The Billionaire's Elusive Lover (11 page)

Unfortunately, even the sweeping success in business hadn’t been able to distract him from thoughts of the sexy, impertinent and ever so outrageous woman. As he typed in instructions to one of his vice presidents, he couldn’t stop thinking about Helen.

As he shut down the computer, he shook his head and erased the possibility of talk. He didn’t really want to talk to her except whatever words it would take to lure her into his bed. That was all he needed, he told himself. He could bed her, enjoy her and be done with her so he could move on. He wasn’t used to having to work this hard to get what he wanted when it came to women. They threw their lovely bodies in his direction constantly and all he had to do was pick which one interested him at the moment and for however long his interest lasted. Then he moved on, knowing that there was always another woman to conquer.

Maybe that was it as well, he thought as he walked swiftly through the lobby of his headquarters building. Maybe she was just one of those challenges he needed to conquer. Perhaps he’d been thinking about her too much and once he actually got her into bed, he’d discover that she wasn’t as alluring or intriguing as he’d been anticipating all along.

That had to be it, he thought. She was just a mystery, a challenge that he’d been working through. Just like any other business deal he’d decided to conquer, his mind had fixated on her and, since she was more of a challenge than the other women he’d bedded, he was simply working through the details. Alec always won whatever he went after and Helen was one of those resisting issues he needed to conquer.

“Good afternoon, Edna. Is the contract ready?” he asked as he walked past her desk.

Edna snapped to attention as soon as he walked through the door, eager to please him since he’d been in such a good mood lately. “The newest version is printed out on your desk with the revisions you asked for,” she said, following him into his office.

Alec stopped short, his eyes narrowing in on the bottle on his desk. “What’s that?” he demanded but he already knew. Helen. The burning inside him increased as he realized that she’d been thinking about him as well.

Edna was quick to explain, a huge grin spreading across her face. “Helen dropped it off along with the picture she sold. There’s a note that goes along with the wine.” Edna knew that he’d been seeing Helen regularly and, in Edna’s opinion, was the main reason for her boss’s current good humor. Life had been so nice for the past several weeks.

Alec picked up the bottle and read the label, frowning. “Helen bought this for me?” he asked, remembering how she’d only had nine dollars in her purse the first night he’d taken her out to dinner, and how she didn’t have the money yet to spend on a mobile phone. How could she afford a bottle of wine this expensive?

Edna shook her head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Dionysius, but I didn’t read the note. I’m not sure what it’s for.”

He picked up the envelope. His eyes were drawn to the picture and he was stunned by the intensity of colors she’d been able to capture from his balcony. He looked at the picture for a long moment, absorbing the sunset, relishing the fact that Helen had taken it made the picture that much more astounding.

“When did she drop this off?” he asked, his eyes skimming the note.

“I think it was about noon. Is there a problem?” she asked.

He dropped the note onto his desk but propped the photo against his light, knowing he’d want to see it later on. He picked up the bottle and examined the label, his eyes growing concerned. “This is from our vineyard”, he explained absently.

Edna smiled tentatively and wondered about the look in his eyes. It wasn’t one she’d seen before. If she had to put a name it, she would say he was actually confused but that was impossible. Edna had been working for this man for more than five years and she’d never known him to even be indecisive, much less confused. “I thought so. Why is that a problem?” she asked. “Don’t you like the wine you’re producing?”

“It's excellent wine,” he murmured. “Call Jimmy and tell him to meet me out front.”

He walked back out of his office, completely ignoring the work that he needed to be resolved this afternoon.

Fifteen minutes later, Alec was knocking loudly on Helen’s door. The sound was a little harder than perhaps was needed but he was impatient to talk to her and find out about the bottle of wine. And to see her. It had been too long. He’d wanted to call her while he was away, but he wasn’t sure his frustration level could take the long distance communication. He wanted her and it was becoming painful. He was going to have to stop this torture and finalize the issues with Helen. He’d find out why she was so resistant to become intimate and then work out a plan to get her over her fears of the sexual act. There was no way either of them could continue with the way things were going.

It took her a few seconds longer than he could wait so when the door opened with her smiling face, Alec was furious.

“Dammit Helen, did you even know who was knocking?” he demanded, pushing his way into her apartment and slamming the door on his body guards.

Helen’s shocked expression turned to anger. “What are you talking about?” she asked, backing up quickly in an effort to keep from getting too close.

He wouldn’t give her space though. He knew exactly what she was doing and closed the distance between their bodies. After having been denied her company for the previous four days, he wanted nothing separating them. And he wanted satisfaction on several points. “You opened the door without finding out who was knocking. What if it had been someone other than me?”

“Someone who might stalk me and make me nervous, you mean?” she asked pointedly.

He wanted to smile at her wit but held back. “I mean, someone who might cause you harm. Helen, you’re a female living alone in the city. You should know better than to open your door so trustingly.”

“You’re being silly!” she challenged. “Stop stalking me, Alec! Stay where you are.”

She reached up to push her hand against his chest, hoping to stop him but he ignored her feeble attempts. He continued, pressing her back so she was cornered. “Why? I want answers.”

She glared at him, wishing her heart didn’t accelerate and that the man didn’t smell so good. Hadn’t he just gotten off a plane? Shouldn’t he be exhausted and all rumpled? But no! He had to look glorious and rested and as fresh as if he’d just woken up, showered and changed this morning. He simply wasn’t human, she reminded herself. “I didn’t look because I was expecting my neighbor. She’s baking and she usually forgets something from the store.”

That stopped him in his tracks. “Baking?”

She stomped her foot in exasperation and desperation to put some space between them. “Yes, you oaf! Can’t you smell the cookies?”

Alec stopped and sniffed the air. He could actually smell something baking now that he stopped for a moment. He’d missed it initially, having thoughts only of getting Helen alone and naked. The smells he now could decipher made his mouth water but also calmed his temper slightly. “Fine. I’ll accept that. But you’re getting a peep hole installed. You shouldn’t ever open the door unless you know exactly who is on the other side.”

Helen’s arms crossed over her chest. “That would be lovely, Alec. Believe me, if I’d known you were on the other side, I definitely wouldn’t have opened the door.”

Alec almost smiled at her impertinence. Didn’t she realize who she was talking to? He could buy this ridiculous excuse for a building, tear down the door and force her out of here. Then he could very happily have her ensconced in one of his apartments he kept around the world. The idea appealed intensely right at the moment but he had other priorities that wouldn’t leave his mind.

“Next question,” he started off.

“I don’t remember a first question,” she retorted.

“Where did you get this bottle of wine?” he demanded, holding up the bottle of pinot grigio.

“At a store,” she replied, lifting her head slightly. Her lip wobbled slightly and she was terrified that she would lose control. She was barely hanging onto what was left of it now and she needed him to leave as quickly as possible. “Look, if you don’t like it, you just have to say so. It’s one of my favorites but I can’t afford it very often. I’m sorry if I picked something you don’t like but you don’t have to be so ungracious about it.”

“Which store?” he asked, ignoring her second part of the statement. “How can you afford this wine?”

She sighed in exasperation. “Alec, I’m not so poor that I can’t afford a hundred Euros of wine for a friend in gratitude.”

He leaned into her, his hand wrapping around her waist and pulling her forward, flush against his body. “First of all, I’m not your friend. I’m going to be your lover which is significantly different,” he growled out. “And secondly,” he said before she could protest his first statement, “this bottle of wine happens to be over a thousand Euros. And from what I can see, you definitely can’t afford that kind of money, even if it is for your future lover.”

Helen’s mind had started whirling at his initial contact but the second part of his statement also blew her away. “It isn’t a thousand Euros! That wine is very good but it only cost a hundred Euros. That’s why I like it so much. You can’t get that kind of quality for so little now.”

Alec pulled her closer. “Helen, please don’t try and tell me how much this wine is. I can guarantee that it is well over one thousand Euros.”

Her hands reached up to push against his chest in a futile attempt to get some space between their bodies but in the end, her hands were holding him instead of pushing him away. “Just because you pay too much for something doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t find a bargain.”

He reigned in his temper with difficulty. “Helen,” he gritted out, “I know exactly how much this wine sells for.”

That got her anger back up and she wrenched out of his arms, taking several deep breaths before turning back to face him. “Everywhere?” she challenged. “Alec, you can’t know what every vendor sells a bottle of wine for. I’m not as business savvy as you are but isn’t there something called discounts?”

“Not that big of one. Honest business people don’t sell a product at a ninety percent loss.”

“Maybe my source just has cheaper sources.”

“Maybe your source is stealing the product.”

She stared at him for a long moment, wondering what he meant. When his comment broke through her dumbfounded mind, she inhaled sharply. Helen shook her head adamantly. “No way. I know the guy personally and he’s very nice. He doesn’t steal anything. He has four kids and a wife to support. He wouldn’t put them at risk.”

Alec was stunned at her naiveté. “Helen, just give me his name and I’ll investigate.”

She considered his request for a long moment but then thought better of it. “No, Alec. You don’t know everything and you’ll just make Arnold have to get an expensive lawyer to defend himself against your accusations. I won’t let that happen to him. If you don’t have enough to do with your own companies, then find some other person to bother. I won’t help you there.”

He leaned over her in his anger. “This is one of my businesses,” he enunciated slowly.

Helen’s mouth dropped open. “Impossible!”

“Possible,” he countered. “Not only do I own this particular vineyard, I also own the distribution company that has exclusive rights to several vineyards. So yes, I know exactly what I’m talking about when I say that this particular bottle of wine is well over one thousand Euros.”

Helen was stumped. She wasn’t sure how to answer him anymore. His assertion completely knocked the window out of her argument and she backed down slightly and said, “Oh, well. I…um…yes, perhaps you do know how much the bottle is.”

“And the name of the person who sold it to you?” he demanded, still looming over her.

Helen’s eyes shot back up to his, worried now. “No, Alec. I wasn’t kidding about Arnold’s family. If he’s selling me wine at a deep discount, then you’ll just come in and mess up his whole business. That wouldn’t be fair to Arnold or his wife. I won’t do that to a friend.”

Alec held back but it was getting more and more difficult. “Helen, have you ever seen the man’s family?” he demanded.

She looked at him warily, wondering what he was trying to get at. “Well, no. But…”

“So you’ve only heard stories about his wife and four children?”

“Yes….but…”

“And isn’t it possible that maybe one person of your acquaintance might have lied, ever so slightly just to gain your trust?” he demanded relentlessly.

She thought about poor Arnold and his tiny little store a block away. She’d never seen his family but she’d seen pictures his kids had drawn and thought she was a good judge of character. If someone was a thief, she’d know it, she told herself. “No!” she answered, her back stiffening. “Arnold isn’t like that!”

Alec grew more and more furious when she continued to defend a man who was most likely a criminal selling black market products. “Helen, give me his name!” he almost yelled.

Her hands were balled into fists at her sides and she shook her head, refusing to give him the information. “No. I don’t betray my friends!”

He couldn’t restrain his temper any longer. He pulled her roughly into his arms and glared down at her. “What about me, Helen? What if someone is swindling me?”