The Billionaire & The Barfly (Coming Home) (18 page)

“
I didn’t know,” Aubrey said as Jenna stormed off. She didn’t even give her a chance to explain. She was intent on believing that Aubrey was a she-devil out to steal her job. For the first time, Aubrey believed that she was good enough for Jenna’s job. But she didn’t want it. She liked being in market research. She excelled at creative ideas. Schmoozing people wasn’t her thing. She could do it, but she wanted to be more than the pretty face who entertained company. She wanted to be the one coming up with the numbers. She wanted to be the one coming up with the campaigns. Jenna could keep the fancy dinners and business meetings all over the country. She wanted her little apartment, a little office, and enough time at home to really be with Henry.

Her cell phone alerted her to a text. Knowing it was
Henry before she even pulled the phone out, she smiled.

Hey beautiful. Save my number
and you can call me whenever you want.

She read the text a handful of times before responding. He called her beautiful. Not sexy or gorgeous or anything else. Beautiful. She hadn
’t been called beautiful in a very long time. There was something special about that word that no other physical description held. It made her feel special. It made her truly feel beautiful.

Saved. I think I just might have to do that.

She saved his number into her phone and thought about calling him right then and there but decided that it might seem a little desperate. The phone pinged in her hand.

You want to call me now, don
’t you?

Her mouth dropped. How did he know? She looked around quickly wondering if he came into the building to surprise her, but he was nowhere in sight.

I was thinking about it. How did you know?

She waited for his response. And waited. And waited. But it never came. She sighed and headed to the little cafe the building put in a few years prior to grab an apple or a banana and a bottle of water. She was going to work through her lunch
, but she needed something to tide her over until dinner.

Aubrey sat at her table in
the abandoned office just as she had the day before. She poured over numbers and graphics and looked through the list of celebrities that the company had contracts with. After an hour, her eyes were beginning to cross. The information she needed was right there in front of her, but putting it all together was harder than she thought. Every other time she gave her ideas over, she just handed the data she had found on their database over to the person leading the team. This time, there was no team and she was the lead.

She had a new respect for Donna and Jamison downstairs.

Leaning back and closing her eyes, she reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose before rubbing her eyes. When her phone rang out in the silent room, it startled her, causing her finger that was soothing the sore muscles around her eyes to slip and poke right into one.

“
Damn it!” she yelled before answering the phone. “Hello?”

“
Aubrey? Did I catch you at a bad time? I can call back.” Henry’s voice flowed into her ear causing her to smile despite the burning sensation in her cornea.

“
No, not a bad time. Just hurt myself. I’ll be fine. Promise. No need to call back.”

“
Not another coffee incident, is it?” She laughed and said no, telling him what she had done. “Then it’s my fault, and I have to make it up to you. How about dinner tonight? I can pick you up from your office.”

That sounded wonderful but having the CEO of the rival company walking into her building might not go over so well.
“How about you meet me outside? I just—”

“
No need to explain. I get it. I will be waiting outside for you. I hope you don’t have plans tonight. We aren’t eating in the city.”

“
We aren’t?” she asked in a little whisper. Excitement raced through her. Where was he taking her? Was it a surprise? What if it were horrible? She could fake it, of course. She stifled a giggle. She was good at that even if she rarely did it. If the guy sucked, she refused to make him feel like he didn’t. But she cared if she hurt Henry’s feelings, and she knew that at least she wouldn’t have to fake it in bed.

“
Nope. Got this huge thing coming up and the tabloids are everywhere. I figured we would escape the madness. Just you and me instead of you, me, and a dozen flashing cameras.”

“
That sounds like a good plan then. I never thought in a million years that would be a dating problem,” she laughed. Only, he didn’t laugh back.

“
I’m sorry.”

“
Henry, there is nothing to be sorry about. We will go and eat wherever you are comfortable. It’s okay. Really.”

“
Does six work for you?” he asked. His tone still hadn’t gone back to the cheerful one that they started the conversation with, but at least he wasn’t apologizing for things out of his control.

“
Six is perfect.”

They hung up
, and Aubrey got back to work.

~*~

The minutes ticked by agonizingly slow. Aubrey felt like she could have gone from one end of the city to the other in the amount of time it took the clock hands to turn from five twenty-five to five twenty-six.

A knock at the door made her jump
. Looking up from her piles and piles of papers sitting before her, Bridgette stood in the doorway of the empty office with two coffees in her hands and a smile on her face.

“
Hey, so Mike’s been pretty happy with whatever it is your doing up here. Told me I should see if you needed some coffee. And well, I know you, and the answer to that question is always yes.”

Aubrey could smell the wonderful aroma from across the room. As if it beckoned her, she stood and walked straight over. Taking the steaming mug from Bridgette
’s hand, she took a sip. She closed her eyes and sighed. It was perfect.

“
Yes. You are one hundred percent right. The answer is always yes,” she laughed and motioned with her head for Bridgette to follow her back to the table. “So Mike is happy?”

She was fishing for information, but she couldn
’t say she was sorry. With the way Jenna had been acting, and the lies she was telling him, she wanted to make sure her job was secure.

“
Yes, very. He thinks whatever you’re working on is going to save this company from losing some big players. So big he won’t tell anyone what it is, so it doesn’t get leaked. I don’t even know.”

Aubrey automatically felt a sense of pride, and a need to cover her work on the table. Almost as if Bridgette sensed the change, she laughed and shook her head.

“Don’t worry, I won’t look. I just wanted you to know how top secret he is keeping this. I know how badly you want to move up here. I get it. I just want to help you get there.”

“
Don’t you want to move up?” Aubrey asked, almost shyly. She didn’t want to offend Bridgette, but she couldn’t imagine wanting to be an assistant forever.

“
No, I like my job. Viola pays me well, I get to travel around with Mike three times a year, and my schedule lets me have both a professional life and a personal one. Mike isn’t like Jenna. I am his assistant, not his fallback for when he screws up. Jenna put a lot of her job on you. Mike doesn’t. Now, if Mike gets a promotion, that is if this company survives the Maximus-apocalypse, I hope he brings me with him.”

“
Maximus-apocalypse?” Her heart sank. How could someone like Henry be at the top of so many people’s shit lists? She couldn’t imagine he wanted to put them out of work. She gnawed her lip in concentration before releasing it the minute it reminded her of Mackenna. Stupid girl. Carrying her niece or nephew. If she lost her job because Viola went under, what would happen with their apartment? Shaking her head to rid herself of the random thoughts, she looked back to Bridgette.

“
What? You haven’t heard that one yet?” Bridgette asked with a laugh.

“
No, I hadn’t.” Only, Aubrey didn’t laugh.

“
What’s wrong? Did I say something?” Bridgette had lost her sense of humor and became very serious watching Aubrey. Should she tell her? Maybe she would have some actual dating advice.

“
I sort of have a date in twenty minutes.”

“
Oh, do you need me to get out of your hair?”

“
No, it’s just...well...um...”

“
Just spit it out already.”

“
I kind of have a date with Henry Maximus.” Aubrey waited for Bridgette’s reaction, but the girl sat in front of her with a blank look, not saying a word. “Did you hear me?”

“
Oh, my fucking god. Are you fucking serious?” Bridgette’s voice was high pitched and got louder by the second. “Henry fucking Maximus!”

Aubrey wasn
’t sure if she was excited or angry, but either way she had to bring it down a level. “Hey, shhhhh!”

Bridgette immediately stopped talking
but a smile lit her face, and she started bouncing in her seat. “That is freaking amazing!”

“
So you aren’t mad?”

“
Why would I be mad? Maybe a bit jealous, but not mad! How is he, ya know?” she wiggled her eyebrows and burst into giggles.

“
Because he is the Maximus part of Maximus-appocalypse. I thought everyone here would think I was a traitor. Jenna sure does.”

“
Oh, some might. But I don’t care. I know you wouldn’t sabotage Viola. You didn’t answer my question.”

A little ease settled into Aubrey
, and she dished with Bridgette for a few minutes about the amazing Henry Maximus before excusing herself with a promise to call when she got home from her date. Maybe she did have an actual friend after all.

Chapter Fourteen

Aubrey stood in the lobby out of sight of the doorway with two minutes to spare. She had reapplied her lipstick and tried to comb through her hair with her fingers in the elevator on the way down. She was ready, but she didn’t want to be early. Bridgette said to not look too eager. Heading outside before six exactly sounded eager, so she stood and waited. And watched the clock click over. When it finally hit six, she strode out of her hiding spot and toward the glass doors.

Only, she didn
’t see Henry’s town car near the front of the building. Trying not to be disappointed, she opened the door and scanned the street. His town car was nowhere in site. Neither was his Mustang. Her heart sank into her gut. Had he stood her up? Of course, he did. She had nothing to offer him. She was right, she gave in to a date, and he lost interest.

Aubrey wiped away the single tear that escaped her eye and turned abruptly to walk home. How stupid could she
have been? That’s what she gets for letting someone in. Screw that and his stupid offer. He would never actually hold up his end anyway. Why would he?

“
Aubrey!” a voice called from behind her. She stopped and turned to see a very tall man with dark glasses and very broad shoulders approaching her. He was intimidating, and she considered turning around and running the opposite direction. “Thank you for waiting. I apologize for not seeing you sooner. Mr. Maximus is waiting in his vehicle around the corner. He sent me to get you. I am the driver for the evening.”

“
Why didn’t he meet me himself?”

“
He didn’t want to draw attention to you. He has been managing a rather large deal that will affect many corporations and reporters are everywhere. He also just got some other news, but I think that’s best for him to tell you.”

Aubrey took a deep breath and tried to decide if she should trust this man or not. Had Henry really sent him or was he some
media person looking for an inside story? Had they been spotted together at some point?

“
He said you weren’t very trusting and to tell you the place he is taking you will let you order black coffee and toast at any time of night, so take all the time you need to decide to trust me.”

She had to laugh. Yeah, Henry sent him. She just nodded and motioned for him to lead the way
. The man walked back toward her building and across the street to a yellow SUV. She looked at it, then back to him, and back to the car. Why didn’t she just guess the behemoth of a car belonged to the giant man?

He opened the front seat and helped her in. The car was spotless. When he slid into the driver
’s seat and started the car, he buckled his seat belt. Then he waited. And waited. And Aubrey looked around wondering why they hadn’t left yet.

“
Um, are we waiting for some code word or something?”

“
Nope, I just want to make sure I get you to Mr. Maximus in one piece, and to do that I need you to buckle up.”

“
Oh,” she said as she grabbed the buckle, “why didn’t you say so?”