Billionaire Brothers 2 : Love Has A Name (4 page)

“Please, I beg you, keep your distance,” I said with mild irritation.

Leering at me as if I were some conquest, he continued until he halted right before me, looking down at me through beguiling slate-gray eyes and revealing a white smile, framed by his perfect peach-colored lips. A light tingle shot around my diaphragm area and I frowned, telling myself that it was just an after-effect of an intense workout, because I did
not
like this man, I did
not
want to like him, and I’d shoot myself if that tingle was on account of seeing him so marvelously sexy before me. Not acceptable.

“How rude. That’s how you treat newcomers?” he asked, towering above me while I sat below.

The position made me feel inferior to him, so I scrambled to my feet and picked up my water bottle and towel, looked him dead in the eye and said, “Your membership is not needed here.”

As I stepped around him, he caught my wrist and asked, “They fit perfectly, didn’t they?” His eyes lowered to my breasts — which were, once again, covered in just a pink tube top — and they turned a molten gray.

Disgusted, I wrenched my hand away from his grasp. “What?”

“The lingerie. I picked them out myself.”

My eyes expanded. “
What?
How did you —”

“I’m Lovello Nelson,” he shrugged. “Obtaining information about
anything
is no mean feat.”

Fuming at the fact that he thought I could be bought with a goody basket, I stepped directly up to him and his eyebrows wiggled in a licentious manner as he, crude as he was, misunderstood my intentions. Unfazed by the fact that he was around six inches taller than me, I tilted my head to meet his eyes. “Whatever your intentions are, you arrogant pig, you won’t succeed with me. So you might as well give it up. As for the lingerie, Timo enjoyed ripping them to pieces with his teeth. Don’t send me anymore shit and don’t come back to my class. Or I promise I’ll throw you out on your head myself. And don’t doubt for one minute that I can’t.”

Pretty Boy Nelson took on an expression of mild amusement, but then he frowned and asked, “Timo? Is that your guy?”

My lips twisted in a smirk. “Yep. That’s my guy.”

Looking a tad disappointed, he nodded and walked off. When he reached the door, he stopped and flashed me a smile over his shoulder. “I’m looking forward to being thrown out on my head, because I’m not quitting your class. It kicked my ass. And I
never
quit at anything until I’ve conquered and mastered it. You said it, ‘
groaners are quitters and quitters are losers
‘. I’m neither. I’m more of a
growler
… and always, always a winner.”

Before I could reply he turned and sauntered through the door.

“Hi, Axia,” Trudy timidly answered once I’d finally gotten through to her later that day.

“My goodness, Trudy, I’ve been trying to reach you since yesterday afternoon, but you keep ignoring me. You didn’t even show up for training this morning. Are you
that
mad at me? Did I really blow it for you?”

Trudy sighed into the receiver. “No, you didn’t. And no, I’m not mad at you. I just … I was just preparing for when
you
get mad at me.”

“Mad at you? Why would I be?”

“Because … I betrayed you.”

“Huh? Betrayed me how?”

Trudy groaned. “Well, Mr. Nelson decided to let me proceed with the presentation. Sweet. He freakin’ loved it. But…”

“Out with it, Trudy.”

“He kept me back after the meeting and started drilling me about you. And I answered all his questions, in truth. I don’t know why I did it, Axia. I’m sorry for giving out information about you like that, but he’s my boss and he can be very demanding at times.”

“And I’m your best friend!” I yelled.

“I know. I know and I’m sorry, Axia. I really am.”

“So you’re the one who told him about my obsession with Vicky Secret?”

“Yes.”

“Did you give him my cup size, too?”

“No. He accurately guessed that.”

Trudy was not of a mutinous spirit, she was humble and self-effacing — most times. And I knew that under the pressure of a demanding jerk like Nelson, she’d cowered into submission.

I met Trudy on a plane to San Francisco five years ago. She was gripping her thighs, her eyes squeezed shut as she repeated The Lord’s Prayer over and over as the plane took off. She’d whispered to no one in particular that she was afraid of takeoffs and landings, and I’d found her highly amusing. Even when the plane was in the air, she was still uneasy. So just for the heck of it, I began talking to her. We bonded, exchanged numbers, and that’s where our lame friendship began. I’d just moved to San Francisco to start my gym, and she was moving here that day to start her new job at Coded Solutions. We deemed our meet as ‘fate’, because we’d both needed new companions at that time.

“You seem to have gotten under his skin, Axia. This morning, the man came down to my office and attacked me! Accusing me of lying to him when I told him you weren’t involved with anyone.”

Despite myself, I laughed. “Yeah. He came to my class this morning, asking me if ‘they fit’. I didn’t even know it was him who sent the damn oversized basket. So I told him Timo enjoyed ripping them with his teeth. That left him thinking Timo’s my guy.”

Trudy laughed out. “Girl, you’re too cruel. Though I can’t understand why it matters to him if you’re involved or not. It has never stopped him from boning a woman before. In fact, he prefers them involved, to avoid all commitment nags.”

“Well he ain’t getting this ass, that’s for sure,” I muttered. “Don’t divulge any more information about me, Trudy. Do you
hear
me?”

“I know. I know. I’m sorry.”

“Good. You’re forgiven. Now tell me all about that presentation.”

Trudy squealed into the receiver. “Oh. My. God, Axia. It’s so surreal…”

The plague stuck to his word and didn’t quit my class. He’d showed up the next morning. And the morning after that … It also seemed that word had gotten out that
the
Lovello Nelson was taking my 7am Quicksand class, because, within two days, there were so many newcomers that I had to start rejecting people. Astounding to me, because this class was the least favored and was taken only by the fittest of the fittest, as it was bemoaned to be too rigorous. So seeing the class packed — with mostly women who were overly primped for a workout session — was beginning to annoy me and I
really
wanted the man gone.

By the end of class on Friday, I’d lost count of how many times I gagged at the women who flirted with him and the way he shamelessly flirted back. As usual, I sat on my rear and waited for everyone to leave the room. Pretty Boy Nelson gave me a curt nod of acknowledgment and left also. Sighing with relief and mild irritation, I wrapped my lips around the mouth of my water bottle and gulped down its contents as I exited the room.

“Hey, Axia.”

Startled by his voice, I choked on the water, and my eyes instantly brimmed with tears as the water snorted up my nostrils somehow. I spun around to see him leaning causally against the wall outside the door, and I realized then that he’d only made me think he’d left so he could catch me unguarded.

“W-
What
?” I snapped, still coughing from my water-choke and wiping the tears from my eyes.

Before he could speak, Tish walked up to us with notepad in hand and shot a look of disdain in Lovello’s direction. “Walk with me,” I told her, knowing this would cause Lovello to fall back. But he didn’t, he just ambled leisurely with us.

Tish began. “Sweat2Forget has reached out to you again. They’re relentless. Maybe you should think about it.” The look I gave Tish made her flush, and she mumbled her apologies then continued. “Prime Size magazine wants you on their cover for next month’s issue. I don’t know what you think about that; it’s less demanding, so maybe you could give it a shot.”

“If I do it, Tish, others are going to think I’m accepting proposals. I’m annoyed.”

Tish sagely commented no further on it and continued. “Actress Lena Marcie is proposing you move to L.A. and be her personal trainer.”

A scoff escaped. “Ask the bitch if I look impoverished enough to leave my life so I could be
her
personal trainer.”

A snort sounded behind me, but I ignored it. Why won’t the damn man leave?

Tish continued. “ENEN is gifting you one gym equipment of every kind as a show of appreciation for being a loyal customer and for furnishing your gym with only their brand. You have three months to redeem them.”

“How is it a gift if they’re putting a time limit on it?” I scoffed again.

A deep voice came from behind me. “If it takes you more than three months to claim a gift, then it’s obvious you don’t want it. Which is both rude and cocky.”

By this time, we were mounting the steps to the second floor and I’d forgotten he was still behind me, just as I’d forgotten that his brother was the owner of ENEN
.
“
Why
are you following me again?”

Instead of answering, he brought his water bottle to his mouth, staring me dead in the eyes while he drank. I made an intimidating move towards him and he reflexively stepped back, but not breaking eye contact. Shaking my head and turning, I continued up the stairs, signaling for a scowling Tish to continue. “Teflon Energy Drink wants to give you a freezer that advertises their drinks on it, to use in your Juice Bar. And the vet called with a reminder that Timo’s shot is due next week.”

Mentally, I flushed, knowing that I’d just been caught in a lie. But physically, I was as cool as a cucumber. Two solid coughs sounded behind me, but I dared not look.

At my office door, I stopped and faced Tish. “Is that all?”

“Yes, that is all,” she answered, eying me and then Lovello who stood about a foot away from us, no doubt wondering, just as I was, why on earth he was following us.

“Okay. Refuse all requests except Prime Size. I’ll think about that one and get back to you on it.”

Tish nodded and walked off, looking Lovello up and down in belligerence as she did.

While his attention was on Tish’s inexplicable behavior, I wrenched open my office door, hurried in and attempted at slamming it shut. But he was much quicker than me when he pushed his body sideways between the half-closed door and the jamb.

“What do you want, Nelson?”

He gazed down at me with wry humor. “Timo’s a dog?”

Maddened that the lie that had been staving him off for the last few days had been revealed, I said, “Yes. Timo’s a dog. I’m a woman. You’re a man. This is a door and that is desk. So what?”

“How about the
man
closes the
door
and plays strip poker with the
woman
on the
desk
while the
dog
waits at the vet?”

Dios
… “Could you leave my office, please?”

“You lied to me.”

“And?”

“You didn’t strike me as the type of woman who’d tell such petty lies.” He leaned against the door frame, folding his arms across his hunky chest. “I thought you were more straightforward than that.”

“That guilt tactic won’t work on me, Pretty Boy. I’ve played it too many times.” I gave up trying to push him out of the door and went to the fridge to grab a Gatorade.

“No one has ever called me that before. I think it’s … endearing. You think I’m pretty?”

Swallowing a mouthful of Gatorade, I answered, “Yes, I think you are. But guess what? I’m not attracted to pretty boys. I like my men black and strong with perfectly groomed dreads. And you’re far from that, so beat it.”

Instead of leaving, he chuckled and strode over to my desk, seating himself on the edge. “I could always scorch myself in the tanning booth, and purchase one of those hats with the fake dreads. Would you want me then?”