Resisting the Billionaire Collection (4 page)

"Not bad." He continued. "A little less
makeup and who knows?"

She was about to let him have it when he
abruptly turned and walked away.

He obviously wasn't even on her flight today
although he was obviously ready for travel with a small and very
expensive designer overnight bag. Well, at least she wouldn't have
to spend another four-hour flight with him. Obviously, he just
couldn't take rejection and had to come over and do something
stupid to get revenge for being turned down.

Other passengers began to arrive so she
forgot about the handsome but obnoxious Alex Murray and prepared
for the onslaught of travelers.

Twenty minutes later, there was a tap on her
shoulder.

"Get up, Melanie," her supervisor Rhonda
said, "I'm taking over."

"What's up?"

"You've been reassigned."

"To what?"

"Another flight."

Melanie was surprised. In her six years of
working as a flight attendant, she had never been reassigned to
another flight at such short notice. There were protocols and
procedures, even with Drummond Airlines, where profits were small
to nonexistent and everyone was expected to be flexible and pull
their weight, as management described it.

"Go see Mitch. He'll tell you where you need
to go."

Her stomach tightened. The last person she
wanted to see was her ex.

"Do I have to see him?"

"He's the boss. Who else are you going to
see?" Rhonda smirked.

For all she knew, it could have been her
that he had cheated on her with. Not that she cared really. All she
wanted to do was put the whole stupid episode behind her.

“Okay." She said and collected her
things.

How bad is this day going to get? Late out
of bed. Late to work. Then that asshole Murray and now Mitch.
Someone please hit fast forward on this day.

It was absolutely taboo at Drummond Airlines
for staff to have romantic relationships, especially if they were
at different pay grades and even more especially if they worked in
close proximity to each other. She and Mitch had ticked all those
boxes.

True love conquers all. She thought and then
choked back a sob. She still wasn't over him. That stupid Drummond
Airline rule had made them sneak around like illicit lovers until
she was sick of it. But it had all been worth it because of their
feelings for each other.

Until she found those panties under his
bed.

The thought of it still made her blood
boil.

"Are you going or not?" Rhonda asked
impatiently.

"Oh yeah, sorry. Enjoy your trip to
Columbus."

"Thanks. I can't wait."

She took a deep breath and headed towards
his office in the Drummond executive lounge. She was nearly there
when she saw Alex Murray walking slowly in front of her.

Oh great, this guy is everywhere I go today.
She thought. Better give him a wide berth.

Still, she had to admit he did cut a fine
figure. He was visibly muscular under his tailored suit and exuded
self-assurance in every gesture and movement. She couldn't help but
compare him to Mitch. He was taller, better looking, obviously more
successful. Probably an even bigger jackass as well. They had been
so good together. Why did he have to go and throw it all away?

She was lost in thought when she felt the
impact of the body in front of her.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She looked up and
realized she had collided with the very person she was trying to
avoid.

Just great. She thought. Now he's going to
think I was following him. Her flight attendant’s hat had fallen to
the floor and worse, she had knocked his hand luggage to the ground
as well.

Damn, don't tell me I'm going to have to pay
for that as well. She groaned inwardly. On her current flight
attendant’s pay she could hardly feed herself, let alone pay for
damage to overpriced designer bags. Unfortunately, frequent flier
miles couldn't be traded for cash. Bonuses and pay raises had been
frozen for the last three years.

She waited for him to turn on her with his
smarmy grin but instead he stooped to pick up the tiny decorative
hat in his large strong hand. He looked at it for a moment before
he turned to face her. He smiled gently as he did so.

"Melanie Hutchinson, right? Are you okay?"
He said kindly.

Huh? Was this even the same guy?

"I don't know," she said testily, "Is this
too much make-up for you or not?" His puzzled look seemed entirely
real.

"It looks just perfect to me." He said. "If
it matters what I think."

"No it doesn't, actually." She said
petulantly and took her hat from him. "Thank you." She said as she
straightened her hair.

Why are you letting this guy fluster me? She
thought. In reality, she knew though. He was gorgeous when he was
being nice, even if he was only pretending.

"Which way are you going?" He asked.

"I'm going to the Drummond Airlines
executive lounge if you must know."

"We can walk together." He said, with the
confidence of someone who has never been refused anything in his
life. Melanie didn't quite know what to do. If he was just being
obnoxious it would be pretty simple, she was used to that from her
work with the public. But his return to charm? It confused her. She
allowed her eyes to linger a little, connecting with his intent,
masculine stare. Although he was smiling, his eyes revealed a lot
more. If Melanie didn't know better, she would have said he was
seriously interested in her. Big time.

"Come on." He said and took her overnight
bag gently but firmly from her. "Let me carry that. I'm going that
way too."

“Okay." She said, resigning herself. It was
a short walk; what could happen? It was kind of a crazy day already
so why fight it, just go with the flow.

"About the other day on the flight to
Columbus--"

"Don't." She cut him off. "Really, I would
prefer if we just forgot about it entirely. Please."

“Okay. You're the boss."

When they reached the executive lounge, he
made a point of holding the door for her.

"Still playing the last of the perfect
gentleman." She said.

"I'm sorry. I can't help myself. Just the
way I was raised."

She remembered the monographed handkerchief
he had given her on the plane.

Why did I ever take it from him? Never
again.

The stupid thing was probably still in her
bag.

"I guess this is where we say goodbye then."
She said.

"Where are you headed to now?" He asked, as
if it were any of his business.

"I'm going through to the office in back. I
have to see my boss, so I guess this is adios. Thanks for hauling
my bag for me." She reached out her hand to take her things but he
pulled the bag just beyond her reach as though he were playing with
a child.

"You have beautiful hands." He said, with
the same supremely confident smile. Melanie would even have said
smug, if her heart hadn't been beating so fast. Who did this guy
think he was? First insulting her, then bossing her around and now
throwing compliments at her.

"Can I have my bag please?" She said.

"Are you always this friendly?" He said
playfully.

Something about him was throwing her off
balance. She felt like she was in high school again being noticed
by the team quarterback for the first time.

Come on Melanie, get a hold of yourself.
You're a grown woman for God's sake.

"Look," he said, "I'm going that way myself,
so why don't I hold onto this until we get there?"

"You're going that way, too? To Mitch's
office?"

"Is Mitch your boss?"

"He is, if that's any concern of yours."

"Well I don't know if that's anything I
should be concerned about. Come on, let's go." He offered her his
arm.

"I guess you wouldn’t take no for answer."
She said.

"You make that sound like a bad thing." He
joked as he gently took her arm and directed her towards her boss’s
office.

"You seem to know exactly where you're
going." She said. "Do you work for Drummond Airlines? Am I in some
kind of trouble about our conversation the other day?"

"Don't worry Melanie; you're in no trouble
at all."

She felt a sense of impending doom in the
pit of her stomach.

When they reached the office, Mitch was
there. He had a responsible job and the airline industry was always
stressful. Although he was in management with things, the way they
were now, this didn't turn into much, financially speaking. As
Melanie looked at him, stressed out and tired, for the first time
she thought that it was entirely possible even he was struggling to
get by despite all the crap he had to put up with on a daily
basis.

She didn't pity him though. He was a sneaky
two-timer, so he deserved any hassle he got until he learned his
lesson. He was damn lucky she had only smashed his laptop and
mobile phone with that baseball bat and not anything more attached
to him physically.

"Hey Mitch, how's it going today?" Alex
announced loudly as he entered the office.

"You guys know each other?" Mitch looked as
though he had been caught in the act of doing something
illicit.

"Mr. Drummond, sir, I had no idea you'd be
dropping by. I'm... uh... sorry."

Mr. Drummond Sir? Who is this guy?

"Don't be sorry Mitch and forget that Mr.
Drummond stuff. Relax, you can call me Alex."

Alex Drummond? Of the Drummond family that
owned the airline? She had seen old Mr. Drummond once or maybe
twice in the six years she had worked herself into exhaustion with
the crazy shifts and low pay of his airline. This guy must
be...

"Alex Drummond, Jr." He held out his strong,
capable hand, circled by a gleaming white linen shirt cuff. His
cufflinks glinted with what Melanie presumed was some kind of
precious or semi-precious stone. She reached out to take his hand
and almost curtsied by accident.

Damn. She berated herself.

"I thought your name was Murray?" She
inquired.

"Melanie!" Mitch cut in. "Just ignore her,
Alex--"

"It's okay. She's right Mitch. I sometimes
travel under that name. It's my mother's maiden name."

"Oh, yeah. Of course. Sorry Alex."

The billionaire stood there with a smile
that Melanie found smug, aloof, arrogant, and annoyingly playful
smile. She couldn’t figure out if she hated it, or kind of loved
it.

She couldn't believe that she was standing
next to a billionaire, couldn't figure out if she loved or hated
that one either.

She knew that the Drummond family's wealth
was measured in the tens of billions and that Drummond Airlines was
just one tiny little part of their vast empire. It was rumored that
the company was just a pet project for old Mr. Drummond who had
started out with the carrier in the 1930s as a mailroom clerk and
had then eventually become CEO, owner, international business
tycoon, and Forbes List billionaire he was today.

Melanie's head was spinning.

She took a deep breath to steady
herself.

"How do you do?" She said.

Alex Drummond Jr. let out a belly laugh that
almost knocked her down.

"Where did you get this one, Mitch?" He
said.

Mitch looked very uncomfortable for a change
and even though Mr. Hot Young Billionaire Alex Drummond was putting
her off balance, it was a real pleasure to see Mitch squirm.
Normally he was always so cocksure, but next to Alex Drummond, he
was very far from being the alpha male in the room. He nervously
brushed his sandy brown hair out of his eyes.

"Melanie is really an excellent employee."
He said with an awkward formality that brought a quite smile to her
face.

Eat it two-timer. She thought.

"Is she coming on the flight with us?"

What? So this is why they had pulled her
from the Los Angeles to Columbus, Ohio route: to be a personal
flight attendant to Mr. Alex Drummond Jr.

"Apparently so." Mitch said. He seemed so
unsure of himself in his boss’s presence that Melanie hardly
recognized him. "I just got the news myself about fifteen minutes
ago."

"Well, I for one couldn't be more pleased."
The tall billionaire smiled charmingly. "Aren't I glad I was nice
to you now? Imagine if I'd been rude and then it turned out I am in
your hands for the next nine hours en route to Tahiti."

Melanie couldn't hide her smile now. She had
a lot of flight time behind her and had been all over the world in
the last six years, but rarely had her itineraries taken her to the
exotic islands of the South Pacific. She had always dreamed of
visiting Tahiti ever since she had seen Gauguin's famous pictures
in one of her mother's big color art books as a little girl.

"Have you been to Tahiti before?" He asked
as though he were talking about a neighborhood diner down the
block.

"No, I haven't." Melanie tried to sound calm
but inwardly she was exulting in the opportunity. "I've always
wanted to go though."

"You're going to love it." He said. "I go
there all time to just get away and leave the world behind." It
somehow didn't sound like bragging when he said it. Obviously for
someone as rich as him, it was perfectly normal to fly regularly to
somewhere as outrageously expensive and exotic as Tahiti.

Alex turned to the groveling Mitch
again.

"Is her schedule clear for the next ten
days?" He asked.

Her heart sank. She needed to work all the
routes and she could to have a hope of making that payment to her
mother's nursing home. Then she had counted on working part-time
shifts on her days off at a diner near to where she lived to make
up as much of the shortfall as she could. But now she would be
stuck. To make matters even worse her roommate had moved out
leaving her high and dry with the rent this month and she didn't
even have money to cover this month's rent as it was.