Utterly Yours (Book Two) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (3 page)

              After yet another long day at the shelter, Nathaniel had Tony bring back a suit so that he could get himself dressed and ready before arriving at the hotel.  He changed, combed his hair, and threw on some cologne.  He did a quick video chat with Eliza that was fairly pleasant, and they even planned to have a second one in a couple of days.  He looked himself in the mirror, checking himself over to ensure that he was ready for his date. “You sure are dressed up nice for a date with a homeless woman,” Tony said. “I think she is just impressed you can afford a rental car.”

              “Don’t be a dick,” Nathaniel said as he straightened his navy blue tie.  “She deserves a good night out, and I’m going to give it to her.”

              “At this ridiculously fancy restaurant.  Whatever happened to you keeping your wealth a secret?” Tony questioned.

              “She’ll just think I’m really spoiling her,” Nathaniel said with a wink, turning around to face Tony after taking a moment to examine himself in the bathroom mirror at the shelter.  “You cool taking a cab?” Nathaniel asked.

              “Yeah, that’s fine.  Don’t want to cramp your style.  Plus a personal assistant might be harder to explain than a fancy dinner, right?” Tony shook his head.  “She’s not going to think this is cute, Nathaniel.  You’re going to piss her off.”

              Nathaniel waved Tony off.  “She’ll be fine. We’re old friends.” Nathaniel headed out, not at all heeding Tony’s warning.  He climbed into his car and headed towards the hotel, and he spotted Lillian almost instantly wearing a slimming black dress.  He raised a brow –completely taken away by her transformation.

              He exited the car, walking up to her and waving off the valet to let him know he was just picking someone up.  “Whoa,” Nathaniel said, having to make a conscious effort not to stand there with his mouth wide open.  “Lillian, you look incredible.”

              She blushed.  “Um… thanks.  Nice suit.”

              “Thanks,” he said, grinning.  She had showered and shaved, and she smelled like kiwi.

              “So you booked me a spa appointment this morning?” she questioned.  “You didn’t have to do that.  I’m sure it was really expensive.”

              “It wasn’t too bad,” Nathaniel reached out and hooked his arm in hers.  “I hope you’re looking forward to this as much as I am.”

              Her face turned red.  “Of course. I just am a little nervous, to be honest.  It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date.”

              “Oh, so last night wasn’t a date?” Nathaniel teased as they climbed into the car.  Before he pulled away from the hotel, he took a moment to glance over at her.  He could not believe how fit she looked; her legs were well toned, and she seemed so much more comfortable in her skin than she had been on their previous night out. 

              “Of course it was,” she said.  “I just mean it’s been a while since I’ve gone out, you know?”

              “Well, I’m going to be sure to make this a night that you will remember,” he said.

              Nathaniel took Lillian to a five star restaurant where he had had Tony call a reservation in advance.  Lillian seemed completely oblivious about Lynch Industries, and it was clear to Nathaniel that she had certainly been out of the loop of the outside world for a while to have not pieced it together by then.  Lynch Industries was a thriving company, and his face was always plastered in the news about it.  He wondered how long she must have been living like this to have not figured it out yet. 

              Lillian seemed uncomfortable once dinner got underway.  People were staring, but not for the reason that they normally stared.  She looked stunning.  Nathaniel felt proud to be seated with her at the little intimate clothed table.  “I’ve never been anywhere like this before,” she said, blushing.  “You must be doing pretty well for yourself at that company.  How did you even manage to get a reservation here?”

              Nathaniel was not about to tell her that all his assistant had to do was tell the owner that Mr. Lynch wanted to have dinner there, so he told a slight fib.  “Honestly, I have had this reservation for months.  I was supposed to take a client to dinner tonight, but they cancelled on me a few days ago.  I figured I’d never get an opportunity to eat in a place like this again, so I didn’t cancel the reservation.  I’m just glad I managed to find a lovely date for the evening.”

              She smiled at him.  “I got to tell you, I don’t know how to pronounce half the stuff on this menu.” She laughed.  “Never realized how uncultured I was.”

              Nathaniel smirked slightly.  He wanted to ask her about her situation, but he was afraid of making her uncomfortable.  Instead, their conversation shifted towards old times, and they both enjoyed reliving some of their childhood memories.  They laughed and joked around the entire dinner, making fun of their former third wheel, Adam, when they could about how uptight he had been as a kid.  He could hardly believe how much fun he was having.  They did manage to talk about things other than their childhood; they laughed at one another’s expense when they told tales of failed relationships, and Nathaniel talked somewhat about his company –leaving out details that would pin him as someone in a position of power.  Lillian seemed to tread lightly whenever Nathaniel asked a question about what she had been up to since their days at Troy Elementary; he figured she had had a rough time since then.

              Dinner drew to a close, and the two of them headed out –slightly tipsy from the wine that had been served, and their bellies full of some of the most incredible food either of them had ever had.  “I had fun tonight,” Nathaniel said as he helped her into the passenger’s seat of the car.

              “Me too,” she said, smiling.  They took a turn down the main street.  “You can just take me back to the park,” she said embarrassingly.

              “Of course not,” he retorted.  “You still have a room at the hotel.”

              “Nathaniel, you can’t keep paying for me to stay in a hotel room,” she said.

              “For right now I can,” he replied and continued driving down the road that would lead past the park.

              “Would you mind stopping by the park for a quick second?” she asked and held up the box of leftovers they had taken with them.

              “Um… sure?” he said and pulled into the park.

              “I’ll be right back,” she said and hopped out of the car.  She entered into the park and returned shortly without the box of food.

              “What did you do?” Nathaniel asked as they sat by one another in the car.

              “There’s a kid who stays here at night by himself.  I am full, and I’m sure I’ll take advantage of the hotels complimentary breakfast tomorrow morning, so I thought I would give him our leftovers,” she said.

              Nathaniel stared at her for a moment.  Had she really given up her food?  “You’re a good person, Lillian.”

              “I try to be,” she said.

              “You know, you’re the one thing I miss most about this city,” Nathaniel said, and he felt her reach out and touch his knee.  He took it as an open invitation, and he leaned towards her, taking her face into his hands.  Their lips met, and he could tell that she was swooning.  He himself felt a little lightheaded.  When they pulled apart, he caught himself staring at her.  It was hard not to stare.  Nathaniel fancied himself a gentleman –or at least when the mood suited him he did, so he drove her back to the hotel and walked her back to her room.  They shared another sweet kiss before he returned to the presidential suite for the evening.  He went to bed, surprised at how flustered Lillian had made him.

              Nathaniel sat in the back office of the shelter, his laptop seated in front of him on the small desk as he listened to a pitch team from back home in California drone on and on about some new app that lacked a lot of depth.  He tried hard not to roll his eyes at the interns who had done virtually nothing as far as prep work.  It was rather disappointing.  “All right, that’s enough,” Nathaniel said, waving his hand towards the computer screen.  “Seriously.  I’m done.  You kids can leave.”

              Adam, who was seated in the meeting room on the opposite side of the country, nodded along with Nathaniel.  “You kids are excused,” Adam said and waved them out of the room.  Nathaniel watched as Adam turned in his spinning chair to face the enormous screen that Nathaniel’s face was plastered on as they video chatted with one another for the conference.

              “Well, that was an overwhelming disappointment and a ridiculous waste of time,” Nathaniel said.  “Those interns ought to be escorted out of the building for that bullshit.  Ten minutes of blabbering, and I couldn’t even tell you what the hell the app they were talking about is supposed to do.”

              “I think we should green light it,” Adam said out of nowhere, and Nathaniel laughed –assuming that the man was joking.  Adam’s face remained stoic as he stared back at Nathaniel from the other side of his computer screen.  “I’m serious, Nathaniel.”

              “Greenlight it?  For what reason?  It was total crap,” Nathaniel said.

              “I just have a gut feeling about it,” Adam said.  “They’re totally lacking a solid concept, but I think if I put the right person in charge those bozos might actually be onto something.”

              “You’re really serious?” Nathaniel questioned.

              “Who is the app genius, you or me?” Adam retorted.

              Nathaniel rolled his eyes.  Adam had certainly been the one to suggest greenlighting their greatest successes as far as apps went.  Nathaniel, however, had put his cards on some rather impressive failures –for apps, at least.  Nathaniel shook his head.  “I know, I know.  You’re the app genius, but seriously, what do you see in that?”

              “Just trust me on this one.  Greenlight it for me,” Adam said and waited for Nathaniel to respond.

              “You really think it’s worth the time and money?” Nathaniel asked, still not quite sure what the kids were even trying to accomplish.

              “Trust me,” Adam said with a slight smirk.

              “All right, all right, fine.  I’ll call your secretary and have her send me the paperwork to sign.  You better be about to make me some serious money, Adam, because you and I both know that pitch was shit,” Nathaniel said, shaking his head and already reaching for his cellphone to have Adam’s personal assistant send him what he needed.

              “You know I always do,” Adam said and winked at him.  “So, Tony tells me you’ve bene spending some time with a lady out that way?  You’re not falling for a Troy native, are you?”

              Nathaniel laughed.  “That kid just can’t keep a secret, can he?  You remember Lillian Thompson?”

              Adam sat upright.  “No way.”

              “That’s right,” Nathaniel said, crossing his arms and grinning back at his friend. 

              “Damn.  I’m going to turn into a third wheel again, aren’t I?” Adam joked.  “I haven’t heard that name since we were kids.  You followed her around like a dumbass.  What was it she used to always call you?  Was it dumbass?”

              “Dipshit,” Nathaniel said.  “Yeah.”

              “Where the hell did you run into her at?” Adam asked.

              “The shelter.”

              “Was she a volunteer?” Adam asked.

              “No.  Honestly, she was a… customer,” Nathaniel said.

              “Damn,” Adam frowned.  “Hate to hear that.  She was a sweet kid.  Troy wasn’t good to her, I guess.  New York has a way of doing that to people.  You and I lucked out.  Have you gotten her in the sack yet?”

              “Come on, man, it’s Lillian,” Nathaniel griped.

              “Oh, so you got to woo her, right?” Adam questioned.  “Treat her like a lady just because she was your little elementary crush, huh?  That’s cool, man.  You do you.  But, damn, you better woo her quick.  You’ll be coming home in a few days.”

              “Yeah, I know.  Believe me, I’m trying,” Nathaniel said. 

              “Well, I’ll let you go.  I got a lot of shit to get done today,” Adam said and threw up a peace sign before Nathaniel closed his laptop.

              Nathaniel quickly called Adam’s assistant, Katie, and the woman answered in the same perky tone she always does. “Hey, Katie,” Nathaniel said, returning her friendly demeanor the best that he could.  “Could you send me the paperwork for the last pitch Adam and I just sat in on?”

              “Hard to believe that shitty proposal made it all the way to the top dogs,” Katie grumbled and then let out a slight gasp; Nathaniel guessed that she had probably meant to put him on mute.  Most likely she was talking to someone else.  “Sorry, sir,” she said.  She did not have the sort of laid back relationship with them that Tony did.  She was more professional acting than Tony, but Tony knew how to get things done just as well. “So you’re turning it down?” she asked.

              “Actually, I’m greenlighting it, but you’re right –it was a shitty proposal,” Nathaniel said, trying not to laugh at the poor woman.  “It needs word, but it looks like Adam is taking it under his wing.  Anyways, just get the paperwork my way.”

              “Of course, sir.  Oh, really quick, while I have you on the phone, I don’t know if you noticed, but I spotted a discrepancy in the accounts-”

              “The thirty thousand?” Nathaniel questioned.  “Because, yeah, I caught that.  We figured it out.”

              “Um… no, sir.  We were ten thousand off in the trust fund this month,” she said.

              “What the hell?” Nathaniel griped.  “Someone in accounting is getting fired.  I swear.  I’ll have Tony look into it for me.  Ask Adam about it too.  I know he made a lot of transactions this month with the shelter opening, and I think he got sloppy.  But thanks for letting me know.”

              “Of course, sir.  Is there anything else I can do for you today?”

              “That should be all,” Nathaniel said.  “Thanks, Katie.”

              He hung up the phone and waited around for her to email him the documentation for the app.  He signed off on the proposal, rolling his eyes slightly.  It really had been a shitty proposal.