The Billionaire’s Betrothed(34)

“Whatever.” I responded, rubbing a hand over my tired eyes.

I hadn’t slept as well the night before as I had hoped I would. I couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss Eric and I shared, I couldn’t stop thinking about how hurt Lucas would be if he knew, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I wanted to forget everything.

I could feel Tessa’s eyes lingering on me, wondering if she had scared me into submission.

I could see through her now. She believed Jake Roma belonged to her. Any new woman, even a widow such as myself, was a threat to her territory. She’d probably hoped that I would come back and see them, she probably orchestrated it somehow herself.

Finally, as she slowly turned back to face forwards, I heard the clicking of fancy French shoes in the hallways.

“Hello, darling.” Tessa tittered, no doubt leaning forward to give the billionaire an ample shot of her cleavage.

“Caroline.” His gruff voice rumbled, “Can you come out for a moment.”

With an inward groan, I parted from my work. I doubted I would ever get it done between the constant interruptions of this office. No wonder the filing had gotten so far behind.

“Yes?” I said dully, ignoring the scathing stare of the secretary. No doubt I had a new enemy.

“Come to my office.” He said, waving a tan hand as he turned on his heel and stormed down the hall.

I wasn’t sure if his walk was normally this agitated or if something had happened.

Tess, however, was certainly angry. Her stormy eyes followed us all the way until we turned a corner. I wouldn’t be surprised if she tiptoed after us and pressed her ear against the wall.

I slid into his office as he shut the door.

Though there were wide windows on each of his walls, the blinds were closed. Only the smallest sliver of sunlight slid through to the floor. His space was surprisingly organized and clean, for some reason I had expected the tall man to be a hurricane in black, sexy pants.

He sat down in his chair, carefully watching me as I eased into the seat across from him.

“You know,” He began, “This business is my life.”

“Oh.” I said quietly, clearing my throat. I felt as though I were sitting in a detective’s chair, with the light shining harshly in my face, or strapped to a polygraph or something.

Either way, I was going to start sweating bullets in a second, and I hadn’t even done anything wrong – that I knew of.

“I dedicate everything I have to making this company successful. I spend almost every hour of every day in this office making sure things go smoothly.” He continued coolly, gaze never parting from my own intimidated one, “And part of that process is recognizing the potential in someone.”

“What do you mean?” I said slowly. Just what kind of discussion were we having here?

“I want to give you a chance, Caroline.” He said, “I want you to accompany me to a function tonight.”

“A function?” I asked, confused. Couldn’t he take Tessa?

“Yes.” He said simply, “I want you to go with me. In or out?”

I suspected strongly that if I chose ‘out’ I would be relegated to nothing but files for the foreseeable future. I had to take this chance if I wanted it.

I was sure there was a catch still yet to be discovered, but that would just have to wait.

“I’m in.” I said simply.

“Fantastic.” He replied, though not a smile graced his face, “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Uh. Okay.” I said quietly, “What should I wear?”

“I have arrangements made.” He replied, standing up and gesturing towards his door, “Now you can return to your work.”

With a slow nod, I offered him a smile and then left the room.

Just what in the world had happened?

Though I had been taken by surprise by the meeting with the billionaire, I was not the least bit surprised by Tessa’s death glare when I returned to the desk. I was also not surprised that a new and huge batch of papers had been added to the filing pile.

“So what did he need?” She inquired firmly, standing at the office door and crossing her arms, “What did he want to talk to you about?”

I shrugged, unwilling to feed into her jealousy. The best thing I hoped I could do was to just keep my contact with the crazy woman as minimal as possible.

“I thought you were going to get canned.” She chuckled, “Did he give you a scolding?”

“No.” I replied, glancing over my shoulder, “I’m not going anywhere, Tess.” I said simple, before turning back to my files.

Her lips parted before pursing into an infuriated line, her perfectly manicured fingers bunching into tight fists as she whirled around and stomped her stilettos back to her desk.