The PlayLion Billionaire: A Paranormal Billionaire Romance Page 4
“A minor crisis is something to worry about by definition,” she countered. Her smile fell. “Look, this was a big, huge mistake,” she said, sitting up. “If…if you were actually serious about hiring me, then I absolutely should not have slept with you.”
“Did you fall asleep?” Robert asked, half-joking. “I didn’t hear you snoring.”
“I don’t snore.” Olivia blushed and looked around the room. Robert could smell her pheromones shifting, the scent of anxiety overtaking sleepy, and satisfied pleasure. “I am not going to be one of those women who gets a job because she screwed the CEO of the company,” Olivia said firmly, looking at him. “Or who keeps her job for that reason.”
Robert sighed.
“I gave you the job because you’re a qualified candidate. You’re the most qualified candidate I’ve seen.”
“I’m the only candidate you’ve seen!”
Robert grinned. “The most qualified candidate for any job I can think of inside of my company. That has nothing to do with how good it felt to be inside of you.”
“So then you won’t refuse to hire me for not sleeping with you again?”
Robert took a deep breath.
“No,” he said slowly. “I won’t. You can start Monday whether or not you ever sleep with me again, and I won’t fire you, either.”
“Then…” Olivia climbed off the couch on legs that Robert could see were still not quite real to her, with the unsteady grace of a newborn deer. “I am going to pass.”
Robert stood quickly, intercepting Olivia as she moved to pick up her clothes from the floor.
“Are you passing on more sex with me because you think I’m going to try and make you stay with me to keep the job?” he asked her. “Because it seemed to me like you enjoyed it. If you enjoyed it—what’s the harm in getting to know me a little better?”
“The harm is that everyone will know and I’ll be that woman who slept with the boss to get a job!”
“No, you slept with the boss because you were attracted to him. You got your job because you’re damned good at what you do.”
“That isn’t what people will say,” Olivia protested. “I just—literally a few hours ago, your own employee basically accused me of screwing my way to my present position.”
“He was an ignorant asshole and a sexist,” Robert told her. His hands dropped to her sides. “I know you wanted me. I know you still do. You shouldn’t not do something just because of what other people might say about it.”
“I am not going to ruin my reputation for you, Robert Lowe,” Olivia said, surprising Robert with the sudden steel in her voice. She looked at him levelly. “It was really nice of you to take me to lunch, I had a great time, and now I’m leaving. If you even try to stop me, I swear I’ll—tell everyone about what you did.”
Robert took a deep breath.
“If you want to leave,” he said, feeling a stirring of anger inside of him and holding it back, “of course I won’t stop you.” He stepped back from her and watched as Olivia quickly dressed and turned her back on him, walking briskly out of the suite.
CHAPTER THREE
Robert paced back and forth in front of his desk, ruminating on the problems he faced. Olivia had started work the day before; he wanted -- almost needed --to see her, but after the way she had left his apartment following their tryst, he had a very good idea of how she would respond to any request to see him in his office that he tried to turn into an opportunity to have sex.
Fuck, what is wrong with me? He had never been this distracted about a woman before; even when one of the women he flirted with played hard to get, he had found it at least relatively easy to cut his losses and move on to greener pastures. However, in the days since he slept with Olivia, he found he couldn’t seem to go more than a few minutes at a time without thinking of her: her lush, alluring pheromones, the way she’d felt wrapped around him, the way she moaned and moved against him, the way she tasted.
The issue of her constantly being on his mind was compounded by the fact that the problems with his Pride had deepened. He had told his mom in passing that he might have found a woman to be his mate. She was shocked. “Who is she?”
“A human,” Robert had told her. It was not ideal; bad enough that Olivia didn’t want to sleep with him because she thought that doing so would ruin her reputation. If she found out that he was a were-lion before he was able to win her love, he’d lose any chance with her, altogether.
“I’ll let the elders know,” his mother had told him, and he could hear the skepticism in her voice. Not all humans were able to adapt to living in the community of the Pride. Robert knew other lions that had taken human mates, whose pairings had ended when the human simply couldn’t live with the dual nature of the were-lion they were with.
But the news that Robert had found a potential mate didn’t make things better in the Pride. A potential mate was not an actual mate; he knew that those who were starting to waver in their commitment to him as leader thought that he was simply trying to stall. The raid on their territory had created a schism within the Pride, one that could only be mended when Robert was solidly mated off, when he had asserted himself not only as Alpha by right, but by combat.
The culprits were harder to locate than Robert had thought. Katarina, one of the best trackers in the Pride, had not been able to find any trace of the renegades in the town closest to the reserve. Robert had put a few other members of his Pride on the case. They were individuals he knew to be trustworthy; but so far, days later, there was no hint of the raiders who were responsible.
He was stuck in a position that was particularly difficult for any Alpha to bear: he had to wait for the next move. They must not be confident enough to confront me directly, he thought, pausing for a moment in his pacing. If they were, I’d have received a challenge by now.
Robert sighed. Thoughts of the renegade lions stalking his territory and his Pride brought his mind back around to Olivia. If he were going after an Alpha and he wasn’t strong enough to challenge him, he would go after the Alpha’s mate. But if Olivia didn’t even want to see him, there was no way for him to keep her under his protection.
Robert sat down heavily at his desk, threading his fingers in his hair. It was impossible. He had to get Olivia to come around; he had to get her at least to accept his overtures. She would be safer in his company than out of it.
The only thing he had to comfort himself with was that they had not yet become actual mates; no one within his company knew exactly who it was he was interested in courting, and he was fairly certain no one outside of his company had that knowledge either. For the moment, it was secret.
Maybe you should just give her up, he thought. Let her live her life and put this behind her, find someone who can actually adjust to life in the Pride easily. Another lion.
Robert knew that he couldn’t do that; he had never felt such a sudden, bone-deep need to be with someone the way he had with Olivia. Anyone else he could find would pale in comparison. The scent of her pheromones filled his mind and Robert felt a hot jolt rush through his body; she was imprinted on him. He would know her scent anywhere in the world.
The solution was as simple and as complicated as convincing her to see him again, to give him a chance to persuade her. Robert smiled slightly to himself; he remembered the steel in her voice, the determination in her demeanor, when she had told him that if he didn’t let her leave, she would go public with allegations about his misconduct.
Score another point for her: she’s fearless. Robert sighed. Olivia was fearless. She had barely even checked when she realized who he was, instead launching into her complaints against Alex. Robert shook his head, smiling in spite of his worries. Olivia was exactly the kind of woman he wanted as a mate, but he would never be able to convince her to be his mate if he couldn’t get her to see him.
He picked up his phone and called the PR department. “Yes,” he said, when the interim manager picked up. She was not a member of
the Pride, but she was someone that Robert knew he could trust to do the job properly. “You have a new member of your team, Olivia?”
“She’s finishing up orientation now,” Jennifer said. “I got a look at her quals. That was a great call on your part, sir.” Robert frowned at the use of ‘sir’—he was too young to be called that honorific. But he pushed that consideration aside.
“I have a project that I think will require her particular skill-set. Can you send her up?” Robert smiled wryly to himself. Olivia would not be able to balk at the invitation—it was, after all, her job.
He began to form a plan as Jennifer agreed to send the new employee to his office immediately. You never get a second chance at a first impression, but you can tweak second impressions endlessly. He sat back after hanging up the phone, thinking of how he was going to approach the issue that seemed the most important to him; getting Olivia to talk to him.
He knew that the moment she heard from her new boss that the CEO wanted to talk to her about a project, she would suspect that he was trying to get into her pants again. And I am. God, who wouldn’t? Robert shuddered, remembering just how good she had felt, how good she had smelled and tasted. But I can play a long game. At least for a while.
He quickly put together some notes, developing the kind of prize project that any PR person would love to receive. It would be an outreach program, something to enhance the reputation of Lowe Freight in the public consciousness, with charity ties. He would put Olivia in charge of it; it was technically above her pay grade, but it would give him many opportunities to meet with her for progress reports.
He would address her completely as a professional, appeal to her ambition. Once she had begun to relax, to accept that he was willing and ready to treat her as an employee regardless of their relationship or lack thereof, he would start to persuade her.
When Olivia stepped into his office, Robert kept his face carefully neutral, gesturing for her to be seated. He thought he was prepared for the wash of her pheromones, but the gunpowder scent of her brittle anger mingling with the thicker, sweet smell of her body was enough to briefly make him wish that he had decided on a different plan of attack. He took a slow breath, struggling against the impulse to launch himself over the desk and rub himself all over her lush, curvy body.
“Why did you pick me for this assignment?” Olivia asked as soon as she was seated, and Robert could hear the control in her voice.
“Because you’re the employee best suited to do justice to it,” Robert told her. “I’ve been working on the concept for a while, and now I have someone who can execute it properly.”
“You’re sure it’s not because you wanted a reason to call me up to your office?”
Robert shrugged. “I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want to see you again,” he admitted. “But you have defined our relationship; I will be strictly professional.
I didn’t bring you here to make a move on you, Olivia. You are the best candidate for this project, it’s as simple as that.” He extended a folder of documentation towards her, taking a deep breath to steady himself.
Olivia looked over the paperwork he had provided, and Robert got himself firmly under control once more. He was not going to jeopardize the grudging trust that Olivia was bestowing on him; he would show her that she didn’t have to worry about him being inappropriate, that she could believe that he wasn’t just keeping her around to be his plaything. His arousal felt like a lead bar in the pit of his stomach, but as long as he was seated, Robert told himself that there was no reason for Olivia to know about it.
“All of the suggested charities are wildlife conservation organizations,” Olivia commented, looking up from the paperwork.
“It’s a pet cause of mine,” Robert said with a shrug. “What better way to improve our reputation than to do something good for the planet?”
Olivia considered.
“Well, Lowe Freight has gotten flack in the past for environmental impact. It would be good publicity to give something back.” Robert nodded. Olivia looked at him for a long moment, setting the folder down.
“I think with your experience with Bright Star, you’d be ideal to take charge of this. It’s above your current responsibilities, but after a few months we can discuss integrating you into a higher position, assuming that you perform well,” Robert said.
“Just how well are you expecting me to perform?” Olivia asked sharply.
“I expect that you will do a great job on this project. If you need supplies, additional help from the Publicity team, anything like that, you can go to Jennifer.” Robert fought down the urge to smile; he knew that Olivia thought he would make her go through him for everything.
“How often are you going to require a progress report?” Olivia asked.
Robert shrugged.
“A weekly meeting, no more than an hour, in the executive conference room. I’ll also be getting reports from Jennifer about how you’re working.” Olivia’s steadfast gaze would have been more unnerving if Robert wasn’t struggling to keep his voice level, to keep himself from the leonine impulse to do whatever it took to make Olivia understand that she was his mate.
“Are Fridays okay?” Olivia asked, her voice utterly level.
“Fridays are fine. Let’s make it during the lunch hour; you’ll be too busy at other times of the day and I want to make sure you aren’t so busy you end up not eating.” Olivia’s lips quirked and Robert wondered if he had overplayed his hand.
“Should I bring my lunch with me or will you be having lunch catered?”
Robert laughed. “I will have lunch brought in for us. It’s the least I can do if I expect you to work during your lunch hour.”
*
Olivia walked towards the parking garage, lost in thought. She had stayed late the entire week, working on the logistics of the project that she was working on for Robert. She stopped short, frowning in puzzlement. When did I start thinking of him as Robert? There was something about that level of familiarity that disturbed her.
She bit her bottom lip. They had been working on the outreach project for three weeks; somehow, at some point in that time, she had stopped thinking about him as the CEO of the company, as a man who had slyly used the excuse of a job interview to seduce her. She had approached their first meeting warily, fully expecting for Robert to make another move on her, to convince her that it would only be right for them to sleep together again.
Instead, Robert had been absolutely professional; he had asked pertinent questions about her progress, asked about her needs to get things done more quickly, and made comments about what Jennifer, her manager, had told him about the work she was doing.
Her request for someone to do research into some of the charities he wanted the company to work with was immediately granted; but he had not given an inch on the suggestion she made that being on the receptionist coverage rotation was slowing her down.
“It’s part of your first ninety days here at the company,” he had said. “I appreciate that your circumstances are unique with this project, but I can’t treat you differently, and there are other people in the pool who have heavy workloads covering the reception desk as well.”
Olivia had respected the fact that he wasn’t making an exception for her; she found the need to occasionally cover reception irritating, but since the roster included both male and female new employees—and since the goal of that assignment was to promote organizational understanding—she couldn’t argue against it.
But when did I start thinking of him as just Robert? That was the mystery that plagued her. Olivia realized she had been standing stock still in the middle of the garage for several minutes and stirred herself to walk once more; she wanted to get home at a reasonable hour, spend some time with her TV and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia, and get a good night’s sleep.
As she walked, Olivia tried to pin down the moment when Robert had become someone different in her mind. Gradually, as their weekly meeting
s recurred, she had relaxed her guard; it was obvious that whatever thoughts Robert had of using the project as an excuse to try and convince her to prolong their fling, he had abandoned it.
Yet—and yet. Olivia remembered the gossip that went around the office; Robert Lowe was not acting like the carefree playboy he had been since before taking the helm as the company’s CEO. He was in the office early, he wasn’t partying late at night, and he was taking a firmer hold on the day-to-day business than he ever had before. The company was responding to his newfound zest for leadership; Olivia was looking forward to the end of her probation period, when she could sign up for stock options.
She remembered that during their lunch date cum interview, Robert had mentioned that he was working towards settling down; Olivia remembered that he hadn’t been very enthusiastic about the idea—but he seemed to be slowly taking on the burden of being a responsible adult more and more eagerly.
As she approached her car, Olivia thought wryly that he must have actually moved on; he must have found the woman with whom he could settle down. It surprised her that she felt chagrin at the thought.
Olivia rummaged in her purse for her keys, looking around the nearly deserted garage. Her car should not be this difficult to find. As she searched, she remembered their last progress meeting. True to form, Robert had had lunch catered in from a restaurant that he partly owned.
Somehow, in the course of their meetings, he had managed to learn exactly what Olivia liked to eat, what her preferences were. She would have accused him of having someone spy on her to discover her tastes, but she learned that he was very, very astute; she didn’t make a comment on the fact that the seared tuna over salad and the rich, creamy pureed soup were just what she had been craving.
The most recent meeting had been the most relaxed of any of them, and Olivia had found herself talking to Robert almost like a colleague instead of as her boss. They discussed some of the office gossip—the open secret that Chelsea in accounting was sleeping with Garret in IT, and the fact that Manuel in Business Development was getting divorced. She had found herself joking with Robert, completely at ease.