Appetite For Lust | Billionaire Romance (4 page)

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Chapter 1

   Her blue eyes stare back at her from her compact mirror as she gently uses the tip of her fingers to wipe away her fallen mascara.  She pulls away a bobby pin from between her lips and pushes it against her too long blonde fringe, pinning it to the side of her face.

  She spins around in her swivel chair, tossing her compact in her bag as she’s interrupted by the first phone call of the day.

“I.T.S. Services Incorporated, this is Megan, how can I help you today?” She says into the phone’s receiver.

“Megan?” She hears a raspy woman’s voice on the other end. “I’m a little late but almost there, just stuck in traffic. The new CEO’s flight was delayed.”

“Is there anything you would like to me to get ready for you, Ms. Sung?” She asks her boss, letting the phone rest on her shoulder as she reaches for a pen.”

“Yes.” She listens. “There’s a pile of finance packets sitting in the conference room that I didn’t have time to distribute. Can you please separate them so everything is ready to go for when we get there?”

“Sure thing, Ms. Sung.” She says before hanging up the phone.

Megan pulls herself out of her chair, taking one last sip of black coffee from her mug before clicking her heels down the hall to the conference room. She pulls her sweater up closer to her neck as she enters the chilly, barely used space.

It doesn’t take long to find the packet of booklets left overnight sitting on the ledge under the messy white board. She walks over, her fingers wrapping around the sheets before slowly distributing them, placing a booklet in front of each chair.

Her fingers flip through the pages before she places the last one in front of the last chair on the right.

Peter Marks, C.E.O
she reads before placing the booklet down on the table.

She squints her eyes, pursing together lips. She’s heard that name somewhere before, she’s sure of it.

“Peter Marks?” She whispers to herself. “I’m almost positive I know a Peter Marks.”

“There you are.” She hears from the door way to the conference room.

She turns her head, smiling at the source of the voice before walking over to the door to greet him.

“Morning, Benj.” She says, grabbing the coffee cup of her short, dark haired co-worker and taking a sip. “Gross, too much sugar.”

“Well, it was.” He says, grabbing the coffee away from her, and holding it close to his chest.

“Hey, did we ever have a Peter Marks work here?” She asks, biting on her thumb nail.

“Peter Marks?” He says, sipping on his hot beverage. “No, Peter Marks has never worked here before.”
 

“Are you sure?” She asks. “Because I know that name from somewhere.”

“I would know if Peter Marks worked here, Megan.” He says. “He’s only the biggest overnight success on Wall St. since forever. Kid wasn’t even 25 before he had more money than anyone could ever do anything with. You’ve probably read about him somewhere.”

“Benj, I’m a secretary, I have a life outside of work.” She giggles. “I don’t have time to pay attention to business news.”

“Well, maybe you’re mixing him up with Peter Gilroy from accounting.” Benj says. “He still works here, I saw him this morning.”

“No, look here, dummy.” She says, her heels clicking as she walks over to the conference room round table before picking up a packet.

She flips open the cover page, trailing her finger down to find his name before handing it over to the short man and tapping against the page.

“Peter Marks.” She says, her eyebrow raising. “Our new CEO and I’m pretty sure I know him.”

“Holy shit.” He says, looking up at Megan. “Maybe it’s not the same Peter Marks. Why would he be coming here?”

“I don’t know.” She says, pulling the booklet out of Benj’s fingers. “He must be local. That’s probably where I know him from.”

“No, he’s not local.” He says before taking a sip of his coffee. “He’s from some small city in California. Redwood City, or whatever. From there he went to New York. No idea why he’d be here.”

“Redwood City?” Megan whispers. “I’m from Redwood City.”

She walks out of the conference room, her friend trailing her.

“Peter Marks….” She whispers as she sits down in her swivel chair before picking up and sipping on her cup of coffee. “Why can’t I remember the face?”

“Well, you’ll probably know him when you see him, I guess.” Benj says, placing his mug on Megan’s desk.

“Oh, wait, ew.” She says, scrunching her nose. “I remember now. What a little nerd.” She laughs taking a sip of her coffee. “So, I guess he’s the new boss, huh?”

Chapter 2

Her heels click across the floor as she pushes the extra chairs over to the corner of the conference room, creating a space for the overhead projector. She sighs, wiping her forehead and fanning her hand in front of her face when she hears a faint knock at the door.

  She turns, placing her hands on her hips as she watches the door open slightly, her boss, Ms. Sun, pokes her head through the gap and smiles at her.

“Are we almost done here, Megan?” She asks, scanning the room the before stepping inside.

“Um, yeah, I think so.” Megan says, looking over at the conference room round table. “Those are the right finance booklets, yeah?”

“They seem to be.” Her boss says, walking over to the table and picking up a packet before flipping through the pages.

“Megan?” Ms. Sung asks her as she places the booklet back down on the table. “Can you do me a favor and get a few bottles of water out of the break room for everyone?”

“Yeah, no problem.” She says, smiling softly at her boss before looking up at the door way.

She sees a man looking back at her. He’s tall with a mop of short, scruffy looking blond hair on the top of his head. His light stubble takes nothing away from his sharp jaw and his broad shoulders sit squarely under a fine, tailored grey suit.  She smiles at him, her eyes squinting, trying to remember before she gives him a little wave. There’s no way it’s actually him. He’s far too attractive to be the little scrawny kid she remembers.

“Oh how rude of me.” Ms. Sung says, her heels clicking across the tile as she walks toward the conference room doorway to stand between them. “Megan, this is our new CEO Mr. Peter Marks. Mr. Marks, this is Megan, she’s our receptionist, my right hand lady.” She smiles.

Holy crap.

“Hello.” She whispers, looking into the CEO’s bright blue eyes sitting atop his high cheek bones as she brushes her hair behind her ears.

“Hi there.” He says, his voice deep and soft as he holds out his hand toward Megan.

  She grabs it, feeling his warm, tight grip against her fingers as they shake hands.

“It’s nice to meet you.” She whispers, letting go of his hand as she smiles at him. “Let me just get those waters and I’ll be right back.” She says, as he nods and moves out of her way.

She pulls a small case of waters from the stainless steel break room refrigerator, scooping them up in her arms and holding them against her chest before walking back down the long hall to the conference room.

Megan knocks on the door before slowly pushing it open.

“Water’s here.” She whispers, nodding at her boss as she makes her way to the table, placing a bottle in front of each board member.

  She walks around the table, toward Peter, placing the cold bottle in front of him.

“Here you go.” She says, softly smiling at him.

“Thank you, Megan.” He whispers, his voice deep and soft as his piercing blue eyes staring into hers, catching them and holding them in his gaze.

“You’re welcome.” She whispers back, before clearing her throat and turning toward the door.

Her heart flutters as she walks out of the conference room, closing the door behind her. Surely that can’t be the Peter she knows, for he would never have had this effect on her.

Chapter 3

  Megan sighs as she chews on the cap end of her pen as she waits for the faxes to finally feed through the machine.

“Meetings are boring.” She hears a deep, husky voice say from behind her.

She turns her head, looking behind her to see Peter leaning against the wall of the reception area, resting his elbow on the granite and his chin in his palm.

“They can be, I guess.” She says, walking toward him and dragging her fingers along the granite as she smiles shyly.

“I’m not used to having to sit and listen.” He says, standing up stall and stretching his shoulders up as he holds onto the wall. “Especially when it’s stuff I don’t really care about.” He leans in, whispering to her and letting out a small laugh.

“You’ll adjust.” She says, as she tosses her pen onto her desk.

“Hopefully.” He says, his eyes wandering up to the flickering, hanging light son the ceiling. “I’m not used to offices yet. I like to go out and do stuff.”

“Like what?” She asks coyly, leaning into the wall, mimicking his pose from before. “What did Mr. Marks do before coming here?”

“Business.” He says, tracing his fingers over the spots in the granite. “Trading.”

“And I’m guessing it was your vagueness that landed you this job, right?” She says, smirking.

“Hey, I know my way around finance.” He says as he smooths the arm of his coat jacket.

“Hm, and what else do you know your way around?” Megan says, blushing as she realizes the innuendo.

He smiles, a chuckle escaping from between his lips.

“Maybe you’ll find out, Megan.” He says, winking, as he turns his back towards her and makes his way back down the hallway.

  She stands there, flushed red and heart fluttering, as she watches him turn back into the conference room.

Her body jolts as she hears the fax machine beep and she shakes her head, taking a deep breath, looking down the empty hall one last time, before turning back to the machine and picking up her papers.

Chapter 4

She pokes her avocado and spinach salad with a fork, dragging it through the poppy seed dressing on her plate in the cafeteria during her lunch break. Megan watches him as she brings her salad up to her mouth, gulping as she notices the ratio of broad, muscular shoulders to thin waist he’s hiding under his sport coat, making it all the more obvious when he jokingly pats the back of one of the members of the board he’s talking to, the motion pulling his jacket into his side and outlining his physic.

“Can I sit?” She hears and she shakes out of her daze as she watches Benj pull out the chair across from her.

“Yeah, of course.” She says, looking back down into her salad.

“So,” He says, sitting down with his tray. “You figured out if he’s the same one yet?”

“The same as?” She says, her eyes shifting up to look at her friend.

“If he’s the same guy that you think you know.” He says, nodding his head over toward the laughing, tall, new CEO.

“Oh, him.” She says, blushing, realizing that Benj had seen her staring. “Yeah, no, I’m not sure. I mean, we’re from the same town and he has the same name, but…. I don’t know.” She sighs. “I don’t recognise him like I thought I would, and if he knew me I’m sure he would have said something.”

“Well, maybe you’ve both changed.” Benj says, biting into his sandwich. “But what I want to know is how does he even get a job like that?”

“What do you mean?” She says putting another forkful of spinach into her mouth.
 

“I mean, I’ve been here for years and no one offered me the job!” He says, before swallowing. “The guy’s still practically a little boy. They should have promoted from within to give one of us old guys a chance.”

“You’re only 4 years older than I am.” She laughs as she wipes her face with her white, paper napkin. “And you’re also an accountant, so….”

“So?” He says, squinting his eyes at her. “Accountant, Wall Street, what’s the difference?”

She stifles a giggle as she glances over to the new CEO, their eyes catching. She bites her bottom lip and looks back down into her salad as he gives a small wave before beginning to walk over to their table.

“Hi.” He says, patting Benj on the back before turning his attention to Megan. “How’s lunch?”

“It’s lunch.” Megan says, a small, shy smile crossing over her lips.

He nods.

“Megan.” He says, standing tall over her. “I need you in my office this afternoon. I need some help with… something.” He says, a coy smile branding his face, before he turns his back on them and begins to walk away.

“Oh,” She calls after him. “I’m not really an assistant. I’m more of an answer phones kind of girl. I’m not sure I’d be able to help you.”

He stops, turning his head back toward them.

“I’m sure someone can manage to answer a phone or two without you.” He says, glancing over to Benj as he eats his sandwich before stepping forward once again.

She gulps as she watches him walk away, his shoulders square and his steps purposeful, before turning back to Benj.

“Wow.” Her co-worker says, wiping his mouth with his napkin. “I guess he’s gunna be a real jerk.”

“Well, he’s the boss.” She says, shrugging her shoulders. “What do you suppose he needs my help with?”

“Hm. Go find out.” Benj says, flipping the tab of a soda, the crack and fizzle ringing through the cafeteria. “Whatever it is, it’s probably more exciting than your desk.