ROMANCE: Badass Boss (Billionaire Alpha Bad Boy Romance) (Western Mail Order Bride Calendar Contemporary) (50 page)
Authors: Susan Fleming
This deliciously dirty story is a part of Susan Fleming’s super-charged, highly lewd collection of love and lust, written in 2015. Those who attempt to steal any part of this goldmine and take it as their own risk being a fiery, hot death from a hunk bearing copyright notices—and she’s not about to play with you.
This is a work of fiction—although we wish that people like this really existed, it’s nothing more than a figment of a very, very overactive imagination. Any resemblance to someone you know, a place you love or anything you hold dear to your heart is nothing more than a craving in your heart that these carnal desires and actions were true!
It goes without saying that this book oozes with erotic sex appeal, and is filled to the rafters with a smorgasbord of acts that you certainly wouldn’t tell your grandmother about. Bodice-ripping, panty-dropping and glasses-steaming, the scenes contained herein are wickedly naughty!
Although all the saucy characters are flirting with forbidden desires and sometimes taking the naughty fruit they really shouldn’t be, all are consenting adults over the age of 18 and not blood-related. What they are is passionate and eager to explore their carnal desires all day long.
In short, this book is going to get you very, very hot!
© Susan Fleming
All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any many whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination. Please note that this work is intended only for adults age 18 and over. All characters represented are age 18 or over.
Table Of Contents
Chapter 1: 24 Hours
Chapter 2: The Proposition
Chapter 3: The Contract
Chapter 4: The Dinner Date
Chapter 5: The Good Surprise
Chapter 6: Mr. Vice President
Chapter 7: Amber’s Ploys
Chapter 1:
24 Hours
Daniel Connor couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this angry listening to Amber’s unreasonable ranting. It was all he could do, to not shake her until she saw reason. Had her voice always been so shrill and unpleasant?
“Are you ready to claim responsibility for this child?” she repeated the question scathingly. “And for me?”
“Amber, I’ve told you already, if this child is mine I will of course provide you financial support but I cannot and will not marry you.”
Not at all deterred by his words, the petite blonde placed her hands stubbornly on her hips, her beautiful face made ugly with anger as she glared at Daniel. “Oh you will marry me Daniel, or else I’ll go to your father and to the media about how you’re shirking your responsibilities. And I know enough to know what a blow it will be to your father and your family,” Amber said.
At the mention of his father, the anger Daniel had kept tightly controlled erupted and he grabbed her by the arm pulling her close to him until he was staring her furiously in the eyes.
“Do that Amber and I’ll make sure you regret it forever. And you can bet your ass I’ll be asking for a paternity test, I don’t believe for a second this baby is mine.”
He felt a small measure of satisfaction when he saw a hint of uncertainty in her grey eyes but it disappeared almost immediately as she yanked herself away from him, eyes glittering with menace.
“Your behavior is really quite pathetic Daniel, do pull yourself together. If you can’t be man enough to acknowledge your child and make an honest woman out of me, then I want five million dollars wired to a Swiss bank account within the next 24 hours and I go away forever,” she said.
“Five million dollars?! Are you insane?!”
Amber laughed dryly, “It’s merely pennies for the heir of a multi-billion dollar software company, don’t give me too much grief or the price might just go up.”
“You know I can’t get that much money to you and in 24 hours!”
“I’m sure Daddy can help you out.” She retorted. “But if you can’t scrounge up the dough, I can always ask him myself. Grandfathers do so love to spoil their grandchildren you know.”
“You bitch.” The words came out so softly he wasn’t sure she had even heard them. But her taunting laughter told him otherwise.
Amber’s lips twisted into a cold smile. “Don’t make me raise my price Daniel. You have 24 hours to get me the money and I’m gone from your life or else I’ll go to your father.”
“I can’t do it in 24 hours.”
“Fine, I’m in a generous mood. You have three days.” She pointed to the door of the luxurious suite he had put her up, “I’m tired now, you can see yourself out.”
Although it pained him to follow her dictates, he complied because he didn’t think he could control his temper any further. Once he left the hotel, he walked aimlessly around the city trying to figure out how he could fix this mess.
Going to his father for the money was out of the question, the man didn’t even trust him with a proper position in the company! Having Amber come out and publicly declare he had fathered her child was even more unthinkable. His father already threatened on a daily basis that he would disown him.
Even though Daniel knew he wasn’t serious, he also knew the stern and hard-working Dan Sr. wasn’t entirely joking either. A scandal like this would guarantee he lost all rights to the company. And that was a gut wrenching, painful thought.
For all his playboy ways, he loved the company deeply and was avidly looking forward to one day heading it and taking it to even greater heights, but right now he was too busy having fun to think about the serious things.
He groaned out loud wishing he could go back to the night he had first met Amber at the strip club, if only he hadn’t been so drunk and so foolish. But he had been unable to resist Amber’s trim, shapely figure with her pert breasts, rounded bottom and tiny waist.And God was she flexible. Just thinking about her body contorted under his in the most complicated positions was getting him excited.
What was wrong with him?! He had to come up with a solution to his problem and fast! He wondered if there was any way he could take that kind of money out of the company without his father realizing it.
Thinking of the company got his mind churning as he raced through all the possibilities, his father had promised him many years ago that when he got married, he would officially turn over a sizable share of the company to him. That share would solve all his problems many times over but the problem was he had no intention of getting married anytime soon.
And then suddenly, across the street, he saw a familiar figure coming out of the bank near Fifth Street. Long dark hair playfully blowing in the wind, shoulders hunched as if in disappointment, the lips pressed firmly in a hard line.
As Daniel watched her hail a cab and disappear down the street, he remembered a tidbit of gossip, which had reached his ears a few weeks back. A vague idea forming in his head of how to get out of his current predicament, he briskly crossed the street and entered the bank Laurel had come out from.
Chapter 2
The Proposition
Laurel Jenkins carefully crossed one shapely leg over the other and flexed her long, slender fingers lightly as she considered Daniel’s proposition, her dark lashes curved softly over her eyes hiding her thoughts. She kept the expression on her face cool and detached but her stomach was churning at the intriguing proposition and her mind was racing through all the possibilities of what this could mean for her future.
All the dreams and ambitions she had for herself could be realized with a simple signature and a little bit of pretense, but did she really want to get involved with someone like Daniel Connor?
She looked at his handsome face thoughtfully, the dark blue eyes trained on her face, looked slightly hopeful and just a little desperate. He really is much too handsome for his own good she thought. With his muscular physique, the incredibly handsome face, the sensual lips and the slightly tousled salt and pepper hair, which gave him an innocent boyish charm, it was no wonder women constantly threw themselves at his feet.
And he took full advantage of it too, knowing the effect he had on women, he carried himself in a powerful, confident way. Very few women were unable to resist his charms successfully; thankfully, Laurel wasn’t one of those women.
Having spent the last three years cleaning up his messes left and right, Laurel was one of two women in New York City who remained completely unfazed by the charming and dashing Daniel Connor. The other was his mother, a no nonsense woman who thoroughly disapproved of Daniel’s frivolous lifestyle and believed that at thirty-two years of age, it was high time for him to leave his wild ways behind.
But Daniel had no intention of settling down, a notorious bachelor he prided himself on shunning commitment and seducing women left and right with careless disregard for their reputations or his own.
He was frequently photographed partying in the hottest nightclubs and escorting tall, gorgeous, high profile celebrities to premiers and events. Despite his rakish reputation he was a much sought after bachelor and money hungry women pushed themselves in his path hoping they would be the one to snag this multi-billion dollar prize.
Laurel didn’t give a hoot about his dalliances with women or his partying lifestyle, but what annoyed her to no end was how carelessly he used company resources like the corporate jet or corporate credit cards to wine, dine and woo women.
Her own father had passed away when she was very young and she had grown up watching her mother work long hours to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table so it irked her that Daniel had so little interest in learning the business his father had worked so hard to build. And that was a shame because not only had he received the best education money could buy, he was extremely intelligent as well and it was frustrating to see him throwing away his life on frivolous things when there was so much potential.
He was a prime example of someone born with a silver spoon in his mouth, having lived in the lap of luxury his whole life he had no concept of earning things for himself or hard work. He was a good four years older than Laurel but may as well have been thirteen years younger as she often felt like a babysitter who’s job it was to keep him out of trouble.
Four years into this job, she was getting tired of having to do damage control for the media every time he embroiled himself in a scandal and now here he was, offering her a wonderful way out if only she was brave enough to accept.
Chapter 3
The Contract
“So what do you say?” Daniel’s voice interrupted her thoughts and brought Laurel back to the contract printed out on his desk.
“Will we actually have to get married?” she asked voicing her first concern.
“God no!” he exclaimed alarmed at the thought of marriage.
“Can I think about it for a few days and get back to you?”
Daniel who couldn’t afford the luxury of a few days shook his head, “No, I need an answer now.”
When Laurel didn’t respond right away, he cajoled her in his sweetest voice, “Come on Laurel, what’s there to think about? You do this for me and I’ll give you the money to open your own company and be your first client. You and I both know it’s a good offer.”
Laurel shrugged her shoulders dismissively to show she didn’t really care too much.
“I’m not sure I want you as a first client actually.” Not bothering to add that one of the reasons she so desperately wanted to open her own PR firm was to get away from his messes.
“Okay fine, you don’t need to take me on as a client personally but I’ll give you the company’s PR, how’s that? That’s hundreds and thousands of dollars right there. It goes without saying that having our name in your Rolodex will open countless doors for you.” He added to drive the point home.
Laurel knew he was right and she also knew she would be stupid to not take him up on this more than generous offer. What’s a few days of pretending anyway? I bet given our busy lives we’ll hardly even see each other. She reassured herself.
“You’ll pay for everything?” she asked cautiously easing into the finer details of the contract.
“Absolutely everything, for one year.”
“And all I have to do is pretend to be engaged to you?”
Daniel nodded his head again, “Yup. But it obviously has to look and feel real.”
“And why are you doing this again?”
“I want my father to take me seriously.” He responded lightly. One finely arched brow shot up, “And being engaged will do that?” her voice was filled with skepticism. “Couldn’t you just actually become serious about life?”
“That will take too long. I need a quick fix and if I get engaged, he’ll see that I’m getting serious about life. Everyone always takes an engaged man seriously.” He added as an afterthought.
Laurel felt sure there was more to it than that but she didn’t press the issue.
“You realize this means no dalliances on the side right?” she said pointing out his obvious weak points.
A heavy sigh followed her question, “I know.” He said glumly, “I’ll toe the line and be good.” His face brightened as a thought occurred to him, “Another added plus to agreeing to this, you won’t have to do damage control for all my fuck ups.”
Laurel’s lips lifted at the corners into a rare smile, “Sold! Where do I sign?!”
“So will you do it?”
She looked at the contract again, it was a simple one page document outlining her agreement to enter into a fictitious engagement with him, and in exchange, Daniel would help open her own PR company by absorbing all the costs for a period of one year.
“I’m not sure I like the idea of having to live together.” She said doubtfully pointing out clause 3C on the document. “This whole thing reeks a little too much of Pretty Women.”
“My parents will never believe it if we’re not living together, have you met me?”
“I guess.” She said reluctantly. Her wide, almond shaped eyes travelled over the sections in the contract.
“Come on Laurel, it’s not that big of a deal.” Daniel said, an edge of impatience was creeping into his voice. The impatience tipped the balance for Laurel, there was no way she wanted to keep doing damage control for him forever. She wanted her own company, she wanted out. Having made up her mind she said briskly, “Okay, let’s do this.”
“Great!” all smiles again Daniel reached for his favorite Mont Black pen but she held up her hand to stop him, “Wait! I’ll sign it but I have two conditions. You can’t lie to me ever.”
“You’re not really my fiancée so I see no reason to lie to you anyways.” He said with a cheeky grin.
Laurel rolled her eyes and bit back an exasperated sigh before continuing with her second condition, “And I don’t want anything physical between us.”
At the blank look on his face, she specified, “No Sex. Ever! Can you do that?”
“Other girls?”
She looked at him incredulously, “If that’s your approach we’re just wasting our time.”
“I was just joking!” he assured her quickly, “Lighten up, I wasn’t serious. I don’t want any gossip reaching my parents’ ears. If we do this, we’re doing it right.”
“Do we have deal on my two conditions?” she asked him again. He nodded.
After hashing out the final details both Laurel and Daniel signed and dated the contract. As the ink flowed in elegant, fluid lines spelling out Laurel Jenkins, a part of her couldn’t help but wonder if she was doing the right thing.
Once the contract was signed, Laurel rose to her feet itching to get out of his office and away from him.
“Anything else?”
Instead of responding right away he produced a big, gift wrapped box from somewhere behind his desk and handed it to her.
“What’s this?”
“Something to celebrate the occasion. It’s a gift for you.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him, “A gift? What made you so sure I would agree?”
“Just a hunch.” He said being deliberately vague.
“Just a hunch huh.” She said shaking her head before taking the beautifully wrapped box complete with an elaborate purple bow.
“Thank you.” She said a little stiffly.
“Open it soon and make sure our calendars are cleared for the evening.”
She nodded and was almost at the door when she turned to look at him again, “I have one more question.”
“Yes.”
“Why me? Why didn’t you ask one of your many girlfriends for this? I can think of half a dozen celebrities who could have benefited from the publicity.”
The blue eyes crinkled with amusement but he answered her truthfully, “Because none of those girls are wife material, but you, you’re meant to be cherished and loved.”
“Oh.” She replied inadequately, taken aback by his sudden candor. Could it be there’s a sensitive side to him after all? She thought to herself. But his very next words popped the bubble.
“For this to be believable I need a nice, serious, bookish girl like you, not a fun loving, wild party girl. Plus,” he concluded smugly, “you’re hot. I couldn’t be with someone who wasn’t hot.”
She was so outraged at being called bookish and serious she missed the compliment and stared at him with furious eyes before turning on her heels and walking away.
“Don’t forget to scan a copy for the contract for me.” He called out after her angry retreating back thinking to himself how everyone had a price. Even an honest, upstanding and hard-working woman like Laurel had a price. The trick was figuring out what that price was.
His phone rang, an unwelcome intrusion into his thoughts. The caller ID showed it was Amber. He fairly growled as he picked up the call.
“Do you have my money?” she asked in her smooth, velvety voice.
“I’m working on it.” He said shortly.
“Better hurry darling, just a few days now.”
Without bothering to respond he disconnected the line.
He looked at the framed picture of his mom and dad on his desk, focusing his attention on father’s formidable face. It pained him to know he was going to be deceiving them in such a manner but what choice did he have?
Chapter 4
The Dinner Date
In the privacy of her own office, Laurel doubtfully studied the wrapped package Daniel had handed to her. What could he possibly have gotten her? It bothered her he had been so certain she would accept his proposal, she wished she could have turned it down just on principle but could she really afford to be so stubborn?
Sighing to herself she approached the box and untied the bow and unwrapped the expensive paper to reveal a large, white box trimmed in gold with the words Dior stamped in lavish letters across the top.
Feeling more excited than she would have cared to admit, Laurel removed the lid and gasped in surprise. Nestled amid the folds of soft tissue was one of the most beautiful dresses she had ever laid eyes on accompanied by a short note. She recognized Daniel’s arrogant scrawl immediately.
“Wear this dress to supper tonight. Reservations are at the Four Seasons for 7pm.”
Her first reaction on finding the note was utter disbelief he could be so pompous and arrogant to demand she drop everything just because he told her to. And wearing something chosen by him no less! No wonder he had asked her to clear both their schedules for the evening. She was just about to send him a quick email saying she had other plans when the phone rang. Laurel picked it up without looking at the caller ID and groaned to herself when she heard Daniel’s voice.
“I gather you opened the gift?”
“Yes.” She said stiffly, “Unfortunately I will not be…”
“You will be available for supper because that is my wish.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Dining with me falls under your duties as my fiancée, I will expect you at the restaurant at 7pm sharp.”
Without giving her a chance to respond he hung up the phone.
As angry as she was, Laurel knew Daniel had a point and she would have no choice but to comply. Feeling too disgruntled to stay in the office she packed up her laptop and some files and left for the day letting her assistant Annette know she would be working from home for the rest of the day and was not to be disturbed.
Going home had the desired effect, settled behind the large oak desk in her home office, Laurel could feel the tension from earlier easing away as she immersed herself in her work responding to emails and returning urgent phone calls. As the head of the PR department at Connor Enterprise her days were so busy and jam-packed she rarely had time to respond to emails or calls in a timely manner and so relished quiet days like today where that’s all she did.
For the next few hours she worked steadily until she was decently caught up. Feeling proud of herself, she looked at her watch and immediately grimaced, it was ten to six, she would have to hurry to be at the restaurant for 7.
Rushing to the bathroom, she took a quick shower and carefully applied a little bit of makeup to enhance her wide, almond shaped blue eyes and her high cheekbones. Because her long, dark hair had a natural wave, all she had to do was brush it out and add a few curls to give it some bounce. Pulling on a body hugging shift, Laurel carefully took out the dress Daniel had given her and slipped into it, smoothing the folds of the silky dress over her hips.
The beautiful blue green color of the dress complemented the golden tan of her skin and seemed to match the color of her eyes making them pop. The one-shouldered dress was heavily beaded on the top and fell in a simple and elegant cut to just above her knees. It hugged her in all the right places and emphasized her C cup breasts hinting at a sexy cleavage.
Laurel stared at her reflection in the mirror and grudgingly admitted to herself that Daniel clearly had good taste.
She was replacing the cover on the box when she noticed something she had missed a before, a smooth velvet pouch nestled in the corner. When she opened the pouch a pair of brilliantly cut diamond earrings spilled out sparkling and shimmering in the palm of her hand.
