Romance: The Billionaire's Demands (3 page)

Chapter 7

“He came to your house?!”

I nodded in return to Brianna’s excitement. “Yep.”

“And you turned him down?”

“Yep.”

“So you could have a bowl of cereal?”

“Yes.”

Brianna stood with her mouth wide open, staring at me in disbelief.

“No way,” Anne said over my shoulder while I made another dessert. “No way.”

“You don’t have to believe me but it’s true,” I dismissed her rejection of my story.

“Jasmine is not one to tell lies,” Brianna added in my defense.

They both stared at me while I worked, unable to take their eyes off me.

“What?”

They shook their heads in unison. It was obviously a disappointed shake.

It was only ten minutes after their disappointment that I was surprised again.

“He’s back,” one of the waitresses whispered as she came in to collect some more plates.

“Who?” I pretended not to know.

“You know who. Your lover boy.”

Great.

Just what I needed.

Every staff member in this place now knew my story from last night. Rumors traveled fast in L.A. There were no secrets here.

He ordered the same again, and again, asking for me specifically to make his dessert.

I was beginning to think this was getting a little creepy.

The door flung open again.

It was him.

There was no mistaking it.

Bradley Clifford.

The presence that he projected when he entered a room was overpowering.

His was a dominant soul.

“Her,” Bradley said to the head chef while pointing at him. “I need to talk to her.”

“Of… of course, sir,” the head chef stammered. What a wimp. “Jasmine?”

He looked over to me but Bradley did not.

“Would you please talk to Mr. Clifford in my office?”

Sigh.

I am nothing but a piece of meat to him.

A conquest.

I quietly walked into the room, and the tall, well-dressed man followed.

“Don’t worry,” he stated as he closed the door to the office, “you don’t have to say anything.”  

As I stood across from him with my arms folded across my chest, I felt my heart skip a beat.

He was good-looking.

Unbelievably good-looking.

Half of me wanted to run out of the room, away from his alluring charm, and the other half wanted to jump into his limousine and ride off into the sunset with him.  I sure had some wild imagination. 

I didn’t know what else to say, so I responded by thanking him.  

“Thanks,” I mumbled.

“What for?”

“For the roses.”

Who I am kidding? He probably didn’t even know the driver brought roses up to my apartment last night. Bradley probably just asked him to invite me out.

He smiled. “No problem.”

I felt quite embarrassed by his advances.  I wasn’t a model. Men like him don’t chase girls like me.

When I looked across to the window of the office, all of my coworkers were trying to peer in the small gaps in the curtain.  

I realized at that moment that I had a hopeless crush on Bradley.  

The last time I felt this way was back in high school when Justin Atkins took me to the prom. I started to play scenes over in my mind, rehearsing what I would say if he asked me out on a date.  

I couldn’t imagine dating a billionaire.  

He was so far out of my league. I tried to dream up all of the opportunities that might open up to me, all of the places we might go together, and all of the things that he would buy me.  I imagined a huge wedding with this amazing and elegant wedding dress that would be tailored especially for me. We would throw the biggest party and invite all the wealthiest and most famous people.  

But his next question jolted me back down to earth.

“I am having a dinner party Saturday evening.  I need you to make dessert for, and serve, my guests. You will be well paid for the trouble. Your boss is catering the party, but I told him I wanted to ask for your services myself.”  

He smiled at me and waited for a response.  

Boy did that come out of nowhere.  

I was a bit surprised at the odd request, to say the least. I wasn’t even a waitress but he wanted me to serve his guests? Wow. That’s out there.

I couldn’t give him an answer at first.  

I mean, I needed the money.  I definitely needed the money.

But it felt awkward.  

It wasn’t every day that an ordinary girl was hired to work under a billionaire’s roof, serving his company.  I imagined all those snobby people looking down their noses at me in my waitress outfit as I brought food out to the dining table.  

That was the kind of job that would make you really realize how much your dull life sucked.  

“Could you please give me some time to think about it?”

“Sure,” he said. “Give me your response when you decide.  You know where to find me.”  

With that, he laid his business card on the table. He put on his black hat and his overcoat, and left the restaurant with his driver and expensive limousine.   

“Oh my!” Brianna squealed as I walked into the kitchen.  “Did he ask you out on a date, Jasmine?”

“Hardly… It isn’t what you think, Brianna.”  

I was sure that it was a good job opportunity.  Working for a billionaire seemed to be a dream for everyone in the building except me.  

At first, I had wondered whether Bradley was truly flirting with me and trying to ask me out, but by his last request, I had obviously read the signs all wrong.  I really was a foolish girl in a fantasy world.  

Of course Bradley didn’t like me that way.  

How could he? I wasn’t wearing a bikini, and I wasn’t a six-foot-tall blonde.

I wasn’t sure if that made him a douche, or made me one.  

I thought about throwing his business card out with the leftovers from the night, but then I reconsidered and tucked it safely in my pocket.  

Maybe I could think about it…

Chapter 8

The rain was pouring as I was driving home that night. A couple of drops were blowing through the gap in the driver’s side window.

I really have to get that fixed.

Then the car started pulling to the left.

Oh no.

Then the left side of the car started bumping up and down as I drove.

Damn.

My car got a flat tire right in the middle of the busy L.A. traffic.  

Because I didn’t know how to change a tire and couldn’t flag down anyone that was willing to help, I tried to call Jim.  

He said he was busy getting his cat groomed.  

Great.  Thanks, Mr. Reliable.

As I was on the cell phone, a car came through and splashed a puddle of mud onto my new skirt.  Even better.  I had forgotten my umbrella, so I guessed maybe the bright side was that the rain would maybe wash the mud off by itself.  

I had to call a tow truck for the car, and a taxicab for myself to get to the auto repair shop.  Once I got there, this grease-ball behind the counter asked for a large ransom to put a new tire on my car and pay the tow fees.  It took him hours to change my tire because it was fourth in line.  I tried to busy myself while I waited for my car by looking at my online dating app on my iPhone, but there were no new messages.  

Sigh.  

The membership was a waste of $30.  I was utterly discouraged by the time I got back to my apartment.  Due to the setback, I realized that there was no way I would be able to meet my rent this month if I didn’t take Bradley’s gig.

Once I got my car out, I had to go home and get my clothes to take them to the Laundromat.  I hated pulling my hampers down three flights of stairs and through the parking garage to my car.  

I checked again, and the on-site washer and dryer both had “Out of Order” signs on them.  It seemed like they were eternally broken.  I had wished I’d thought of this before I signed my crummy lease.  

Next time I would have to choose much wiser.

There were some creepy characters at the Laundromat.  One of them didn’t seem to even have any clothing that he was washing or drying there.  I imagined maybe he was some sort of criminal.  I saw a couple of homeless guys trying to get in out of the rain and swapping each other food for cigarettes.  One of them smiled at me with his toothless grin when I pulled my hamper through the door, and it sent shivers down my spine.  

I wasn’t sure why they made me so uncomfortable, but they did. I poured my clothes into the nearest washing machine and cringed at the number of quarters I had to put in it just to start the thing.  Once they were busy washing, I bought a tiny bag of sour cream chips from the vending machine and sat down with my cell phone to read a book with my Kindle app and hopefully ignore everyone else in the room. 

Once my clothing was done washing and drying, I folded them up and took the hamper out to the car.  I realized that I had forgotten my purse on the bench inside the Laundromat, but by the time I had gone back in to retrieve it, the purse was gone.  

What a bad run.

I looked around the room to see if anyone had guilty eyes, but not one of the men looked in my direction.  

After looking around for it a little more, I figured it was a lost cause, so I left and drove home.  I guess it was a good thing that there hadn’t been any more than a few dollars in there, though I dreaded having to call the credit card companies to have them reissue new cards.  Plus my driver’s license would need to be replaced, and I hated going to the DMV just as much as everyone else did. 

I didn’t wait until I got home to try to remedy my money situation.  

Before I shifted my car into gear, I took Bradley’s business card out and punched the numbers into my cell phone.  

Although it was late, he answered straight away. 

I announced to him that I accepted his offer.  

He seemed very happy, and he asked me to meet him at his mansion Friday evening in order to start training for the evening.  He indicated that he wanted me to stay the weekend in order to help clean the place and help the kitchen staff to prepare some of the food ahead of time.  

My prick of a boss was catering in some of the main dishes, also.  

I shouldn’t have been shocked when the billionaire told me how much he was offering me to do the gig, but I was.  

He was paying me nearly three months’ salary for a weekend worth of work.  

When I hung up the phone, I sat in the uncomfortable seat of my car for a few minutes.

Okay.

Sure.

This could work.

Three months’ pay for one weekend worth of work.

Yep.

I texted the girls from work and they were terribly jealous but excited. They were nice girls.

In Brianna’s text message, she warned me about the weekend.

“Be safe,” she texted twice.

Due to my naivety, I dismissed her concerns.

Maybe I shouldn’t have…

Chapter 9

I couldn’t believe the enormous mansion once I arrived.  

The extraordinarily long driveway was made of cobblestone, and huge statues adorned each side of the driveway.  Off to the left was a large gazebo for entertaining guests, along with a beautiful garden as far as the eye could see.  There was a white picket fence lining much of the property and a beautiful white horse barn off to the left.  I could see a pasture full of horses in the distance and wondered if Bradley rode them around the property regularly.  

I could also see a row of tennis courts and a few people dressed in white shorts hitting the ball back and forth between them.  Cherry blossom trees were scattered throughout the property.  

It made me want to curl up under one to read a nice book.     

The building and its entryway were even more immaculate than I imagined.  The mansion had beautiful, shiny black marble flooring throughout and a fireplace that covered an entire wall in what I imagined was the main living room.  

There was an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, in addition to a whirlpool and sauna.  The countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms were all covered in beautiful and expensive granite.     

Once I got inside, Bradley took my coat and showed me to my room.  

I was surprised that he didn’t have a butler greet me at the door.  The room that I was to stay in was gorgeous, with a canopy bed and huge fluffy comforter and pillows.  I had a large high definition television to watch anything I wanted on it, and full access to the servants’ kitchen and all of the food I could ever imagine.  This was the best place I had ever seen, let alone stayed in.

I was surprised at how well Bradley treated his help, while at the same time a little envious that I couldn’t work for him full time like the others.  I fell fast asleep that night, dreaming of all the things that Bradley would do in a wonderful place like this.  

Upon awakening on Saturday morning, I showered and changed into fresh clothes.  The soft towels were clouds of pleasure. I could sleep on one of these.

It almost felt like I was on vacation.  

There was even a mint on my pillow and my bed was tidied when I returned to my room.  The beautiful sun was shining through the windows and elegant window coverings as it rose in the sky.  It was a perfect day today.  I was glad for the nice weather, but a little sad that I wouldn’t be able to get out and enjoy the sunshine because I had to work today.  There would undoubtedly be other sunny weekends and they would look better from my new apartment once I completed this job.  

Since tonight was the night of the dinner party, I made extra effort to look my best, despite the ugly waitress uniform I was expected to wear.  I wore the best high heels, the best earrings, and the best makeup that I had in an effort to have Bradley notice me.

I started to think with the special treatment that maybe I was one of the girls that he had his eye on.  After all, why didn’t he invite any of the other waitresses from the restaurant to come and work for him? 

Once I was dressed, I passed through the living room and saw Bradley.  

Nerves instantly filled my stomach.

Was this the moment he professed his unending love for me?

“Jasmine.” His greeting was blunt. “You can head into the servants’ kitchen and ask for Gretta.  She will get you all set up for tonight.  I have some special guests coming, and I want to make sure that their time here is fun.”  

I nodded and followed his instructions.  

I was starting to get so nervous that I felt sick to my stomach.  He looked so damn sexy at that moment that I had forgotten what I was doing.  

Gretta was a large German woman with a DD bust and a giant bun in her hair.  I suspected that she ate much of the food she cooked.  I grinned at the thought as she led me around the kitchen, showing me where all of the pots, pans, and utensils were stored.  She busied me with random chores around the kitchen, helping to prepare and bake pastries and snacks for this evening.  She asked me to slice cheese and sausage onto a platter, and to make some fruit punch for the guests in a large pitcher that she gave me.  

I was glad that the tasks were easy, and it seemed that I could do the work without a lot of effort.  The kitchen staff were a jovial bunch and they made me feel welcome instantly, making jokes and telling funny stores while they worked.  

I wondered if tonight was about a very important business deal that needed to go through for Bradley.  He must entertain business guests at home often in order to make the billions of dollars that he has made.  

Or maybe it would be his family coming for dinner.  

What would his family be like anyway?

I hadn’t read the tabloids to see if he came from money, or if he had earned all of his money by himself, independent of his family.

During my school days I did some part-time waitressing, so I had a handle on what I needed to do. I set the table with beautiful silverware and expensive china plates.  There were silver pitchers, gravy boats, and platters to hold the huge array of food.  

I folded the cloth napkins in an elegant fashion and noticed that they were embroidered with initials – most likely Bradley’s or his family’s.  

I knew Bradley was a billionaire, but he really went all out on this party.  There were media trucks pulling up in front of the grand gates leading into the mansion.  Every newspaper in the city must want an exclusive report on the progress of this party.  No doubt they would be interviewing the guests.   

In the afternoon, the catering truck pulled up from the restaurant.  

The head chef greeted me with his usual grumpiness, and I helped to carry all of the main dishes that were being catered in.  

There was lobster, prime rib, caviar, and wines of different flavors available for the guests.  He was really going all out on this meal.  I was a little envious that I wasn’t coming to the party as a guest.  Bradley sure threw nice parties.  

Once most of the food was stored safely to prepare for efficient serving during the party, Gretta asked me to help prepare the house and the dining area.  I helped to put up vases of beautiful fresh flowers throughout the house.  At her suggestion, I splashed a bit of vanilla fragrance here and there to make the house smelt warm and inviting.  

Gretta showed me Bradley’s music collection, so I selected some music that would help to create a relaxing ambiance.  I was surprised to see that he likes much of the same music that I like.  I wondered if he and I were close in age, as I had never thought to ask him.  I had hoped Bradley was proud of the efforts that we took to make his meal a success for his guests.

At 6:00 p.m., Bradley entered the main room sporting a flashy suit.  He was freshly showered, clean-shaven, and dynamic.  

“How do I look?” he asked me, straightening his tie.  

I looked him over and was hesitant to respond.  I wasn’t sure that the question was appropriate, since I was merely his kitchen staff and hostess to his guests.  

“Please be direct and truthful.  This meeting tonight is very important, and I need to make a great first impression.”  

I picked up a little bit of nervousness from him, which I thought was unusual for a confident man who could make money from his wit and charm alone.  

“You look wonderful, Bradley.”  I smiled warmly and curtsied.  

I imagined that was what kitchen help would do.  

Or maybe it was supposed to be a bow.  

Either way, he laughed at my response.

Knock, knock.

That was the first of the guest to arrive, and Bradley asked me to answer the door.

I was excited as I approached the entrance.

Was it a movie star?

A politician?

Maybe another billionaire?

As I swung open the door, nerves filled my stomach.

Oh…