The Billionaire & The Barfly (Coming Home) (22 page)

“
Fine.” Mackenna snatched the keys from Aubrey and stormed out. Ben just stood there and stared at her.

“
What? You didn’t hear the whole conversation.” Aubrey was on the defensive. She didn’t want to fight with Ben. She hated when they did, but she wasn’t going to back down because of Mackenna.

“
You didn’t have to call her stupid. And why didn’t you get the milk? It would be so much easier if we could just keep her happy.”

“
And what about you and me? Don’t we get to be happy where we live, too? I had a long day at work and then a date, okay. I’m sorry I forgot, but I have a life, too.”

“
A date?” he asked, turning back into the brother she knew and loved. The one who would talk to her about anything.

“
Yeah, his name’s Henry,” she said. The two of them sat down and talked about her night, leaving out the more intimate aspects, of course. Ben was happy for her. And dying to see the comic book room.

Chapter Fifteen

When Aubrey awoke the next morning
, she felt lighter than she had in a while. Perhaps the night with Henry had changed things, or maybe it was finally reconnecting with her brother. The fight with Mackenna was far from her mind, even after she stormed back into the apartment a good two hours after she left, without milk, and headed for her bedroom without a single word to Aubrey or Ben.

Ben said his goodnight, knowing he needed to deal with his own relationship
, and Aubrey hugged him before heading to her own room. The night had it’s lows but they paled in comparison to the amazing highs it had. She finally had it together.

She dressed quickly, almost knowing that Henry would be outside waiting for her. The thought alone made her smile. She shook her head at her own train of thought. There she was, the self proclaimed barfly who only needed a good lay once in a while, ready to jump head first into a relationship. And she didn
’t have to give anything up to get it! How had she gone so long believing she had to choose one or the other?

Aubrey ran out the door with a quick wave to Ben and Mackenna (who was actually dressed for school) and headed for the street. Standing at the gate was Henry, coffee in one hand and a paper in the other. He wore a worried look and her steps faltered. What had happened since they said goodbye just the night before?

“Tell me,” she said as she approached. She just wanted him to spit it out. She opened the gate and reached for her coffee. Henry leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, surprising her. It was daylight, and he was openly kissing her? She didn’t mind, but he had been so careful.

“
Apparently, we made the paper. Here,” he said and handed her the paper with the headline
Maximus Gaming Buys Out Bennette Industries.
She looked up, shocked, but confused as to why this affected her.

“
Bennette? That’s why everyone is swarming?” Bennette was Viola’s big competitor before Maximus Gaming showed up. Maximus and Bennette together would be huge. They would be a super power in their own right. Viola didn’t stand a chance. All Aubrey could see was her future with the company being torn away if she couldn’t manage to convince Buffet, Hodges, and Keith that they loved her idea. They had to stick with Viola, with her idea.

“
Yeah, but flip the page.” Henry bit his lip and pushed his glasses up, looking away as she turned the page. There, at the top, was a picture of Henry helping her after she fell on the street. And another of her in his truck. And another that was somehow taken through the window of his house at his dinner table. They were looking at each other with smiles on their faces. The bold print on the page sent a shiver through her.
Could the Most Eligible Billionaire be Taken?

“
Okay then, so what now?” she asked, almost afraid he was going to tell her to take a hike. He didn’t seem like the type to actually enjoy being in the spotlight and there he was with two articles about him. Because of her.

“
I guess that’s up to you. Am I taken?”

“
Do you want to be?”

“
By you? Absolutely.”

Aubrey didn
’t answer him. Instead, she threw herself into his arms and kissed him. She kissed him with such passion that she heard a few gasps from strangers walking by and a cat call coming from a passing vehicle. But none of that mattered. Henry Maximus was hers. And she was his.

When they broke apart, he smiled down at her.
And nodded with his head in the direction they had come to walk each morning. With their fingers entwined, they smiled at people who pointed and waved as they held their own copies of the morning paper. Aubrey thought she saw a few cameras flashing but ignored them. If Henry ’weren’t going to acknowledge them, neither would she. As they passed the comic book store, Carl was just opening the doors. He waved at them and gave them both a thumbs up. Aubrey had completely forgotten about the comic book she had bought for him.

“
Hey, after work you want to go to the bar? I feel like dancing.” She did feel like dancing, but more than that, she wanted Henry to walk her home so she could surprise him with his gift.

“
That sounds like a plan.”

~*~

The entire floor was in a frenzy when Aubrey stepped off the elevator. A breeze whisked by her where a person used to be, papers scattered the floor and the shouts and arguments echoing off the walls were enough to send Aubrey directly into panic mode.

Aubrey quickly made her way over to Mike
’s office and Bridgette’s desk. She had a pile of papers on her desk and a phone balanced between her ear and her shoulder while her hands furiously typed on her computer.

“
What the hell is going on around here?” Aubrey asks.

“
Buffette sent word to not bother with a presentation. After seeing the paper this morning, they feel safer going with Maximus. Now a good amount of other clients are worried about the merge affecting them. If we go under, how and what protections do they have in place. It’s a disaster. Oh, and I want details later.” Bridgette gave her a wink then started talking on the phone about meetings with a different client, reassuring them that Viola is still hard at work for his firm.

Mike opened his door and called her in. Sitting there were the CEO of Viola, Jenna, and two other people that she wasn
’t quite sure who they were.

“
In here, now.” Aubrey did as she was told and walked in, only to have the door closed behind her. She should have paid more attention when she approached Bridgette. If she had just looked, she would have seen the whole group and ran the other way.

“
What can I do for you?” she asked, looking between them all.

“
Aubrey, due to recent events, and news hitting the papers before we were aware, Mr. Fredrickson would like to hear what you have so far.”

“
I thought you wanted to keep that between us until it was ready?” she asked in almost a whisper.

“
Well, things have changed, haven’t they?” His eyes told of his disappointment in her. Of course, he had seen the pictures of her with their biggest competitor. But was her dating life really their business? They didn’t talk about work. She would never do that.

“
Look, Henry and I—”

“
Maximus Gaming is our biggest competitor and they just got bigger. I need one hundred percent transparency on any possible strategy that is going to keep us in business. Mike seems to think you are the key to that. So please, do explain.” Mr. Fredrickson was scary when he was angry, and she could tell he was angry. His brow was furrowed, his grey eyebrows almost touching each other, his eyes narrowed. When he spoke, it felt as if icy daggers were being thrown her way.

“
Okay, let me go get my files,” she said, glancing around the room. Jenna had a smug look on her face and rolled her eyes.

“
Should we really trust such an important project to an assistant? She needs her notes to even tell us anything about the plan,” Jenna said, looking to her colleagues around the room. Aubrey wasn’t sure why she was even there. This wasn’t a new company to acquire, but an old one to keep.

“
Now, now, Jenna. Mike put his trust in her. Let’s give her a chance.” Mr. Fredrickson gave her a fond look and a pat on the hand. Jenna beamed up at him with doe eyes and a nod. Of course, she found her way to the top. Just like she tried with Henry. Aubrey shook her head and swallowed down her nerves.

“
No, she’s right. I had just wanted to give you exact numbers and projected dates of completion, which I don’t have memorized, but I can give you the basic plan.”

Aubrey took the next twenty minutes going over the remarketing of the old games, the reformatting of the programs, and the basic money structure. The men in the room sat silently, watching her as she finished. Jenna
, on the other hand, scoffed.

“
That has to be the worst idea I have ever heard. Kids don’t want old games. You should have focused on the old guys. Get them interested again. Maybe do an auction for a few old systems to get the interest back up.”

“
Actually, Jenna, that would only gain attention for a brief period of time, and then we are back to square one. This method opens us up to doing the same for all of our clients and brings in a whole other revenue source.” Aubrey was proud of herself. She watched as the men nodded along with her.

“
Aubrey, this is a great idea. Get on the phone and set the meeting up with Keith and Hodges, and the sooner the better. Rough numbers will be fine for this meeting. We just want them to know that we are prepared and won’t let them regret sticking with us.”

“
Yes, sir!” Aubrey left the office before anything could change. Now, if only she could get to them before Henry’s team did. She just hoped that he didn’t hold it against her when her proposal kicked his company’s ass. Aubrey smiled to herself and found a quiet place to make the calls.

While she waited on hold with Keith, she typed out a quick text to Henry.

Apparently, dating the competition makes people nervous around here.

It only took a moment before he responded. Aubrey quickly tapped the screen to read what he said.

I hope it doesn’t cause problems.

Aubrey didn
’t have a chance to respond because the head of contracts for Keith came to the phone. They were quite happy to hear that Viola was being proactive and coming up with a marketing plan for the old games, as well as the new. They were more than happy to set up a meeting for the following morning. Aubrey sighed in relief as she hung up. Scanning through the files on the computer, Aubrey found the contact number for Hodges. She knew their games. They would be a harder sell to the public, but with some creative marketing, she was pretty confident that her sales tactic would work for them, as well.

She punched the number into the phone and once again
was placed on hold. She waited for five minutes. Then another ten. Finally, the phone picked up. It was the same woman’s voice that put her on hold to begin with.

“
Ms. Vincent? I am so sorry you had to wait so long, but Mr. Calhoon is busy. He is going to have to call you back.”

“
Oh, that is perfectly fine. Please have him call me at his earliest convenience.” Aubrey rattled off the phone number and extension to the phone where she sat and just hoped that they did get that call.

Aubrey sat in her chair and watched the phone for an hour. She pulled out some files to work on, trying to get the numbers closer to exacts
than estimates for Keith. She wanted to wow them, and everyone at Viola.

Quite a few people had walked by her, staring and whispering. Finally, someone got brave and walked straight up to her.

“So, when Viola goes crashing down, I guess you have a great back up.” She knew people would think something like that, but hearing it out loud bothered her. A lot.

“
That has nothing to do with it. I am doing everything I can to help Viola.”

“
Oh, so that’s why you’re sleeping with Maximus. Getting his secrets then?”

“
NO! Henry has nothing to do with anything work related.”

“
Yeah, right,” they said then walked off laughing.

Remembering Henry
’s text, she pulled out her phone. Irritation radiating off her, she typed out a reply.

No, no problems at all if you don
’t count basically being called a whore.

Henry
’s response was immediate.

How the hell did they come to that?

She scoffed at his naivety.

They think I
’m with you as a backup for when Viola closes because you keep taking our clients.

I know that
’s not why. And so do you. Does their opinion matter?