Entwine (Billionaire Series) (7 page)

All right, Jennifer
had to admit, the driver may have been a good idea. He knew some excellent
shortcuts and managed to get her to work fifteen minutes early. She'd even
beaten Emma which was amazing because sometimes Jennifer thought Emma slept in
the office.

Since she had no
way of knowing if she'd also beaten Philip, (because the janitors left the
lights on when they left at seven) Jennifer just went straight to the office.
She'd opened the door halfway before she realized that Philip was on the phone.

“...I know how you want
this to go, but based on our history, I'm not so sure it'll be a good idea.”
Philip sighed, his expression weary. “Yes, I agree, we were good together at
some point.” He raised his head, his eyes widening slightly as he caught sight
of Jennifer. “We'll talk more later.” He hung up without giving the other
person time to respond.

“I'm sorry,”
Jennifer apologized. “I didn't know you were here already. I can go back out if
you want to finish your call.”

“No,” Philip shook
his head. “It's nothing that needs to be addressed right away.”

“Oh, okay,”
Jennifer wasn’t totally convinced, but walked over to her desk. Did that mean
he wasn't talking to J about pursing a new relationship? It had sure sounded
like a 'get back together' type of conversation to Jennifer.

“Once you're
settled in, we'll get started on staffing policies and procedures.” Philip
spoke briskly, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Jennifer just
nodded. There was at least one good thing about Philip's uncanny ability to
switch moods. He could refocus on work after something emotional had happened
whereas she would've been distracted all day.

By the time Emma
arrived with coffee, Jennifer was sitting across from Philip, poring over
staffing information. As he explained each position's duties, Jennifer would
comment or ask questions, comparing her knowledge of the practiced applications
to what the books contained. Philip answered each one with quick, intelligent
answers. Though he kept his distance from her and made no mention of their
steamy phone call the night before, Jennifer began to see a side of this
personality she could admire—and could certainly be attracted to.

Even though he was
almost cold to her in the personal sense, Philip provided thorough answers and
never made her feel silly or stupid for anything she said. She'd known he was
smart, but every time she saw him in action, she was impressed all over again.

“I have to ask.”
Jennifer knew the question bordered on the personal, but since it had a
professional base, she decided to go ahead with it. “Do you have some sort of
psychology background?”

Philip's head
jerked up, a startled expression on his face. “Why would you ask that?”

“You just seem
really good at understanding which people will work together the best based on
their strengths and weaknesses.” Jennifer was a little puzzled by the reaction.
“I just thought you may have taken some psychology classes in school or
something.”

“Oh, no,” he shook
his head. “I guess I just read people well.” He turned his attention back to
the papers on his desk. “I think that's all for this morning. We'll pick up
after lunch with some of the other types of duties that managers are obligated
to fulfill.”

It wasn't until
Jennifer was heading down for lunch that a reason dawned on her for Philip's
odd response. Maybe it wasn't psychology classes that he'd taken, but maybe
he'd been in counseling of some kind. It didn't hold the stigma it once had,
but a lot of powerful men still felt like it was something they couldn't talk
about. Then again, she countered, he could have just been self-taught and
surprised by her question. Philip was the type of ambitious person who would
read up on anything that would help him run his business better.

That ambition was
one of those attractive qualities that she hadn't really considered before, she
realized. She'd always prided herself on not being superficial and caring about
things like money and position. In fact, she'd kind of looked down on people
who placed so much importance on things like that and she'd always considered
ambition to go hand-in-hand with those types of things. Now, in Philip, she
could see that her previous opinion had been wrong. Philip wasn't ambitious
because he cared more about money than about people. He enjoyed his work, but
the people were a vital part of it. In some ways, he paid more attention to
people than some who claimed that it was their job to love mankind.

With that newfound
appreciation, Jennifer went back to the office after lunch ready to learn.
Philip was already at his desk and he glanced up as she sat down. Without any
preamble, he began. “There are certain positions in the hotel industry that
managers don't hire people to fill but businesses. But, since a business is
only as good as its people, you have to consider what you're looking for when
you make those decisions. Let's start with the linen service...”

***

By the time the day
was over, Jennifer felt like her head was going to explode, but in a good way,
not like it had been the day before. Philip had been all business, but he'd
been teaching so she felt like there was still some sort of connection there.
Granted, it wasn't emotional, but it was something.

Jennifer packed up
her things, excused herself for the day, and made her way to the elevators. She
was just about to press the elevator button to head down to the ground floor
when a hand darted between the closing metal doors. To her surprise, Philip
stepped through the doors and pressed the down button.

Jennifer gave him a
puzzled look but didn't say anything. If he wanted to talk to her, she'd let
him initiate. Things were all right between them at the moment and she didn't
want to strain anything by asking a question he didn't want to answer.

Philip didn't say a
word as the elevator beeped down two floors, didn't even look at her. Then,
just as they were halfway between the first and second floors, he reached out
in front of her and hit the stop button. As the elevator jerked to a stop, and
before Jennifer could react, Philip was right next to her, looking down at her
with an unreadable expression on his face.

He stepped around
her without a word and then reached his arm around the front of her waist and
pulled her back against him. Jennifer let out a surprised squeak, but didn't
say anything else. Philip yanked her shirt out of her skirt and shoved his hand
under the waistband. His intent became crystal clear as his fingers danced over
the cotton material and down to the rapidly dampening crotch of her panties.
Jennifer's breathing shortened as he rubbed his hand over her underwear.

When his fingertips
teased at the elastic band against her inner thigh, she parted her legs, eager
for more of his touch. She moaned as his index finger pulled aside the now-wet
material, exposing her throbbing pussy to his touch. His arm tightened around
her waist as his finger delved between her lips. She let out a sigh as his
finger fluttered over her clit. He pressed his lips against the back of her
neck.

Jennifer closed her
eyes and let her head fall back on his shoulder as his hand began to move. His
fingers played her like a fine instrument as they circled her entrance before
dipping inside for a brief caress. The palm of his hand rubbed against her clit
as he began to thrust his fingers into her. She was wet, but tight, and he
hadn't taken the time to stretch her, letting the burn of two fingers filter
through her body along with the pleasure. Her entire body shuddered as his hand
began to move faster, urging her towards a climax with an almost rough touch.

She could feel his
shaft hard against her ass, his breath hot on her neck, but he didn't speak,
didn't seem to be paying any attention to his own needs. He added a third
finger and she cried out, it was too much too soon, and her muscles shook. The
moment he pressed the heel of his hand hard against her clit, he sank his teeth
into the juncture between her shoulder and neck and she came, her knees going
weak. She pressed her lips together, swallowing the wail that wanted to escape.

Philip held her for
just a moment before removing his hand out from underneath her skirt, eliciting
a whimper from Jennifer as the movement sent another ripple of pleasure through
her. She stumbled as Philip moved from behind her but he made no move to steady
her. The hand that had been around her waist released the stop button and, with
a jerk, the elevator continued its descent.

Jennifer's mind was
whirling as she hurried to make herself presentable before the doors opened.
She was smoothing down her skirt as they reached their destination and Philip
was out of the doors before she could say anything. Her legs were still a bit
wobbly as she exited, but she managed to get to the company car without
incident. Once she settled inside, she closed her eyes, trying to make sense of
what had just happened.

When it had been
happening, she hadn't been able to think straight, focusing only on how her
body was responding to Philip's attention.

Now, she could see
how impersonal it had been. He hadn't said a word, had barely made eye contact.
Even his mouth on her neck had seemed more like a means to an end rather than a
way to convey how he felt. Was this all she was to him? Some toy to be played
with whenever the mood struck him? He could teach anyone what he was teaching
her about the business. Had he chosen her because he'd sensed some sort of
vulnerability, something that made him know she would respond to his advances?
And if he had, what did it say about her? Should she just move on, find another
job just to prove that she could do it? And prove it to who? Herself? Philip?
Should she even care what he thought?

Even as all of her
questions and doubts were rushing through her head, she couldn't help but
remember other moments, times when she'd seen him being tender and caring. How
he'd reacted when Brad had grabbed her arm that day at the hotel. How he'd made
a show of touching her just to show up Jodie. The way he would look pleased
when she grasped a difficult concept or when she took easily to a new task.

She was getting out
of the car and heading for the front door when she thought to herself that she
hadn't seen that side of Philip over the past few days, ever since J had
appeared. Even the previous night's phone sex, hot and heavy as it had been,
had been all about the finale, she realized. There hadn't been any affectionate
exchanges; no talking about anything personal that wasn't sexual. Whatever was
going on between J and Philip had effectively put a halt to any emotional
progression between Jennifer and Philip.

She hurried up the
stairs to her apartment. There was only one person she could talk to about
something like this. Rachel would listen and give advice and wouldn't judge
when Jennifer said that she craved Philip's touch, and that her body responded
to him almost without volition.

As soon as she
opened the door to her apartment, she saw a piece of paper on the table and her
heart sank. She knew before she read it that Rachel wasn't here. The note was
brief and, like most of Rachel's correspondence, barely legible.

“Jen, I have to go
away for a couple of days. Minor emergency. Nothing big so don't worry about
me. I'll talk to you when I get back. Call if you need me and I'll try to
answer. No promises. Love you, Ray.”

Well, there went
that idea. Jennifer sighed as she kicked off her shoes. She wasn't about to
bother Rachel for something so trivial. Whatever Rachel was going through was
more important than Jennifer's difficulty of trying to understand her two men.

The only problem
was that now Jennifer was alone with her thoughts, a scenario that had been
playing out far too often in her opinion. No good came of that, she knew. If
she could've figured this mess out on her own she would've done it already. She
needed to talk things out.

Her gaze fell on a
pillow that had fallen off of the couch the night before when Brad had been
there.

Brad. He'd listened
so well, been so kind and understanding. What were the chances he could be that
way again? And if she changed the personal to the professional, why couldn't
she debrief on him, ask his advice? After all, they had been friends once too.
She had to decide if she was seriously going to consider calling Brad.