Stolen: The Billionaire Deception (12 page)

I felt, before I saw Seth standing in the doorway of my office. “Hi,” he said, when I looked up.

“
Hey. How are you?”

He came over and sat down across from me. With a wide grin he said, “I’ve been smiling like this since yesterday. I can’t stop. You’re as amazing as I thought you would be. More so.”

I had to smile at that. Grant had told me I looked like I slept with a coat hanger in my mouth the night before when he got home this morning. He knew I had sex before I was finally ribbed into admitting it. I blushed now as I said, “I know the feeling.”

“
Good, I’d hate to think it’s just me.”

“
No, not just you. You’re amazing.” I felt funny talking about this at work and I felt myself blush again. I think Seth got it because he changed the subject then.

“
The meeting went well. Deborah tells me my father was in the building today. Sometimes he stays around for the meetings. I’m glad he decided to skip it.”

Me too.
“Oh that must have been him I passed in the hall. Is he a tall man with dark hair, gray at the temples… sharp dresser?”

“
That would be Daddy,” he said with a sarcastic smile.

“
Can I ask you a question?”

“
Sure.”

“
How long has Deborah worked for you?”

Seth wrinkled his brow and said, “She worked for my father for over ten years and just sort of inherited me when he stopped working full-time. Why?”

“
Close the door.” He really looked at me strangely then, but he got up and did as I asked. When he came back he perched himself on the edge of my desk and said, “Okay, so what’s up?”

“
Your father came out of the conference room this morning before I went in there. Deborah was there and I was just talking to her about what a good job she does around here and she started crying.”

Seth looked uncomfortable as he said, “You think my father made her cry? Did she say something?”

“
Not really. I mean, she didn’t say anything about your father but she did say something strange to me.”

“
Which was?”

“
She said you were a good boy and not your father… something like that. Then she looked me dead in the eye and said, “But be careful, don’t make the same mistakes I did.” I was about to ask her what she meant when everyone came in.”

“
She was warning you about me?”

“
I don’t think it was so much about you and me as it was her… maybe her and your father… I thought.”

Seth raised both eyebrows then and said, “You think my father and Deborah are…? Ew!”

I laughed at that. “Seth, your father is what…? Maybe fifty-five. He’s a nice looking man. You don’t think he sees women?”

He shrugged and said, “I suppose. I just don’t like to think about it. Especially not with Debbie.”

“
Why? You don’t like Deborah?”

“
No. It’s because I do like Deborah. She’s way too good for him.”

“
Seth!” I tried to sound incredulous, but I laughed and gave myself away.

“
I’m serious,” he said. “He claimed to love my mother and to this day claims it’s why he stayed single after she died… but I was there; I saw how he treated my mother. She deserved better too. A lot better. My mother was an incredible woman and he treated her like dirt.”

“
How long ago did your mother pass away?”

“
Five years ago,” he said. “I miss her every day.”

“
Yeah, I know how you feel,” I said.

“
I’m sorry, Erin. You lost both of your parents and a lot younger than I lost mine. I’m being insensitive. I got off track anyways. What was the point of all of this again?”

“
I was just wondering how Deborah knew about us more than anything.”

“
I don’t know. I haven’t been bragging, although I think I have a right to,” he grinned and waggled his eyebrows up and down.

I laughed, “You’re hopeless.”

“
Seriously,” he said. “Do you mind people knowing? I mean, I guess we haven’t talked about exclusivity but I know that I don’t want to see anyone else and I’d love to be thought of as part of a couple with you.”

“
You’re so sweet sometimes,” I said. Once again he’d made me warm all over.

“
Just sometimes?”

“
Yeah,” I said. “Just sometimes. The rest of the time, you’re still a little arrogant.”

He laughed, “There’s my outspoken red-head. But you didn’t answer the question.”

“
No, I don’t care that people know. I’d like to be known as half of that couple as well.”

“
Good,” he said with a wink. “Because I was hoping to take you to the Ball this weekend.”

“
Oh this,” I said, picking up the invitation.

“
Yep, that. My father puts it on every year. It’s like a thank you for the shareholders and top performers of the company. I’d love it if you would go with me as my official date.”

How could I refuse? A night to get dressed up like a princess and debut on Seth’s arm—good! A night with the opportunity to get inside the inner sanctum and do a little bit of snooping—great. Coming face to face with James at last… not so good, but doable. “I’d love to,” I told him.

***

After I said yes to Seth about the ball, I was equal parts of excited and terrified. I started out the week excited. I left work early for the first time since I started the job at Hunter Corp. and I went shopping. I love to shop, but for me this trip was a nerve-wracking experience. I was going to be on the arm of the CEO. That alone would put the spotlight on me. I was also going to be meeting his father for the first time. That would have been nerve-wracking in and of itself. But this was not just any father. This was the man I had loved to hate most of my life, my arch nemesis.

I went from boutique to department store and even to the mall. Then I went back to the boutique and once again to the mall for my shoes and a purse to match the gown I had finally settled on. I’d gone back and bought the first dress that I tried on. It was a dark green formal evening dress. The boutique called it a “Military Ball” dress. It was a sleeveless, sequined mermaid style dress with a brush train in the back. The neck was a split “V” design and it fit like a sleeve across my bust, waist and hips. I loved it the first time I tried it on but was worried that maybe it was too much. After I tried on several others, I decided that I wasn’t going to do any better in terms of style or a color that would flatter my bright hair, my green eyes and my pale skin.

When I walked into the apartment that Tuesday night, Grant was laying shirtless on the couch watching some mindless sitcom and eating ice cream out of the container. He actually had the container resting on his naked stomach.

“
Hey guy! What’s going on?”

“
Why ever would you think something was going on?” he asked, with his trademark Grant grin.

I sat down near his feet and said, “Let me see. You’re watching a syndicated comedy show on television, half-naked with a pint of ice cream sitting on your belly as you eat it and you have Ben and Jerry’s in that one little piece of chest hair you have there.”

“
Hey! I have lots of chest hair. I’m a manly man!”

“
Yeah, okay. I guess it’s invisible.”

With a mock wounded look he said, “This is what I need when I’ve had a bad day… insults.”

“
Aw, I’m sorry. What happened? Why was the day so bad?”

His eyes looked really sad as he said, “Juniper doesn’t want to see me anymore.”

Her name still really bothered me, but I did my best to be mature about it as I said, “Did she say why?”

“
She says we were “fun” but we weren’t “going anywhere.” She says she’s nearly thirty and she needs to know where her future is leading.”

“
Oh…”

“
What? You agree with her? We’ve only been dating for three weeks. You know for me that’s a commitment in itself. Why does she need to know where it’s going already?”

“
Let me ask you this. Why does it matter to you all of a sudden? In the past, you would have been happy for an excuse to get out of it.”

“
Because I really like her. I really thought she might be the one.”

I laughed and said, “Well then what’s the problem? Isn’t that what she wants?”

“
I didn’t tell her that.”

“
Why not crazy boy?”

“
Because she might be the one, but I need to know her better before I make that decision. I’m not going to tell her something just because it’s what she wants to hear. Then if it doesn’t work out, she gets hurt.”

“
Aw, my poor Grant. Here you are, actually trying to do what’s right and getting punished for it and I’m doing everything wrong and getting rewarded.”

He put down the ice cream and swung his legs down and sat up. Putting his arm around me, he said, “You are doing what you’re doing to get back what should have been yours to begin with.”

“
And in the process, I’m using the first man that I’ve ever had real feelings for. He’s… God Grant; he’s just everything I ever wanted. I couldn’t have dreamed up a more perfect man. Here I am shopping for a gown so that I can fit in at this ball meanwhile planning to sneak around and go through his father’s personal things. What a horrible person I am.”

Grant pulled me into his shoulder and kissed the top of my head. “You love this guy?”

I felt the tears begin to fall on his bare shoulder as I nodded and said, “I think I am. I’ve never been in love before. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to feel like.”

“
So what does it feel like?”

“
I can’t think straight when he’s around. He makes me laugh, he makes me feel safe, and he makes me feel beautiful and smart and funny…”

I was sobbing by then and Grant lifted my chin so that he could look at my face when he said,  “That sounds like love to me, baby.”

“
What should I do?” I asked him.

“
I can’t tell you what to do, especially not about this. Everything you’ve done for so many years has been to get where you are now. Seth was a complication to say the least. But now, if you really want to be with him and you want it to work… I’m afraid that you’re going to have to choose.”

“
Between him and my company?”

“
Think about this,” he said. “If it works out between the two of you and you end up in wedded bliss with two point five children, you could always tell him then. From what you’ve told me, I doubt that he’d choose the old man over you.”

I knew that he was right. I also knew that I couldn’t choose. I was in love with Seth, I was sure of it. I didn’t know how to walk away from that. I didn’t want to. I didn’t know how to walk away from my company either. I didn’t want to. So, after considering Grant’s words all week I got ready for the party Saturday night in a jumble of nerves. I knew I wasn’t ready to tell Seth the truth. I knew I wasn’t ready to give up on my legacy. I wanted it all.

~

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

~

I was shaking by the time Seth rang the doorbell to pick me up Saturday night. Grant was out, thank goodness. It seemed lately that every time we talked, I ended up baring my soul and dissolving into tears. Poor Grant was probably wishing for a tough guy roommate for a change. When I opened the door my breath was taken away. Seth was wearing a dark blue suit. It looked like it had been handmade and hand-tailored. It fit him perfectly and accentuated his gorgeous, hard body. The lapels were a dark gray color, the shirt underneath matched the lapels and his tie matched the suit that perfectly matched his eyes. When I could find my breath I said, “Hi there, handsome.”

He looked as taken with me as I was with him. I had worn my hair mostly down. I had the top done in a twist that pulled the front and sides away from my face. I had a sapphire necklace that used to belong to my mom. It was one of a very small handful of things I was able to keep when I was forced to leave my home. I felt like a princess in my dress and the way that Seth was looking at me made me feel that much more beautiful. At last he let out a long, low wolf whistle.

“
God, you are perfect.”

“
Thank you,” I said. “So are you.”

“
Are you ready?”

I was and I wasn’t. “Yeah, I’m ready,” I said, grabbing my bag. Seth and I took the elevator down and once again, my breath was taken away when I saw the limousine waiting for us outside my building. Even working for these people, I had failed to wrap my head around the extent of the money that was involved here. I wondered if James Hunter ever felt even a little bit guilty about having so much while a thirteen year old girl had grown up with so little.