A Billionaire Punishes (A Billionaire Invites - Remington - Part 2)
Description
: Erin’s dreams have all come true: along with her best friend Tamara, she gets to work at the best job in the world, for the best boss in the world (her billionaire boyfriend Remington). But then suddenly things take a turn for the worse when her former employer Celeste Carter shows up with Avery Charmers, who’s not only Remington’s fiancée but also the real owner of Hearts & Flowers, two things Remington apparently forgot to mention.
With Avery’s backing, Celeste quickly assumes control of the business, and Erin is kicked to the curb. And then there’s Remington’s impending marriage to Avery… When the dust finally settles, Erin finds herself without a job, without a boyfriend, and forced to move back in with her parents.
Length
: This is the second part in the 3-part A Billionaire Punishes serial, about secretary Erin Gould and her unexpected romantic entanglement with her billionaire boss Remington Carswell. 12,536 words. One more part will follow this second part, and the three parts will also be bundled into a novel.
The first novel in this series (also serialized) is A Billionaire Invites - Templeton, about Remington’s older brother.
Spice Level
: very spicy, with frequent, graphic sex scenes.
A Billionaire Punishes
A Billionaire Invites - Remington - Part Two
The next few weeks went by like a dream. For the first time in my life I actually hopped out of bed every morning, excited to go to work. Of course, I’d never had a job before where I got to work side by side with both my boyfriend and my best friend, so that was pretty unique. Tamara had joined Hearts & Flowers, and now I got to chat with her whenever work allowed. And when Remington wasn’t away on business, I got to kiss my boss man super hunky billionaire boyfriend every chance I got! And I made sure we had plenty of opportunities.
Gradually, Remington left more and more of the day-to-day side of the business to me. By now I was an old hand at online flower retailing, and he had a lot on his plate running part of the family business now that his dad was starting to openly dream of retirement.
So my days were spent running the flower business and my nights belonged to Remington, whenever he was in town—or in the country.
I was still dreaming of setting up my own business selling cupcakes online, but Hearts & Flowers took up so much of my time and energy, I’d put that little project of mine on the back burner, though Tamara kept urging me to pick it up again and make a go of it. After all, she reasoned, Hearts & Flowers wasn’t mine. I was just a hired gun. But the cupcake thing? That would be totally me. And if things worked out, she could even join me and we’d be working side by side as a team.
For now, that was just a pipe dream. It did set me pondering my role as Remington’s second in command, both in his business and his personal life. Officially I was still his secretary, though I was doing a lot more than that. As far as our personal relationship went, I had no idea where we actually stood. Though I occasionally shared his bed, he hadn’t formalized things—hadn’t ever called me his girlfriend or introduced me to his friends or family. So what did that make me? His lover? His mistress?
More and more, I started wondering how long this dream would last. After all, I was merely a working girl and he was some billionaire hunk who liked to dabble in flowers, probably just to pass the time or to see if he could, and bed his secretary, like so many billionaire business owners have done since the dawn of time—or at least since the noble profession of the secretary has come into existence.
So was I just living the cliché? Would Remington replace me with the newest model as soon as he got bored with the old one?
I know I shouldn’t have worried about all of that, and most days I managed to shove these pesky thoughts aside. Other days they persisted in needling me and souring my mood.
Especially on days like today, when I hadn’t seen or heard from Remington for almost an entire week, and was starting to think he’d forgotten about me completely. And then suddenly he blew into my office and cracked a smile that lit up my soul.
“Honey, I’m home,” he quipped.
“Rem!” I cried, and flew into his arms. He grinned as I showered his lovely face with kisses, then he rubbed his eyes and yawned.
“Is that the effect I have on you these days?” I pouted.
“Sorry, babe. Jet lag. I just got back from Indonesia. Some trouble at one of the plants.”
“Your dad is working you way too hard,” I said.
“Yeah, tell me about it.” He yawned cavernously once again, then buried his face in my neck.
“Want to know what your flower girl’s been up to?” I said.
In spite of his apparent malaise, he gave me a grin. “Sure.”
“We’ve added another twenty percent to our customer base this month,” I said happily. “Business is booming.”
“You’re a natural,” he said, and I could see from the way his mouth curved up, that he was proud.
“Customers are happy, suppliers are happy, staff is happy,” I ticked off on my fingers.
“And you?” he said, cupping my chin in his hand. “Are
you
happy?”
“Yeah, sure,” I said, going for evasive.
“Something the matter?”
I wriggled against him. “I never get to see you,” I murmured against his chest. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too, honey,” he said. “And I promise it won’t be like this forever. It’s just that dad is cutting back and someone has to step in and guarantee a smooth transition.”
“And your brothers? Aren’t they pitching in?”
“Yes they are,” he said. “But we are a pretty big business, and we’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to deal with things going forward.”
“I’m fine, really,” I said, suddenly feeling remorseful for laying my petty concerns on him. “You’ve got so much on your plate already. You don’t need a little whiner like me messing up your mojo.”
“You’re not whining,” he said. “In fact, I think you’re about the only person I know who
never
whines.”
“That’s probably because you don’t know me all that well,” I said.
“I beg to differ. For one thing, I think you would make a great CEO.”
I laughed. “And you would make a great stand-up comedian. Me? A CEO?”
“Yes, you,” he said, and his eyes suddenly grew serious. “Look, I’ll be gone a lot these coming weeks, and you’ve practically been running Hearts & Flowers all by yourself anyway. So why not formalize things?”
“Formalize?” I said, wondering what the hell he was talking about.
“From now on, you’re my CEO. You’re in charge here and you report to me. What do you think?”
I raked my fingers through his hair, a look of concern on my face, as I made a production of checking his skull.
“What are you doing?” he said, laughing.
“Just checking for head injuries,” I said. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?
He grabbed my hands in his and fixed me with shiny eyes. “I’m not crazy! You’d make a great business leader. For one thing, you know all there is to know about the flower business. And for another, people adore you. The customers, the employees… You’re a natural at this, Erin. Trust me.”
I grimaced. “I don’t know, Rem. It’s one thing to be the boss’s sock puppet. It’s quite another to actually be in charge. Do you really think I can do this?”
“You
have
been doing this, silly! I spend less and less time here and business is improving hand over fist. Who’s responsible, do you think? The absentee owner, or his brilliant second-in-command?”
“Duh. The absentee owner, of course,” I said. “If it weren’t for your invaluable leadership, I would never have been able to get this far.”
“Well, if that’s your only concern: I promise you will always have my ‘invaluable leadership’ at your disposal. I’m only a phone call away. Now are you gonna fight me on this? Or do you trust my judgment?”
I sighed deeply. “You’re the boss.”
He kissed me and I swooned. “No,
you’re
the boss,” he said when his lips released mine.
“Well, if you put it like that,” I sighed, and completely forgot what we were talking about when our lips locked once again, deeper this time, hungrier.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered against my mouth.
“Prove it,” I breathed.
He grinned and his eyes traveled to the door.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “Nobody’s around.”
“Who do you call nobody?” a familiar voice sounded from the doorway.
Remington and I quickly extricated ourselves from our embrace.
“Don’t stop on my account,” Tamara said as she stepped into my office.
Her eyes shone gaily as she took in our scuffling act.
“Hey, hon,” I said, straightening my skirt. “We were just having a, erm, business meeting.”
“Sure you were,” she said, her eyes taking in Remington.
“This is my friend Tamara,” I introduced her. “This is Remington Carswell. Your boss.”
“Hi, boss,” said Tamara, not the least bit perturbed.
“Hi, Tamara,” said Remington, crossing over to her with outstretched hand. “I’ve heard so much about you, I feel like I know you already.”
“Ditto, Mr. Carswell,
sir
,” she said, emphasizing the ‘sir’.
I frantically shook my head behind Remington’s back, but too late.
Looking from Tamara to me, he said, “So it really is true, then? BFFs really don’t keep any secrets from each other?”
“No, Sir,” said Tamara. “We BFFs just love to hear the naked truth. Sir.”
He gave me a lopsided grin. “Gotcha.”
I rolled my eyes at Tamara, but she simply ignored me and trudged on ahead. “Any tips you can give me about that tie-me-up-tie-me-down routine? Alan and I are dying to get down and dirty. If you catch my drift.” And she gave him a fat wink. Talk about subtle.
“Alan?” Remington frowned. “Not… my web maven Alan?”
“That’s the one,” Tamara said. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”
“I don’t see how I could stop you,” said Remington resignedly.
“That’s one fine piece of man you’ve got down there,” she said. “One damn fine piece of man.”
“He
is
a programming genius, that’s true,” said Remington, a little uncomfortable to be having this particular conversation.
“Oh, no. I’m not talking about his computer skills,” said Tamara. “Not talking about his computer skills at all.” She leaned in, and loud-whispered, “I’m talking about his oral skills. The man’s like a suction pump. Once he gets going, it’s as if I’ve got a vacuum cleaner attached to my honey pot, if you catch my drift.”
“Well, there’s something you don’t hear every day,” murmured Remington, visibly amused.
“Um, Tamara?” I said. “Perhaps we shouldn’t be having this conversation now?”
But she gave me a dismissive wave and simply trudged on. “The thing is, we’ve kinda run out of positions, see? And before things go all stale and downhill, I thought we try some of that bondage stuff you seem to like so much. Is there some website or book or whatever you could point us to?”
Remington scratched his scalp. “I, erm, have to confess I never read any book on the subject. I just…” He darted a quick look at me, then grinned. “I guess I was inspired by the moment. And by Erin’s willingness to play along.”
“Oh, but I’m willing!” assured Tamara. “You bet your fine ass I’m willing to try whatever kinky stuff you’re prepared to throw at me.”
“Kinky stuff?” said Remington, his gaze traveling from Tamara to me.
“I think I might have exaggerated,” I murmured, my cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “It wasn’t all that kinky,” I explained to Tamara.
“Oh? You could have fooled me,” she said. “If even ten percent of what you described actually happened…”
“It didn’t,” I assured her. “I may have embellished certain… details.” I didn’t dare look Remington in the eye, and was sure that soon I was going to melt into a puddle of shame, leaving not a trace behind.
Remington appeared unperturbed, though. Even amused. He slung a casual arm around Tamara’s shoulder. “You know what?” he said. “Why don’t you and I and Alan get together some time, and I’ll teach you everything I know about the art and science of adding some spice to a couple’s intimacy.”
She gave him a look of reverence. “You would do that for us, sir?” she said.
“Of course,” he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “Anything for my girlfriend’s BFF.”
I looked up in surprise. Had he just called me his girlfriend? My cheeks burned even brighter, but this time not from shame but relief and excitement.
Then Tamara reached a hand down to Remington’s bum and gave it a light tap. She grinned. “You’re the best boss I’ve ever had, Mister Carswell, sir.”
“Well, thanks, Tamara. You’re not too bad yourself.”
“Thank you, s—”
He shushed her by placing a finger to her lips. “No more ‘sir’ please, Tamara. Now that you know more about my sexual habits than even my closest friends, I think you better start calling me Remington, all right?”
“Righto, Rem,” she said jovially.
When finally she’d left, and it was just me and Remington, silence reigned. I was the first to break it.