JAGGED EDGE: A BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE (ALPHA MALE) (3 page)

They awkwardly turned around, but they didn’t have long to go, less than a quarter mile to get back to her apartment.

Despite the pressure to say anything to make it better, Jag wouldn’t apologize for kissing her. The most he would do would be to apologize for doing it so quickly.

“Jag,” she said once they reached her apartment door. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to do. I don’t think you understand either. You’re making a mistake. Thanks for the walk, and…I’ll talk to you later.”

As he shook his head, he watched her escape inside her apartment and gently shut the door.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath.

Right now, he wanted to go on a long exhausting hike. Or maybe some adrenaline fueled whitewater rafting. Something that would get his mind off all this.

His dad’s failing health, the promise he made, and now this, how he ruined it all by being too forceful, nothing seemed to be going his way.

Steaming, Jag returned to his car. He drove to a nearby gym, where he paid for a one-day pass so he could use their rock wall. The trainer took a liking to him. And she knew who he was.

He tried not to pay attention to her advances as she made eyes at him the whole time.

Girls like her were easy. If only he could get the one girl he really wanted.

Once properly exhausted, Jag left the gym and headed for his apartment. In the morning he’d visit his father again and help out around the house, but for now, he needed to be alone.

Chapter Four

Sammi

A knock sounded on her door a minute after she’d dismissed Jag.

She should’ve figured she hadn’t sees the last of him. As soon as he’d left, the pit of her stomach dropped and she felt sucked up into a void. Regret weighed heavily on her, and she wandered aimlessly in the kitchen, wondering what her next step would be.

The rest of the night she would regret saying that to him. Did I just turn away a billionaire? The billionaire next door neighbor that I’ve fantasized about ever since I could start fantasizing about boys?

What in the hell am I thinking?

A part of her still stood firmly in her decision. For once, she followed her gut. She didn’t let anyone pressure her.

The door rattled again.

“Hold on,” she called. Oliver started to growl at the door, so she pulled him off into the bedroom and shut it.

Now she wondered if she would need to stand her ground again. Would Jag apologize? Or would he knock down her door, take her in his big secure arms, and then throw her down on Sammi’s bed?

The bigger question right now was which one she really wanted. It took every ounce of willpower and logic for her to question Jag’s advances.

She threw open the door.

And it wasn’t Jag who forced his way in.

“Tony, what are you doing?”

Sweaty with wild hair and wide eyes, he stormed into her living room. Already he flailed his arms around and screamed.

“Who was that you were walking with? You got a boyfriend? When did you think about telling me?”

“Look, Tony…” She was ready to tell him to get the hell out. Pushing his way into her house like this was taking it a step too far.

“It was the same asshole you were with at the function.” His finger wagged at her. His face turned beat red. “Don’t you try to bullshit me.”

“We can talk about this outside.”

Tony shoved off the wall as he stormed in circles.

“I’m not going anywhere. I want to know what’s going on. That’s the least I deserve.”

Least you deserve? You deserve a boot up your ass and a swift goodbye. That’s all you deserved.
Others who had cheated with their partner got it much worse than Tony did.

Her dog started to scratch and whine from her bedroom. It stopped his little tantrum for a while, at least long enough where she clearly stated they would need to talk outside.

A calm moment passed over him, then he took off, still swinging his hands. He pulled the door back and it slammed against the wall.

“You think you’re so smart. You think I’m just a drunken idiot.”

Well, yes. Sammi might’ve thought so, but she remained far away from him. This was too surreal.

“I looked him up. He’s Perry ‘Jag’ Jagridge, the billionaire from Jagged Edge.” His lips turned upwards in a cruel smile.

“You think you’ve got a chance with him? He’s a billionaire. You’re young and falling for him because of that, but he just wants to fuck you and then brag about it. What do you know about that life?”

Good question, Sammi thought. She didn’t disagree with him, even as the anger bottled up inside her. “Get out, Tony.”

“You’re too young to know what you want. If you think you’re anything but a good fuck to a billionaire like him, you’re outta your mind.”

She stood there, shaking, unable to move but wanting to shove him out of her apartment and slam the door in his face.

Oliver scratched frantically on the bedroom door.

“Just think about what I said,” he yelled back at her.

Sammi screamed, “Don’t come inside my house again. Don’t ever come back!” It sounded weak, but she was surprised she could even do that.

Right now, she felt very small. And weak. After shutting the door and locking it, she let Oliver out. He jumped into her arms and they crashed onto the sofa.

He wanted to lick her face, but she wrestled with him and pinned him in her arms, giving him a hug.

She wanted to say, “Thanks for being a crazy animal behind that door. I think you scared him away,” but even talking to Oliver out loud seemed like too much effort right now.

Pressure built between her temples, a migraine forming that would lay her out for the day. The pressure wouldn’t let up. She thought about crying, and realized maybe Tony was onto something. He might be drunk and an idiot, but even a drunk idiot is right once in a while.

Did Jag just want to fuck her? Maybe for sport? She imagined that a man like him always needed a new conquest. After all, he created a world renowned business, his icon displayed on the top athletes’ uniforms in just about every sport.

She did kind of grow into a curvy body. So seeing her, he might be thinking about a quick shag and then taking off. Once he got back to the big city, he’d brag about how he banged his best friend back home, how easy it’d been.

Sammi breathed slowly. Her tears started to let up.

No, don’t let him get into your head. Tony is the asshole here. Not Jag. Jag’s never done anything to hurt you.

This was all too much to deal with at the moment. Tomorrow, she might text Jag to tell him that she’d been too harsh yesterday. It wouldn’t be an apology, but she would keep the door open. If he was really interested, he would stick around. She would be smart about this, and definitely not listen to her emotionally abusive ex, who was beginning to look quite possibly capable of physical abuse as well.

Sammi decided to do what she usually did on Sunday; watch classic movies, her favorite. She also had an entire bucket of caramel popcorn. This would be the perfect time to pull it out.

The pillows propped up for the ultimate position to relax, she settled in for a long day of watching classics. She loved timeless romances like Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Today she couldn’t stomach a romance though, not right now. She needed something that would provide laughs, so she put in Some Like It Hot.

It would always provide her with just the right amount of laughs and excitement.

Curled up on her couch, Sammi let the movies take her to a different place and time.

Jag

Early the next morning, Jag received a text from Sammi. Relief settled him as he read it.

Sammi: Hey Jag, I’m sorry if I came off harsh. If you’re still around, let me know
.

Jag groaned. He’d been texted just as he got to baggage claim. It would be another day until he got back home.

He’d flown into the city for an emergency meeting with board members. This wasn’t anything new, traveling at a moment’s notice. Jag did it all the time. A car would be driving him right to their NYC offices, where he’d meet with them and discuss this dire emergency.

It must’ve been important if they wanted to talk face to face.

His assistant confirmed their fears. Older, more trusted brands still ate up a sizable portion of their market share. If Jagged Edge didn’t continue to grow, the shares would drop. And the last research done on their company said they weren’t going to grow at a pace that the investors wanted. The biggest thorn in Jag’s side had been a few old companies that he refused to target.

Jag didn’t respond to Sammi yet. He wanted to think about what he’d say. Because he wasn’t sure if he could hold back. Since his promise to his dad, it was like a ticking clock had been placed inside of him, ticking away the time he wasted when he didn’t make his move to seal the deal with Sammi.

It maybe should’ve worried him how fast he made his decision. But Jag didn’t get to the top by standing around and worrying about the choices he made. He’d always been quick to action. Some might fault him for it, but he knew how important it was to do what
you knew needed to be done, despite your fears. Fuck the hesitation and take what’s yours.

And Sammi Jo, she was certainly his.

The whole trip, his thoughts kept turning to her rather than the meeting.

Once he got to the meeting, he sat down at the long boardroom style table, with grim faced businessmen and women waiting around it. Stark light from the full length windows cast long shadows, stretching across the room.

If he weren’t the owner of the company, he’d think they’d arranged this meeting to fire him.

They laid into him without delay.

“You need to go after these other companies,” one advisor told him. “They’re taking up too much market share. And if any of our bigger competitors buy them up or they get in touch with an advertising firm, you could be taken out. They could start eating away at Jagged Edge’s customer base.”

Jag sat and listened. He didn’t argue. It was important that he hear what his investors wanted to say.

However, at the end, he let his feelings be known. Clasping his hands, he leaned in and looked around the room at each and every one of them.

“It’s not about stealing customers, it’s about
finding
our customers. About the people who connect with our brand the most. I think they’re out there, and we don’t need to take out any other companies to find them. They’re just waiting for our message to reach them.”

They shuffled uncomfortably in their seats, which were practically impossible to be uncomfortable in due to their expense.

Jag sighed. Only one member, Grant, who always pushed for this method of conquering the small companies, met his glare.

“We’ve talked and we all believe with this latest report that if you don’t start absorbing these stable companies, there won’t be sizable growth next year. We’ve assembled a list of the companies we hope you’ll target.”

He slid over a typed sheet.

Jag begrudgingly took it. He thanked each of them and stood up and said goodbye, leading them out of the door with a friendly handshake.

His assistant, Michelle, waited near the doorway. “Do you want to talk?”

“Thank you, but not right now. Let me take a look at this. Hopefully you won’t have to pull it out of the trash. I fear I’m going to have to listen this time.”

She nodded with sincerity before closing the door to give him some privacy.

The silence helped calm him. So did the spectacular view of the New York skyline. Before he started reading, he looked over it and took slow, deep breaths.

“Okay, let’s do this,” he groaned before he flipped through the pages.

It was worse than he thought.

They targeted some very small competition, but what bothered him even more was that he knew these companies were old. One in particular, Dispatch, had been passed down from generations. The brand was over a hundred years old but his investors thought it was a huge threat, all because their “time tested” reliability could be harnessed against them in the future.

“Let’s get this over with.”

Jag headed to his office. He shut the door once inside and picked up the landline. The phone rang twice then a sweet sounding voice answered the phone.

“Hello, Dispatch offices, how can I help you?”

“Hello, this is Perry Jagridge from Jagged Edge. Is Sam Caldwell there? I would like to speak to him and set up a meeting.”

She paused. She knew who he was. “This is Jag?”

He said nothing. He let it sink in. She probably read the gossip mags.

“Sure…hold on.” In the background, he heard her speak to Sam. They sounded close. He imagined whoever worked for him were friends and family.

As soon as Sam got on the line, he knew this would be difficult.

He answered gruffly and bluntly. “What can I do for you?”

Jag went into his spiel. Not a long one, just that he wanted to meet up nearby and have a meeting.

“You don’t think I know what this is about? Hell no. We’re not selling our souls. This company is going nowhere. It’s been part of my family for over a hundred years. I wouldn’t expect you to understand that, a man like you doesn’t understand no, so goodbye.”

He hung up.

Jag palm smacked his forehead as he wondered what his next step would be.

The investors wouldn’t be happy unless he went after them like a bloodthirsty hound. So he needed to make a bigger show of it at least. Jag had been told worse before.

Was the company big enough? When would it be big enough?

Jag snapped, shoving the paper off the desk. Immediately he regretted doing it, instead getting up, placing it back onto the desk, and then taking in the wide skyline view of New York again. It was a beautiful day really, with a clear blue sky.

The company acquisitions could be handled eventually. Jag would personally go and meet with the family members of Dispatch.

Right now, what really bothered him was his promise to his father…

And what he’d done to Sammi. If she didn’t understand how much he cared about her, he would make a show of it.

Jag took out a check. He wrote it out to the Redrock Conservation Fund. The donation would be done on behalf of Sammi Jo. In the letter, he would state that it shouldn’t be linked to his name or company in any way.

This donation would all be from Sammi. And he made sure to write a number with a lot of zeroes on it.

After he signed, he picked up his cell and texted her back…

Jag: I’m in New York, but I’m coming home soon. We’ll make a long day of it this time. The third kiss is the charm.