All That He Demands (The Billionaire's Seduction Part 3) Page 4

  “Um… sourdough.”

  “…anything ellllsssse?” she asked, as though to say, C’mon, get the caviar… get the caviar…

  “That’s it,” I smiled.

  “Okay, just keep the menu if you change your mind,” she said brightly. “Be back with your drink in a jiffy.”

  I watched her strut away and wished I had legs like that.

  You managed to sleep with an ultra-hot billionaire WITHOUT legs like that, a little voice in my head pointed out. Not the mean, snarky voice, but the You go girl! voice that I heard far too seldom.

  And then everything fell into place.

  Ahhhhhh… I bet THAT’S why she winked at me.

  After all, I was in the penthouse cabana, right?

  And Connor owned the hotel.

  I bet it was common knowledge who had checked in last night…

  …and who he checked in with.

  I looked over at the blonde waitress, and saw her whisper to a brunette co-worker over by the bar. They both cast glances back at me and said something else.

  Oh, man, I wanted to crawl under the glass table. I could feel the blood in my cheeks.

  People all over the hotel were probably gossiping right now. I could hear them:

  Connor Templeton slept with HER?!

  Yes he DID, honey, and don’t you forget it, my sassy little voice mm-hmmed in my ear.

  I stopped worrying so much about what other people were thinking – but then found something else to worry about.

  If what Sebastian had said on the phone last night was right (“By any means necessary”), then the hotel had probably kicked somebody out of the room.

  I winced.

  That sucks.

  I wondered what the hotel had to give them as compensation.

  A free stay in the future?

  A free week in a regular room?

  Business tips from Connor?

  OF COURSE.

  Now it all clicked.

  The guys in the lobby staring open-mouthed at Connor as he passed – especially the old, fat dudes. The ones who read The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times. The ones who would have known what he looked like.

  And the hotel staff – especially the supermodel desk clerk – all acting like Jesus had just booked a room.

  I pondered that for a second.

  If I were rich enough to afford a penthouse… and Warren Buffett kicked me out… but I got to talk to Warren Buffett for ten minutes about stocks, and got a free stay in the future… maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad trade.

  I wonder what Anh would –

  Anh.

  Damn I’m so A.D.D.

  That’s ‘attention deficit disorder,’ not anything hip ‘teh kidz’ are saying these days, by the way.

  I started to dial Anh’s cell number –

  “A beautiful day, isn’t it?” a deep male voice interrupted.

  11

  I looked over in shock, halfway wondering, Who’s this gonna be, the general manager?

  But it wasn’t a hotel employee, unless the hotel allowed guys to walk around out of uniform.

  He was completely bald, but in a Jason Statham or Bruce Willis badass way, not a ‘needs Rogaine’ kind of way. He was slightly dark with olive skin. He was wearing a black short-sleeve shirt and black dress slacks, and his arms and chest were powerfully muscled underneath. His nose had been broken once and never healed straight. His jaw looked like it was made out of granite, and he was wearing black sunglasses that completely hid his eyes.

  He was kind of scary-looking, though his voice was pleasant enough.

  And he was standing just at the edge of the cabana.

  “Uh… yes. Yes, it is,” I agreed warily.

  “I have to tell you, I’ve been to hotels all over the world,” the man said, “and this ranks with the best of them. Best in Los Angeles, by far.”

  He had the lightest hint of an accent, but I couldn’t place it. It wasn’t American, though – not a Southern or New York or Texas accent, for instance. It sounded vaguely European.

  “I’ll have to take your word for it,” I smiled politely, and looked for the waitress or Johnny.

  “Oh, you haven’t been to too many places?” the man asked.

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “Oh, well, I’m sure that will change now.”

  “Excuse me?”

  I wasn’t exactly sure what he meant, but I didn’t like what I thought he might be hinting at.

  Turns out that was exactly what he was hinting at.

  “Now that you’re travelling with such an impressive… companion,” the man smiled.

  Anger flared up in me.

  Asshole.

  “I don’t know who you are, or if you think you’re being funny – ” I started.

  “Do you mind if I sit down?” the man asked as he stepped inside the cabana and sat down in a chair across the table from me. The smile never left his face.

  I felt like a spider had crawled up my arm. I jerked away from the table, even though the man was still a good five feet away from me. “Yes, I do. I’m not comfortable with – ”

  “You should tell Mr. Templeton that he should tread lightly,” the man said, never altering his smile. “He’s very good at alienating people. He should remember that spurned allies sometimes turn into enemies.”

  The spider on my arm had turned into a snake slithering down my spine.

  I stood up, knocking my chair over, and took a couple of steps back.

  “Leave me alone,” I said, as coldly and with as much control as I could muster, “or I’ll scream.”

  He tsked with his tongue. “No need for that, I’ll be going now. Just remember to tell him what I said.”

  Then he stood up quickly and disappeared behind the cabana, as though he were just out for a stroll.

  My mind whirred quickly, even though my limbs felt like they were stuck in molasses.

  This guy was threatening Connor – I needed to find out who he was, where he was going –

  I stepped around the edge of the cabana, to see where he’d gone.

  He was disappearing into a doorway at the end of the patio, into what looked like the kitchen area for the pool.

  “Lily!” a voice called out behind me, and almost made me jump out of my skin.

  I turned around. Johnny was striding towards me, a pair of sunglasses on his face and another one grasped in his hand.

  “Where you going?”

  I pointed towards the door and said in a fast, frantic voice, “Bald guy – sunglasses – black shirt – he threatened Connor – ”

  Johnny’s face suddenly went cold and stone-like, and his easygoing manner turned taut and lethal.

  “Stay here,” he said, then rushed for the doorway, his hand edging up towards his jacket.

  Towards his gun.

  I watched him run past a startled waitress, then disappear into the doorway.

  I stood there trembling, hugging myself, still dressed in my robe. Despite the sunlight beating down on me, I felt like a winter wind had chilled me to the bone.

  There was a light crack! behind me, and I jumped.

  I turned around to see the blonde waitress setting down my Bloody Mary on the glass table.

  “Here’s your drink – oh my God, are you okay?” she asked, real concern in her expression. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”

  “I’m okay, thanks,” I whispered, and turned back to look at the door.

  It was a very, very long three minutes.

  12

  Johnny finally came back through the door, a grim look on his face. The gun was still in his holster.

  “Did you see him?” I asked.

  “No,” he said, and held out his hand. “Give me the phone.”

  I looked down at it, then handed it over.

  Dammit, I didn’t call Anh!

  Although I wouldn’t have known what to say if I did.

  Hey, Anh, I hooked up with this hot bill
ionaire, and this other guy sorta kinda threatened him and ran off, so I gotta say goodbye so the bodyguard can use the phone. See ya!

  He hit a button on the smartphone’s screen and waited a second.

  Somebody answered – apparently Connor, judging from the conversation.

  “You in the room?” Johnny asked tersely. “Good. Stay there. We’re coming up.”

  He hung up and took me gently by the elbow.

  As we passed by the table, I looked down at my untouched Bloody Mary.

  “Wait – I have to pay for it – ”

  With what, I had no clue, but I thought it would be rude to dine and ditch.

  Or drink and ditch.

  Well… not drink, but still ditch.

  For the first time since he’d come back, Johnny smiled and shook his head. “You’re a keeper, Lily.”

  “What’s that mean?” I asked warily.

  “It means you’re the first woman I’ve met around Connor who worried about paying for something herself, much less paying for it after having her life threatened.”

  A little glow sparked in my chest.

  At least there was something unusual about me, as far as the women in Connor’s life went.

  Even if all it was, was that I didn’t want to stiff a waitress.

  “Thanks… but he didn’t really threaten me.”

  “Close enough.”

  “But they’ve got food coming, too – ”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Johnny said, and hustled me past the mystified wait staff.

  I hope they don’t think I’m getting pulled upstairs pronto because Connor decided he wants to have sex, I thought, mortified.

  Although that wouldn’t have been such a bad reason.

  It would have been a lot more preferable than his life being threatened.

  13

  Connor opened the door, his face a question mark. “What’s going on?”

  Johnny hustled me into the room. “There was an incident.”

  Connor smirked at me. “Lily, did you slap somebody?”

  “I wish I had,” I answered honestly.

  He frowned, and Johnny made me recount exactly what had happened.

  Connor listened the whole time with his arms crossed, his chin on one thumb, and his index finger crossing his lips. He stared deep into my eyes as I talked.

  I don’t think he’d looked at me that intently the entire… um… 16 hours I’d known him.

  …if you don’t count the last time we had sex.

  After I was finished, he walked over to me, put his arms around me, and pulled me in tight.

  “Are you okay?” he asked quietly.

  “Yes,” I said, and leaned my head against his chest. I could hear his heartbeat – a deep, powerful pulse that made me feel comforted and safe, and at the same time made my own heart speed up.

  I would have given anything just to stay there for hours, nestled protected in his arms.

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said into my hair. Then his voice changed, and I could tell he wasn’t talking to me anymore. “That being said… I don’t think it was anything to worry about.”

  That got Johnny all wound up.

  “Don’t brush this shit off, man. He knew Lily was staying with you – he was obviously keeping tabs on you – ”

  “She was in the penthouse cabana,” Connor said in a Come on, gimme a break kind of voice. “Not only that, but the whole staff knows she’s staying with me.”

  I blushed a little. Great.

  “And as far as threats,” Connor continued, “that was about as mild as they come.”

  “Of course it was mild – if we caught him, all he has to say is that he wasn’t threatening you, he was just pissed off and telling you to be nice.”

  Connor grinned. “Maybe he was.”

  I pulled away from his arms. “Are you saying that was nothing?”

  I was a little frightened he was treating it so cavalierly – and I was a little pissed, too. It had scared the hell out of me, that was for sure.

  He put his hands softly against me face as he looked into my eyes, and I felt my fear and irritation melt away.

  “No, I’m not saying it was nothing. I know it was scary, and I’m sorry you got pulled into it. It’s just… this sort of thing happens a lot. People trying to spook me. It doesn’t mean anything, because nothing ever happens.”

  “Bullshit,” Johnny snapped. “You know what happened at Davos.”

  “Johnny,” Connor warned. There was something dark and steely in his eyes.

  “What? What happened at Davos?” I asked fearfully – and then, a bit more confused, “…uh… what’s Davos?”

  Connor grinned. “Little town in the Swiss Alps, hosts the World Economic Forum. There was an incident two years back when I went there… a kook with a gun. Johnny took care of it.”

  “Damn straight I took care of it,” Johnny seethed.

  “And I appreciate that, I do – ”

  “He wasn’t a kook, either.”

  “Can we talk about this later?” Connor asked, though it was a lot closer to a command.

  “What about your father?” I asked.

  “What about him?”

  “You said he was kidnapped five years ago in Mexico.”

  “Yeah,” Johnny said, like a kid getting backup in a playground fight.

  Connor sighed. “With him, there was no warning, there were no vague threats beforehand, it was a straight-up snatch and grab for cash, that’s all. No thugs in sunglasses, no kooks with guns.”

  “That doesn’t diminish this,” Johnny warned. “Would you at least wear the bulletproof vest?”

  My eyes bugged out. “You have a bulletproof vest?”

  “It’s nothing – it goes under a shirt – I wear it sometimes when he’s being too much of a nag – dammit!” Connor wheeled on Johnny angrily. “Thanks for freaking her out, asshole!”

  “Don’t be mean to Johnny!” I snapped.

  “Yeah, don’t be mean to Johnny,” the bodyguard smirked.

  Connor rolled his eyes. “Fine. We’ll eat lunch up here. Is that okay with you?” he asked Johnny mockingly.

  “Connor, this isn’t something to take lightly – ”

  Connor cut him off. “If this guy is such a threat, what are you going to do about him?”

  “I already talked to Pete. I’m going to go look at the security tapes, see if I can get a picture of him.”

  “Pete?” I asked.

  “The manager,” Connor explained, then turned back to Johnny. “Alright, well, why don’t you go do that, and Lily and I will have lunch up here.”

  “You promise you’re not going to go pull some crazy dumbass stunt, like disappearing on me?” Johnny prodded.

  “I promise.”

  Johnny grumbled, then relented. “Fine.”

  He started for the door, then turned back to Connor. “Oh, Lily was upset because she couldn’t pay the waitress for her Bloody Mary.”

  Connor looked at me with a grin, like, Is that so?

  I frowned. “I didn’t want her to get stuck with the tab.”

  “I’ll make sure she doesn’t get stuck with the tab,” Connor reassured me, amused, then fluttered one hand at Johnny. “Shoo, shoo. Go make the world a safer place.”

  “I get no respect,” Johnny muttered to himself as he let himself out of the penthouse.

  Connor looked at me. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

  “Me, too, but… um…”

  “…yes?”

  “I really need to call my roommate Anh.”

  14

  While we were waiting for the breakfast to arrive – the ordering of which I left entirely in Connor’s hands – I dialed Anh’s cell from the phone in the penthouse bedroom.

  She answered on the second ring, hesitancy in her voice. “…hello?”

  “Hey, it’s me.”

  “Are you okay?!”

  “Yeah, yea
h, I’m fine.”

  “Good, because AAAAHHH!” she screamed, “I am going to KILL you!”

  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry – ”

  “I thought you were DEAD, or in the HOSPITAL or something! I called you four times and texted you, too – GOD, Lily!”

  Anh is usually the most mild-mannered girl in the world. She must have really been worried to react this way. I immediately felt sick with guilt.

  “I know, I know, I’m sorry – ”

  “Why didn’t you answer your phone?!”

  “I left it at work.”

  “Why’d you leave it at work?!”

  “Um… it’s complicated…”

  “This had better be good.”

  I thought about saying, Well, is sleeping with a billionaire good enough? but I thought that sounded golddigging and skanky… so I toned it down a bit.

  “Well… I met this guy…”

  There was silence on the other end.

  Then she laughed.

  “Yeah, RIGHT. No, really, what happened?”

  “Excuse me,” I said haughtily, “I could have met someone.”

  “Where, in the crazy afterhours club that is the 23rd floor of Exerton Consulting? No, really, what happened?”

  “Um… actually… yeah, that is where I met him… well, I guess, technically I met him in the lobby, and then we went up to the 23rd floor…”

  More silence on the other end.

  “You’re SERIOUS,” she said, astounded.

  “Yup.”

  “HOW?!”

  “I’ll tell you later. I just needed to let you know I’m okay.”

  More silence.

  Then she whispered, “Did you do it?!”

  “Anh!”

  “OH MY GOSH,” she squealed, “you TOTALLY did it! OH MY GOSH! Wait – are you at his place?”

  “Um… sorta kinda…”

  “Then why does my phone say the Dubai Hotel?”

  “Uh… ‘cause that’s where he’s staying…?”

  More silence.

  “You had better start from the beginning and tell me everything,” she instructed. “And I mean EVERYTHING.”

  I winced. “I can’t… I’ve got to go… but I promise I’ll – ”