faces, I wished them a good day as they were leaving. Their unhappiness at me being there was clear, but I wasn’t going to back down. I hadn’t done anything wrong, even though I had surely thought about it. The truth of the matter was that I had turned him down and hadn’t done anything questionable. As much as I wished that everyone else knew the truth, at least I did.

  Copying the reports that were to be sent in later that day, I tried to pull my mind off of what was said and then off of the boss himself. Greg was hard to pull from my mind, and I swore that I was driving myself crazy thinking about it.

  Going back to the small desk that I had been assigned, I realized that someone was standing over me. It was Paul, the account manager for the company, and I sat up straighter. “What can I do for you, Paul?”

  “Do you have those reports that I asked for?”

  I told him that I did and handed him the still-warm sheets of paper. He thanked me and then paused as he was walking away.

  “You know that it will die down, right?”

  I nodded my head, instantly knowing what he was talking about. It was embarrassing to think that he knew, but then again, it was a relief to hear that I wasn’t the only one who had been through it. But was I not the only one who had been with Greg, or was I not the only one who had been accused? Either way it was nice to think that I had someone on my side, and even better that he wasn’t someone who wanted to sleep with me.

  Just as I was getting back to work after Paul left, a shorter, round man came up to the desk and cleared his throat to get my attention. He certainly had it when I finally looked up. He was wearing black skinny jeans and a metallic top that shimmered when he moved. It was the kind of top that I would wear at a club, but he seemed quite natural in the get-up.

  “Can I help you?”

  Tommy smiled at me and shook his head. “I’m Tommy, Greg’s assistant.”

  I took the offered hand and felt the soft shake of his clammy palm. “Nice to meet you, Tommy. What can I do for you?”

  “Greg would like to see you in his office.”

  I wasn’t expecting a summons by another person. With everything that was going on with the rumor mill, I figured it would be better to keep my distance, but it was hard to tell him no. I didn’t have a choice then. I knew that I was going to have to go see him, and I was afraid of how he was going to make me feel. It was fine to think of him as long as he wasn’t around, but knowing that I had to go see him, I knew that it wasn’t going to end well.

  Standing up, I followed Tommy to the elevator and went up to the top with him. When it opened, he didn’t move to get out and after a minute I realized that I was going to have to go alone. I didn’t want to, but I knew that there was nothing that I could do but go. When the boss asks to see you, it’s not a request, but a command.

  Stepping out, I looked around the large room and saw no partitions for another office. It was all one office, and save for a smaller desk in the corner of the room, it appeared to be all for one person. It seemed that Greg’s office was rather large. I heard some noise on the far side of the room where there was a door leading to somewhere. A man came out of it and he stopped when he saw me.

  It wasn’t Greg, but a man who looked to be much different.

  “Hi, I
was supposed to come up here and meet with Greg?”

  “Yes, I was hoping to speak to you first. Do you know who I am?”

  I shook my head that I didn’t know. The tall man was short on words, but his eyes seemed to follow me everywhere I went. As he walked closer, the dark brown eyes held me where I stood.

  “I’m the other owner of this company. I’m not here much – I usually leave Greg to run it – but we started this place together.”

  I started to understand, but there was something in his eyes that I didn’t quite get. Why was he looking at me like that?

  “I see, sir. Nice to meet you.”

  “Donald.”

  I repeated his name since he kept looking at me. I didn’t know what he wanted to talk about, and by the way he eyed me, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear what he had to say. I wanted Greg to pop up and take away the tension between us. Where was he?

  “So you are the intern that I’m hearing so much about?”

  My stomach knotted, and I wasn’t sure that I liked the way he said it. My mind went to the conversation that I had heard not too long before. Surely he didn’t mean that, did he?

  I couldn’t meet his gaze for a while, but when I finally did, I knew that he knew as well. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t done anything with the man. What mattered was what everyone thought I did.

  “I’m not sure what that means, sir, but I’m one of the interns that started last week.”

  “What are your qualifications?”

  He said it as if I didn’t have any. I could feel the temperature rising in my face, and I was feeling even more humiliated by him than I had been by those catty girls in the copy room. They kind of had a right to be mad, but the man in front of me was just toying with me. It felt worse, somehow, and I straightened my back up further to steel myself from his harsh gaze.

  I recited my GPA and school to him, as well as my major. I saw a little surprise in his eyes. I don’t know why it spurred me to say more. It wasn’t like me, but I didn’t like the look on his face and the smug grin on his lips.

  “I would have thought that a woman like you was brought in just to look at, more than for real work.”

  I could feel my face getting red. I don’t know why he was being this way to me, but I didn’t like it. It made me mad and reminded me of the women’s words in the copy room. I had had enough, and I realized then and there that this company was not the one for me.

  Donald moved closer to me and I got a vibe from him that I didn’t like. He had a predatory glare in his brown depths, and I took a step back before he reached out to take my arm in his hand. I don’t know why, but I felt endangered, and instead of shrinking back like I had before, I hit him hard across the face.

  The man was shocked and released me right away. “Don’t touch me!”

  He touched his face at the place where it was starting to get red. The shock subsided quickly, and then it was filled with anger. I knew that it was time for me to go and I turned to move towards the elevator. I didn’t see that it was already open or that Greg was standing there until I was in it and I had pushed the button.

  Turning to Greg, who had a slacked-jaw look on his face, I told him that I quit. “You people don’t even pay us to put up with this shit.”

  The elevator door closed and I could see myself in the reflection of the silver doors. I was so mad, but I bit my bottom lip. I shouldn’t have cursed at Greg, but I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I couldn’t believe the scuzzy partner that he had, or that even after I had done nothing at all, I was still deemed to be the office slut. I was too mad to think. Getting off at the fourth floor to collect my things, I told Paul bye, but didn’t say a word about anything else. Greg knew I had quit, so there wasn’t anything else that I could do.

  Looking back, I was sad to see the place go, but I knew that I wasn’t cut out for that kind of environment. I knew I was going to have to get up the next day and find another job. Maybe this time I would find one that actually paid and had a woman for a boss. I definitely needed a woman for a boss this time around.

  Chapter 2 – Greg

  “What the hell was that about, Don?”

  Donald was still holding the side of his cheek where Desiree had hit him. I had never seen her upset. She was such a gentle soul, and I couldn’t imagine what he had done to her to make her do that to him.

  “She is crazy. Did you see what she just did?”

  “What did you do?”

  Donald started to say something. Maybe he was going to protest and tell me that it was all her, but I knew better and he knew me better than anyone else.

  “I didn’t really do anything. I asked her a couple of questions and she started to walk out. I went to stop her and she slapped the crap out of me. Look at my face! I can’t see it, but I know that I’m going to have a mark.”

  “You tried to stop her?”

  I could feel rage boiling up inside of me. I didn’t want anyone to touch her, not even Don, and I knew then why she had left in such a way. Desiree had been practically shaking around me, but I had to like that she wasn’t the same with Don. Would she have slapped me if I had touched her that night in the car?

  “It wasn’t like that. You need to calm down. I can see it in your eye. What is it with this girl?”

  I was pissed, but I wasn’t going to hit him. Not for touching her arm.

  “Did you try anything with her?”

  “No, but I hear that you have had a taste or two.”

  “Who did you hear that from?”

  “Everyone. I got back earlier and heard several people talking about it. I had to meet the little slut myself.”

  His words made me want to hit him. I told him if he didn’t stop talking that was exactly what I was going to do. “Don’t ever touch her again. She is not a slut, and I haven’t done anything with her. It’s all of those damn gossiping interns that started it. I took her to a meeting, that’s it.”

  Don was getting nervous, and I was trying to lower my voice, which was louder than I had wanted it to be. I shouldn’t have been so mad, but I was, and I knew that if my old friend said the wrong thing, I was liable to do to him what Desiree had done moments before.

  “Well, she is crazy. I don’t want her working for us.”

  “She just quit, and now you’d better worry about a lawsuit if you were in the wrong. This is going to be like Lisa all over again.”

  He shut up then, and I was torn between dealing with him and dealing with Desiree. I decided on the latter when I started to get mad again while I was looking at Don. He wanted me to feel bad for him, but I didn’t. I felt bad that he was still doing those types of things.

  “We are not done yet, Don. Don’t go flying off before I get back.”

  He had done so in the past, but this time I was going to chase him. I was done going around with him, and Desiree was the final straw. Something had to change in the arrangement, and I thought of the paperwork that I had written up and gotten ready for his signature. It was time that the name on the sign was just Jefferson.

  ***

  When I got downstairs, I could tell that there was a ruckus. She had left in a huff and her car was gone when I got down to the parking garage. I called Tommy and had him tell me her number and address. I was not prepared to lose her. I hadn’t even gotten her yet, but I knew that Desiree had come into my life for a reason.

  I gave the driver the address when I got to my car. I was trying to figure out what I was going to say. There was a problem with everything going on in the office, but I didn’t think that getting rid of Desiree was the way to do it. To me the course of action was clear. I just needed to get rid of the other interns and hire Desiree for good. I didn’t know if she was going to be happy with that, but I didn’t know what else to do.

  When I got to her place, it was a small shotgun house as was common in this part of the city. It was not far from the place that I grew up, and I felt a wave of nostalgia when I got out. The drive
r stayed put and I walked to the door. There were a couple of cars out front, and one of them was Desiree’s. I paused for a moment and wondered if the other one belonged to a boyfriend that I didn’t know about. Maybe that was why she had blown me off when I had tried to start something with her.

  A tall brunette opened the door and I stopped. The woman was pretty, but she was not who I was there to see. She looked up at me through her glasses.

  “Is Desiree here?”

  “Are you that jerk from her work that made her so upset?”

  I was a little surprised by the ferocity of the woman, and then she took a step forward. I didn’t know if she was going to hit me, but I was starting to see that there was a pattern. The women in Desiree’s circle were fierce.

  Taking a step back, I tried to explain that it was the other partner. “My name is Greg. I just found out what happened and am trying to make sure that she is okay.”

  I wasn’t sure if I had convinced her.

  “Stay here and I will see if she wants to see you.”

  I nodded my head. I didn’t really have a plan, but I hoped that she would at least see me. When a few minutes stretched by, I started to think that maybe she didn’t want to see me after all, and the feeling of loss settled again in the pit of my stomach.

  Chapter 3 – Desiree

  “You can’t stay in here all day. Come on. I think you should go out there and at least see what he has to say. Why are you giving up so easily? I thought you wanted this job.”

  I did want it, but not the way it really was. I didn’t want to be known as the one who slept her way up to the top. “Just tell him that I’m not here.”

  “Your car is out front and I told him you were here.”

  I glared at Fran and I knew that she wasn’t going to let me languish. I hadn’t even been home fifteen minutes. I thought I deserved a little more time than that.

  “Get up or I’m going to let him in and take him here.”

  I looked around the room and then at my reflection in the mirror of the vanity. “You wouldn’t.”