Utterly Yours (Book Five) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (2 page)

              Nathaniel leaned back in his seat and admired the scene that was unfolding before him.  His mother was laughing –honestly laughing.  She had appeared at the airport when he and Lillian had headed to baggage claim; he hadn’t expected her, but she had arrived to pick him up and inadvertently, she had met Lillian at the terminal.  He had had every intention to introduce Lillian to his mother while she was with him in California, but he had not planned for it to happen so soon.

              They had hit it off right away, and his mother had insisted on taking them both to lunch at her favorite café just outside of the airport.  Now, three hours later, the two women could hardly get enough conversation out of one another.  “Honestly, Lillian, you look just like you did when you were ten running around with Nathaniel and Adam.  You look lovely, you know?” his mother sang slightly.  “She’s so lovely, don’t you think, Nathaniel?”

              “Of course,” he said with a smile.

              “It really is good to see you again, Mrs. Lynch,” Lillian said with a smile.  “I have to admit; I’ve certainly enjoyed reliving some old childhood memories with Nathaniel over the past couple of weeks.  I miss the simpler times of weekends at the arcade and hanging out in your kitchen.”

              “Oh, I don’t know if I miss Troy, but I certainly have missed this sweetheart,” his mother said and patted Lillian on her shoulder.  “Makes me remember that life in Troy was not all hardship and digging quarters out of couch cushions to pay for the laundromat.”

              “That was a Saturday ritual at my house,” Lillian said with a laugh.

              “It was a weekend ritual for everyone in that neighborhood,” Nathaniel mother chuckled slightly.  “My goodness,” she said suddenly as she looked down at her phone.  “I have kept you two here for nearly three hours!  I’m sure you both are exhausted from your flight and want to relax.  Let me drive you two home.  That was the original plan when I decided to show up at the airport this morning.  I’ve jabbered half my day away!”

              Nathaniel laughed and thanked his mother.  They paid the bill and headed out.  It was only a half hour drive to his home, and he grinned slightly when he saw Lillian’s jaw drop when they pulled up outside of his small mansion just outside of Beverly Hills.  He thanked his mother again, and she waved frantically to them both before pulling out of the enormous driveway.  Nathaniel held his luggage in hand and led Lillian up the large, marble steps at the entrance.

              “You live here?” she asked, glancing back at the fountain in the middle of the drive.  “You actually live here?  Like you own this place?”

              Nathaniel laughed.  “Yeah, this is my home.”

              They entered into the main entry way, and she stared up at the vaulted ceilings and a giant chandelier.  “Whoa,” she said, admiring the oak steps that led up to the second floor.

              “You like it?” he asked.

              She laughed, demanding the grand tour.  He dropped off the luggage and took her arm, taking her for a walk around the expansive home –showing off his favorite hangout spots, including the enormous pool in the back.  “Unbelievable,” she said as they made their way up the stairwell to the second floor where his home office, bedroom, and several guest rooms were located.

              “What do you think?” he asked as he showed off the bedroom along with its impressive balcony that overlooked the garden area in the back.

              “I think it's beautiful… although it’s kind of obvious you decorated the place yourself.  It’s a total bachelor pad,” she teased.  “I mean, who hangs a picture of a football team over their mantle?” She laughed.  “You need a lady’s touch.”

              “Well, maybe you can give me some decorating tips while you’re here,” he said and grabbed her around the waist as she was enjoying the view from the window; he pulled her into him and spun her around to face him.

              “It’s needed,” she said and lingered her lips near his for a second.  He went in to kiss her, but she pressed her fingers against his lips.  “I think I’m going to take a shower.”

              “Oh boy,” he said eagerly.

              “Alone,” she said and kissed him for a moment before pulling away.  “Followed by a nap.  That airport and the lunch with your mother drained me.”

              “Fine,” he said and slapped her ass as she headed towards the master bath.  He smiled; he liked having her in his home, and if everything went according to his master plan, it would stay that way.

              Nathaniel and Lillian pulled up outside of Lynch Industries after being driven there by his personal driver.  He helped her out of the car and grinned slightly when she leaned back, looking straight up with her mouth wide open at the enormous building that stood before her.  “You own this building?” she questioned.

              “I own this building,” he confirmed and hooked his arm into hers.  “Ready for the grand tour?  I bet Adam can’t wait to see you.  I know I’ve enjoyed spending some time with our old friend from elementary days.”

              She laughed and walked alongside him.  Nathaniel thanked the young man who held the door open with a polite, “Morning, Mr. Lynch!  Welcome back!”

              Nathaniel enjoyed Lillian’s expressions as they made their way through the lobby and everyone waved or gave some sort of eager, polite greeting to him.  He was the CEO, after all.  They made their way over to the elevator that led up to the 23
rd
floor where they headed down a hallway to a private elevator.  “This will take us to my office,” he announced as he entered into a passcode to gain access to the private elevator.  The elevator took them up to an enormous floor with an even more impressive view; the entire floor was Nathaniel’s private office.

              “Impressive,” Lillian said as they exited the elevator.

              Before Nathaniel had a chance to show her much of anything, he spotted Adam sitting behind his desk.  “What the hell, man?” Nathaniel joked.  “Trying to take my office while I’ve been away?”

              Adam looked up and laughed.  He stood.  “Can you blame me?  The view is hard to resist,” he said and threw his thumb towards the far wall which was one giant window overlooking the city. 

              Adam walked towards them, an almost uncomfortable smile on his face.  Clearly, he had not expected Nathaniel back that day; the original plan was for him to take a day to himself before returning to the office.  Adam smiled.  “About time you got back anyway,” he grumbled slightly and then smiled at Lillian.  “Don’t tell me?” he questioned.  “Lillian?”

              “You were always good at faces, Adam,” Lillian said with a smile and opened up her arms for a hug.  They embraced one another but parted quickly.

              “What’s it been?” Adam asked.  “Twenty years?  Haven’t seen you since you were a little ten-year-old punk wondering around Troy.”

              “Right back at you, Adam,” she said with a laugh.

              “Listen, I’d love to stay and chat, but I got a lot to take care of today.  The three of us have got to do dinner one day while you’re in town, Lillian,” Adam said, already heading towards the elevator.

              “You so busy you can’t stay and catch up for a few minutes?” Lillian asked.

              “Sorry, but this guy kind of ditched me to run around Troy with some floozy for two weeks,” he teased.  “I got a lot on my plate.  I’ll see you around, I’m sure.” He winked at them both as he boarded the elevator and the doors closed.

              Lillian glanced around the room, still with a rather impressed look on her face.  “So you and Adam, huh?  Who knew two little brats like you could have pulled something like this off?  You were practically on your way to gutter kids like me.”

              “Well, we can’t exactly take full credit for it, you know?  My dad is the one who got us out of the slums.  He started his own business, and it boomed like crazy –especially once he moved the family out to California.  Then Adam’s father joined him on his business venture; they moved out to California just a few months after we did.  The two of them ran a really successful tech operation.  Dad taught me all the ropes,” Nathaniel explained.

              “So whatever happened to their business?  I think you told me, but remind me,” she said.

              “Well, my Dad was killed by a hit and run driver.  He didn’t leave much to me; I told you about that letter he wrote me about wanting me to make my own fortune.  He left me a small trust fund to get me going.  After he was killed, Adam’s father took over the business.  It only took the poor bastard five years to completely run the business to the ground.  I guess he just didn’t know what he was doing without Dad.  Adam had learned a lot from my father about the business world, so the two of us pulled what money we had to get our own business started.  I literally won the CEO position by a coin flip.”

              “A coin flip?” she asked.

              “A coin flip… with a two sided coin, of course,” Nathaniel said with a laugh.  “I had put forth the bulk of the start-up money –do you really think I would give him an opportunity to be CEO without me holding all the cards?”

              “That’s awful, Nathaniel.  You just teased him,” she said.  “Does he know?”

              “Still has no idea,” Nathaniel said.  “Like I said, he probably would have surrendered the position anyways since I put forth all the money to start the thing, but the coin story looks nice on our website and other promotional materials when we try to do the whole background story of a little company that grew.  People like hearing it.”

              “That’s cute,” she said as she crossed over to examine his enormous oak desk.  “This is really impressive,” she said.  “I mean, really.  You two should be proud of yourselves.”

              Nathaniel was not listening.  He was just staring at her. She was dressed in a nice blouse and tight, jet-black pants.  As she was running her fingers across the desk, admiring its handiwork, he came up behind her and grabbed her by her waist.  He kissed her neck, making her shutter.  “You’ve made me wait long enough,” he whispered in her ear.

              “Have I?” she teased, and he spun her around to face him.

              He undid her blouse and tossed it to the ground.  She dropped her pants, and he helped her hop up onto the desk.  Their lips collided, and he felt her suck on his tongue for a moment.  He took a split second to admire the lingerie he had gotten her: dark, navy blue with lace.  He had her lay down on the desk, and he slipped his fingers into her underwear and played with her for a moment.  She groaned and reached out to him, putting one hand on the back of his head and pulling him down.  He leaned over her, kissing her with his hand still groping her below.  Unable to wait any longer, he went around to the side of the desk where her feet were and pulled on her legs until they hung over the side.  He pulled out his cock and yanked down her underwear before pressing himself into her.

              She squealed excitedly.  “Nate…” she moaned his name.  He moved slowly at first, gradually gaining speed until she began to quiver.  “Don’t stop,” she pleaded as he grabbed her wrists and pinned them down at her sides.

              “God, I love you,” he said to her in the midst of her orgasm.  He came inside of her, and then he pulled her up so that she could sit.  He kissed her several times before cleaning himself up and sitting down in the office chair.  She got dressed quickly, suddenly quite aware that he was likely not the only one with access to the private office.  She sat herself down on his lap and kissed him, her arms draped over his shoulders.

              “I wish you would stay with me here in California,” he said.

              She frowned.  “I don’t know,” she spoke softly.  “It’s not my home, Nate.”

              He nodded as though he understood, but her unwillingness to move across the country for him saddened him.  Then again, he knew that would be asking a lot.  But what did she have going for her back home in Troy?  He decided not to think about it for the time being.

              Nathaniel had finally returned to work, and Lillian was staying at his mansion.  He hated not being around her all day every day.  He never knew he could grow to miss someone from a mere absence of four hours.  It was getting close to lunch, so he began contemplating on calling Adam’s secretary to have her fetch him something to eat when she went to get something for Adam.  He was still short an assistant.  Just as he was reaching for the phone on his desk, it rang.

              Nathaniel looked to see that it was Katie, Adam’s assistant, calling him.  He smiled, realizing she was probably calling to take his lunch order. 
That was awfully pro-active of her
, he thought with a smile.  He would have to let Adam know the woman had thought of him, knowing he was lacking any help on his end.  “Hello?” he answered in a friendly tone.

              “Good morning, Mr. Lynch,” Katie said in her usually perky tone.

              “I was just thinking about calling you,” he said.

              Katie giggled slightly.  “Well, I beat you to it.  You have a guest here wanting to take you to lunch.  A Ms. Lillian Thompson.”

              Nathaniel smiled.  It appeared that Lillian had been missing him as well.  “Tell her I will be right down,” he said and finished up a bit of paperwork before bolting.  He had not gotten much work done that morning; truthfully, after his long absence, Adam had gotten his hands on just about everything in order to keep the place running smoothly.  Nathaniel had not been needed for much apart from filling out some paperwork on some apps that were going to be coming up.  He was suddenly reminded about the apps with the shitty proposal Adam had had him greenlight a few weeks prior, so he made himself a note on his desk to ask Adam about how it was going.

              He boarded the elevator and took it down to the next floor where Katie’s desk was.  She was typing away on her computer.  Nathaniel frowned to see the empty desk beside Katie’s that had once belonged to Tony.  He sighed.  Katie looked over at him with sad eyes, catching him staring at the desk longingly.  “He’s flying in today from Troy,” Katie said softly.

              “I know,” Nathaniel said.  “Believe me, it’s the only thing on my mind today.”

              He spotted Lillian in the waiting area and smiled at her.  She hopped up from her seat when she saw him and hurried over.  “I know it’s your first day back, but I thought that maybe if you had time, we could do a quick lunch?” she smiled at him, and he conceded to the plan.

              They took the elevator down to the main floor after having Katie call down to the valets to ensure that his car would be ready.  On the elevator ride down to the lobby, Lillian noticed something was off.  “Is everything okay?  I thought you would be happy to see me.  Should I have left you alone so that you could work?”

              He smiled and kissed her forehead.  “It’s not you.  It’s Tony.”

              “What’s going on with Tony?” she asked.

              “He is being flown in from Troy today on a prisoner transport flight,” he said.  “His first court appearance is tomorrow.”

              “Damn,” Lillian said.

              “Damn is right.  And Adam and I have to go to it,” he said with a cringe.  The elevator door opened up on the ground floor and they made their way through the lobby.  “I mean, I know the kid stole from me, but for some reason, I can’t help but feel bad for him.  You should have seen him the day I visited him in jail.  He’s scared out of his mind.”

              “And the board won’t drop the charges?” Lillian asked.

              “I already went to them, and they threatened to kick me out of the board room if I asked again.  They were kind of dicks about the whole thing.  They want to make an example of him,” Nathaniel said.  “I just don’t get it.  Tony and I were friends, or at least I thought we were.  Maybe I gave him too hard of a time?”

              They climbed into Nathaniel’s car and drove to a nearby café.  Unfortunately, Nathaniel would have to keep the meal short. They ordered sandwiches and sat down in the window seat.  “So, you’re going to have to show me all the local cuisine,” Lillian said in an attempt to steer the conversation away from Tony.

              “Oh, definitely,” Nathaniel said and then almost choked on his food when he saw who was entering the café.

              Lillian turned around in her seat to see what prompted Nathaniel’s reaction.  It was Eliza.  “Nathaniel!” she called out and walked herself right up to their table.  “Long time no see,” she said with a wink.  “I heard you were back in town, and I didn’t get a phone call.” She reached out and touched his shoulder.  She smiled at Lillian.  “Laurel, right?” she asked.

              “Lillian, actually,” Lillian said.

              “Oh, that’s right,” Eliza said with an awkward hand-wave.  “Sorry, I’m terrible with names.”

              Nathaniel felt as though Eliza was marking her territory by the tight grip she had on his shoulder.  He pulled his shoulder away.  “Sorry I haven’t called,” he said half-heartedly.

              “Honestly,” Eliza said with a wink.  “I think you owe me a dinner, remember?”

              Nathaniel could see the discomfort on Lillian’s face.  He stood up.  “You know what, Eliza?  We need to talk,” he pulled her aside and gave it to her straight.  “I’m not interested.  I’m sorry.  I’m with Lillian, and I like her.  Understand?”

              Eliza looked pissed.  She crossed her arms.  “Are you serious?”

              “Yeah, I’m serious,” he said.

              “You’re an idiot!” she snapped suddenly and pointed her finger over at the table where Lillian was seated.  “She’s a damn hobo!  A dumpster chick!  You can’t possibly find that piece of trash attractive?”

              This lit a flame inside him.  “Fuck you!” he snapped at her.  “You really are nothing but a spoiled, rich, Daddy’s-little-girl brat!” He felt a pain in his cheek when she slapped him.  She had been wearing a ring, and it had made contact with his cheekbone.  “Shit!” he snapped.

              “I hope you’re happy with your street bitch,” Eliza snarled and then headed out the door after having caused a scene.

              Nathaniel rubbed his cheek and then went and sat back down at the table.  He looked at Lillian.  “I’m sorry,” he said to Lillian.

              She frowned.  “She’s right.  You deserve better than some woman you picked up off the street.”

              “You deserve better than some jerk who lies to you and sleeps around,” he said.  “Nobody has their shit completely together, Lillian.” He rubbed his cheek again.  “Am I bleeding?”

              “Yup,” Lillian said and handed him a napkin.  “Damn, she cut you with that ring of hers.”

              “How did she even know you had been living on the street?” he asked out loud.  “Whatever, I don’t give a shit.  I love you, Lillian.” He wiped his cheek.  “Okay, for someone so tiny, she really packs a punch.”

              “You should probably never get me that angry,” Lillian said.  “If Daddy’s little princess can make you bleed, what do you think this retired army vet could do?” She held out her arms and bend them up like she was showing off some muscle. 

              Nathaniel laughed.  “I’ll keep that in mind.”