The Billionaire and the Cleaner (5 page)

“I got noodles, of course. Egg fried rice, curry, and chow
mein. Also, spring rolls, prawn balls, and pretty much everything else on the
menu,” he said.

“Okay, I guess I’ll try something from every box.” The black
shirt she wore showed a great deal of her chest. Her breasts were pressed
together and looked so tempting. When she leaned forward he got a good look at her
chest. Licking his lips, he grabbed the first carton and then handed her some
chopsticks.

Get your shit
together. You’re not some horny teenager.

“Aren’t you going to try something first?” she asked.

Pushing his chop sticks into the carton, he pulled out a
prawn ball. He didn’t taste a single bite as he ate it.
Kent
kept his
eye on Lana as she pressed the ball into her mouth. Her full lips closed around
the chopsticks. He was losing his mind. There was nothing sensual about eating
Chinese food.

“Thank you for getting me this,” she said. “It has been ages
since I ate food as good as this.”

“It’s a pleasure. So, Lana, tell me about yourself,” he
said, wanting to know more about her.

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“Sure there is.” He picked up another carton for her to try.
Together they munched their way through the food.
Kent
pulled a pillow across his lap
to hide his growing erection.

“I’ve got nothing to say. I work two jobs, and this is my
place. I like visiting the library in my spare time, and I’ve got an addiction
to baking,” she said.

There had to be far more to her than that. Scooping up some
noodles, he took a quick look around the room. There were no personal photos.
Most people had pictures of friends or graduation days. Inside Lana’s apartment
there was nothing.

Turning back to her, he grew more intrigued by the woman he
knew next to nothing about.

“Tell me more about you,” she said.

Chapter Five

The personal questions unnerved her. She didn’t like talking
about her past as that’s where she wanted her past to stay and never come out.
Munching on the noodles, Lana waited for him to start talking.

“Why don’t you have any photos?” he asked, ignoring her
question.

She finished eating and placed the carton back on the table.
Why did this have to be so hard? This was why she kept to herself. The hours
she worked stopped her from attaching herself to people. The diner was perfect
as none of the staff had time to talk. Some of the girls tried to get her to go
out, but she refused because of her second job. Working in
Kent
’s building
took her late into the night when everyone was home. If anything, she talked to
the security guard on the way out of the building, no interactions at all that
left her feeling out of place.

“I don’t have any photos to put up,” she said. “I don’t like
these questions, and I’d prefer to know about you.”

Her mother never owned a camera, and there were never any
photos of the happy times when she lived with her mother. She didn’t own a
single photo of her time growing up.
Talking about growing up
made people pity her.
Lana had learned that lesson with past boyfriends,
especially when they threw the guilt back in your face. Frank, her last
boyfriend, was a prime example of him throwing her past in her face. His excuse
for staying with her for so long was because he felt pity for her. He didn’t
want to leave her after he found out about her past. How fucked up was that? Not
only that, he liked to slap her a little bit as well. The more Lana thought
about her past with Frank, the happier she was to have gotten away from him.

She’d learned from her past mistakes. Men didn’t really want
to know the truth unless it was sunshine and roses. Her past was anything but
sunshine and roses. There was no way she’d be telling
Kent
about her
past. Her past was for her to know and for no-one to find out.

“I’m not going to get past your walls, am I?” he asked.

“No,” she said not even pretending to not know what he
meant.

“Okay, what do you want to know?” he asked, picking up
another carton.

“Whatever you want to tell me.”
She wasn’t
lying. Lana liked the thought of
Kent
being her friend. He was funny
and sweet. Their lives didn’t need to conflict. He was a businessman while she
cleaned his building.

“I’m forty-five years old. I’m not married, and I run a
successful business.”

“I know all this. I’ve read some stuff about you in the
paper. Shouldn’t you be married with an heir or something to take over your growing
fortune?” she asked, smiling.

Kent
chuckled.
She liked the sound as it made goose-bumps erupt all over her flesh.

“That’s very old-fashioned. No, no heir. My family are
really happy for what I’ve achieved. My dad is proud of me forging my own way.”

“And there’s no woman on the scene?” she asked.

He shook his head, but his smile fell.

“Come on, tell me?” She touched his arm, and an answering
spark of electricity worked its way up her arm.

“There was someone a long time ago.”

“What happened?” she asked. Her appetite vanished as he
spoke. What was wrong with her? There was no way they could ever be an item.
They were from different worlds, and she never wanted her life to be mixed with
his. She’d never be the type of woman to mingle in high society.

Her education was lacking, and she didn’t come from money.

It doesn’t
mean I can’t want him from a distance.

“Are we going to do this?”

“Do what?” She lifted her gaze to his.

“Be friends?”

“Haven’t you ever had a girl that’s a friend?” she asked.

“No, I fuck every woman I know.”

She swallowed down the food she’d been chewing.
Fucking.
Wow, Lana couldn’t believe her body responded at
such a crass word. Her nipples tightened, and her pussy flooded with warmth.

“Then yes, we’re friends.”

He kept staring at her. His intense gaze made her uneasy.
“Can I trust you?”

Lana frowned. “Why couldn’t you trust me?”

“There are people out there who want to see me fall. I’ve
made a lot of enemies because of my success.”

She shrugged. “Tell me the people, and I’ll remember to
cross them off my list. I’ll never be their friend. I promise,
Kent
, I’m being
serious. I think it’ll be cool to be your friend.”

Bumping his shoulder, she grabbed the remote from the small
table she kept by the sofa. Turning on the television she averted his attention
to the small screen. “This is the biggest television you own?” he asked.

“Yes. I don’t watch a lot of television.” She flicked
through the channels as he cursed.

“If we’re friends then this is not acceptable.”

“What’s not acceptable?” She paused in turning on the
television.

“If we’re going to be friends then you need a bigger screen,
and you’re going to need beer in the fridge.”

“Are you planning on invading my life now?” she asked. “I’m
not accepting any gifts from you, Kent Anderson. You can keep your money in
your bank account. I’m happy with everything I’ve got.”

Was she making a huge mistake?
Kent
was used to having one thing
from the women he dated. She wasn’t that kind of woman, and she didn’t want to
get involved with a man way out of her league.

Stop over-analysing.
There is no way
Kent
could want you. Relax and enjoy this new friendship you’ve created.

****

Kent
settled back
on the sofa feeling a little out of place.
Friends?
They were going to be friends and nothing more.

You don’t
just want to be her friend. You want to be more and have more with her.

He turned to stare at her. Her brown hair was tucked behind
her ear, giving him a good view of her face. Her
skin looked
so soft and made him want
to reach out and stroke it. The movie she’d
picked filled the silence. Reaching his hand behind her head, he played with
her hair. She didn’t stop him or slap his hand away.
Kent
twiddled the length of her
hair between his fingers relishing the newfound closeness he’d discovered with
her.

After a couple of hours Lana stood up and stretched. He
gulped past the lump in his throat as her rounded stomach peeked from beneath
the jeans and shirt she wore. Full women had never appealed to him until now.

What was it about Lana Hawkins that called to him? He could
have his pick of any woman, and yet he was sat in Lana’s apartment eating
Chinese without the promise of a fuck. He felt dirty at his thoughts. Fucking
wasn’t everything.

“I’ve got to call it a night,” she said.

“Are you throwing me out of your apartment?” He stood,
hoping she wouldn’t spot his raging arousal.

“I’m sorry, but I am.”

He looked down at the leftover Chinese. “Let me help you put
these in the trash.”

“Absolutely not.
These are
perfect for leftovers.” She started picking up the cartons and moved toward the
fridge. He followed her with several more cartons. “These will be perfect for
me over the next few days, and you can come by anytime and help me finish
them.”

He’d stick to that invitation. She saw him to the door.

“I had fun tonight,” he said and meant it.
Kent
had never
thought simply sitting with a woman could be so much fun. Most of the women he
dated ended up on their back by the end of the evening. He loved sex and wasn’t
ashamed of his need for it. Lana made him want so much more.

Shit, he was turning into a fucking pussy like his friends
before him.

“I had fun as well. You’re really good company, Kent. I’ll
see you tomorrow?” she asked. She’d put her hands in the pockets at the back of
her jeans, and her tits were thrust up as if on some glorious display.

“Yeah, you’ll see me tomorrow,” he said, taking every effort
not to drop his gaze to her chest. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Good
night.”

He turned away and went around the back to get his car.
Kent
breathed a
sigh of relief when he saw it was still intact. Maybe her neighbourhood wasn’t
so bad after all.

Kent
made it back
to his apartment in good time. He probably broke several speeding laws on his
way, but he got home in one piece. It was a little after two in the morning. He
threw his keys on the kitchen counter and went straight to his bedroom. A woman
in red lingerie was laid on his bed with a seductive smile on her lips.

“Hello, handsome. I was wondering when you were going to get
home.”

“Cherrie, what are you doing here?” he asked, recognising
the model he’d dated last year. How had she gotten into his apartment?

She climbed off the bed. “You haven’t been in touch. The
last time we talked you gave me your key.” Cherrie pulled his apartment key
from between her breasts. “If you never responded to my call then I was to let
myself in and make myself at home.”

He gazed down her thin frame. She was perfect model thin,
and he saw the outline of her ribs even though she wasn’t breathing in or
stretching. Running a hand down his face,
Kent
wondered how he was going to
get her out of his space. He must have been drunk when he gave her a spare key.
None of his women were allowed inside his apartment without his say-so.

Shit!

She reached around the back and removed her bra. Her breasts
stayed where they were. She’d gotten a breast enlargement for a job she’d been
working on. Her breasts were unnaturally large, but now they looked more
fake
than he remembered from the last time they’d been
together.

Lana’s were full and real. He saw how real they were in the
way she moved. Her breasts moved with her whereas Cherrie’s stayed in one
place.

At the sight of the model’s body,
Kent
didn’t get any reaction. He’d
fucked Cherrie numerous times, but he couldn’t find anything attractive about
her now. His cock remained flaccid in his pants.

“I didn’t invite you back to my apartment,” he said. “It’s
late. I’m tired.” He needed to tread carefully. Cherrie was prone to overreact,
and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with her drama.

She rubbed her hands over her breasts. “Come on,
Kent
. I know
you want to fuck me. You always want to fuck me.” Cherrie went to her knees and
crawled to him.
Kent
closed his eyes as a wave of disgust swept through him.