Defying Dorian: Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (26 page)

“
O
w
!
Shit!
” I yelled, as I slipped the first two fingers of my hand into my mouth. I flicked at the singed tips with tender strokes from my tongue. All the while my egg and cheese breakfast sandwich, overcooked and smoking slightly, mocked me through a half-opened microwave door.

“Oh the hell with it,” I muttered as I snatched it from inside the oven. It was too burnt to eat, so I pitched it in the trash and took one last swig of my lukewarm black coffee. The bitter liquid rolled across my taste buds and focused my attention on what I had to get done.

I’d eat later.

Just then, an email notification chime from my tablet filled the air.

Finally.

I made my way towards the living room and what I hoped was good news from my roommate. Unless I could land this potential client for my new concierge business, the last five years of my life would wind up as everyone predicted when I came to Los Angeles--a failure. Be that as it may, now wasn’t the time to worry about any of that crap.

Reaching the table, I grabbed my tablet from it. I dragged my still-tender fingertips across the smooth surface and as the screen flickered to life, the email I’d been waiting for from Katy appeared before me in my inbox. I swallowed and tugged a strand of hair behind my ear as I tapped on the message that read, “This is him. You got the bid for the job! Call me as soon as you open the pic.
Katy
”

Unable to muster the courage to look at it alone, I grabbed my phone and dialed her up.

“Hey, did you get it?” she asked as she answered my call.

“Yeah, I did. I’m about to open the file right now. Can I put you on speaker?”

“Okay.”

As I placed the phone down on the table, I pressed the hands free button and a split second later, the fuzzy echo of the speaker phone crackled in the air.

“Well?” Katy said. “You got it open yet?”

“Geez, gimme a second would ya? What’s the rush?”

“I’m busy, Maddie. We need to get on this right away.”

“Okay, okay.” As she spoke, I clicked on the file she’d sent me and when I did, the stranger’s image filled the screen.

“Well?” Katy demanded.

My fingertips moistened along the edges of my tablet as I sunk back into the couch. The feel of the cool leather against my skin heightened my awareness. I narrowed my gaze on the man in the picture. Chiseled features and tanned skin enhanced his almond-shaped, chocolate brown eyes. His gaze pierced my slightly smudged screen with the focus of a male lion in its prime. It was the look of a person to whom everything was given, nothing refused.

Really?

This
is the first client she wants to send me? What sounded like a great idea a couple of days earlier didn’t seem like one now.

Not at all.

“Maddie,” Katy began, as she took notice of my silence. “What’s going on with you? Do you have the picture open or not?”

I chewed my lower lip between my teeth.

“Maddie?”

“Um, okay. Wow, Katy. Couldn’t you send me someone a little easier for my first time?”

“What do you mean?
Easier?
”

“I dunno, I thought he’d be… you know, older?”

“No, you mean
not
good looking. Don’t you?”

“No,” I lied.

“You need a referral, Maddie. Have you heard from anyone else you sent proposals to yet?”

“No.”

“Well, you need business. What’s better than word of mouth from one of the richest men in the country? What difference does it make if he happens to be handsome as well?”

“None, I guess. You’re right,” I said, as I exhaled and lowered my tablet to my lap. The warmth from the device felt good against the skin of my exposed legs. It reassured me, but only a little.

Katy continued. “His name is Greyson Sinclair and he’s a relatively new client of mine. I’ve handled some of his corporate travel arrangements in recent months but this will be his first trip to LA for film industry business.”

“He’s not in the business already?”

“No. He’s from Chicago. He comes from money but turned the family fortune from millions to billions with his investments. I don’t know much about what he does except he’s considering an investment in a studio. This is perfect for you, Maddie. With all the contacts you have, this should be an easy one to get started with. Just be yourself and hit him with your pearly whites. You’ll have him drooling and making referrals in no time.”

“Hmm, okay,” I replied. A final remnant of burnt-cheese smell mocked me, filling my nostrils as I listened to Katy.

“Maddie, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. Look, I guess I’m just nervous because this is my first client. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay, I won’t worry about it if you swear to me you aren’t twirling your hair around your finger this instant.”

Without even having to look, I stopped mid-twist.

“I hate you, Katy. You know that?”

A half-sinister, half-compassionate chuckle blared from the phone’s tiny speakers. “I know,” Katy said.

I released my hair and it bounced back in place as Katy continued, “Maddie, if I didn’t think you could handle him, I wouldn’t put you in this situation. You just need to get your confidence back, that’s all. This is the perfect opportunity to do that so long as…”

“I know,” I interrupted. “So long as I don’t screw it up.”

Katy exhaled a bit. Her tone softened. “I don’t mean to be too hard on you, sweetie. I just want to see you succeed. That’s all. Being in business for yourself is tough, so I want to help you as much as I can.”

“Katy, I really want you to know how much I appreciate this.”

“That’s okay, Maddie. You just need to put what’s happened behind you. Trevor’s moved on. This is your chance to do the same.”

I thinned my lips at the mention of his name. “I know. It’s just… there’s a lot more to this than I thought.”

“Well, that’s the way it is when you’re running your own business. You don’t see me sitting around do you? It’s all about the hustle, Maddie.”

Nodding, I sat up straight as I tried to inject myself with a jolt of self-confidence. With any luck, I could borrow some of my friend’s strength by osmosis, if nothing else. When it came to business, she had it by the truckload.

“Oh, and Maddie, speaking of hustle, there’s one more thing you need to know.”

“What?”

“He arrives at five o’clock tonight.”

A wave a nausea washed over my entire body. “Wait, what do you mean he arrives at five o’clock tonight? How am I supposed to make all the arrangements from the proposal by tonight? Katy, what the hell? Did you know about this?”

Katy exhaled and replied, “No, I didn’t but like I said, it’s all about the hustle, Maddie. I’ll email you his travel itinerary but you have to make the rest of it happen somehow.”

My mouth got drier with each word she spoke. The list of things I had to pull off, with no time and zero dollars, quickly piled up in my head.

“Uh, okay, I guess,” I uttered with all the conviction I could muster. “I’ll make some calls right away. But Katy, I don’t have money to pay for any of this.”

“Don’t worry about that. You’ll have the deposit you asked for in your proposal wired to your account by noon. You can do it, Maddie. I believe in you. Now get busy. Text me and let me know how things are going.”

Seconds later we said our goodbyes and I placed my tablet back on the living room table. I took one last look at Greyson Sinclair’s image. In the five years I’d spent in LA, I’d been around my share of men like him. Okay, so maybe not as crazy rich as he was or even as good looking, but I knew the type.

I could handle him.

I had to.

Like it or not, I was officially in business.

“
O
kay
, thanks Randolph. You’ll send that complete background check to me by email then?”

“Yes, Mr. Sinclair, sir. Right away. You can expect it any moment.”

“Very good, Randolph.” I said to the head of my security team, as I looked up from my desk to see Mary Ann in the doorway. My current assistant stood there with her hand on her hip in a pose I’d seen one too many times. I acknowledged her with what I hoped would be a gesture that communicated what I would say in words if not in the middle of a goddamn phone call.

“Is there anything else, Mr. Sinclair?” Randolph asked, as I glared at Mary Ann before turning my attention back to the matter at hand. “No Randolph, not right now. You got me the photo I wanted of Miss Olsen?”

“Yes sir, just as you requested.”

“Excellent, Randolph. Great work as always.”

“My pleasure, Mr. Sinclair.”

As I lowered the phone from my ear, Mary Ann
click-clacked
her way across the floor of my office and stood in front of my desk before the receiver was back in its cradle. Once she stopped, a hint of her perfume drifted in my direction. It was a scent that drew me to her in my chase but now seemed more like a repellent.

“Well, Grey?”

I looked up at her. How had I done this to myself again? Every time I hire a good assistant, I go and screw it up by, well,
screwing them
.

“Listen, Mary Ann,” I began.

“No Grey!” she snapped, interrupting me. “I want an answer, now! Am I going with you to Los Angeles or not? I’m tired of
whatever this is we are doing
. I want to be more than…”

I nodded, raised my index finger in the air and silenced her mid-sentence.

“Mary Ann, you know I enjoy your company but, like I told you in the beginning, there’s nothing to this. You won’t be going anywhere with me. I've got no interest in doing anything more with you than what I already do. If that’s not sufficient, you’re welcome to leave. But I’m warning you—don’t say something you’ll regret later because you misinterpreted what is happening between us. Or, not happening as the case may be.”

As I spoke, I noticed the jagged lines of her angered expression begin to dissolve into the beginnings of a tear-filled meltdown. Moisture pooled at the corners of her eyes as she attempted to stop their advance. She made careful strokes under her eyes, preventing them from spilling forward and ruining her makeup.

“Grey,” she begged. “Please don’t do this.”

“Do what, Mary Ann?”

“Treat me like I’m nothing.” She waved her arms and spread them open as she continued, “I knew this would happen. I don’t know why I thought I would be any different. That’s what women are to you, aren’t they? I'm just like a business deal, aren’t I? Once you’ve gotten what you want, that’s it.”

While she spoke, I rubbed my forehead and hoped somehow I could magically put this genie back in its bottle. I pinched the bridge of my nose between my eyes with my thumb and forefinger as she rambled.

“I won’t be ignored, Grey,” she continued. “I'm not going to let you throw me away like you do every other woman in your life. I have feelings, deep feelings, for you and…”

I’d heard enough. Whenever a conversation took this turn it was time to put an end to it, no matter what the cost.

“Stop. Mary Ann,” I said. “Stop speaking right now before you make a complete fool of yourself.”

I placed my hands on my desk and pushed myself into a standing position. Looking down at her, for a moment I felt what I always do in these situations. Pity. No matter how many times I tell a woman like her to expect nothing from me other than a bit of my time, they always mistake it for more. I rounded my desk, walked towards her and wrapped my hands on her upper arms.

She trembled as I held her. Her eyes widened as she looked up at me.

“Grey,” she uttered. “I love…”

“No,” I interrupted her. “You don’t. I never promised you anything. I never lied to you about what this was. Isn’t that true?”

She turned her head away from me and sniffled as I finished. A single tear streamed down her cheek but she didn’t reply. Without turning to look at me, she said, “So now what? Are you just going to fuck me and fire me?”

It’s amazing how putting your dick in someone can change how they behave towards you. I’d treated this woman damn well and that’s the way she’s going to act? That level of disrespect coming from a man would have deserved a punch to the jaw. But her fairer sex spared her from such an outcome. Instead I shook my head in disbelief, released my grip on her and walked back around my desk.

“That will be all for now, Mary Ann. You have my word I won’t fire you but as far as you and I are concerned, this is the end of our time together.”

Then, in a performance I’d seen once or twice or a hundred times, Mary Ann twirled in a huff and stormed towards the entrance to my office.

“Go to hell, Grey Sinclair!” she yelled as walked out. “I hope you die alone! And I quit!”

I exhaled, shook my head and eased back into my chair. After a brief moment of reflection, I realized that could have gone much worse. Satisfied it didn’t, I turned my attention to my computer monitor. After confirming the travel arrangements I’d discussed with Katy earlier that day, I scanned the top of my inbox for Randolph’s background check.

“Let’s see what Katy has in store for me,” I muttered as I finally located it. “Ah, here we go. Madeline Olsen. Twenty-three, aspiring actress and model and hello, hello, what do we have here?”

I double clicked on a photo of her and felt an immediate pulse in my lower extremities.

She’d do.

Oh sure, I’d seen her type before. Your garden variety, blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty. They were everywhere in Los Angeles. Nothing special, but definitely worth a few hours of my time.

I leaned back in my chair and interlaced my fingers behind my head. It looked as if this trip wouldn’t be purely business after all. And after what had just happened with Mary Ann, I could use a bit of mindless distraction for a few days.