His Needs: Billionaire Alpha (8 page)

Chapter 14

Bethany

He wasn't in the room the night before when she got back, and she didn't have the desire to go after him. A sadness settled on her that still held her tightly as she woke Saturday morning. The text from Ben she'd failed to see the night before showed that the team decided to meet up at six that morning. It was almost eight by the time she woke up.

Damon wasn't anywhere to be found, but his suitcase was open, and the smell of his skin was on the bed next to her. She got dressed quickly and called Ben as she walked from the room. Her issues with Damon would have to be solved later that evening when she could get him alone for a heart-to-heart. Hopefully kissing and making up would be a part of it, but nothing was happening in the bedroom until she got him to come to the table on why he was being such an unbearable ass.

"Good luck," she muttered as Ben picked up the phone.

"Hey, Bethany. Sorry about the late text. No worries about not making the six o'clock pow-wow, it was a different team anyway."

"I feel like crap for not making it. I fell asleep early. My stomach was killing me."

"Yeah, Damon told me."

"Is he down there with you guys?"

"No, and most of the team has already headed over to Zarpeth's main office. I was cleaning up a few things. You want to meet me downstairs and we can take a cab together?"

"That sounds great. I need to get a coffee."

"There's a shop at the bottom of the client's building. It's a nice underground food court thing."

"I'll be downstairs in ten minutes." She jogged down the stairs, not paying a bit of attention to her heels. She'd learned to run in just about anything during college seeing that being late was something she was good at. She'd gotten better over the last few years, but the issue still seemed to linger.

She checked her phone to see if Damon left her a message and found nothing. A text from Jake said that he'd been to the doctor and he was healing nicely. She texted back quickly congratulating him as her chest constricted painfully. Why hadn't Damon asked about her stomach, or commented on leaving early?

He was pulling back, and didn't seem to care that she had no choice but to notice.

She swallowed her emotions and walked out of the stairwell to find Ben standing near the door. The dark purple blouse she had on accented her grey skirt and jacket well, leaving her to feel professional and well put together. Too bad her insides didn't reflect all that confidence.

"You look pretty today. You sleep well?" Ben asked as he moved up beside her.

"Thanks. I actually slept well once I fell asleep." She forced a calm expression on her face and tried to hold back the tears that kept threatening to blur her gaze. She needed an hour to let herself go before facing a room full of strangers that were supposed to be her colleagues over the next few months.

It was going to be fine. Everything was going to be fine.

"You're going to like this team. Some of the guys have been slacking off a little, so expect some tension when you walk into the room. Damon's going to come in and talk to the team at nine. He's pissed about some of the things that have slipped through the cracks, and rightly so. It's going to get ugly before it gets better," Ben chuckled and got into the back of the cab.

"Awesome," Bethany muttered and got in beside him, not at all in the mood to make small talk with the portly senior. He was a good guy, but a close friend of Damon's. There was nothing she could say that wouldn't make its way back to her wayward fiancé.

"Did you get to meet the new Senior Manager on the job? Damon hired her this last week. Old friend of his that Kent really likes a lot."

An old friend of his from when?

"No, but it's been a long week. You know I started my master's program on top of everything else." She stifled the need to pepper Ben with questions. She'd find out what she could from observation and then hit Damon up for the rest of the info later that night.

"I did know that. I'm not sure how you're doing it, but you know I'm here if you need anything, right?"

"Yeah. Thanks for that." She leaned back and closed her eyes, hoping to shut down the conversation. Ben started to hum something softly under his breath and didn't say another word until he held the door for her at the large high rise in downtown.

*

"Let's just start by saying that I'm disappointed." Damon glanced around the oval table they sat at.

Bethany had yet to get over the shock of having Philip on the team and seated next to her. They hadn't had more than a minute to say hi to each other before Damon walked into the quaint conference room and caused the mood to shift dramatically.

The pretty blond across the table was new to her, and had to be Damon's childhood friend, who scary enough looked like a softer version of his ex, Christa. Sickness rolled through Bethany's stomach as she tried to keep her concentration on Damon. There was no reason to let his words smack her around seeing that she wasn't part of the team that had failed to do their job well.

"Patrick. Why don't you stand up and introduce yourself, and tell the team what's going on so that they understand fully the shit storm that your team is pulling them into."

A dark-haired Hispanic guy stood up and smoothed his shirt as his hands shook.

"Right. I'm Patrick. I'm the manager on this engagement, and as with a lot of large manufacturing clients, we're having some series issues with inventory. In our firm, and every firm really, the interns and new staff work the inventory counts. Ours was done incorrectly, and yet we didn't catch it during our review process. After investigation of the situation it doesn't seem that we were dealing with collusion or fraud, but it's a very sticky place to be right now." He slipped his hands into his pockets. "Most of the team was pulled apart and you guys are the new members that are hopefully going to help us pull this ship back on course."

Damon spoke up. "Patrick is the only one from the team that isn't looking for a job, and that's because he wasn't involved. Don't mess this up. We're under the closing arguments for a government audit. It's ugly, and you need to be on your toes. Period."

"How about we introduce ourselves, boss? Would that be all right?" Ben spoke up from across the table, and Damon nodded.

"Yes. Do that." He moved back to the door and opened it. "I'll be in the office at the end of the hall if you have what I would consider an emergency.”

The smile on the blond across from Bethany was almost sickeningly sweet. They had more than a friendship from what she could gather. The way the woman watched Damon left her with very little question over it. If they hadn't been together, then the woman wanted to and was left wanting. A whole host of emotions danced around inside Bethany's stomach as everyone went around the room. Finally it was the blond’s turn.

She stood and pressed her hands to the table. To say she was in shape and made for the suit that fit her snuggly would have been an understatement. She was like a softer version of Erica, but something was off.

"I'm Delilah. I'm the newbie out of all of us, I do believe." A chuckle resounded along the members at the table. "I'm the Senior Manager on the job, so you won't see too much of me, but I'm here if you need anything. I have six years of experience in audit from one of the big four accounting firms and am happy to be here now. My desk is in Damon's office for this weekend, so make sure if you need something, that it's worthy of interrupting him. Setting up an appointment with me might be the best way to do things, and use your chain of command. I should be hearing from Patrick as your manager more than anyone else. That's all. Thanks!"

After a few more introductions, Bethany made hers and Patrick dismissed the team to grab coffee, take a bathroom break and meet down the hall in their workroom for the weekend.

Philip moved up behind her as they walked out into the hall.

"I'm seriously in shock that Damon would allow me to be on the same team with you." Philip laughed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Me too. Maybe he didn't find out until this morning." She shrugged. "Or maybe he doesn't care. I've never been anything but faithful, so there's no reason to question me."

There was no way in hell she was going to discuss her disintegrating relationship with the one guy that would be waving his 'next-in-line' ticket to date her. That would have been a tragedy waiting to happen. She had to be on guard over whatever was happening between her and Damon, otherwise, they would keep pushing at each other until one of them walked away.

It was the last thing in the world she wanted, but he seemed to feel differently.

"That's a good thing. Either way, I'm glad to be back." Philip smiled and nodded toward the coffee stand. "Want something?"

"Yeah, but I’ll wait
.
I see you cut your hair." She pushed at his shoulder and laughed as he shook his head.

"Don't start with that. I'm still a little salty over it." He turned to go into the coffee bar as Bethany walked toward Damon's office. There was no way she was starting the day without first talking to him for a few minutes about the night before. There had to be a way to let him know just how hurt her feelings were without starting a fight.

She rubbed the empty spot on her hand where her ring should have sat and couldn't help but think through how fucked up it was that she couldn't share the good news with people. He had to lay the foundation?

"Then lay it," she grumbled and lifted her hand to knock on his door. The feminine voice beside her stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Hi Bethany. Something I can do for you?"

She turned to face Delilah. There was no reason not to give the girl a chance at a solid work relationship, and seeing that she was the Senior Manager on the job, she would be the one writing Bethany's annual review.

"I was just stopping by to talk with Damon for a minute."

"Mr. Bryant?" She lifted her eyebrow as if to question Bethany's casual reference to Damon.

Heat bubbled up from the center of Bethany's stomach and coated her chest and neck in warmth. She couldn't exactly spout out that she was part of the family, one of Kent's kids now. That would fuck things up for them when they told everyone that she was Damon's fiancé. There was no way she could use that either.

"Yes, Mr. Bryant."

"Right, well, one of my jobs is to protect Mr. Bryant's time, so maybe I can help you instead." She tilted her head to the side, and the kind look she had plastered to her face in the conference room moments ago was all but gone.

"I don't think so, but thanks." Bethany turned and reached for the door.

"And why not? Something I should know?" The woman was persistent.

"No. I just-"

"Bethany. I'm Patrick. Damon's told me so much about you. Says you’re Kent's new protégé and might put him out of a job." He chuckled and extended his hand. "There a reason we're having a pow-wow around Damon's door?"

"Mr. Bryant?" Bethany asked cheekily and glanced over at Delilah, disliking the woman already.

"No, we just call him Damon. His father is Mr. Bryant. He'll tell you that." Patrick laughed as the door behind Bethany opened.

"Is there a reason why you guys are having a meeting out in the hall by my damn office? All I can hear is the three of you," Damon barked softly as anger brushed across his handsome face.

Bethany smiled at Patrick. "That's my cue to leave. Nice to meet you."

"Sorry, Damon. The girl wanted to talk with you for a minute, and I just asked what she needed." Delilah's voice followed her down the hall as she made a beeline to the bathroom and walked in, plopping down in a stall and pressing her hands to her face.

"What the hell is happening?"

Chapter 15

Damon

Bethany walked into the bathroom, her shoulders rolled in slightly. She was hurt. Fuck.

Of course she went to the one place I can't get to her.

Did she not remember him holding her the night before as he apologized for their long evening apart? He was stressed. Did she not get stressed and pull back from all of humanity until she figured things out? Surely she did. Why wasn't he granted the right to just be who he was instead of who she expected him to be? That change would come over time, but fuck, it wasn't instantaneous.

Damon waved his hand to silence Patrick and Delilah and moved back, letting the woman into his office. Having to share his space with anyone but Bethany, even workspace sounded like hell on earth. As long as Delilah could remain professional and keep the chattiness to a minimum, they would be all right.

"Sorry about all of that." Christa's sister walked in and laid her briefcase on her desk. "Is she-"

"None of your business." He walked to his desk and sat down. "I'm not discussing anything other than business with anyone today. I have a ton to do, so if you're in here with me, you're quiet and busy. Got it?"

"Absolutely." She nodded and turned her back toward him.

He half expected her to start crying or throw a fit, but she didn't. Like a mature adult with their feelings tucked deep into their chest instead of sitting on their shoulders, she sat down and got her ass in gear.

Amazing. Why can't Beth do that?

It had to be because they were dating. Engaged. Getting married.

He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to get through a few more e-mails as concern swept through him. She needed to work for another firm. There was no way they were going to be effective working together and sleeping in the same bed. A lot of people pulled it off, but a whole lot more didn't. She wouldn't be able to pull herself beyond the relationship they shared to be professional in the office. Ben had done a good job of keeping their friendship on the side while at work, but that was no comparison to what him and Bethany were looking at.

Marriage. Forever.

His watch buzzed, alerting him to the appointment with Zarpeth's CEO in ten minutes.

"Meeting?" He'd almost forgotten Delilah was in the room.

"Yes. Bring a note pad and come jot down anything we might need to remember later. Mr. Talling is a good businessman, but his company has grown far too fast. We need to not only see where we can add value, but where we can sell extra services too."

"Absolutely." Her voice was almost professional, but not quite. It was a little too flirty. There was nothing to do but ignore it. With the history they had, and the strong friendship she'd given him all those years ago, he wasn't going to assume anything. Maybe she just sounded sensual to everyone. It didn't matter.

He picked up his coffee and walked to the door, opening it and stopping short. The sound of Bethany laughing with a guy left his blood running cold.

Stop it. It's nothing. Don't get paranoid and fuck things up further.

Moving out in the hall, he took a quick right and walked the long way to Mr. Talling's office so that he could peek into the audit room where the staff were. Bethany's grey suit looked so damn good on her, and yet she had no clue just how beautiful she was.

It's not like he had an opportunity to mention it to her yet. They had to be careful of showing too much of their relationship in the office, but it was damn hard not to pull her aside and make sure she was all right. He could only hope that she was headed to his office earlier in an effort to do just that.

"You need something?" Patrick looked up as Damon stopped by the open door.

He glanced over his shoulder toward Delilah. "The meeting is in that corner office down the hall. Get the lights on and I'll be right there."

"Yeah, no problem." She walked off, and Damon turned back to the room, unable to let his gaze rest on anyone but his woman's.

"Beth, you wanted something earlier?" He pursed his lips as warmth spread through his stomach, infusing the goodness of what could be between them. He was fucking things up and felt like a fifteen-year-old cock-head when they were together as of late. Why he couldn't get himself in check and try harder was a concern. That coupled with the weight of getting married almost seemed too much until he was standing in front of her. Then it all made sense.

"Nope. I'm good." She glanced up from the papers in front of her and flipped her long dark hair over her shoulder.

"Can you come here for a minute, please?" He turned and walked back to his office as he sucked a shallow breath through his clenched teeth. His cock twitched in his slacks, his pulse quickening. The woman had a strange power over him that made little to no sense.

She walked into the office and he closed the door. "How is your stomach?"

"I'll live." She was cold, her emotions on lock-down. He
had
fucked up.

Some part of him wanted to poke at her and start the fight they were headed toward just to get it over with, but he couldn't push them closer to the edge of ending things. He didn't want that at all.

For her to grow up and act a little more mature? Sure.

For her to understand the sticky situation they were dealing with over him being her boss and her brother and her lover? Yes.

But for it to end? Never.

"Hey." He reached out, but she moved back a step. "Beth."

"Don't." She glanced up, and the hurt in her face lanced his insides. "You leave last night in a pissy mood, get in my face about needing something for my stomach and then don't even wake me up to tell me you were going. I'm glad we saved the firm a little bit of money by rooming together."

"You know-"

Her expression hardened as her face turned red and she poked her finger into the center of his chest as she took several steps toward him, backing him up as she did.

Hot wouldn't cover it. The woman was blistering when she was angry. It aged her by ten years, pulling her toward a confidence that left him needy and aching all over. There was nothing he desired more than to meet his match in the office, in the bedroom, in the world, and he had. Now he just had to be patient while she grew up a little and took ownership of the woman she was going to become.

It was enough to keep him hanging on forever.

"And who the fuck is this Delilah chick? She looks exactly like Christa. Is that some kind of warning? Did you hire her because-"

He gripped her wrist and pulled her flush against him before turning them and pressing her tightly to the full length windows that ran the length of the room.

"Hush. Dad hired her, and she's nothing to me." He leaned down, running his nose along the sensual line of her neck as his cock throbbed in his slacks. "God, you turn me on so fucking much. How? How do you keep pulling me back with this horrid desire to strip you down and cover you in kisses?"

"Pull you back?" Her blue eyes moved across his face as he leaned back a little, but kept his hands locked on her hips, his front pressed to hers.

"I didn't mean it like that. Don't get even more sensitive. I just needed a minute with you." He leaned down to kiss her, but she turned her face away.

"Move. You're not at all the man I fell in love with. Back up."

"What? No. I'm exactly who you fell in love with. You're expecting someone different to show up because I gave you a ring, but that's not how it works. I'm still me. If you don't-"

"Don't you dare say it," she barked as tears filled her eyes.

"Beth. Come on, baby. You know I love you. I was there last night wrapped around you. I'm stressed and shit is hitting the fan. If you didn't work here, it would be a different situation altogether." He trapped her face in his hands and leaned down, taking ownership of her soft lips. She fought against him for a second before moaning and melting into him.

The kiss was long and deep, his pretty girl sucking on his tongue as her fingers slid down the sides of his chest and moved around to squeeze his ass. He rocked into her and licked at her mouth until she pushed at him.

"Stop. You're messing up my lipstick." She shook her head, still not showing any emotion that would lead to reconciliation.

"So?" He kissed her again roughly. "Let's get through today and go out tonight. Just you and me. Last night sucked, as has most of this week. I don't want you hurting."

"Then stop being a dick." She pushed at his chest and adverted her eyes from him. He was losing her.

"Hey." He gripped her chin and forced her to look up at him. "You're mine. No matter what happens between us or what silly little bullshit storm we deal with. We made a promise to each other. Remember?"

"Who is Delilah, Damon? Is she Christa's sister?"

He sighed and moved back. "Yes. She's her twin."

"Right. Awesome." Bethany ran her hands over her breasts as she smoothed down her shirt and Damon's stomach tightened farther. Stripping her and making her forget everything but him sounded like such a good idea, but it wasn't the time or the place. Surely Mr. Talling was already waiting with Delilah for him.

"Dinner tonight. We can talk about all of this."

"Yep, 'cause I'm not sleeping with you again until we do." She turned her back to him and walked toward the door.

"Excuse me?" The lust that pumped through him moments before dissipated. Did she think he was a pet to be rewarded with her body when he behaved and not otherwise? Hell no.

"You heard me. I want this thing between us, but I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one that does." She walked out and closed the door behind her.

He growled low in his chest and pressed his hands to his face as he moved back toward the window and groaned. She was young, inexperienced, immature and so fucking hot.

"So damn difficult." He ran his hands down his face and took a shallow breath before calling his dad and dropping down into a chair.

"Morning, son. Everything okay?"

"Yes. We're here and I'm about to meet with James. The team is fully engaged, but I'm not calling about work." He sighed and let his eyes move across the beautiful view of the city that the office afforded.

"What's going on? Bethany okay? Matt?" The mild panic in his father's voice forced him to get to the point quickly.

"It's me and Bethany. I love her, but fuck if she's not difficult," he growled and leaned back in his chair. "One minute she seems to accept me for the moody bastard I am, and the next, I'm hurting her damn feelings over and over again. It's exhausting and coupled with all this work bullshit, I'm starting to wonder if I did the right thing."

"By proposing?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Only you can answer that. Having your significant other at the office with you isn't the most ideal situation, but Bethany is a smart girl. She'll hold her own if you give it to her."

"I guess."

"I know she is. Stop treating her like she's at the office all the time. Knowing you, that's what's happening."

"We have to be professional here. I refuse to be anything but," Damon huffed and got up. The only good thing about having yet another fight was his hard-on was officially gone.

"Right, but you don't have to be professional the minute you walk out of the office. Take her out and have fun. Let that angst go while you're at home, at the hotel, out for a dinner date. Don't carry it with you. I know how you are. I bet you're being office Damon all the damn time."

"I am not." He forced a chuckle as he realized that he was doing exactly that.
Fuck.

"If you guys love each other, work it out. It will be fine. I promise. Just force her to be like you in the office, and force yourself to be like her anywhere else."

"All right. I'll be in touch." He dropped the call and swallowed the need to apologize a million times to her. It wasn't that he wasn't willing to, but that he couldn't figure out what the hell he was actually apologizing for.

Be more fun outside of work. He could do that. Maybe.