Game of Love: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance

by Lulu Pratt

  I felt like a traitor. I’d saved them? Here I was, staying after hours to help Clover House when I should have been there to expose them. I realized with a jolt that it was late, and I had to meet Drew for some kind of weird non-date date that I had somehow fallen into. As I waited for the bus, my ever-so-professional reflection in the bus shelter stared back at me. I had no idea who I was or whose life I was living, and I couldn’t decide if the feeling this gave me was excitement or terror.

  Chapter 8

  FREYA

  KNOWING THAT I had already completed a week at Clover House didn’t make the second Monday morning any easier. I had spent the weekend worrying about whether Frank would suspect anything now he had seen that I wasn’t quite the intern I had pretended to be. I was kicking myself. I should have said everything was fine – after all, it wasn’t my job to cross-reference everything. No one would have expected me to.

  I’d woken at the crack of dawn and transformed into Effie Hancock early, treating myself to a breakfast in town at one of the early cafés where I had ordered a bottomless coffee. Turns out Effie Hancock needs a lot of coffee. I’d barely slept all weekend, and it wasn’t just my frustration with my new ‘job’ that was keeping me up. Friday night with Drew had been… surprising. I had managed to get home in time to get changed and eat before he had arrived. We had gone to a student bar, a place that we both knew well. We sat in a cushioned booth at the back, away from a band that was setting up – some kind of modern folk-rock that we might have both enjoyed had there not been a lingering tension in the air. We re-examined the whole Dynasty Games situation. It was an easy conversation because it was the same one we had both been having with my family for several weeks now. Eventually, we ran out of things to say. Until the lawyers had something useful, there was nothing to be done. No amount of talking over possibilities really got us anywhere.

  “Tell me about your work. I was surprised to hear about that; I thought you’d be off out of here,” he said after a bit of a lull in the conversation. For a second, I thought he was asking about the internship and I froze, but then I remembered my lie. It was true what they said about a liar needing to have a good memory.

  “It’s just a bit of freelance.” I was beginning to get good at this. “No big deal.”

  “Still, it’s travel money, right?” he smiled. “Remember our plans to backpack across Europe?”

  “That’s still pretty much the plan!” I laughed. “Except it costs quite a lot more than we thought it would back then!”

  “We were young and idealistic,” he replied, looking at me a little intensely, then seemingly taking great interest in the band who was struggling with an amp.

  “We’re still young!” I followed his gaze to avoid eye contact.

  “Just not so idealistic, right?” he asked, giving me a look that reminded me why we had almost crossed that boundary from friends to lovers. “Still drawing?”

  “Not so much, I… don’t get the time, really,” I answered. I was never without a sketchbook and pencils when we had been together. A huge part of why I wanted to travel was to get back that part of myself that had been stifled by computer programs, assignments, and exams. I stood to go to the bar and escape the direction the conversation was headed.

  When I returned, the mood had lightened, and we drank a few beers and chatted. I even enjoyed myself, laughing at his commentary on the various people who came into the bar. He was an expert people watcher, and we had spent hours like this, imagining lives for the strangers around us. It was after midnight when we made our way into the cool evening air and he walked me home. I didn’t ask him up, and he didn’t expect me to, either. The evening had been unusual enough without complicating things further. We stood talking on the step for a few minutes and then he turned to me, his hands – thankfully – still in his pockets but his face earnest.

  “I can’t help feeling we have unfinished business, you and me,” he said, his voice catching a little. I can’t deny it sent a surge of some unidentifiable feeling through my body.

  “Drew–” I began.

  “Tell me you don’t feel it, and I won’t mention it again.” He took a step closer to me.

  “I know,” I said, looking at my shoes. He felt incredibly close and somehow taller. I felt suddenly like he was a stranger, not quite the Drew I remembered.

  “Okay,” he said softly. “Okay,” and he stepped back and smiled his regular Drew smile.

  It was enough for him, and I was relieved. I turned and made my way up to my apartment. A month ago I wasn’t giving Drew a thought; I was so making travel plans that I had pretty much checked out of the family business. Now here I was on some sort of date with Drew, travel plans forgotten, and working as an intern with some vague hope of saving the company. I was going backward. But weirdly, it felt good. I looked at myself critically in the mirror when I undressed and thought about how just a few years had changed Drew so much, and yet I was the same as I had been. Same crazy hair, same round butt, and scrawny legs. Maybe my boobs finally became bigger, and my figure had softened and was less lanky, but I had barely changed at all compared to Drew. I stopped myself. I was not about to start thinking about Drew like that. No way. I spent the rest of the weekend lounging on the couch binge-watching some British crime drama that Taylor had been talking about, eating chocolate, and avoiding everyone.

  I realized with a start that I needed to get moving if I was going to be on time, and the reality of working at Clover House filled me with fresh dread. I left my coffee, feeling jittery enough already, and made the short journey to work, running through the rain and arriving looking like I’d had to swim in. I dumped my jacket and went to the bathroom to try to dry off and smooth my hair, and when I emerged again, Frank was waiting for me, his face solemn.

  “We are wanted in Keegan’s office,” he said. “There’s been some… confusion… over Friday’s disaster.”

  “Oh,” my face must have given away my panic.

  “Don’t worry, we didn’t do anything wrong – but Sean is on the warpath, and he wants to see whoever worked on it after he left.”

  “Sean?” I asked, slightly relieved that it wasn’t going to be Keegan.

  “Both of ‘em,” he looked apologetic.

  We made our way to the glass office. Frank knocked and a voice barked at us to come in. At the large dark wood desk sat Keegan Callahan, looking even darker than his picture suggested. I was certain that he was the hot guy from Antionette’s, but now was not the time to chat about a missed connection. This guy looked like a villain from a cartoon right now. All angles and energy, and something else I was surprised at – sexiness. It was almost funny. Sean stood at the window. He looked surprised, and smiled when he saw me.

  Keegan looked me over, and I blushed. For a moment, I felt like he could see through my clothes.

  “Frank,” Keegan began. “I hadn’t realized you had left this with the new intern. The intern who has been here a week, right?” Keegan didn’t even look at me, addressing his question to Frank as if I weren’t there.

  Keegan had an Irish accent, and for a second I wondered why he had an accent and his brother, who was obviously only a little younger, had no trace of one. I wondered if they had grown up separately; they certainly didn’t sound like they had grown up together.

  “Effie was only proofing the frames; that’s how she noticed the mistake–” Frank started to explain, but Sean cut him off and turned to his brother, who was still brooding at the desk.

  “There shouldn’t have been any mistake,” he said calmly to Keegan. “You were in charge, and if this had gone through, we’d have been up shit creek. It is just another example of this department’s laziness.”

  I felt Frank bristle beside me, but he didn’t speak. Keegan must have noticed it too, because he stood up and faced Sean.

  “The Design team did nothing wrong here. They were working with the data they were given,” he spoke calmly, his arms folded across his chest.

/>   Sean laughed. “It’s pathetic! And it’s up to you to figure out who is responsible and get rid of them.”

  “I won’t be getting rid of anyone. If anything, we are understaffed. You have rushed every aspect of this project, with no explanation for why. I won’t have it blamed on my people.”

  “Your people! They were working with data that is two weeks out of date!” Sean exclaimed angrily.

  “No,” I heard myself say, and the room spun a little.

  “What?” Sean rounded on me, a warning look in his eyes.

  Keegan looked at me again and cocked an eyebrow. He looked like he was trying to suppress a smile.

  “The new pricing structure – it was only sent over Friday afternoon at four-thirty. It was attached to an email about something else. I only saw it because it was printed along with other attachments. There was no way the designers would have used that data. In fact, there is an unanswered email from Keegan to yourself asking for confirmation of the pricing structure. I saw it as I was searching on Friday,” I spoke quietly but firmly, and I looked Sean square in the eye.

  I realized in a split second that I had one major advantage in this job – I didn’t really care if they fired me. I spent half the time on the verge of walking out anyway, and I had quickly realized that an intern in the Design department was never going to hear anything juicy or gain access to anything dodgy. So fuck it, they could fire me if they wanted. I was done with smiling and nodding. The three men stared at me. Sean looked like he might explode – he was glaring at me, never breaking eye contact. It was actually a nice change from where his eyes usually were.

  “Frank,” said Keegan. “Thank you for the work you did on Friday to rectify the mistake; please reassure the team. That is all for now. Ms. Hancock, a moment more of your time.”

  Frank quickly disappeared out through the door, and Keegan turned to Sean with one word. “Leave.”

  Sean did not reply, but turned to me, suddenly all business-like again. “We will be reviewing your participation in the intern program, Ms. Hancock…”

  “Ms. Hancock will no longer be taking part in your precious intern program.” Keegan spat the words at his brother, and I flushed with embarrassment at the obvious inference that the program was, as I suspected, simply a ready supply of women for Sean to lord it over.

  “Well,” Sean said, clearly surprised at this and giving me a patronizing smile. “That’s something.”

  Sean left, slamming the door as he went, and I found myself alone with Keegan. I stood looking out the window behind Keegan for long enough to ensure that Sean would be well out of the way, then I turned to the door.

  “Effie?” he asked, and I paused.

  “What?” I asked, no longer feeling the need to be particularly polite. I just wanted out of there, free of the drama, free of the double life, and I could almost sense the relief that awaited me. Keegan seemed to almost laugh, and it made me angry.

  “Thank you, Effie. That wasn’t easy for you. I, however, very much enjoyed seeing my brother put in his place so succinctly,” he smiled. “But I’m afraid your position as an intern is no longer tenable.”

  “Yes, I heard you,” I said, and made to leave.

  “So, the only option for you is to take up a new position. I need an assistant…” He left the sentence hanging as I paused with my back to him, trying to process what he was saying. I couldn’t quite take it in, let alone find a tactful way to decline.

  “I don’t think so,” I said, looking him in his blue eyes. “I don’t know what way this place is run, but I’m out.” Once more, I made for the door.

  “I know,” he said. “It will be a big step up from an internship, with more responsibility, but you have just demonstrated integrity, and that counts for a lot here. Or at least it should,” he glanced at the door and then at the floor.

  This was it. I felt it rather than thought it. This was the chance I had been hoping for. This was the ‘something’ that Beatrix and I kept saying would come along. I knew I had to take it, and the confidence – arrogance, even – that I had felt when I thought I was going to quit or be fired had quickly left me. I tried to compose myself, and it appeared that Keegan Callahan was doing the same.

  “I don’t know…” I said, I tried to sound unsure but I could tell by his face that he understood me quite clearly, I was saying yes.

  “Of course, you have probably just blown any chance of my brother asking you out…” he teased, and the darkness somehow left his face, replaced by something playful.

  “Why do you think I did it? You didn’t think I was doing it for you, did you?” I replied, well aware that I was taking a risk speaking to him like this, but my recklessness was returning.

  “I will have HR sort out a contract,” he smiled. I nodded.

  “Do you think he will be very angry?” I asked seriously.

  Keegan seemed to consider this for a moment, and then sat down at his desk again and shuffled some papers before answering with my own words. “Why do you think I did it? You didn’t think I was doing it for you, did you, Effie?”

  Chapter 9

  KEEGAN

  “I DON’T KNOW how you don’t just make him choose a window and throw him through it,” Mick grimaced. I had been filling him in via Zoom just how charming my brother had been lately.

  “He’s not worth it,” I said, suddenly tired of the conversation. “Man, I can’t wait until I’m out of this place.”

  “You’ve got a while to go yet. Just do your time,” he replied, looking away from the screen, perhaps distracted by someone else in his office.

  “How are things there?” I asked, but I knew that Mick being Mick, he would have everything under control.

  “Grand, grand,” he nodded dismissively. “Just prepping for the European launch, and that’s what I actually wanted to talk to you about. I’m insisting you come over for it.”

  “Ah, Mick, you know I’d love to, but I’m swamped here. There’s no way Sean would…”

  “Fuck Sean! Why are you letting that asshole be the boss of you?” He was getting annoyed now, and I couldn’t blame him. There was a time when Sean would barely have had the balls to even speak to me. A time when I was top dog, and he was in my shadow, competing for our parents’ affection. I hated how he spoke to me now, but I wasn’t proud of how he must have felt back then.

  “All right,” I agreed. “I will see what I can do.”

  “Listen, mate,” his voice became quiet. “I’ve been out to see Sarah, and she was asking after you. It’s been a while. Now, I don’t mind going, I’m a hell of a lot closer than you are, but…”

  “I know,” I cut him off. I didn’t need to be reminded that I had been neglecting someone important to me.

  I made up my mind that I was going to have to go back home. I would visit Sarah, smile, and act the part at the opening of the new Ireland office – that might even get me some points for good behavior from my folks – and then be back before Sean could replace me, or undermine my department. I felt a thrill of excitement running through me. Maybe this was exactly what I needed.

  “Can you hear me?” Mick was staring at me through the screen.

  “Eh, yeah, the connection froze for a second,” I lied.

  “So that’s sorted, now tell me about Lucy.” Mick resumed his usual smiling demeanor and laughed as I rolled my eyes.

  “I don’t know where you find women, or where they find their friends, but I have never known anyone like her,” I answered truthfully.

  “Honestly?” Mick looked surprised, and impressed. “Well, that’s high praise indeed, coming from you!”

  “I don’t know if it’s praise or not…” I shook my head.

  The truth was, Lucy confused me. Nothing seemed to bother her. She was, well, whatever I wanted her to be. If I was late, if I canceled a date, if I fell asleep during a conversation, it was all fine. I’d even started to test out my theory. I let her see me checking out another girl in a restauran
t. Nothing. I flirted with the waitress. Nothing. She was a Stepford girlfriend. I should have felt like the luckiest man on earth. I tried to explain this without making it seem like I was simply boasting about how good I had it, but before I could find the right words, there was a knock at the office door. I called for whoever it was to come in, and Effie entered, eyes down and arms full of paperwork.

  “Effie – meet Mick – you will probably be dealing with him on the phone or via Zoom, so it’s best you get acquainted,” I motioned to her to come to the screen.

  “Mick, this is my new assistant, Effie,” I told him, sliding my chair back so she could access the screen. She bent slightly to see it, and her butt hovered just above my crotch. I made a point of not looking, but I was surprised I hadn’t noticed how absolutely perfect it was. That said, her style of dressing was a little demure for my tastes. Her scent flooded my senses for a moment, and I felt myself getting hard. It was barely there, but the hints of jasmine and amber made me close my eyes. I suddenly realized that I was thinking more like my brother than usual, and I snapped into the present.

  “Hello, Keegan’s new assistant that he would never, ever be hiring,” Mick laughed confusedly.

  “Hi,” Effie smiled self-consciously. “It’s nice to meet you, but I’m not sure I count as a real assistant – I was sort of a…” she searched for the words. “Sort of a ‘rage hire,’ I guess.”

  I had to laugh. That was exactly what she was. A rage hire. To begin with. But Effie had been my assistant for a couple of days now, and I was already wondering what I had done before I had her. She had streamlined the office and pointed out several glaring errors in my filing system. And every time Sean came in, he seethed with… well, with something. Anger? Jealousy? Whatever it was that fueled his permanent state of annoyance with me. In other words, Effie was perfect.

  “Well, well, well,” Mick was laughing. “You seem to have gotten the measure of our colleague here, Effie. Here’s some advice. Don’t take any shit from him, and make sure he pays you decently. I’ll be meeting you in person soon at the opening of the new office, and we can compare notes on the grumpy bastard then.”