Top Love: An Alpha Billionaire Romance (Young Adult Stepbrother and Billionaire Romance Stories) (13 page)

As she made the decision to pick up one of the magazines again, her phone started vibrating in her pocket; she’d set it to vibrate before walking inside, not wanting to be one of the horror stories of a ringtone embarrassing the phone’s owner during important life moments.

She didn’t recognize the number and nearly ignored it. But the area code was local, so she figured it would be worth checking out. “Hello?” she said

“Hey. It’s Riley.”

“Oh…hey,” she said. “I don’t remember giving you my number.”

“You didn’t,” he said.

“Then how did you get it?”

“Hard work and determination,” he joked. And God, she wanted him to be there right then and there. Well, if she was being honest, she’d rather be with him right now. In his bed. Or maybe in his office, after having thrown everything from that large desk of his into the floor…

Stop it, she thought, realizing that she was getting turned on just thinking about it.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“I wanted to call and wish you luck before you head in for your interview.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

“Look, I made some calls. The woman that will be interviewing you is named Robin Staley. She only seems like a hardass. She goes into these things looking to see how you hold up under scrutiny. She actually prefers laid back people with a sense of humor…which I didn’t think existed in the world of economics.”

“Funny,” she said.

“I try. Anyway, let me know how it turns out. Feel free to come by the office and share the good news with me.”

“And if it’s bad news?”

He only chuckled and then said, “Goodbye, Lauren.”

She looked at her phone for a moment, trying to make sense of the path the last two days had set her on in order to be in this position. It made no sense. She’d used the term fairy tale with Riley yesterday and it still felt like that. Even Mr. Farr played a part; he was the innocent farmer that was going to lose his land to the powerful, greedy, and extremely attractive king.

She was toying with this analogy when an older lady stepped through the door at the end of the room. She gave Lauren a genuine smile and said, “They’ll see you now.”

“Thanks,” Lauren said, getting up and walking towards her.

She followed the woman down a long hallway that ended in a large conference room. The door that she was led through was to the right of the conference room. As Riley had indicated, there was only a single woman in the room with a few forms positioned in front of her.

The older lady excused herself and headed back the way she had come, closing the door behind her.

“Lauren, it’s good to meet you,” the woman said, getting to her feet and extending it for a shake. “My name is Robin Staley.”

It’s creepy the amount of information he can get, Lauren thought as she took her seat. “Pleased to meet you,” Lauren said in return.

“So,” Robin said. “You’re coming at the recommendation of Riley Thomson. It seems that you’ve made quite an impression on him.”

She only smiled, but in the back of her head, a quiet little voice said: Yeah…and he’s made one hell of an impression on me, too.

“Okay,” Robin said. “So, shall we begin?”

“Yes, please,” Lauren said.

Robin began to explain the job in question, sliding forms and paperwork across the table, and Lauren could practically feel her life beginning to change.

***

The next day, at the shoe store, the girls can tell that something is up. They tease her as Mr. Farr is on the phone all day, preparing to sell the store.

Lauren is invited by Riley to a dinner date and this time, sex is postponed by business calls and papers. Later, when it is time to be with her, he’s too tired and they get sort of emotional. He offers for her to stay the night, but she declines and goes back home.

The following day, Riley comes into the store to have one last meeting with Mr. Farr and essentially ignores her completely. Lauren confronts him about it and he responds by simply driving away, leaving her in tears.

***********************************************************

Going in to work the next day was torturous. Lauren found herself trying to hide two different secrets in a number of ways, all of which felt lazy and thinly veiled. The only thing that worked in her favor for the first few hours of her shift was the fact that Mr. Farr was holed up in his office, making phone calls to help wrap up the sale of his store. It was all but final now, the sale being held up by nothing more than some bank processes and paperwork.

The fact that he wasn’t very involved in events on the floor meant that Lauren didn’t have to keep the secrets of her interview too closely guarded. The interview had gone incredibly well and when she had left, she’d been told that her chances looked very good even though there were a few other candidates in the running. And of course, it was also made clear to her that the recommendation from Riley Thomson went a long way.

And speaking of Riley, that was the second secret she went into work having to hide. To say that she was happy was an understatement. She had the clear feeling that whatever was occurring between her and Riley was not some fleeting thing. He wasn’t playing a prank on her, nor was he using her as some weird conquest as part of a one night stand. But the fact that she was happy would seem peculiar to Brittany and Shelly—both of whom were also on the clock that morning to help with the bi-annual inventory check.

She did her best to don her usual chagrined and borderline grumpy expression but it apparently did not work. In fact, it took less than half an hour of working the floor and assisting with inventory before Shelly pointed out that there was most definitely something different about the way Lauren was carrying herself.

“Someone woke up on the right side of the bed,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Lauren asked, trying her best to play it off.

“Well, I saw you staring into space with a smile on your face a little while ago,” Shelly said. “But just now, you were actually humming!”

“Humming? I was not.”

“Yes you were,” Brittany said, stepping to Shelly’s side. “I heard it, too.”

“So what gives?” Shelly asked. “What’s turned your usual frown upside down?”

Lauren’s first instinct was to turn away and get back to work. She could feel the redness rising in her face and knew that it would be a surefire giveaway. But, as usual, both of her promiscuous co-workers picked up on the awkwardness right away.

“Uh oh,” Brittany said. “She’s blushing.” She then started giggling and nodded in a manner of approval.

“Oh my God,” Shelly said. “Do you think…?”

“I do,” Brittany said.

Shelly grinned wide and said, “Lauren got laid!”

And that did it; Lauren’s face grew bright red and she could not contain her smile. She didn’t nod or answer yes, but she might as well have.

“Good for you!” Brittany said. “It’s about time!”

“Who’s the guy?” Shelly asked. “Do we know him?”

“No, you don’t know him,” she answered quickly. A large part of her desperately wanted to tell them who it was, but there was no way in hell they’d believe her. And for now, she just liked having the attention and approval (albeit a skewed approval) of the two women that, although a little on the easy side, had always done their best to include her in their lives.

“We’ll find out sooner or later,” Shelly said. “With a smile like that, I don’t think you’ll be able to hide it for long!”

The scary thing was that Lauren feared that Shelly was right. The secret of what had happened to her over the last few days was a huge one and it was literally fighting to get out from inside of her.

Brittany and Shelly have her some more good-natured teasing but eventually let it drop. They went back to their inventory while Lauren dealt with a customer of the floor. As she went through the monotony of retrieving shoes for the picky customer, she couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like to actually have a job at Alderholt Lending. The mere idea of having a job that wasn’t dominated by the cloying smell of new overpriced shoes made her heart do cartwheels, but she still tried to keep her hopes in check. The idea that she could actually get a job somewhere like that still seemed too good to be true.

Her mind was on this when Mr. Farr finally stepped out of his office for the first time that morning. The last time Lauren had seen him and they had discussed the sale of the store, he’d been in good spirits and seemed to be looking forward to the money. But now things seemed different. Now, he looked like a defeated man with no other options.

“Everything going okay?” she asked, feeling slightly at odds over the fact that she was now deeply involved with the man on the other side of the sale.

“As well as it can be, I guess,” he said. “As you might imagine, the rest of my family isn’t really keen on the sale.”

“Do they have any money tied up in the store?” Lauren asked.

“No, but there are still the sentimental links. A family business can be tricky like that.”

“Is it too late to back out now if you change your mind?”

Mr. Farr only shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s probably still time, but I don’t know if I want to change my mind. I stand to make a lot of money on this. My grandfather started this business and I would like to think he’d understand. Besides…you know as well as I do that we’ve sort of been tanking these last few years. This could really just be speeding up the process of going out of business…only this way, I get some monetary rewards, you know?”

“That makes sense,” Lauren said. “But…well, can I be honest?”

“Of course,” he said with a tired smile.

“You look depressed. You look like you’re on the verge of tears.”

“I am,” he said softly. “I’ve been on the brink of losing it since last night when I started to realize that this store could be gone in less than a week.”

A silence fell between them and just before he turned back for his office, Lauren reached out to him and took his hand. “Is there anything I can do?” she asked. She was thinking of Riley when she said it, feeling those old pangs of anger towards him starting to resurface.

“No,” Mr. Farr said. “But you’re sweet to ask.”

With that, he went back to his office and closed the door behind him. Lauren fought the urge to go after him and occupied herself instead with the inner turmoil she felt towards Riley. She sat down on one of the benches the customers used to try on shoes and looked at the floor for a very long time.

***

Following her interview the day before, Riley had called her and set up a dinner date. She was very surprised to find that he wanted to meet her at a place called Lo-Jack’s, a simple little Mexican eatery that catered to the everyday folks with 9-5 jobs. There was cheap Mexican beer on tap and not a single bottle of expensive wine anywhere to be seen.

She was even more impressed when he showed up dressed in a simple polo shirt and a pair of baggy khaki shorts. But the flip flops were what really took her by surprise. Seeing him dressed like a casual beach bum did something to her that she had not been expecting; viewed as just another normal man, he was somehow sexier than before.

He surprised her further by giving her a small kiss directly on the mouth before he sat down in front of her. He had kissed her in front of all of these people. If she needed any final confirmation that this wasn’t some huge elaborate prank to be played out on the unsuspecting fat girl, that had done it.

“How was your day?” he asked.

“Glamorous, as always,” she said. “Sorting shoes, touching people’s feet…you know. Awesome.”

He nodded, smiling. “And how is Mr. Farr holding up? I spoke with him briefly earlier in the day and he didn’t seem as excited as before.”

“I’m not sure I should be telling you that sort of stuff,” she said. “If it’s okay, I’d really like to stay out of that.”

He nodded. “That’s understandable.”

“How about you?” she asked. “How was your day?”

“Boring.”

“Tell me,” she said. “I’d love to know what a typical day is like for you.”

The waitress came by to take their orders and Lauren noticed right away that she was gorgeous. She was Latin, had long raven black hair, and her cleavage and short shorts left very little to the imagination. But the entire time she was leaning somewhat provocatively over the table to speak to them, Lauren noticed that Riley never really paid her much attention. He kept his eyes on Lauren, looking at her in a way that made her heart melt.

“My day,” he said once the waitress was gone. “Let’s see. Well, I had breakfast with this local business organization and committed myself to giving a lecture at one of their fundraisers in two weeks. After that, I played nine holes of golf with the vice president of the city’s electrical co-op. All of that was done by ten o’ clock. I then went to the office, made a few calls, attended a tedious conference, and did some research into some of the areas in the surrounding states that are expected to be great developmental opportunities. When all of that was done, I rushed home and changed clothes to go out on a date with this smokin’ hot woman.”

Lauren rolled her eyes, but it was so good to hear him talk about her like that. It had been far too long since she had been peppered with little compliments. She still wasn’t quite sure how to react to them.

The date went better than she could have ever imagined. It went so well that any thoughts of how she had seen Mr. Farr earlier in the day quickly evaporated. When Riley spoke to her, he did so as a man that was interested in another woman…not as a millionaire that was looking down on someone else and trying to bend them to his will.

On a few occasions, Lauren was aware that some of the other people in the restaurant were looking at them. She assumed that these few people recognized Riley Thomson and could not quite make sense of the woman he was with. Where were the scrawny generic model-looking women? Who was this overweight nobody having an intimate dinner with Riley Thomson?

It made her feel good and certainly more special than she had ever felt in her life.

The conversation itself even spoke of a good date. They shared their passions about music, movies, and books. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t agree on much but they did both have a fairly intense hatred for badly written cheesy romance movies. They also discovered that they both liked Johnny Cash, blueberry cheesecake, and had a strong distaste for patriotic holidays.

They downed a pitcher of margaritas and toyed with the idea of ordering a second. When the waitress came by and asked if there would be anything else, Lauren looked across the table, only slightly buzzed, and shrugged. “What do you say? Can you do a few more drinks?”

He leveled his eyes at her and something about the way he looked at her made her want to leap across the table and kiss him. With their eyes locked, he said: “I think I’d rather make a pitcher of them back at my place.”

Without looking away from him, Lauren told the waitress, “No. That will be all. Just the check. Quickly, please.”

***

Without the pretense of getting to know one another that had been in the way on her first time to his house, Lauren felt more freedom this time. They had barely made it into his front door before she pressed herself to him. They fell back into the wall and kissed fiercely, with the sort of passion that she thought only existed in those God-awful romantic movies that they both hated.

She felt his hands on her hips, gently sliding her along the wall, towards what she assumed was the den or living room—a part of the house she had not seen on her last visit. Their bodies were pressed tightly against one another as if they were trying to break through the fabric without taking anything off.

They were both sighing against each other’s kisses and by the time they reached the living room and he laid her down roughly on the sofa, she thought her heart was going to explode. Every nerve in her body was on fire and she did her best to catch up to what was happening. He was so easily baled to put her into a whirlwind like state where everything was juts him and the rest of the world sort of sped by.

And by the time her senses caught up with everything else, they were instantly thrown into overdrive. He was lying on top of her, kissing her neck, then pulling her shirt up and kissing her on her chest, taking his time as he traveled lower, to her stomach, and lower still. She didn’t even have time to be self-conscious about her weight or what her stomach looked like because all of a sudden, his kisses were at the waist of her pants and she felt and heard him undoing the button.

Her entire body tensed up and every muscle tightened in anticipation of what was coming. Oh my God, is he going to…

Then something happened…something that neither of them had been expecting.

A sharp beeping noise sounded out, making both of them freeze. It was agony for her, feeling the heat of his breath below her waist and having him stop so suddenly.

“Shit,” he said.

“What?” she asked, having to catch her breath just to get the word out.

“That’s an emergency beeper. No one contacts me through it unless there’s an immense work emergency.”

“Oh,” she said.

“I’m so sorry, but I have to take it.” He placed a hand where his mouth had been headed and gave a gentle brush with his fingers. “To be continued. Okay?”