Stolen:The Billionaire Deception(14)

Embarrassingly enough, I think I drifted off for a few seconds or maybe   longer. The next thing I consciously registered was the feel of Seth's   fingers gently twisting the curls around my face and then sliding them   down along my jawline. I opened my eyes to look at him, squinting   against the bright sun. He smiled at me and I felt my heart racing as   once again he closed in for a kiss. When we broke it he smiled again and   said, "Did you have a nice nap?"



"The best," I said. "I should come out here and nap every day and then you can come out and wake me up just like that."



"It sounds like a fine idea, but it's a ways from the office. You'd need   at least a three hour lunch …  longer if you were going to get a good   nap … "



Closing my eyes again I said, "If I were CEO everyone would get a nap. It would be mandatory."



"Really? What else would you change if you were CEO?"



The name of the company. Damn! I let the conversation take a turn right   back to where I needed to be, but didn't want to go. I took a deep   breath and said, "I wouldn't have to change much else. The current CEO   is doing a great job."



I pushed myself back up to a sitting position as Seth said, "Why thank you. Our CMBO is pretty amazing herself."         

     



 



"Did you always want to go into business?" I asked him then.



He looked thoughtful for a few moments, like he was trying to decide how   to answer that. Finally, with a pained expression he said, "I honestly   never had a choice, not unless I was willing to walk away from my   father." My heart ached when he got that look in his eye. I was   beginning to think that James Hunter had been as bad of a father as he   was a human being. Wanting nothing more at that moment than to make it   better, I wrapped my arms around him in a tight embrace. He held me like   that for a long time. When I finally pushed back he said, "I'm so glad  I  met you, Erin Summers." I had to wonder how glad he was going to be   when he finally learned the truth.









CHAPTER TEN









As the days went by and then the weeks, Seth and I grew closer. I did my   best not to tell too many lies when he would ask me about my past. It   would be too easy to slip up and forget one later on. If he asked me a   direct question about my past, I would answer it as honestly as I  could.  Otherwise I tried my best to just not let it come up at all. It  wasn't  hard, Seth obviously was not interested in talking about his  either.  When the subject of his father came up, it was the only time I  saw that  self-assured, cocky mask that he wore slip and reveal the  vulnerability  that he hid so well.



At work we remained professional, except for the occasions when he would   call me to his office and lock the door for one of our make-out   sessions. They were getting hotter all the time and I wasn't sure how   much longer it would be before I couldn't think of excuses any longer   and I ended up in his bed. I had issues with that if I was going to   continue this quest to ruin his father. I didn't want to have to   struggle with the idea that I possibly used my body to get ahead. It was   contrary to every moral fiber in me, so for now, I resisted.



We worked well together, bouncing ideas off of one another and coming up   with new ways to promote the company and entice clients to sign on  with  us. After work we often dined together and on the weekend we would  take  turns deciding what we would do. We went to concerts one weekend  and  then ice skating the next. We saw movies and took walks and we even   spent an entire day at the zoo. I was falling for him, hard and fast  and  what I needed to do was getting all twisted up with my emotions …   just  like Grant had told me they would.



Seth and I had been dating for just under a month when one evening he   came into my office and slumped down in the chair across from my desk.



"Hi," I said, smiling.



"Hey." He was staring at the desk, not even looking up at me. I could see worry or fatigue lines on his face.



"Are you okay?"



He finally looked up at me. I could see something in his eyes …  hurt or   anger …  "Yeah," he said at last. "Just a really bad day. I needed to see a   pretty face to make me feel better. Sorry."



"Don't be sorry," I said. I looked at the clock; it was almost seven   p.m. "I'm pretty much finished here. Do you want to go get a drink and   talk about it?"



"The drink and the company sound great," he said. "I'm not so sure that I want to talk about it."



"Okay," I told him, as I stood up from behind the desk. "Whatever you need."



Seth did smile then and running his eyes from my head to my toes,   slowly, he said, "Whatever?" His look was so hot that the roots of my   hair and the tips of my toes even felt it.



"Within reason, but all subjects are open for discussion," I told him,   with a smile of my own. I slipped on my coat and grabbed my bag. "Are   you ready?" He stood up but instead of moving towards the door, he moved   towards me. Taking me into his arms, he nudged me back against the  wall  and kissed me …  hard.



I was gasping for breath by the time he let me go. His cheeks were   flushed and his eyes half open in a sexy, almost glazed kind of way as   he said, "We definitely need to have that discussion." I knew he wasn't   talking about his bad day any longer.



He got his coat and since the evening was a mild one we walked to a cozy   little upscale bar nearby. After we ordered our drinks, we found a   little booth in the back and sat down. His mood seemed to have soured   once more so I said, "Are you sure that you don't want to talk about   whatever happened today?"



He picked up his drink, a whiskey sour and downed it in almost one gulp.   Then he looked at me and with a small smile and said, "I'm okay. It  was  just a bad day. Family stuff. It's over now." As soon as I heard   "family" I saw an opportunity. I was torn as to whether or not I should   take it. I had mellowed out considerably about the company and taking  it  back. But that was all because I was falling in love with this man.  Did  I really want to manipulate him into telling me things that could  bring  financial ruin to his family? The truth was, I didn't want to …   but if I  wanted to get back what was rightfully mine, I knew that I  needed to. I  waved at the waitress. Whatever inhibition that was  holding him back  just needed a little encouragement to loosen up. When  the waitress came  over I ordered him another drink.         

     



 



Seth raised an eyebrow at me and I said, "I'll drive you home. You seem like you need it tonight."



He looked at me then with genuine gratitude and said, "Thank you for   caring, it means a lot." He might as well have stabbed an arrow directly   into my guilty heart. I almost changed my mind until the waitress sat   down the next drink and he downed that one too and said, "Nothing is   ever good enough for him …  nothing."



I knew who "him" was and I knew I had to hear more. I ordered him   another drink. Then to prove to myself I wasn't a complete monster I   said, "Are you hungry? Would you like me to order some food?" He   shrugged so when the waitress came back I ordered us some sandwiches and   fries. When she was gone I said, "When you say "him" you're talking   about your father?"



He nodded and took a gulp of the new drink. "He's so worried about what   people think about our family. His father was a success and his  father's  father …  so he had to be a success and now I do too."



"But you are a success," I said, honestly. "You're the CEO of a   multinational company and you do a fine job running it." There was a   time when I wouldn't have been able to even imagine saying those words   to one of the Hunters.



"Not according to him. I don't want to talk about it … "



"Okay, you don't have to," I told him. Our food came and he picked at   his, not eating much at all. I ordered him another drink. I felt like a   horrible person trying to loosen his tongue and lower his inhibitions   with alcohol, but at the same time it was the first time that I felt   like I had a real chance at getting much needed information about James   Hunter.



After he finished that one and while he was still picking at his   sandwich I said, "So, you said your father was a corporate attorney? Did   he buy this company because he didn't think of what he was doing as   being successful enough?"