Resisting the Billionaire Collection (33 page)

He was standing with his mouth open.

"Don't let the flies in." MJ pushed his jaw
shut. Alison turned away from him with another guilty look.

Olivia planted herself in front of him. "I'm
still free, lover boy. You don't have to be rich to be my guy."

He gave her a distracted look and then
returned to his station.

A small irate face looked up at him.

"The service in this place has gone to the
goddamn dogs." It said.

By midday, Sebastian was a raging ball of
tension. Alison had studiously avoided him for the entire morning.
Whenever he tried to engage her, she turned away from him or
switched the conversation to work. It turned out to be a busy
shift, so opportunities to speak with her were limited anyway. Not
to mention Olivia and half the other women in the café throwing
themselves in front of him like an estrogen barrier whenever he
tried to get near her. He had never imagined that having multiple
women flirting with him outrageously and bedroom eyes publicly
eating him before noon could be so incredibly frustrating. The last
thing on his mind was casual sex with coworkers.

True, he did get the occasional
half-erection, but it was a whole lot less than if he had been
working next to Alison. He would have to find another way.

On his morning break, he slipped out back
and went a couple of doors down the street. When he was sure there
was no one from the Tête-á-Tête around, he called his head of
security.

"Jonas, it's me. She’s going on a date
tonight. Track her. Find out who the guy is. Give me live updates.
I want to know immediately once you find out where they’re going.
If you can head the guy off, delay him, scare him off or distract
him, then do it. I don't care how it’s done, as long as it's legal
-- or at least defensible."

He ended the call without waiting for an
answer.

As soon as he left for the evening, he made
contact with the tail.

"I'll call you back when we got something
Mr. Drummond, but right now she's just on the bus going home."

"Keep this line open. I said I want live
coverage. I didn’t turn a $50 million business into a billion
dollar fortune by waiting for people to come through for me. This
surveillance is happening in real time. I’m paying you top dollar,
right? "

"Yes sir, Mr. Drummond."

"Then you can damn well stay on the phone
for a few hours."

He pushed the earpiece on his hands-free set
in deep and headed home himself for an evening of covert
surveillance.

Chapter Eleven

"MJ? Is that you? Thank God you’re there."

MJ smiled. She had her friend back.

"Of course I’m here, baby. What do you
need?"

"I need you over here right now. Wardrobe
crisis."

"I’m on it. Sit tight. I’ll be there in 45
minutes."

Alison waited, frozen in front of her tiny
wardrobe in her tiny apartment. She was experiencing feelings about
her million-dollar date that she couldn’t have predicted even a few
hours earlier. Dylan Bryant was due to pick her up at 8:00. She had
arrived home at 5:45, which left her just over two hours to get
ready, and now she realized how empty and threadbare her whole
wardrobe was.

Finally, the buzzer went and she let MJ
inside.

"Thank God you’re here!"

"Have I ever let you down? Look, I’ve got
clothes for you.” She had brought some of her own as the two women
had a similar size.

"I don’t think I can do this." Alison
said.

"Just calm down, Alison. Take a deep breath.
It’s just a date."

"It’s more than that and you know it. I
mean, this guy is a millionaire; he's probably used to dating women
who do their shopping in Paris and Milan. Not penniless girls who
have to borrow from their friend an hour before a date because they
haven’t been shopping in ages."

"Don't worry, Alison. Really, the guy has a
serious Cinderella complex. He wants to save you from need. You are
going to be perfect for him. Just be yourself and don't try to act
fancy."

"You know I couldn't even if I wanted
to."

The next hour disappeared and when the
doorbell rang, Alison's mouth was in her throat.

"Jesus, I don't think I can do this."

MJ ignored her and answered the
intercom.

"Yes it is." She said. "Who's this? Dylan
who?"

"MJ, stop. What the hell are you doing?"

MJ put her hand over the phone. "Can't let
him think you're too desperate, now can we? There are plenty more
millionaire fish in the sea, especially in this town, but there
will only ever be one Alison Myers."

Alison grinned. MJ was a friend in a
million, maybe even a billion.

"Go on. Get out of here." MJ said as she
pushed her friend out the door.

When she got outside, there was a limo
waiting for her. A driver stood holding the door open.

Jesus Christ. How am I going to get through
this?

The man smiled. "Please, ma'am." He said,
and directed her to step in.

She took a deep breath and then bowed her
head to step inside.

God, this was it already.

Was he really a ringer for Brad Pitt or was
he just a greasy old man pretending to be a young millionaire? A
dirty old man looking for a mistress?

The car was empty.

"Where's Mr. Bryant?" She asked.

"He'll be joining you at the restaurant
ma'am. He sends his apologies but he had some business to attend
to."

Alison was secretly relieved.

Everything inside the car was pure luxury.
Nothing like the cheap interior of a hired limo. She had been
inside one of those party rentals once and everything about it
spoke of poor people wanting to act rich. A sham luxury borrowed
for a few hours to make regular people feel less ordinary.

Nothing about this interior said ordinary.
Everything was pristine and heavy with quality. The bar contained
only high-quality liquor and Alison had to resist the temptation to
take the edge off her nerves with a nip of the hard stuff. She
didn't want to arrive to her date smelling of scotch, even if it
was aged fifteen years.

Besides, maybe him not being there to pick
her up was some kind of millionaire dating test. Maybe he was
watching her remotely. She faked a smile and then glanced around
her nervously looking for signs of a hidden camera.

God damn it Alison, don't be so paranoid.
It's just a date for God's sake.

At last, they arrived and the driver showed
her in. The man who took her coat probably made more money than she
did.

She didn't feel like tipping him.

Would a dollar be enough? Probably two was
the minimum in these places. Fumbling with her bag she searched for
some money but all she could find was a five-dollar bill.

Shit. I can't even afford to be taken out
these days, let alone go out myself.

She handed over the bill and the attendant
swept it from her hand as though it were a speck of dust he was
brushing away. The merest smile crossed his lips.

"Thank you ma'am." He said in a deep
masculine tone. He was good looking and probably just her type. The
guy was more of her type than some stupid arrogant millionaire
looking for a helpless Cinderella to save.

She looked at the doorman helplessly. He
looked back impassively; a fake smile fixed across his lips and
directed her inside.

"Mr. Bryant is waiting for you." He said and
a shiver of apprehension went through her. She almost curtsied for
the doorman and choked on a simple thank you.

Is this how dates are
meant to be?
She thought.

Walking into the restaurant was like
entering a cathedral. Alison felt blinded. She looked around,
hoping she didn't look too desperate or servile.

I’m just as good as any of
these people.
She thought and lifted her
head up high.

In the distance she saw a man smiling and
waving at her.

She hadn't eaten since breakfast and she was
beginning to feel it. Her head was getting woozy.

Oh my God. Not now, please.

The man in the distance stood up and began
walking towards her. She couldn't quite make out his face. Was that
him or some other guy?

The room began to spin and everything went
sickeningly black.

Chapter Twelve

Sebastian changed out of his work clothes, set his
cell phone to speaker, and then took a shower before getting
dressed for the evening. He didn't know exactly what he was going
to do yet, but he sure as hell was going to do something. Sitting
back and waiting for things to happen just wasn't in his
nature.

Two full hours passed.

"MJ has entered the building." His contact
informed him.

"Good. Keep me posted. Anything and I mean
anything."

"Will do, Mr. Drummond."

Another hour passed.

"Mr. Drummond sir, we have something. A limo
just pulled up in front of her house."

"I'm on my way. Get the license plate. Find
out who the hell that this guy is."

"On it. The driver is out. Can't see anyone
in the back."

"Got him ID’d yet?"

"Not yet. Working on it."

Sebastian took his own red Maserati across
town, receiving continual updates from his guy.

"They're headed uptown. Looks like it might
be Jean Jacques."

Predictable.
Sebastian thought.
The
guy is a loser. Probably burning through his first million trying
to impress impoverished dates with Michelin-star restaurants. He's
insecure, pompous, and unimaginative.

"Got me an ID yet?"

"Dylan Bryant. Self-made millionaire, green
technology--"

"Spare me the details. I've never heard of
him. Are they there yet?"

"Just pulling up outside."

Sebastian was nearly there, too. Only
another ten minutes if the traffic hadn’t slowed to a crawl, but
now it looked like he would never make it. He started honking the
horn in frustration.

"Shut up, buddy! Don't you know there's a
$350 fine for that?"

"You shut up. I can afford it."

"Fuck you!"

His guy's voice crackled in his
earpiece.

"She's stepping out but there's no one with
her."

"That asshole didn't even pick her up?"

Loser. Insecure. Nobody. Stupid little
millionaire.

"It's Jean Jacques, right?"

"Yep."

"Come collect my car, I'm at West 57th and
Broadway. Keys will be in the glove compartment."

"Huh?"

"Just get down here. I'm on my way
already."

Sebastian took off, racing through
gridlocked traffic on foot, leaving his car abandoned in the street
like a monument to frustration.

By the time he reached the restaurant, he
was breathing hard. He still didn't know what he was going to do,
but he was damned if he was going to see Alison taken from him by
some loser millionaire MJ had set her up with.

He allowed his breathing to settle and then
walked up the steps.

"Mr. Drummond, how lovely to see you again.
Will you be dining tonight?"

Shit. They know me here.

He looked over the maître d's shoulder. Half
the restaurant was on its feet and a circle of guests and staff had
formed around something on the floor near the entrance.

"What's going on?" He said.

"Oh, nothing at all Mr. Drummond, a guest
has passed out but she will be fine. Nothing to worry about.

When Alison came to, she was mortified to
see her legs raised in the air by a strong looking woman. She tried
to take her legs down but the woman gripped them hard.

"Do not move." She said with a strong
foreign accent. "I am a nurse in Germany. There is nothing to be
ashamed of. Just don’t move for sixty seconds until your head
clears."

She had no choice. Men and women of all ages
were ogling her. She closed her eyes and waited. Little by little,
her presence on the floor, where she was, and who she was supposed
to be meeting all came back to her.

Oh, shit.
She thought.
This is my
hot date with the millionaire who looks like Brad
Pitt...

She opened her eyes again but there was no
sign of the guy anywhere. A middle-aged man with spectacles and a
kindly face came through the sea of faces.

"Put her legs down for God's sake," he said
with some irritation. "I'm a doctor. There's no need for that."

"But in Germany--" The nurse protested.

"You're not in Germany now." He said. "Thank
you for your help but let's get this young woman covered up
already. Please," he addressed himself to the crowd, "give the lady
some privacy. Go back to your tables please."

Slowly they backed off, grudgingly as though
they had paid for a show and were being asked to leave without a
refund. Sebastian pushed his way past the maître d'. He still
couldn’t see what was going on.

The doctor took a glass of water from a
waiter and leaned in close to Alison.

"My, my." He smiled, "If every girl who
fainted was as pretty as you were, my job would be the greatest in
the world." His tone was so friendly and non-threatening that it
was all just too much for Alison. She felt the tears well up in her
eyes.

Sebastian peered over shoulders to see what
was going on.

WTF?
He forced his way in closer.
That's
Alison!

"Oh no, honey." The doctor said, "It's okay,
don't worry. You'll be fine in just a minute or two. Are you here
with someone?"

Alison looked around frantically for anyone
that she recognized and then shook her head. The tears began to
flow even harder. Sebastian watched as the doctor put his arm
around her to comfort her and then saw red.