Yours Truly (Billionaires and Brides #2) (8 page)

K
at

I
t’s him
.

Katie’s heart sank with the weight of an anchor into the pit of her stomach and crashed there. Her throat tightened and for a moment she forgot to breath.

It’s really him.
Immediately her mind began running at a breakneck pace. This couldn’t be true, no, she was dreaming. Her subconscious forced a momentary blink, only to once more reveal her one-night-stand staring at her not ten feet away.

Her hands clinched into a warm and sweaty fists.
No wonder he never called! He’s a freaking CEO! I was in bed with the CEO. If I was a CEO, I wouldn’t call me back either!

Katie swallowed hard, trying to keep the panic from overwhelming her. She felt trapped with the big door closed behind her. There was one large window near the back of the room where the shades had been let down, casting a dark and heavy shadow that made the room feel even smaller than it was.

“AJ?” She finally whispered, though it felt like someone else was speaking.

“Kat?”

His words were soft and sounded more like an escaped breath. All professional edict had gone out the window. He moved to his desk and the leather chair squeaked as he sat down. AJ’s fingers were locked together and rested on his desk. He had neglected any motion that resembled a handshake or to offer her a chair. Kat had no idea what to think.

She began searching for the words to her presentation, needing something for her mind to hold on to. Everything in the room was still, though Kat felt as if the ceiling was crumbling above her. Her big break, her big opportunity to make something of herself, and all she could think of was the thrust of hips rather than the words she needed to say.

She tried to recall the introduction and tried to force the words between her lips, but nothing came out. Her mind was completely blank. It had played over and over in her head a million times, forwards and backwards. Kat had practiced and rehearsed this presentation until she was sure she could do it in her sleep. She thought she had prepared for every scenario, every rebuttal to her idea, but she never could have never envisioned this.

Every sentence had vanished. Her bag full of documents now felt like nothing but a hollow and weightless prop. Again, she tried to search for something, anything to bring her back to the moment at hand, but she failed. Her presentation was gone.

The silence was a weight on her as she struggled to find her calm. Kat could feel the weakness in her legs as she stood there. She wanted to collapse, wanted to do like her presentation had done and vaporize into thin air.

She wondered whether she had been standing there for one minute or twenty. The tension in the room had filled like a dammed lake that was beginning to trickle over. Finally, without thinking, she spoke.

“It’s you.” It was all she could muster and it slipped out in a soft whisper.

His eyes remained locked with hers. They were as soft as she remembered and their gray tint seemed to glow against the backdrop of the window.

Slowly, she began to take in the perfection of the rest of his face. His skin was soft. It was obvious that he had freshly shaved and the outline of his jaw stood out because of it. His hair was neatly combed and business-like, far different than she had left it the last time she had seen him.

His shoulders were square and he sat perfectly straight against his throne-like desk chair. It was like looking upon a finely painted portrait that was both beautiful and terrifying. His face was stern. He had appeared happy when she entered and although the outline of his lips had hardly moved, he now looked almost angry.

He moved his hands, shifting the position of his arms and her mind flooded with the memory of his naked body. She couldn’t help it. His shiny red tie and expensive business suit jacket dissolved, exposing his bare chest and sculpted shoulders.

Katie shut her eyes. The world around her was spinning and she fought the nausea creeping up from her stomach. She took a deep breath and began to count to five, centering herself.

How stupid she had been to obsess over getting a call back.
He’s the billionaire CEO running your company, why would he call?
She should have known he hadn’t called for a good reason. This was as good as any other.

She wondered how many other girls had succumbed to his spell. How many others had he seduced and forgotten? And how many others had been as stupid and oblivious as her? Probably not many. Most people at least remembered what their boss looked like before jumping into bed with them.

I’m just one of his flings
, she thought.
Just another one night stand with some unassuming girl. But this girl is professional and smart.
She reminded herself of all the hours spent working towards this moment, this presentation. She was too deserving of this opportunity to let it slip away because of some one night stand.
I am a smart, professional adult. I can do this.

Kat allowed herself one more deep breath before reaching to her bag to remove her documents. She was going to give this presentation or die trying. She tossed her bag onto the chair beside her.

“I’m here to present the future of Shoesy.” Her voice came out squeaky, but she was just glad it had come out at all.

AJ reached for the packet of graphs and explanations she’d spent the last month working her butt off on. For a moment she was proud of her new-found bravery, but her celebration was immediately cut short. AJ tossed the packet she had worked so hard on onto the filing cabinet behind him without a second glance.

“You’re not even going to look at it?” she asked incredulously. Fire flared within her. She was awash with a thousand emotions, but she could clearly identify a sense of frustration beginning to erupt. “Do you know how hard I worked on that?”

His lips twitched as he watched her react. A grin slowly started to form. It started in his cheeks but quickly took over the entirety of his expression.

“Just like I remember.”

His sentence took her by surprise. The frustration that had overtaken her face quickly dissipated and she felt herself blushing fervently.

No! Smart and professional. Focus on the work.

“I’d really like to show you what I’ve done.” She felt herself trying to recover from the flurry of butterflies beating rapidly in her chest. She paused, unsure if it was appropriate but needing to say it anyway. “It’s why I had to leave that morning.”

He didn’t move or react. Heat filled her face. She was supposed to be a professional and here she was bringing up their night together. A night he clearly wasn’t interested in as he hadn’t called her. She straightened up taller. “If you look at the first page, you’ll see our profit margins will increase by a projected-”

He ignored her efforts to control the moment and interrupted her. “Did you leave me a note?”

It took her a moment to respond. “I did.” She felt the guilt of her presentation fighting against the angst in her stomach. But she had to ask. “Did you not get it?”

“No. Well, sort of.” His light blue eyes held her captive. “Someone threw it away before I had a chance to read it.”

“Oh.” It was all she could produce. Her mind was spinning again. He didn’t call because he didn’t get it. He hadn’t received the note. Maybe... maybe he had wanted to call?

“I would have called, but...” he started softly, as if reading her thoughts. He pulled out his phone and began thumbing through it.

“You would have?” she asked, not waiting for him to finish. All thoughts of her presentation were long gone now.

He stood up and walked around the desk before casually leaning against its front. He finally seemed to find what he was looking for. He took a step away from his desk and closer to her. Close enough that she could smell his aftershave. The smell was a siren song that penetrated all the way to her brain and made it impossible to think of anything else.

“I would have called you that very day,” he said softly, his eyes focused completely on her.

“I would have answered that phone call,” she whispered.

A warm smile crossed his face that made her knees tremble. Again, he took another step forward. He was close now. So close that she could smell beyond his aftershave, she could smell him. Masculine and wonderful. He smelled even better than she remembered. It was a smell that froze her.

“I had the hotel torn apart to get that note. Here is all they found,” he said, handing her his phone.

She took a look at the torn letter in her handwriting, framed against a white background.

S
he laughed
as she looked at it, raising her hand to her mouth. All the ink had washed away, and there was a giant red stain across the top half of it. It looked like they had lit the paper on fire just to get this much out of it, but the rest was either washed or torn away. There was just enough to show how crazy she was for him, but not enough to find her.

She wanted to respond, but couldn’t remember how to speak. He raised his arm and gently grazed her cheek with his hand. She shivered as she felt each individual finger against her skin, filling her with desire and warmth.

“You still want to give that presentation?” His grin had grown into a charming smirk.

“Eventually,” she said, finding her voice. “You can’t distract me that easily.” It was a bluff so obvious that it might as well have come from a child. She couldn’t give that presentation right now for all the tea in China.

She wanted to speak again, wanted to attempt one more half-hearted protest, but before a sentence had even formed in her head, AJ was leaning in.

The moment was slow, like an autumn leaf drifting to the ground. She felt a sort of heavenly warmth combine with the scent of his cologne as his face grew closer to hers. Her eyes closed and her lips were ready.

His mouth was only centimeters from hers when there was a knock at the door. It was soft but assertive.

Kat’s eyes shot open and she stumbled back just as the door opened. His secretary waited on the other side without entering the room. She cleared her throat before speaking. “I’m sorry, sir, but the board is on the phone.”

Kat was sure the secretary suspected something. She knew her face was on fire and that she had to look guilty as hell. It didn’t help that she was frozen again, unable to look anywhere but at AJ. He was visibly irritated.

“I am in the middle of a meeting.” He spoke slowly and enunciated each syllable carefully.

The secretary tucked her hands together in front of her. “I’m sorry, sir. They were rather insistent. The lawyers are meeting again.” She looked at Kat, evaluating her, before whispering, “Apparently the settlement was not to the plaintiff’s liking.”

Frustration seemed to engulf AJ’s face. It was a blend of anger and disappointment. He shut his eyes tight and took a deep breath, exhaling out of his nose. His wonderfully broad shoulders tightened and he attempted to roll his neck to relieve the tension, yet none left.

His glance returned to his secretary with a sort of professional focus. He took another deep breath that inflated his chest, this time his eyes remained open. “Tell them I am in the middle of a very important meeting that is going to make them a lot of money. When I am finished, I will be more then happy to listen to whatever their latest demands are.”

“Of course, sir.”

The secretary stepped back and closed the door. Everything went still again. A heavy silence hung in the air and seemed to occupy every inch of the room.

Kat felt the pressing need to speak. This time she spoke calmly. “I’m sorry. I can go. You have things to deal with.”

She picked up her bag and began collecting her things.

“No. Stay. I want you to stay.” He grabbed her hand before she could put her bag over her shoulder.

She had managed to cage the butterflies in her chest from earlier, but with one touch, he set them free again. Her whole body trembled.

“I want to see you again,” he said. His eyes went to hers and she froze, unable to do anything but stare into their beauty. She felt her cheeks beginning to flush but she hoped she didn’t show it.

“I can talk to your secretary about setting up another meeting...” she murmured. Though, honestly, it had taken months to get this meeting. She wasn’t sure if she
could
set up another one.

“Not about this.” He used his thumb to point to the folder on his filing cabinet. He paused for a short beat. “I do like your idea, though.”

“You do? You like it?” Surprised pleasure filled her. “I’d love to hear your thoughts on the marketing.”

“All business, aren’t you?” he said with a chuckle. His hand was still holding hers. He smiled and paused again, this time slightly longer. “I looked at the preliminary proposal and agree with it. I do have some questions, but… they aren’t for right now.”

She smiled back at him, fighting her happiness of his approval with her embarrassment of being so pushy with her idea. “I understand.”

“Right now, I’m just glad I found you.” His fingers caressed her wrist, giving her heart palpitations.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” she said, allowing her relief to come through as she spoke.

“Me neither.” He was staring into her eyes. It was a stare that was as passionate as it was comforting.

“And to think, you were just upstairs the whole time,” she said with a small laugh.

Another smile lit up his face. It fit his jaw line perfectly. She loved when he smiled and loved being the cause of it even more.

“If I had known, I would have been downstairs first thing Monday morning.”

She marveled at his charisma and the way he could flirt with charming confidence. He really was something. It was no wonder he was CEO of his own company.