A Baby For The Billionaire (2 page)

An idea came to mind and she swung her
legs off the bed and stood up with a mischievous smile on her face.
Before she could change her mind or talk herself out of what she
was about to do, Alicia left her room and quickly made her way down
the stairs to the middle floor of the house that was reserved for
Chase and Vanessa and any guests they may have staying with them at
any given time.

She looked around furtively, making
sure that there were no members of staff around who might have been
working late, then opened a door and quietly slipped into the room
behind it, leaning her back against the door as she closed it
behind her.

She had been in the room before, on
more than one occasion. But she had never been in it without
specific orders from her employers, and most definitely never when
she was alone in the house. Alicia took a deep breath, wondering
whether it was sensible to be in here now, but she quickly banished
all such thoughts from her mind and stepped further into the
room.

She looked around with interest. It
was hard to imagine anyone needing so many luxurious things, but
Vanessa had filled every nook and cranny of the opulent bedroom
with items that Alicia couldn't even imagine owning. The top of the
dresser was filled with crystal perfume bottles and hairbrushes,
combs and mirrors all set in what looked to be ornate and
hand-crafted sterling silver.

Alicia lifted one of the
perfume bottles and removed the stopper, smelling the fragrance
curiously before dabbing some on her wrists and behind both ears.
She was pretty sure that the perfume cost more per ounce than what
she made in a month, but she was also pretty sure that Vanessa
wouldn't miss the tiny amount that she'd just dabbed on her
skin.
Hell, for that matter, she probably
wouldn't notice if I took a bath in the stuff
.

She walked slowly around the
four-poster bed with its chiffon drapes and silk sheets, admiring
the multitude of scatter and bolster cushions that complimented the
rest of the bedding so perfectly, trailing tentative fingers over
the top coverlet with a wistful sigh. She didn't begrudge her boss
having such nice things, but she couldn't help but wonder what it
would be like to sleep in a bed so huge and comfortable.

Okay, girl, it's time to
end this pity party
. Alicia chuckled as she
realized that she was talking to herself. Again. She seemed to be
doing that a lot lately. Probably just the stress of her mother's
situation, she surmised. And it wasn't as though she had anyone
else she could talk to. She'd more or less lost contact with most
of her friends since dropping out of college. Oh, some of them had
stayed in touch with her for a few months, but when it became
apparent that all she really ever talked about was her mother's
illness, the phone calls had dwindled and eventually stopped
altogether.

Alicia caught sight of herself in the
freestanding mahogany mirror and grimaced at her reflection. She
looked pale and worn out; even if she had the energy or the time
for a boyfriend, she doubted that any guy would look twice at her
looking the way she did. She needed a day of relaxation and maybe a
makeover, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

She looked back to the dresser and
smiled to herself as an idea came to her mind. She might not be
able to afford the time or the money for a makeover at a salon, but
that didn't mean that she couldn't give herself one right here and
now. She was alone in the house and would be for a few hours yet,
and with Vanessa away the chances of her being caught were minimal
to none.

She sat down at the stool in front of
the dresser and looked at the array of makeup strewn over the top
of it. There was no need for her to go rifling in the drawers
looking for something to use, which was a good thing because even
though she was in the room without her boss’s permission she really
didn’t want to do anything too underhand or against the
grain.

The brand of makeup was one Alicia had
frequently seen in high-end department stores, and even though she
had often thought how much she would have liked to try it, it had
never been something that she was able to afford to buy for
herself. She had never really been one for wearing much makeup, but
that didn’t mean that she hadn’t wondered what it would be like to
use the stuff.

With a hand that wasn’t
quite steady she reached out and took hold of a glass jar, the
label of which indicated that it was a tinted moisturizer. Within
minutes she had applied it to her face and was marveling at her
reflection in the mirror.
Wow. So this is
why the Vanessa’s skin always looked like it was glowing.
About twenty minutes later her face was made up,
with dark mascara and eyeliner framing her almond shaped eyes, a
light dusting of blusher highlighting her high cheekbones, and
glossy deep red lipstick making her already full lips look
plumper.

She puckered up to her reflection,
actually feeling good about how the makeup made her look. With a
cheeky glance towards the huge walk-in dressing room, she wondered
if she had the guts to go in there and try something on. She really
shouldn't, but she'd already done enough go get herself fired if
she was caught, so what did she have to lose?

She walked to the closed
double doors and then paused again when the voice inside her head
reprimanded her.
Oh, shut up.
She knew that arguing with herself was irrational,
but it was a habit that she was unable to shake.
It's not like you're going to steal anything, for
God's sake. You just want to try something nice on.

While she was busy arguing
with herself, she caught sight of a glass-fronted wine cooler
beneath the antique vanity.
Maybe a cheeky
glass of vino is what I need
, she wondered,
walking to it and opening the door before bending down to examine
the contents.
Ohhh, maybe I won't have a
glass of wine after all.
The fridge was
full to bursting with bottles. But they weren't bottles of wine.
Event in her ignorance regarding expensive alcohol, Alicia knew
these to be bottles of extremely expensive champagne.

Alicia grinned as the devil on her
shoulder whispered in her ear. With all those bottles, surely one
wouldn't be missed. Before she could talk herself out of it she had
reached in and withdrawn a bottle with one hand while the other
took hold of the bottle opener that was on top of the vanity. Just
a couple of minutes more and she was sitting back down on the stool
in front of the dresser watching the bubbles in the crystal
champagne flute in her hand rise to the top of the glass. She took
a tentative sip, rubbing her nose as the bubbles fizzed and
tickled. Licking her lips she smacked her tongue against the roof
of her mouth. She had always thought that champagne was dry and not
particularly nice, but this was exquisite. She took another sip,
and then a larger one, loving the intoxicating sensation of knowing
she was drinking something that was more than just a little bit
more special than her usual alcoholic beverage of
choice.

Before she knew it the glass was
empty, and with a nonchalant shrug she poured herself another. It
wasn’t as though she could put an opened bottle back in the fridge
now, was it? She giggled at herself and drank the second glass even
quicker than the first, hiccupping and giggling when the bubbles
made her sneeze.

She caught sight of herself in the
mirror above the dresser and her giggle turned to an outright
laugh. She looked so out of place in her T-shirt and sweats with
her long hair falling in a bedraggled mess around her beautifully
made-up face. What looked even more ridiculous was the fact that
she was sat in a bedroom that could only be described as luxurious,
holding a crystal glass while drinking the most expensive champagne
that she was ever likely to drink.

She glanced at the dressing
room door again, her bravado increasing as the effects of the
champagne took hold. She would definitely feel more at home if she
was dressed the part. She giggled again as she opened the double
doors.
Feel at home?
That was funny considering that she really did live here. It
wasn't home though. That was for sure.

She shrugged off a sudden melancholy
feeling of homesickness and walked further unto the cavernous room,
flicking the lights on and gasping as the sheer magnitude of the
expensive wardrobe came into view.

Everything was perfectly organized,
with shirts, skirts, pants and evening wear all arranged by color
and style. There were shelves that looked to have been specially
designed to hold the dozens of pairs of shoes, which were also
sorted into their respective styles, fashions and colors. Purses,
bags, scarves and sunglasses all had their own place, and all were
very obviously designer brands.

Alicia walked down the aisle of
clothing, running her hands through the silks, cashmeres, satins
and pure linens. She couldn't imagine ever owning something as
beautiful as just one of the items hanging on the rails—but she
would soon know what it felt like to wear one, even if it was for
just a few minutes. Her hand came to rest at a beautiful black
sequined dress, and she reached up to take it down from the hanger,
carried it back into the bedroom and laid it across the
bed.

She stood looking down at
the dress for a couple of minutes; her conscience making her stop
and consider if she really did want to try on another woman's
clothes without her knowing.
Well you've
already used her makeup and perfume and drunk her
champagne
—
what
difference will putting on one dress make?

Before she could talk herself out of
it, she stripped off her tatty sweatpants and T-shirt, letting them
fall in a heap on the floor. She and Vanessa were roughly the same
size, although Alicia was slightly taller than her boss, and the
dress came to a couple of inches above her knees rather than a
little below them. Alicia reached behind her to try and pull the
zipper up, but could only get it so far before her arms couldn’t
pull it any higher.

With a dramatic sigh she
teetered back to the bottle of champagne, draining the remaining
golden liquid into her glass and drinking it down in a very
unladylike way.
It’s times like this that
I could do with a man to help me dress
. She
giggled at the thought.
Shouldn’t she need
a man to help her undress, rather than one to
get
dressed?

She made her way to the full length
mirror and stood there on wobbly legs looking at her reflection
from all angles. She wasn’t too bad to look at, was she? She’d been
told that she was pretty before, and her figure was a traditional
hourglass, even if her boobs were a little too big for her liking.
But guys liked that, didn’t they? Why then, was she still
single?

With her mood starting to
plummet, she toddled back to the bed and plonked herself down on
the edge of the mattress. Letting herself fall backwards against
the pillows she sighed as a face came to her mind.
Of course, as soon as she thinks about men, Chase
would pop into her damn brain, wouldn’t he?
Even though he irritated the crap out of her sometimes, he was
always the man she seemed to fantasize about when she was least
expecting it.

The fact that he was so handsome, in a
rough and rugged kind of way, was no help to her whatsoever. His
broad shoulders and tapered torso, long legs and muscled chest
didn't do much for her self-control either. Of course, the
smoldering, heated looks he had frequently sent in her direction
during the first few months had sown the seed of lust that she
hadn't been able to shake off ever since, and even though he seemed
to look at her in a very different light these days, Alicia still
remembered how hot those looks had been.

She moaned as her body started to
respond to her train of thought. With an alcohol-induced sleepiness
creeping up on her, her eyes fluttered closed while one of her
hands slid across her body and came to rest on her sequin-covered
chest. The last conscious thought she had was that of smiling as
she realized that the pillow her head rested on smelled distinctly
of Chase.

CHAPTER THREE

…

“Well so much for your detox vacation,
Vanessa. It looks to me like you had a few days at a beauty spa.
For God’s sake, you found time to dye your hair but you couldn’t
find the time to sober up?”

Alicia heard the voice talking, but to
her sleep addled mind it felt as though she was still dreaming.
“W-what?” She rolled over and looked around her sleepily, taking in
her surroundings with a sense of confusion. “Who? W-what?” She
repeated herself while she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“Alicia? What the hell are you doing
in here? I thought you were Vanessa.”