Boss With Benefits (Billion-Dollar Bet, #2)

CHAPTER SEVEN

E LLA WAS PACKING up her workstation when out of the corner of her eye she saw Adam exiting the lift and striding in her direction. But despite the leap of her pulse and a hot surge of desire, she didn’t pause, not even for a second. She’d been preparing for this moment ever since she’d thought of it in the early hours of yesterday morning. They couldn’t continue working together in the same space and breathing the same air, she’d concluded as she’d lain in bed, tossing and turning, so stressed by the memory of the kiss that her cortisol levels had to have been sky high. Not after what had happened. The chemistry that still arced between them was simply too dangerous, and she had to put a stop to the self-destruction upon which she appeared hell-bent.

Furthermore, she’d finally succumbed to curiosity and googled his name and had come across a photo of him wrapped round a stunning redheaded supermodel at some charity gala the night before—his girlfriend no less, according to one article she’d read yesterday evening, in which the luscious Annabel St James had gushed with excitement about the brand-new love of her life.

Evidently, Adam had lied about always being single that night in the bar, but what did she care? It wasn’t as if she were jealous or anything. How dumb would that be? And what would she have to be jealous of anyway? Their relationship? No, thanks. Although it did explain why he’d been so keen to forget their one-night stand. And why he’d been so resolute it was never going to happen again. Why he’d kissed her so thrillingly on Friday night instead of pushing her off wasn’t her problem.

It had briefly crossed her mind as she silenced the alarm at six and buried her head beneath her pillow that she could call in sick. She could work from home and avoid having to face the boss she’d thrown herself at so shamelessly. But she’d dismissed the thought virtually the instant it entered her head because she would not be doing any such thing. She was stronger and braver than that, and the success of this job meant far too much. She wouldn’t put her promotion in jeopardy just because she felt uncomfortable and it wasn’t as if this would be the first time she showed up to work riddled with embarrassment and shame.

When her secret affair with Drew had eventually become public knowledge, she’d run the gauntlet of sly comments and knowing looks. Her private life had suddenly been up for scrutiny, of far more interest than her work, and that had been a situation that no amount of career planning had prepared her for. The humiliation and loss of respect had been crushing. One of her colleagues, who’d previously openly admired her work ethic, had questioned her career progression, implying that she’d only achieved what she had by lying flat on her back. Another had asked with suspicion whether any indiscreet office banter could have been reported further up the chain.

She’d had to fight damn hard to get over the mortification and restore her colleagues trust in her. It had been months before they’d gossiped in front of her again. Longer still to get to the point where she could be assigned an audit as significant as this one and it didn’t raise a single eyebrow. But she’d survived that and she’d survive this too.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’ Adam said, his voice doing strange things to her insides.

‘I’m moving downstairs,’ she replied, stuffing some papers in a box and looking anywhere but at him because it was too mortifying, too risky, too everything.

‘We’ve already had this discussion.’

Yes, well, a lot had happened since then. But despite the mess she’d made of things—would she never learn?—she wasn’t going to resign any more than she was going to let him fire her and the plan she’d come up with was the only way forward.

‘This arrangement is no longer workable.’ She unplugged her laptop and stowed it in her briefcase. ‘We clearly can’t exist in the same space without some kind of chemical reaction going on. Distance is the only option. It worked last week. It’ll work this week.’

‘You’re running away again.’

So what if she was? The only thing that mattered was completing the audit so she could reboot her career, and that wouldn’t happen if she had a constant reminder of what they’d done. ‘I’m trying to ensure success.’

‘That means a lot to you, doesn’t it?’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘You fight hard.’

‘I do. I’ve had to fight for everything.’

‘The three jobs, the trailer, the dead-beat parents, the promotion. I remember. So how did you screw up?’

She wasn’t telling him that , she thought with a shudder, regretting even more that she’d been goaded into letting that slip on Friday night. Her last disaster of a relationship was not a topic of conversation. It was bad enough her knowing she’d made the same mistake twice. If Adam ever found out, he’d probably question her judgement. He might decide she was replaceable even at this late stage in the proceedings.

‘Launching myself at you wasn’t my wisest move,’ she said, deliberately misunderstanding him. ‘Please accept my apologies. It was deeply unprofessional. I can’t think what came over me. But rest assured that it won’t happen again.’

He perched on the edge of the table and folded his arms across the hard muscled chest, against which she’d been plastered for all too brief a moment. ‘That’s a shame.’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t think much of your solution to our little problem.’

She frowned. ‘If you have a better idea,’ she said, pretty sure that their problem was anything but little, ‘I’d be delighted to hear it.’

‘I think we should have an affair.’

At that, Ella’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. What? What? On the one hand, it was a huge relief to know that he wasn’t planning on firing her for overstepping the line as thoughtlessly as she had, but on the other, what on earth made him think an affair would be a good idea? ‘Have you gone stark raving mad?’

‘On the contrary,’ he said with enviably cool. ‘I’m thinking clearly for the first time in a week.’

‘Lucky you.’

‘This chemistry we share isn’t going to go away,’ he said far too reasonably given the subject matter. ‘The more we’ve denied it, the more it’s returned with a vengeance. Do you really think that out of sight will mean out of mind?’

It had to. It was the only option. ‘I’m willing to give it a try.’

‘What we ought to try is getting it out of our systems.’

Her head began to pound. ‘That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of. What if it doesn’t work? What if it gets worse?’

‘If I remember correctly, you have three weeks’ leave coming up,’ he continued, completely ignoring her very valid point. ‘So what I’m suggesting is that as soon as the audit is over, we spend your time off doing just that. No lines will be crossed. There will be no conflict of interest. Just sex. And lots of it. For a finite period of time.’

Her heart raced. Her mouth was bone dry. God, this conversation . He should not be talking about sex at work. Or anywhere. ‘Or we could just say farewell on Friday and that would be that.’

‘Is that what you really want to do?’ he said with an assessing tilt of his head. ‘Remember what we did in the bathroom of a bar, Ella? Imagine what we could do in a bed.’

That was the trouble, she thought a little desperately. She’d spent hours over the weekend imagining what they could do in a bed, and she didn’t want to say farewell on Friday, which was why she was having to use every drop of willpower she possessed to bite back the desperate yes that was trying to escape. ‘I might have plans.’

‘Cancel them.’

If she had had any plans, she would have bristled in response to that diktat. But she didn’t. Having bought her own place eighteen months ago and with a pay rise that hadn’t materialised, she’d had to rule out travel of any sort this year. And she was bristling about something else anyway. ‘And what would your girlfriend have to say about you embarking on a sizzling three-week affair with someone else?’

Adam’s dark eyebrows rose for a moment, then lowered. ‘Nothing,’ he said with a shrug of his impossibly broad shoulders and the glimmer of a smile. ‘Because I don’t have a girlfriend.’

Ella stared at him. Was that really what he was going with? Denial? How dared he? She well knew how that played out for the woman concerned. When Drew had been confronted with the evidence of their affair, he’d blamed it all on her, the rat. How she’d ever believed herself in love with him when he’d just been in it for the sex she had no idea. At precisely what point had she forgotten that security came from her career, which she could control—as long as she paid attention—and not a relationship, which she couldn’t? Truly, she did not know what she’d been thinking. ‘Well, she and the press are under the impression you do.’

Adam’s unwavering gaze bore into hers. The intensity of it seemed to be tinged with indecision, and she briefly wondered, was he about to spin her a story? Was he trying to work out whether or not she would believe it?

‘The weekend before last, I featured in a magazine article that went viral,’ he said with a wince that looked genuine enough, but who knew? ‘It focused on the dating habits of myself and a couple of friends, implying that we’re all one-date wonders. It wasn’t very flattering. It presented a severe risk to my reputation, to the company’s reputation, and it was generating some extremely inconvenient press and social media attention. Annabel agreed to act as my girlfriend for the summer in order to stop it.’

For a moment, Ella didn’t know whether she believed what he’d just told her or not. What with the way this conversation had developed, her brain simply couldn’t process it. And once it had—deciding in the end that it was too mad a story to have made up—all she could think to say, was, ‘Are you serious ?’

‘Very much so,’ he replied coolly. ‘I’ve spent four years clearing out the rot caused by my father and rebuilding the Courtney Collection’s brand. I won’t let anything jeopardise the progress I’ve made. Certainly not some two-bit magazine that can’t get its facts straight. That’s not even who I am any more. If they’d bothered to do their research, they’d have discovered that almost all of the women I appear in public with are in some way involved with the company.’

Yes, well, whether or not he was actually a one-date wonder, she could certainly sympathise with not wanting to jeopardise progress. She’d read about the antics of Edward Courtney—who hadn’t?—and occasionally she’d allowed herself to wonder how Adam felt about that, what it could have been like growing up the son of such a man. But what a way to go about it. It seemed like something out of a farce and very much not the behaviour of a controlled CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Although his kiss hadn’t been in the slightest bit controlled, now that she thought about it. It had been hot and wild and desperate, and not a betrayal of anyone, which was such a relief, because even though she’d been unaware of this Annabel St James at the time, she’d still felt sickened and ashamed when she’d found out about her, as though she’d trampled all over the sisterhood. ‘How long are you planning to keep up the charade?’

‘Until Labor Day.’

‘That’s very specific.’

‘There’s a bet,’ he said easily, as if there was nothing outrageous at all about making such a thing. ‘It involves Helberg Holdings. I imagine you’ve noted that I’ve been buying up the shares. I intend to take it over, but I’m not the only one after it. There are three of us. My fellow one-date wonders. We each now hold a large stake in it. None of us is prepared to back off. It was proposed that to break the dead lock and shut down the reputational damage caused by the article, we each date one woman between now and Labor Day. Anyone caught dating more than one woman in that time relinquishes their claim on Helberg.’

Once again, he’d rendered her speechless. Ella stood there, staring at him, not quite sure where to start with all that. Then she realised that she had the opportunity to get somewhere with her enquiries, and she was damned if she wasn’t going to take it. ‘What’s your interest in Helberg?’ she said, parking her many questions about the bet until later. ‘I looked into the company. Its portfolio is huge and in trouble. It seems an odd fit.’

‘I’m after Montague’s.’

‘The international jewellery business?’

How many times had she walked past the flagship store on Fifth Avenue? Only about a thousand. And how many times had she failed to stop and look at the eternally gorgeous window display? None. Even though, these days, the woodwork was peeling and the signage was rusting, the cases behind the glass were always so prettily filled. She had no interest in the engagement, wedding and eternity rings, of course, but she’d always thought a tennis bracelet or a pair of diamond stud earrings might be nice.

‘That’s the one,’ he confirmed with a nod. ‘It used to belong to the Courtney Collection. It’s been allowed to decline and I want it back. I’ve waited ten years for the chance, and I won’t let anything get in the way of it, whether that’s a threat to my reputation, external competition or problems raised by an audit.’

Ah. So that was why he’d been so insistent on keeping such a close eye on things. And, presumably, why he’d been so willing to ignore a potentially pesky conflict of interest or two. But ten years? Buying an entire conglomerate just to acquire one relatively small company? A bet? ‘It sounds as though Montague’s is more than just business to you.’

Despite his outward languor, a muscle jumped in his cheek. ‘It’s all about the bottom line.’

‘Are you sure it’s not a game?’

‘It’s very much not a game.’

‘Yet you’ve bet on it, which is not only unbelievably puerile but also fails to take into account the agency of the women involved. Plus, you’ve agreed to terms which make no sense, because what if you all win?’

‘That won’t happen,’ he countered with absolute confidence. ‘You don’t know Cade Landry and Zane deMarco. They’ll be out any time now, if they aren’t already. And believe me, I am extremely aware of how puerile it is. And the questionable ethics of involving women. Which is why Annabel is fully appraised of the circumstances and why I’m telling you now. To lay all my cards on the table. So there are no misunderstandings.’

‘You’re cheating.’

‘Not technically.’

Hmm. ‘You want me to be your dirty little secret.’

‘The dirtier the better.’

‘That’s shameless.’

‘I go for what I want and I want you.’ His gaze fixed on her mouth and heat flooded her body. ‘Do you have any other objections?’

Well, she ought to, she thought, trying the stamp out the desire beginning to thud away inside her. She ought to have plenty. For one thing, she was not having another office affair. The last one had caused quite enough trouble. A second would sink her career for good if it came to light. Of course, if it started after Friday, with the audit signed off and Adam no longer her client, it wouldn’t actually be an office affair.

But it wasn’t a question of semantics. Or that simple. Nor was it just a matter of timing, despite what Adam evidently thought. It had been easy enough to part company five weeks ago, when she’d only known him for twenty minutes, but what if this time round she found it harder? What if once again she lost her head, got to know him and at the end of their time together wanted more? Or he did? How would she disentangle herself from that?

And if she did agree to an affair, would she really be all right with the subterfuge? She would be tinged with grubbiness—again—even if he had been open and transparent with her, which, come to think of it, perhaps made her feel slightly less grubby and maybe even a little bit flattered because he clearly wanted her enough to risk the company he’d been working so hard to get.

However, she’d been down that road before and she had too much self-respect to travel along it again. Although, she couldn’t deny that the discretion would suit her as much him because it wouldn’t do her reputation any good to be caught in the company of a man who had so recently been her client, however unlikely that might be.

But, no. Right now, she needed to focus one hundred percent on her career. She couldn’t afford to be distracted. Of course, the sex would be dynamite. And the next five days would be a lot easier to handle with the promise of relief at the end of them. Furthermore, with the three-week time frame he’d specified, there’d be a definite end. There’d be no danger of entanglement. There simply wouldn’t be time to lose her head. She would never want anything more, with Adam or anyone, and this limited the risk of that for everyone involved.

Commitment, which seemed to require constant sacrifice and compromise, did not appeal. Even the thought of ‘settling down’ sent chills darting through her and she certainly no intention of ever having children. She’d witnessed first hand how well that worked out for women occupying senior positions in her field. At her previous company, one associate director had married, and in the immediate aftermath, some jerk had opened a book on how long it would be before she announced she was pregnant. Ten months, as it happened. Three months after that the same colleague had gone on maternity leave and when she had come back a year later, she’d found that her job wasn’t quite what it had been. Somehow she’d become... lesser . Respect for her and belief in her ability had plummeted. Eventually, she’d left and was last heard to be working part time at a third rate out-of-state firm.

Ella couldn’t even contemplate the thought of unwillingly—or even willingly—giving up everything she’d worked so hard for, and if that made her selfish in the eyes of others, well, she could live with that. She would never want to resent a husband or kids for holding her back. That wouldn’t be fair to anyone.

But a hot, purely physical summer fling with a man to whom she was wildly attracted did appeal to her. Very much. Getting him out of her system would be a scorching, thrilling rollercoaster of a ride. She couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate a successful audit, a promotion and a pay rise. After keeping her nose to the grindstone this last year, she deserved some fun. And so what if she was his dirty little secret? He was hers too.

‘Three weeks?’ she said, her pulse racing as the last of her resistance crumbled beneath the fizzling pressure of such hot heady desire.

‘I don’t have the time for anything more.’

‘Just sex?’

‘No strings. No complications. Just sex.’

‘Then I’m all out of objections.’

‘Excellent.’ A gleam of triumphant satisfaction lit the gorgeous blue depths of his eyes. A devastatingly sexy smile curved his mouth, and as shivers ran up and down her spine, she wondered what on earth she was letting herself in for. ‘How do you feel about the Caribbean?’