The Billion Dollar Contract: The Executive Collection (33 page)

“Mm.” Ethan lazily kissed her throat, his body shifting both within her and on top of her. With another grunt he pulled out, his aching muscles pushing him over onto the other side of the bed. Jasmine would have laughed if she had the strength – or breath.
Roll off me to go to sleep, why don’t you?
But Ethan had his head turned toward her, his arm open and inviting.

She was about to curl up there when a horrible thought occurred to her.

“Blackbeard!” Jasmine shot up, suddenly imbrued with the panic of an old cat lady.

Ethan’s eyes widened. “Pirates?”

Jasmine tore out of bed and dove for her purse, fishing for her cell phone and looking for Selena’s number. “I haven’t fed my cat in almost two days!”

What a terrible cat mother. Here Jasmine was, getting her jollies on with some disgustingly rich and handsome billionaire with a great body and even better prowess in bed, and her poor baby was probably in her squalor infested apartment, prostrate on the floor as he mewled for his life. He had probably lost a pound already.

As soon as she had everything sorted out – including promising to take Selena out to lunch sometime soon in return for breaking into her friend’s apartment to feed the cat right now – Jasmine returned to the bedroom, expecting to see Ethan irate for having been abandoned for a starving feline.

Instead she found him beneath the covers, the lights low and a space reserved for her.

“Got it all sorted out?” His eyes were heavy.
Three orgasms in a day, and two just now? Good job Jasmine.
“Wouldn’t want kitty going hungry.”

“Sorry.” Jasmine climbed into bed next to him.

“Don’t apologize. Guy hadn’t been fed in two days.” Whether there was sarcasm in his voice or not was masked by him drifting off to sleep.

Jasmine kissed his stubbly cheek, pulled the covers up to her naked shoulders, and curled around his torso. She was pleased to have his arm instantly clasped around her. “Do you think it’s weird that I love my cat so much?” Some men got jealous of a damn furball. Ethan could have been the type, easily.

He yawned, fingers stroking her hair. “I’d be more worried if you didn’t love something.”

That was the last thing he said that evening, quickly falling asleep as Jasmine fought back more feelings of impending fervor.
I do love something.
And not just her cat.

22

“Miss Bliss.” Ethan’s voice was like a warm reminder of where she was. Funny how so much changed in a few weeks.
When I started, I almost dreaded his voice. Before…
Jasmine looked up from her paperwork at her desk, holding back the smile she wanted to express at the sight of her boss – boyfriend? – standing before her with his hands in his pockets and a layer of charm on his freshly shaven face. “When you get the chance in the next few minutes, I need you in my office.” Before he turned around, he stopped himself and looked at her again, voice lowering, “Not for that, I’m afraid. Transcription.”

Who cared what he wanted her for? Jasmine was happy to be around Ethan, whether he was doting on her behind closed doors or treating her professionally in front of others. Since their date that weekend he had been more amiable around her. Jasmine was this close to fooling herself into thinking that he was falling for her as well.

Either way, Jasmine hurried to finish up her boring paperwork and grab her special tablet. Ethan probably wanted her to transcribe and then type up a letter to someone. Boring. But maybe, if she was quick enough, they could have some time for fun afterward. It was Wednesday, and things had been dry all that work week. Wasn’t he due for one of his favorite things soon?

“Hey,” Nadia said as Jasmine stopped in front of her desk to fix her shoe. “How’s it going?”

“Fine!” Jasmine flashed her a smile before going into Ethan’s office.

He stood in front of his window, as usual for when he was waiting for her. However, he was more casual as of late, resting against his desk as he flipped through folders or checked messages on his phone. The moment Jasmine came in and shut the door behind her, Ethan turned around and put his phone away in his front jacket pocket.

“You wanted to see me?” Jasmine asked coyly. She stopped in front of his desk.

“Yes. I need you to transcribe something for me. Very boring stuff, I’m afraid.”

Jasmine opened her tablet and the program she needed. “Let’s get started, so the boring stuff will be over with.”

Indeed, it was a boring letter. Ethan waxed on and on about money this, finances that, and took whomever he was writing to task for some perceived flub from an earlier meeting. The most interesting part was when Ethan scathingly said, “Tell that underling of yours that he can go get hepatitis from a nail. No, scratch that. Too good for him.”

When it was finished and Jasmine had put the tablet away in her bag, Ethan rounded the corner of his desk and sat on it in front of her. His face had softened, and she leaned against his arm with a smile. Good. The boring stuff was over now.

“I have something for you, my flower.” Ethan pulled a small black box out of one of his pockets. The way he presented it to Jasmine told her that something good was going to happen.

She plucked it from his fingers and opened it with a giddy smile on her face. Sure enough, a gorgeous ruby and diamond hairpin looked back up at her. “Where are you getting these from?” She nearly laughed herself silly as Ethan took the pin out of the box and placed it in her hair. “Do you have some fancy jeweler you keep going to?”

Ethan snorted as he fiddled with her thick hair. “It’s a secret. If I shared, you would go running to look at the rest of the set. I want them all to be a surprise.”

“A whole set? Why are you spoiling me like this?” These items must cost a small fortune. Not that such a thing meant much to Ethan Cole, but Jasmine was starting to get paranoid keeping these priceless items in her house.

“Why shouldn’t I spoil you? You’re the kind of woman who begs to be spoiled.”

“I don’t recall begging for rubies and diamonds. Just other things.”

“What kind of things are those?” Ethan brushed his hand over her hair, touching her temple in such a way that she smiled to the point of having to look away. When Ethan massaged the back of her neck with his fingers, she closed her eyes and waited for him to kiss her on the cheek. The moment he did, all hell broke loose.

“You can’t go in there!” Nadia’s voice was so loud that it was able to penetrate the thick walls and door of Ethan’s office. A loud thud thumped against the door, and the next thing either Ethan or Jasmine knew someone who apparently had a key to the office broke open the door and stormed in.

She was tall, thin, and blonde. A veritable supermodel who had her claws out and was ready to scratch someone on the face. By the time she was in the office, Ethan and Jasmine had broken up, and this woman, snarling and twisting her demeanor in ways no human was meant to be distorted made a beeline straight for the billionaire and slapped him hard on the cheek.

“You bastard!” Jasmine jumped out of the way as Ethan quickly recovered from the blow. He shot his hands out and caught the crazy woman by the wrists, holding her back as Nadia called for security in the main room. The two men who worked in the office stumbled into the room and attempted to pull the woman off. But they were small, and this woman’s rage was so great that she couldn’t help but spit in Ethan Cole’s face. “Bastard! To think I wasted that much of my life on you!”

While Ethan wiped her spit off his face, his visage settling into contempt, the blond woman turned to Jasmine, and for a moment the personal assistant was afraid that she was next.
Oh no, what if she has some disease that she’s trying to spread?
Jasmine watched too much TV.

“Are you her? Are you his latest?” The woman’s eyes were wide, like an animal before it realizes it’s about to be attacked. She was pulled away by both men, but she still had enough strength to keep herself near Jasmine, hoping to elicit some sympathy. “Don’t trust him! Whatever you do, don’t trust him. He’s a lying, cheating, sack of shit who will just dump you when he gets bored of you. He’ll make you fall in love with him, debase yourself for him, and then at the last moment he’ll ditch you for a newer model. Don’t fall for it! Run now!”

Security arrived, two big, burly men who shoved their way into Ethan’s office and took this woman off the other men’s hands. However, they couldn’t shut her up, and as they dragged her away she shouted, “He got another one pregnant! Did you know that? Don’t believe his phony story about a vasectomy!”

She was gone, removed like a stain in the rug. Still reeling from shock, Jasmine clutched her chest and slowly turned her head toward Ethan. Grimacing, he went behind his desk and punched something into his landline phone.

“Ethan…” Jasmine approached him, but that look on his face almost frightened her. That was the face of a man who was about to destroy a competitor. “Who was that?”

He listened to a prerecorded message on the other end of the line before hanging up. “Samantha. One of my old personal assistants.” He plucked a tissue from one of his drawers and wiped off his face. “I doubt I have to tell you more.”

Samantha.
That name sounded familiar.
The one Nadia said accused him of things.
Was she right? Would Ethan do such things to her?

“Did you get someone pregnant?” It was the only thing that could come out of her mouth.

Ethan tried calling someone again. “If I did, this is my first time hearing about it.”

Jasmine didn’t know whether to believe him or not. She stumbled out of the office, aware that most eyes were on her. Someone asked if she was okay, but she swore that the woman had not touched her at all. Just frightened her.

She left the executive office suite, going down the hallway and past the elevator toward the women’s restroom.

It was the only place she could think of to escape to. Quiet, clean, and a place where she could think. Or so she had hoped, for as soon as she caught her breath in front of the mirrors, the bathroom door opened, and Nadia rushed in.

“Are you okay?” She closed the door and stood a respectful distance away from Jasmine. “That was intense. I just want to make sure that you’re fine.”

Jasmine looked askance at her, hands pressed against the countertop. “I’m fine. Just a little freaked out.”

“That stuff she was saying…” Nadia didn’t finish her sentence.

After taking a deep breath, Jasmine stood up and faced her friend. “I don’t know what she was talking about. Ethan… I mean Mr. Cole…”

Nadia latched onto her slip right away. It was hard not to, when Jasmine could barely keep her act together.
Don’t lose your cool.
If Jasmine acknowledged it, she would only make things worse.

“Jasmine…” Nadia’s face paled, but she did not back away. “Are you sleeping with Mr. Cole?”

She said it so softly, and yet it was like a gun went off in the bathroom. Jasmine turned her lips up, the adrenaline pumping through her veins as if she were about to take off into a wild run. “No!” The exasperation in her voice was not fake. “How could you ask me that?”

Crestfallen, Nadia turned away. “I’m sorry. That was not for me to ask. But…” She glanced at the pretty barrette in Jasmine’s hair. “Never mind.”

Watching her step out of the bathroom drove a knife into Jasmine’s heart.
My only real friend here.
Who knew what Ethan was to her? Maybe he was only using her, like he used so many other women. How could Jasmine be so foolish as to think she was somebody special? That Ethan never went on dates like the one they had that weekend, then he never made love to a woman like he did to her, or that he never spoiled anyone else with jewels like he did her. He was a man with means, and too much disposable income for his own good. Jasmine had never had gifts like that before. She was too easy to manipulate.

“Is it that obvious?”

Nadia stopped with the door halfway open. She gave Jasmine a sympathetic look over her shoulder, her glossy red hair warm to gaze upon. “Be careful.” The door opened and closed, with her disappearing on the other side of it.

Jasmine leaned against the counter and then slumped to the floor.
I’m so stupid.
She didn’t cry, mostly because she was still too shocked.
How could I be so blind?
Her one day of allowing herself to fall in love would be the end of her. There was no way that Ethan Cole loved her back. Everything had been a lie. No, not a lie. Jasmine had simply seen things that were never there to begin with.