In A Wild Moment (Billionaire In Love 1) (2 page)

Chapter 3

When she woke up the following morning, she checked her clock to make sure that she still had plenty of time. This was the first day of her new job and her stomach was swimming with nerves—which was silly because she was just doing the same things she had done before, but she felt nervous all the same. After a quick breakfast she opted to wear something that looked professional but also relaxed, and then drove into the city. The building in which she worked was a huge skyscraper; a glass and metal tower that rose high into the sky. The sun gleamed off it and radiated down on the city. People marched along the street, an army of suited soldiers that had their own economic battles to fight under the flag of corporations.

The building she entered housed a number of companies. Hers occupied the top three floors. It was owned by a reclusive billionaire, and as such she had never met the man, but he always made sure that his employees had all the best equipment. She heard that he dropped by every now and then, but even if he did, she wouldn't recognize his face, for she only new his name—Jack Keyes.

The mystery surrounding the man was something that had kept many people preoccupied in her previous office and she wondered if it would be the same on the new floor. She'd heard a number of theories, including one that suggested he actually did work in the office as someone just to keep an eye on his employees, but Scarlett didn't give that any more thought than it deserved, figuring that a billionaire would have much better things to do with his time.

She tried not to put too much thought into it anyway, as she figured that she would most likely never meet him.

Almost by habit, she started to press the button to her old floor and just managed to stop herself. The elevator whirred as it took her up and up and up, and then stopped to a halt as the doors opened. The floor looked the same as her old one, but different. The layout was identical but the colors were new, and it was like she had stepped into some strange alternate dimension. She walked up to the front desk and told the receptionist that she was new. The girl, a platinum-blonde bombshell, flashed a white-toothed smile and told her to wait for a few moments.

A few moments came and went. Scarlett was about to go back up to the receptionist and ask her what was going on, when a man in a suit rushed out of the office to greet her. He introduced himself as Sam. His skin was tanned a deep orange, but it looked fake, and she got the impression that he was a man trying desperately to hold onto his elusive youth. He took her through the main office, where people were tapping away at keyboards in cubicles. He showed her the main conference room and the break room, then opened the door to her office.

“And this is where you'll be staying. I've got Mandy to collate the files you'll need—I'm sure she'll be along in a moment. Other than that, keep checking your e-mails for the meeting schedules; we usually have a couple a week just to make sure everyone is happy with the direction. Otherwise, I think you should be good to go. Welcome aboard!” he said with a twinkle in his eye. Just before he left, she noticed his eyes drift down her body and rest on the curves of her breasts. Scarlett rolled her eyes.

She took a seat at her desk and the first thing she did was adjust the chair. Then, she pulled out a few of her personal belongings and set them down on the desk to give the place a more homely feel. Her computer was already on so she logged in to check her e-mails to see if she had received anything from the company yet. There were just a few general newsletters—she never bothered to read those.

A few moments later there was a knock at her door.

“Come in,” she called. A mousy-haired petite woman came in. She was holding a stack of thick files and blew out her cheeks when she heaved them onto the desk. Her round glasses had been falling off her nose so she pushed them back up, placed her hands on her hips, and then nodded at Scarlett.

“I'm Mandy. Welcome to the floor,” she said, and took a seat. Scarlett was a little taken aback at how quickly Mandy had made herself at home, but it was nice to see a friendly face, especially one who wasn't going to check her out.

“I'm Scarlett, thank you. And thank you for these,” she said, gesturing to the files.

“Seems like you have a lot of work already!”

“Yeah, there's no real adjustment period. I thought I was going to have to take some time to get used to my new surroundings, but I don't think I'm going to have the time to.”

“Ah, you'll be fine. We're all harmless here. Do you know anyone already?”

“No, just Sam.”

“Ah, yeah. Watch out for him. He likes the pretty ones.”

“I gathered that already. I saw his wandering eyes.”

“It's not the eyes you have to worry about, it's the hands. He basically runs this department. Just don't give him any encouragement.”

“I didn't plan to. So I heard that Mr. Keyes sometimes drops by here?” she said, idly flicking through the files just to get a glimpse of what was waiting for her.

“Very occasionally.”

“Have you ever seen him?”

“The last time he came in was for an impromptu visit. It sounds embarrassing but I was just getting back from a bathroom break when he left, so I saw him but I didn't get to meet him.”

“What's he like?”

“What do you expect a reclusive billionaire to be like? Handsome, magnetic charismatic. Frankly, I'm surprised he bothers coming in at all. If I had that much money, I'd be jetting off all around the world.”

“That's what I said to my old co-workers! They even thought that he was someone in the office, working undercover to keep an eye on his employees.”

“Well, that right there is why they're on the lower floor,” Mandy said, and they both burst into laughter. Scarlett took an instant liking to Mandy and they continued to chat for a while longer. Mandy told her all about the people working on the floor and a lot of gossip, which Scarlett was grateful for since it meant that she was going to avoid making a faux pas. Eventually, however, Mandy had to return to work, and Scarlett had to get started.

“It was nice meeting you, though. Come and find me in the break room. I think you're going to be a great addition to the floor! Oh, and did Sam tell you about the party?” she added just before she was about to leave. Scarlett looked up from her desk.

“What party?”

“We're having a birthday party for... I forget whose birthday, but it's going to be towards the end of the week, Friday afternoon probably. It'll be a good chance for you to get to know everyone,” Mandy said. Scarlett was feeling pretty happy at that point. She liked parties and was looking forward to getting to know everyone else on the floor, especially if they were as friendly as Mandy.

Yet, unfortunately she found out quickly that they were not. Mandy was the exception to the general rule. Everyone else she met was rather standoffish and didn't seem to have much time for her. They were polite, but no more, and Scarlett soon felt isolated. Working in her own office was different than working out on the floor as she couldn't look over a cubicle and speak to someone else. Instead, she was forced to keep working, and she had plenty of work to be getting on with—it just kept piling up, and no matter how hard she worked, she felt like she wasn't making a dent in it. She stayed behind later than she should have, and barely got any sleep for she wanted to make a good impression.

Adding to her frustration was the fact that Matt was still calling her and still trying to get her back. On most nights, she ended up leaving her phone switched off just so she could get some peace and quiet. Her only respite was Mandy, and it was a sad state of affairs because on the lower floor they all respected her and liked her, and she counted a number of them among her friends.

On one afternoon she made an excuse and left her office to go and visit her old floor. When she got there she imagined it resembled what going back to high school would have been like. People were the same but they saw her differently, and she didn't feel like she belonged.

It's probably just teething problems. It'll get better
, she told herself, although she wasn't quite sure she believed it. But she had worked hard for the promotion so she wasn't about to let it get the best of her. So she threw herself into her work. However, when it came time for the meetings, she found that Sam and the others weren't accepting or inclusive. Whenever it came time for everyone to share their ideas, Scarlett listed a number of what she thought were rather good ones, but they were never given serious consideration and the others were all dismissive of her. She left the meetings feeling like she wasn't making any progress at work, and it was entirely demoralizing.

On one instance, she had spent the whole morning noting down ideas and an entire action plan for one of the accounts that was on the agenda. The client had been suffering in the marketplace due to aggressive tactics by their competitors and they'd paid Scarlett's firm a lot of money to bring them back to the top and revamp their image. The conference room was long and a huge table stretched down. Scarlett was towards the end of the table and found it hard to be heard. Whenever Sam asked for feedback she raised he hand and called out, but he ignored her, as did the rest of them. It was only when she cleared her throat loudly that everyone turned to her and looked at her expectantly. With the pressure on her, Scarlett looked at her notes and told them about her ideas, but the fact that she was still new made her speak without confidence. After she had finished, there was an awkward silence. The rest of the people looked at each other and then all turned to Sam. He leaned forward and took a heavy breath.

“Look, Scarlett. We appreciate your enthusiasm, but we think it would be best if you spend some time observing us so you can get a sense of how we work. It's nothing personal, but obviously it's going to take some time for you to integrate yourself into the floor. So try not to run before you can walk,” he said in a patronizing tone. Scarlett was dumbfounded and Sam moved on to the next piece of business so swiftly that she didn't get a chance to respond to his advice, but she was annoyed that he hadn't even given her feedback on her ideas, he had just dismissed them easily.

Chapter 4

The first week hadn't gone as she had expected and now she had the party to contend with. She'd been so consumed with work that she'd almost forgotten about it. If it hadn't been for Mandy, she was sure that the others would have left her to own devices, but Mandy came and pulled her out of her office, thrusting her into proceedings. It only exacerbated the matter though, and made Scarlett feel even more vulnerable. Mandy brought them some drinks and tried to get Scarlett involved in conversations, but eventually Mandy got whisked away and Scarlett was left on her own. She stood by a group of people as they talked and she nodded, although she wasn't a part of their conversation. Eventually she moved away and got another drink. The only thing for her to do was to drink, and although it was the late afternoon she was soon feeling rather tipsy. Giggling to herself as she walked away from the mass of people that were talking, she sneaked away to a quiet part of the office where she could be alone.

Her mind was swimming in a hazy dream and a wide smile adorned her face. She found it amusing that this promotion was starting to feel in some ways like a demotion. It had only been a week, but already she was wondering how long she could endure the state of work. She knew that she was good at her job, but there was no sense in working if she wasn't allowed to perform the role she had been hired to do. She glided across the floor and made her way to the break room, where she leaned against the counter and closed her eyes. For a moment she felt like she was floating, and she almost went to sleep, but something interrupted her.

“Are you all right?” a man said. Scarlett opened her eyes and looked at him, tilting her head and shifting her body around to get a better view. She was more drunk than she thought she was, so when she thought she was appearing graceful she was actually looking rather ungainly, and the man tried his hardest to hide his amusement.

“No, I'm Scarlett,” she said, and then burst out laughing, falling against the surface of the table. She rose back up and brushed the hair away from her face, looking at the man again as he entered the room. She was struck by how handsome he was. He was tall, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes that looked as mysterious as the vastness of the ocean. His body looked strong and broad. His suit was sharp, and he wore gold cuff links. His skin was milky but there was a splash of color that looked far more natural than Sam's.

“You know there's a party going on out there, right?” he said as he moved to the coffee machine. Scarlett scoffed.

“Ha, they don't want me there. I'm the new girl. They just want to keep to their own little cliques. But that's fine, I don't need them.”

“How new are you?”

“I started on Monday.”

“And you hate it already? Usually it takes people a little longer than that,” he said, pouring out a glass of black liquid. His voice was smooth and low, and when he pulled out a seat next to her and put the cup of coffee under her nose, she managed to get a brief sense of his cologne as well, which was strong enough to punch through the pungent aroma of coffee.

“It's not the job I hate. It's the people. They gave me a promotion so you'd think they'd want to hear my ideas, but whenever I bring them up, they just shoot me down and go with something else. What's the point of me being here if that's all they're going to do?” she asked, raising both her hands. She ignored the coffee for so long that the man had to physically place it in her hands, and when their skin touched a spark flew through Scarlett, meaning she wasn't only intoxicated by alcohol, but by desire too.

“I'm sorry to hear that,” he said, and placed a hand on her arm, squeezing it gently, sending a pulse of arousal through her. With glassy eyes, she looked at him for what seemed like an eternity. She traced the lines on his face, and realized that he must be older than she initially thought. He carried himself with authority and exuded a captivating charm. She couldn't look away. A powerful cocktail of feelings were sweeping through her and it was difficult for her to keep her thoughts straight. The coffee was playing with her mind too, fighting with the alcohol to sober her up, but it wasn't working yet. The break room felt vast in its emptiness but he was there, anchoring her, reminding her that she wasn't alone.

“That's not that attitude we're supposed to have here. I'm very disappointed that you've been treated in this manner,” he said, and pressed his lips together in annoyance.

“It's okay. I don't want to get anyone in trouble. I guess it's just the way things are when you start a new job… but it just reminds how alone I am. I put so much effort into my career that everything else has slipped away, and I try to tell myself that it's all been worth it. But when I look around for a friend to talk to, there's no one there, and it's just all so depressing. Especially since my parents keep telling me that I should live life properly and not pour myself into work, but I just want to be the best I can be, to push myself to the top and prove that I did something with my life. That it wasn't all for nothing, because one day I'm going to die. It could be today or tomorrow, and I want to get there before it all ends,” she said, looking and feeling morose.

“Wow, this just got real heavy real fast,” the man said. “Look, I don't know what's going on in there,” he pointed to her head. “But it seems to me like you're a determined woman, and I've always been a good judge of character. Give it some time. Keep working hard and show them what you can do. Eventually they'll see that you’re very competent and they'll have start listening to you. In the meantime, why don't you try and go out there and mingle. Maybe they're not as bad as you think they are.”

“They're worse. I'm just stuck in the office all day. None of them make the effort to see me or talk to me. Only Mandy. She's my only friend here. The rest of them just stay in their little groups and turn their backs to me. I feel like I've done something wrong, but I don't understand why they hired me if they were just going to treat me like this.”

“Okay,” he said, sighing and adjusting his position in his seat. “I'm going to tell you something that you may not be aware of. The person you replaced was named Liz. She was a woman who had been here for a long time, longer than anyone else. She'd actually mentored most of the people on this floor when they first came to work here, so everyone thought of her fondly. But unfortunately, as she grew older her performance... declined. Her mind wasn't quite what it once was so the company decided that it was time to force her to take retirement, and when she realized this, she kicked up a fuss because she didn't want to go. Everyone else on the floor sided with her, and I think there's still some bitterness about it. So it's not you they hate, because they haven't even been given a chance to know you. They would have felt the same about anyone. Just give it time and they'll come around,” he said softly.

Scarlett nodded her head, but given her state, the man wasn't sure if she understood what he had said. She swayed a little and ended up resting her head on his shoulder. He looked around at the door, but nobody was there, and when he tried to extricate himself she wouldn't let him. 

“It's just all been so hard since she died,” Scarlett sighed.

“Since who died?”

“Lisa,” she said. “And why do you have to be so handsome? I finally meet a gorgeous man and it has to be at work where I don't feel like I belong and when I'm drunk. I'm probably a mess and you must think I'm some crazy woman who just pours her heart out to strangers.” She tilted her head up and her eyes caught the glare of the lights in such a way that made them shimmer. Her head was close to the man's and he could feel her soft breath against his skin. Her body was pressed against his chest, and through his shirt she could feel taut muscles. Scarlett wanted him. Her body yearned for passion and she felt that this man could give her what she needed, what she craved.

Slowly, she dragged her tongue across her lip and flashed a naughty smile at him. Tension simmered between them and she could feel his body bristle with attraction. She'd been so lonely since her relationship with Matt had ended and now this man had walked into her life like he was made from one of her dreams. There was a moment when time stood still, when nothing else mattered apart from the two of them. In the romance of the moment, they forgot that they were in the break room—they could have been on a beach with the sun glistening on their bodies, or on top of a mountain with the starry night sky as their only companions.

Scarlett tilted her head and leaned in, captured by the heat of the moment. She could hear the beating of her heart in her head. Could she feel his too? She swore it was thrumming to the same rhythm. Their eyes met until the final moment when they closed. She felt his hot breath scorch her lips as they met, and a moan escaped the corners of her mouth as their lips pressed together. Passion blazed through them and Scarlett was rendered speechless by the power of his kiss.

“Wow,” she said as they broke apart, and leaned her forehead against his. They were both breathing heavily, and Scarlett wanted more. She was hungry now, ravenous for him. She wrapped her hands around his head and kissed him deeply, frantically, as though she were a drowning, gulping for air. His hands fell against her hips and their tongues danced playfully together. Scarlett took his lower lip in between her teeth and bit down on it, sending him wild. His grip on her tightened and arousal surged through her. Never had she known such immediate, unbridled passion. The desire was uncontrollable and she was ready to give him everything.

It lasted for a moment. The man pulled away. Scarlett moved forward once more, an ardent lover, but he turned his face away. Scarlett's mood fell and she looked crestfallen. She reached out to him again as he rose from the seat. Her hand met his, but as her fingers clasped his warm skin, he pulled it away. He looked down upon her, as though he were a god returning from Olympus, leaving the mortal woman on the plains of the world.

“I'm sorry, Scarlett. I don't want to take advantage of you,” he said, and walked out of the office. Scarlett's head fell to the table and she groaned loudly. Was this place cursed for her? She beat her fists on the table, feeling rejected and miserable. But his kiss lingered on her lips, and she wouldn't soon forget it.