Bedding The Billionaire

question. Really, the only thing she held against him was that he inspired her to want to rip off her clothes and pounce on a man who could not have been clearer in his rejection of her.

He’d even asked her to reveal less cleavage.

Who does that?

Not a man who is lusting after you, that’s who.

Lil knocked on Aaron’s bedroom door.

I’m not pompous, Jake thought as he waited outside a bedroom door boasting a sign that read, “The force is strong with this one.”

A young man, slightly taller than Lil and dressed in gray sweat pants and a college t-shirt opened the door. His dirty blond hair stuck out wildly in a few places implying that Lil’s visit didn’t warrant a trip to the mirror.

Jake looked down at his black, conservative Testoni dress shoes and felt a bit overdressed. However, he’d intended to spend the day intimidating a local station manager, not rubbing elbows with someone so fresh from college he probably still hadn’t unpacked his diploma.

I only feel about a million years old.

The young man greeted Lil with a smile which fell from his face when he looked past her and saw Jake. “You- you brought Mr. Walton, Lil?”

“You can call me Jake,” he said and held out his hand in greeting.

See, not pompous.

Aaron shook his hand profusely, then stepped back and looked like he was questioning the wisdom of inviting them into his room. “It is a real honor to meet you, Mr. Walton. I did a research paper on negotiating techniques that also address consumer perceived ethicality issues. Your success in Moldova was my inspiration.” He breathed into a cupped hand as if smelling his breath and made a face. “I don’t normally spend my day in my pajamas, but I was…I was…”

Evidently, lying did not come naturally to this kid. He remembered a time when he’d been the same way. “Lil said you wrote a gag order for the news station.”

“I did,” Aaron said and awkwardly waved them into his room. “I just printed it out.” He stepped over several pieces of laundry on his way to the printer. “Don’t mind the mess. I would have cleaned up if I had known you were coming. I thought it was just Lil.”

“Perfectly understandable,” Jake said and glanced back at Lil.

She was watching the exchange closely.

He wanted to say, “See, you worried about nothing.”

The stiff set of her shoulders and that beautifully jutted chin told him that she was prepared to intervene if he stepped out of line with her precious little friend. Since their relationship was clearly not based on anything sexual, he was at a loss for how to categorize it. She’d said he was like family to her. In his experience, friendships between men and women were a cover for something less pure. What did she get out of this association? He had a feeling that the answer to that would go a long way toward deepening his understanding of what Lil wanted. And discovering what she wanted only mattered as far as it would help him convince her to accept Dominic’s protection. The sooner he did that, the sooner he could return to New York and find out who Dominic thought had the answers they needed.

Jake turned in time to receive a paper from the shaky hands of Lil’s “lawyer.” His quick skim of the document slowed as he perceived quality. The kid was good. It was well-crafted and as professional as he would have expected from his seasoned lawyers. He nodded, “This is impressive. Good work.”

Aaron’s face transformed with an ear to ear grin. “Thank you. I based it on the Sterling vs. Laudin Communications case.”

Lil looked across the room and pinned Jake with those amber eyes of hers. “Good enough that you would write him a letter of reference?”

Aaron’s face reddened. “Lil, Mr. Walton doesn’t have to do that. He doesn’t know me.”

It was clear that Lil wanted Aaron to succeed. Why, he couldn’t say yet, but it would cost him nothing to toss the boy an opportunity. “I’m always looking for entry level people and we have a branch in Boston. If you send me your resume, I’ll give it to my legal department. Then it’s up to you to impress them.”

“Oh, my God!” He turned to Lil and his grin grew even wider, if that were possible. “Oh, my God!” A spontaneous hug threatened to erupt from him.

Jake held out his hand to deter him.

Aaron shook his hand with enthusiasm. He turned to Lil. “Thank you, Lil! Thank you!” and hugged her.

Jake wanted to rip the little, tail wagging puppy off of Lil, but he didn’t. Lil hugged him much longer than he would have liked, but eventually, thankfully stepped back and said, “I didn’t do anything, Aaron. You did.”

Jake looked down at his watch and pocketed the paper. “We have to go now if we plan to get to the station early.”

Lil’s eyebrows furrowed, she seemed to want to say something regarding the paper, but instead she said, “I’ll get Colby.”

She stepped out of the room and Jake had every intention of following her when Aaron stopped him with a hand on his sleeve. “Mr. Walton?”

Jake looked down at the hand, which he expected the boy to hastily remove, but he didn’t. Instead Aaron met his eyes with surprising directness.

He said, “A lot of people judge Lil before they know her. She says what she thinks and sometimes she’s more impulsive than she should be, but when she loves someone-there is nothing she won’t do for them, even if it hurts her own chance at happiness.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I saw the way she looked at you. If she falls in love with you, make sure you are worthy of that kind of love. Colby’s father took advantage of her. She doesn’t need to go another round with disappointment.”

The puppy had teeth.

“Is that a warning?” Jake asked in a tone that backed most men down.

Aaron removed his hand from Jake’s sleeve, but did not step back. “I guess you could say that it is.”

“Bold move to take with your potential new employer.”

The young man adjusted his wrinkled t-shirt and said, “Some things are worth the risk.”

Jake nodded. Loyalty was something he respected. “Send that resume. I think you’ll do fine in the Boston office.”

Aaron let out a long sigh. Not smiling. Just waiting. Even more impressive.

Jake said, “I’m only here to make sure Lil is safe. There is nothing more than that between us.”

After a moment, Aaron stepped away and seemed to relax. He said, “Whatever you do, don’t send her flowers. She hates watching them die. She says it’s as sexy as receiving a bouquet of hamsters stapled to rulers.”

Jake grimaced a bit at the image, “That’s quite a visual.”

Aaron said, “That’s Lil. She likes images that evoke emotion. Ask her to sketch something for you sometime. She doesn’t belong in an office, she belongs in a studio bringing those images to life. She’ll never be happy on the path she’s recently chosen for herself. If you care about her, you might want to help her see that.”

A fist of fire curled deep in Jake’s abdomen, but he held back further discourse. He didn’t like Aaron giving him advice on how to deal with Lil. He didn’t like that his displeasure was most likely obvious to the young man before him.

The entire trip was a waste of time and emotion. After today, Jake would have no reason to ever see Lil again-except perhaps across the room at a social event.

Whatever mess she got tangled up in next time would be none of his concern.

Oddly, that thought made him scowl again.