Billionaire by Design (A BWWM Romance) (2 page)

“You’re kidding me?!” Zane exclaimed in surprise. “I was checking those out before I came in here. They’re awesome!”

“Really?” she replied bashfully with a slight look of embarrassment. “Nah…”

“The burgers, fries, and drinks? Yeah, they’re great!” he reassured her as he turned to admire the work once again. Although the back of the signs were facing him, he could still see the art plain as day thanks to Tucson’s bright sun shining through the white paper stock.

“My manager did the lettering, I just drew the pictures,” she explained modestly, yet again fidgeting with the corners of the register.

“The pictures steal the show. That’s some real talent. Must have taken you hours to do all that, huh?”

The front door’s entrance chime sounded as an elderly man and a boy who appeared to be his grandson strolled into the restaurant.

“Actually took me about an hour,” Jenna answered as she shot a big smile and friendly wave to the new customers.

“Only one hour? Jesus…” Zane commented in stunned disbelief. “Listen,” he began as he politely gestured with a raised finger and kind smile for the old man and little boy who’d sidled up next to him to give him another second. “My firm’s been looking for a new logo for our company letterhead. My artists are great, but they think a lot alike and everything they’ve come up with kind of looks the same. I could really use a new pair of eyes. How about you see what you can come up with, and if I like it I’ll buy it off of you?”

“I don’t know…” she answered as Zane looked at her almost pleadingly with his captivating eyes. “I don’t think I’m good enough for—”

“Nonsense,” he interrupted. He reopened his wallet and fished out a business card. “If you hand drew those signs, I have faith that you can do it all. Plus I’d really like to see some more of your work. My company’s always looking for talented artists.”

He handed her a business card that she briefly looked over before shoving it into her back pocket.

“When do you need it by?” she asked as the elderly man and his presumed grandchild stood waiting patiently.

“How’s one week sound? I also want to see some of your other stuff. The address and phone number are on the card. Just call my secretary and set up a meeting. Deal?”

“Fair enough,” Jenna replied as Zane stepped aside to let the aged man and young boy place their order.

“Order fifty-eight!” a voice sounded from the back. Michael appeared two seconds later with Zane’s bag of greasy food and handed it to him with the same friendly smile he’d been trained to deliver. Zane thanked him, then stood patiently while waiting for Jenna to finish up with her two customers.

“Just wanted to say how lovely it was to meet you, and I look forward to seeing you in one week,” he winked while flashing his perfect smile.

“I’ll be there, but no guarantees you’ll like what I come up with,” she sighed as she shook his hand goodbye, her heart once again thudding at his touch and her knees weakening as his blue eyes seemed to peer into her soul.

“Confidence,” he said over his shoulder as he made his way toward the door, “is the key to success. One week!”

Back in the parking lot, Zane found a defeated Carl sitting in the driver’s seat with his window down, listening to talk radio. His chauffeur killed the volume at the sight of his approaching boss and leaned out the window to give him the news.

“Tow truck’s on the way. Company’s sending a new car to get us. Should be here any second.”

“Thanks, Carl,” Zane nodded as he reached into the bag and pulled out the man’s order of fries. As Carl stuffed them down, Zane stood outside the driver’s side door making small talk with him between bites of his burger. It was far too hot to be standing in the sun wearing an all black suit, but the interior of the limousine wasn’t much cooler. Thankfully, the tow truck arrived moments later, and their new set of wheels shortly thereafter.

By the time Zane arrived back at the office, the
Eegee’s
meeting had long since wrapped and Phil Miller had appropriately gathered the art department in the conference room to discuss their new strategy. Not wanting to interrupt their creative process, Zane waited until they’d dispersed before tracking Phil down in the break room to grab the day’s highlights. Phil, the chubby marketing whiz who was already balding at only twenty-eight years old, was great at his job despite being somewhat of a loudmouth. He was nothing but professional in front of clients, which was of the utmost importance, but when he wasn’t working, he could be overbearingly rambunctious… especially while drinking.

Phil enjoyed his liquor to the point where Zane had to instate a policy barring alcohol from the building after a drunken incident that almost cost the firm an arm, a leg, and the reputation they’d worked so hard to achieve. Three years earlier, Phil, having downed a celebratory bottle of vodka after scoring BMW as a client, decided it would be a great idea to slide a hand up his secretary’s skirt.

Suffice it to say, that didn’t end well, but a lawsuit was avoided after a hefty payout. Understandably furious, Zane had come extremely close to letting Phil go, but his protégé’s groveling and tears got the best of him. He decided to keep Phil on board but warned him that such forgiveness would never be seen again. He also docked Phil’s pay to reimburse the company for the large check he had to cut the drunkard’s former secretary.

Since then, Phil managed to snag the firm another twenty clients while remaining sober, at least in the office, the entire time. His knack for running his mouth, however, hadn’t changed, but Zane was able to overlook that since the guy had made his company a tremendous amount of money over the years. Yes, despite his cocky demeanor and boisterous behavior, there was no denying that Phil was hugely beneficial to the firm. He was amazing with clients, able to lay on the perfect balance of humor and charm, and Zane had entrusted him with the company’s largest accounts.

“There’s the man!” Phil sounded his familiar greeting as Zane strolled into the break room. “Good job missing the Eegee’s meeting.”

“Car trouble,” Zane shook his head in reply as he made his way to the coffee maker.

“I heard. But don’t sweat it. The meeting went great. I got it all worked out,” Phil boasted with a toothy grin as he sat with his feet resting on one of the break room’s circular tables.

“So…” Zane asked as he poured himself a mug of coffee. “Details?”

“We’re going to put more of an emphasis on their sandwiches. I convinced them to switch their bread recipe up. We’re going to market them as a healthy alternative to fast food. You know, kind of like Subway does,” Phil explained before pretending his hands were guns and making his ridiculous “pow, pow” noises.

“A healthy alternative to fast food? Isn’t this the place that sells French fries smothered in ranch dressing and topped with bacon?” Zane laughed.

“Yeah, well, we’re going to downplay that part,” Phil chuckled in return. “And we’re going to have them offer fresh cucumber and apple slices as well. You know, things like that.”

“I like it,” Zane smiled as he took a seat across from Phil. “Slogans? Advertising?”

“Got the art department working on it already, my man,” Phil replied confidently.

“Good work,” Zane praised as he waited for his coffee to cool down. No cream or sugar for him. He liked it black. He found his mind drifting back to Jenna, the gorgeous young woman he’d met earlier in the day by pure happenstance. Her long, wavy hair and big, brown eyes were hard to forget, but from the moment he’d laid eyes on her, he’d sensed that she was much more than just stunning good looks. He’d always been good at reading people, and his instincts hadn’t failed him when it came to this breathtaking beauty. Even though he’d only seen the few drawings decorating
Family Burger’s
storefront signage, they’d been enough for him to tell that she was quite the talented artist. He couldn’t help but wonder what other surprises this aspiring graphic designer had in store, and he truly hoped to see her again in a week. His thoughts were interrupted by the snapping of Phil’s fingers.

“Hey! Hey! Where are you?” he smirked from across the table.

“What? Oh, sorry. Just have a few things on my mind,” a flustered Zane replied as he placed the mug to his lips only to decide the coffee was still too hot. “Listen… I want to revisit the Family Burger account.”

“Family Burger?” Phil scoffed incredulously. “Family Burger? Hell, I forgot they were even a client still. Why the fuck would you want to revisit them? Aren’t they one of our smaller accounts?”

“I started this company to help businesses succeed,” Zane began in his typical matter-of-fact tone. “I drove by one of their restaurants earlier and they don’t exactly look like they’re succeeding anymore. I want to fix that.”

“Poor management isn’t our responsibility and you know that, man. If I recall, we gave them an awesome campaign they did great with for quite some time. If they’re not doing well anymore, it sounds like it’s their fault and not ours.”

“First of all,
I
gave them an awesome campaign, not
we
,” Zane corrected. “Secondly, I don’t want to see any business fail.” After a moment of thought he added with a chuckle, “Unless they’re our competition, of course.”

“Right on,” Phil laughed and gave his boss a fist-bump.

“Plus I forgot how good their food is. Especially for the price.”

“Wait, you ate there? I thought you said you just drove by,” Phil said with his eyes widened in disbelief.

“Okay, okay… I might have grabbed a burger,” Zane smirked.

“Zane Talbot, goddamn billionaire, pulling over to grab a meal at Family Burger,” Phil threw his head back and bellowed laughter. “I never thought I’d see the day!”

“Whoa, slow down. I’m not a billionaire yet,” Zane grinned. “A few more clients, maybe…”

They shared another laugh, then went on to discuss the possibility of expansion as Zane casually finished his coffee. With roughly one hundred and twenty clients, yet only fifty overworked employees on payroll, they’d have to undergo another round of hiring if they wanted to snag more accounts.

Setting up an East Coast branch in New York City and joining the ranks of the Madison Avenue elite weighed heavily on his mind. He’d worked hard to build a successful marketing firm in the Southwest, the most unlikely of places, and knew a location in New York City or Los Angeles was inevitable if he wanted to take business to the next level by forming a corporation. Yes, big changes would have to come soon, and even though he’d only met her briefly, he hoped Jenna would be a part of them.

“So, who was the suit that was chattin’ you up?” Michael asked Jenna after handing order fifty-nine to the elderly man and the young boy accompanying him.

“Said his name was Zane,” Jenna answered as she grabbed the business card from her back pocket and studied it more thoroughly. “Zane Talbot from Enterprise Marketing. Oh, and he wasn‘t ‘chattin‘ me up,’ you goof.”

“Sure looked like it,” Michael teased.

“Shut up,” she giggled as she rolled her eyes. Michael was only one year older than her, and they’d become chummy since he began working at
Family Burger
a year earlier. When he wasn’t shouting out order numbers, he was rather soft spoken and extremely nice, despite his menacing appearance. One hundred pounds overweight and tattooed-up with a long, thick beard and facial piercings, he was the poster child for never judging a book by its cover.

“What’s his story? Not every day we get a suit like that in here,” he asked as he looked over her shoulder at the business card.

“I told him I was going to school for graphic art and he asked me to design him a logo,” she shrugged as she stuffed the card back in her pocket.

“Think he’s legit?” Michael questioned. He headed back to the sink to wash his hands with Jenna following behind him.

“Didn’t you see his limo parked out front?” she replied.

“Gee, I guess I must have missed that. Sorry the grill doesn’t have much of a view,” he joked as he reached for a paper towel to dry his hands. Jenna felt silly for asking such a dumb question. Of course Michael couldn’t see the limousine parked out front from his station in the back.

“Well, it was out there. Between that, his suit, and his business cards… I think it’s safe to say that, yeah, he’s probably legit.”

“Rich guys don’t typically eat at Family Burger, Jenna,” Michael reminded her with a chuckle.

“True, but I’m pretty sure he only came in because his car died. I watched it get towed and some other car picked him and his driver up a few minutes later,” she recounted.

“His driver? How fancy,” Michael scoffed, then added, “So, you going to give it a shot?”

“Eh, I don’t know,” Jenna sighed. “I mean, I want to, but his company looks pretty major and I’d probably wind up looking stupid. I’m sure he’d look at my designs and laugh.”

“Oh, knock it off,” Michael snapped back. “If the guy’s really on the up and up, you’d be dumb to miss out on such a good opportunity. Aren’t you almost done with school? You’re going to need a job and this sounds like a good in.”

Conversations like this were why she respected Michael and valued his friendship. She knew he had feelings for her since he’d confessed them to the same coworker who was also her roommate.

The news had quickly made its way back to her, but she didn’t want to make the workplace uncomfortable or jeopardize their friendship by discussing it with him. He never once made a move on her, never attempted even the slightest flirtation, and always showed her the same level of selflessness that he showed everyone else.

He could have easily dissuaded her from pursuing this opportunity in a selfish ploy to keep her working at
Family Burger
longer, but he simply wasn’t wired that way. He truly wanted what was best for her, not what was best for him, and she appreciated that tremendously. Her manager, Juan, was much the same way.

“True,” she agreed after some deliberation. “Maybe I’ll mess around with a few ideas and see what I can come up with. He wants something by next week. That should be more than enough time.”

“Yeah, seriously, especially with how fast you work!” Michael nodded reassuringly. “You got this.”

With Michael’s confidence boost, she finished her shift and made the short drive home to find her roommate, Leigh, relaxing on the couch with the television on. They’d met and immediately hit it off at
Family Burger
four years prior, and had lived together now for almost as long.

Leigh’s previous roommate had abruptly moved out, and needing somebody to help split the bills, she had invited Jenna to take the open room. Jenna, who had been alternating between her car and a seedy motel, jumped at the opportunity.

They’d managed to remain close, despite not seeing each other as often as they used to. Leigh had begun taking evening classes at Pima Community College, and had switched her schedule around to work mornings at
Family Burger
. Their shifts occasionally overlapped, but it was the nights at home relaxing on the couch before bed when the two really got to spend time together. Tonight, however, there would be no time to socialize. Jenna gave Leigh the short version of events while her friend listened attentively, then headed to her room to boot up her computer.

Normally she’d take a long, hot shower before slipping on her robe and watching television alongside Leigh, but she couldn’t get Zane Talbot out of her head. Their entire exchange had lasted only five minutes, yet she’d been thinking about him ever since. His incredible eyes, deep voice, confident stride, perfect smile, firm hands, and commanding presence had completely captivated her. Everything about the man was intriguing, and impossible to forget.

With her computer booted and ready to go, she wasted little time heading to Google to search for “Zane Talbot.” Her search yielded a plethora of results, all of them impressive.

She found countless articles centered around Talbot himself and his lucrative
Enterprise Marketing
. Nowhere in her search did she uncover anything negative about the man or his company, nor did she unearth any sign of a girlfriend, fiancée, or wife. An image search returned photos of the same gorgeous man she’d met earlier in the day, and the sight of his handsome face made her heart flutter once again. The pictures were mostly of him at company functions, or professional shots taken to accompany the articles written about him. Not a single photo showed him with another woman. Jenna found herself relieved by this and was quick to chastise herself for it.

Why does it matter if he’s with somebody else? Degree and a decent job, Jenna, those are supposed to be your only goals. Besides, like he’d be interested in a girl like you anyway. You work at a goddamn fast food joint.

Years earlier, Jenna had resolved to focus on her education and career, placing them as her highest priority and swearing to remain single until she’d achieved them both.

Sadly, she’d seen too many of her high school classmates derail their dreams by falling for the wrong men. She was afraid of making the same mistake and winding up pregnant and alone. In hopes of avoiding this, she decided the best possible prevention was to remain celibate until she had a framed degree on her wall and a reliable, satisfying job.

Yes, at twenty-four years old, Jenna was still a virgin and often struggled with how she felt about that. Worried she’d be treated differently if people knew the truth, she’d become a pro at changing the subject when it came to sex. She avoided any discussion of her sexual history, and when pressed, would resort to fabricating stories while trying to steer the conversation in another direction.

A year earlier, after downing two big bottles of white wine one night, Leigh had relentlessly grilled her regarding her love life.

“Oh my God, what’s the big fucking deal? Just tell me how many guys you’ve fucked already,” Leigh had insisted with slurred speech. After twenty minutes of drunken prodding, Jenna finally silenced her with a series of white lies.

“Okay, okay. Four. Now will you drop it?”

When Leigh demanded more details, Jenna had gone so far as to make up names and stories for all four of her fictional lovers while her friend hung on every word. She didn’t blame Leigh for being curious, though. At that point, they’d lived together for three years and Leigh had never heard Jenna talk about a man, let alone seen her bring one home.

“I actually thought you might be a lesbian,” Leigh had giggled before rushing down the hall and into the bathroom to vomit and pass out. Jenna hoped the girl had been too drunk to remember the conversation. Since a year had passed with no mention of it, she could only assume she had.

As the only virgin she knew, she felt like an outcast but remained steadfast in her commitment to her schooling and employment. Still, she did have those moments, especially late at night when the uncertainty of the future kept her awake, when she longed for a man’s touch. Having somebody by her side, somebody to wrap their arms around her and tell her everything was going to be okay, was something that sounded quite nice indeed.

Somebody like Zane Talbot.

Jenna caught her thoughts drifting to him yet again and scolded herself for the second time that night. She had to keep her eyes on the prize, as she was fond of saying, and that prize was a fruitful career stemming from the hard-earned bachelor’s degree that she was only three months short of receiving.

Ignoring the attraction she felt for the man she’d only met briefly, she cleared her head and recognized that a logo design for
Enterprise Marketing
would look damn impressive on a resume. That is, if the company chose to use her work. Zane Talbot had proven to be the real deal, and that meant it was time for her to get to work.

Opening up Adobe Illustrator, a program she’d grown quite familiar with over the years, she began toying with ideas for the marketing firm’s new logo.

Zane hadn’t given her much to work with, and she was sure that was quite intentional. He’d mentioned that he wanted a pair of new eyes and likely didn’t want her to be influenced by his art department’s work. She scrapped her first two ideas, believing them to be too simplistic and amateur, but by her third attempt, an idea was beginning to take shape.

She worked diligently until 2:00 am, then had to force herself to get a few hours of sleep. Once she started a project, it was common for her to become so engrossed in it that she’d stay glued to her computer until it was done. She had class first thing in the morning, though, and needed her rest. She backed up her work, pried herself away from her screen, and readied herself for bed. As she drifted off to sleep, thoughts of Zane Talbot’s mesmeric blue eyes pervaded her thoughts.