Yvonne Lindsay - Boardrooms & a Billionaire Heir / Jealousy & a Jewelled Proposition

She said slowly, “Jake.”

“Much better.”

She blinked at the warm languor in his deep voice. “I just want to do my job.”

He studied her for the longest time, until she began to wonder if she’d left a bit of food on her mouth or something.

“So let’s just agree to focus on our jobs, shall we?” he said softly.

She nodded, suddenly desperate for space. With a low murmur, she excused herself and headed for the bathroom.

While Holly washed her hands at the sink, Jake’s suggestion played over in her head. It made perfect sense. Do the job she’d been blackmailed into doing, get what she needed and move on.

If he was here for just an innocent pre-investment visit, then he’d have nothing to hide, right? But if his motives were ulterior, then for the sake of Blackstone’s, she’d be justified in finding out what they were.

But as she straightened her skirt and rechecked her lipstick, she noticed her worried frown in the mirror. Quickly she smoothed it out. Yeah, just keep telling yourself that, Holly .

Jake watched Holly make a beeline for their table but before she could reach him, an impeccably dressed man intercepted her.

She whirled, and her look of surprise, then disgust, registered so clearly that Jake slowly stood. As the man whispered something then glanced over to Jake, her expression smoothed.

She sighed, shrugged and made her way back to the table.

With a frown, Jake remained standing, unashamedly taking advantage of his height against the shorter man. A man who was standing close to Holly. Too close for Jake’s liking.

Irrational anger tightened his muscles, shocking the hell out of him. Through his surprise he heard Holly murmur, “Max, this is—”

“Jake Vance,” Jake supplied and offered his hand.

Max smiled and returned the shake. “Max Carlton, head of Human Resources.”

Ten seconds and Jake had him summed up. Immaculately groomed. Subtly cologned. Even without his intel, he could spot an office player a mile off. It was something in the eyes, the way they shifted and moved, the expression a concentrated effort in politeness. Carlton was too polished, too smooth, and his smile was a blokey smirk that Jake found offensive.

“So how’s Holly working out for you, Jake?”

Jake noted Holly’s frown. “Fine,” he answered smoothly, as if their topic of conversation wasn’t standing right next to him.

Max smiled, a man-to-man grin that set Jake’s teeth on edge. “My assistant’s one of a kind.”

“Didn’t she move to PR over a year ago?”

Max’s face tightened and he glanced quickly at Holly, who gave him an innocent shrug.

“A temporary position,” Max conceded stiffly. “If Holly’s work performance makes the grade, there could possibly be a permanent transfer.”

Jake was so intent on Max’s visible unease that he almost missed Holly’s start of surprise. Then, with a smooth adjustment to his tie, Max said, “If you’ve got any personnel or staffing questions, just give me a yell. Holly knows where to find me.”

Under a rock, no doubt. Jake caught Max’s wink at Holly, who ignored it with a dark frown. But when Carlton’s gaze deliberately roamed down her neck to rest on the gentle curve of her breasts, his eyes narrowed. Intimate knowledge or wishful thinking? Either way it didn’t stop a lick of fury from sparking in his belly.

Slowly he forced his fists to unclench.

“So…” Max said, tearing his eyes away, “I’d better be going. Nice to meet you, Jake.”

Jake glared at Max’s retreating back. He had no right to be angry. What Holly did or didn’t do on her own time was not his business. She was Jake’s assistant, for heaven’s sakes, not his lover.

Pity .

Shaking off the jolt that felt like fire on his skin—especially in one particular part—he turned to Holly. “Charming guy.”

“Some people think so. I just need his signature on my transfer.”

“After you finish with me,” he murmured, suddenly taken by the way her skin flushed underneath her cool mask of indifference.

She nodded and finally sat, checking her watch. “Yes. And you have thirty minutes.”

“Thirty minutes for what?” He grinned, unable—or was that unwilling?—to keep the suggestiveness from his voice.

She blinked, clearly flustered. “Until your conference call with New York.”

He gave her full points for maintaining that composure as they finished their meal in silence. But deep inside, on a purely predatory level, his mind registered the undeniable heat of desire.

Fool. It wasn’t his mind that wanted Holly. It was something much more primal.

And what Jake Vance wanted, he usually got.

Four

Jake left his meeting with Kimberley Perrini with newfound respect. Despite his reluctance, Kim still pushed the idea of bringing Holly into their cone of silence. “She was the spin behind the Shipley University scandal, not to mention some of our internal issues. We’re lucky to have her,” Kim had said.

Grudgingly he had to agree. And if the press started running with pictures of him at Blackstone’s, he knew exactly where to lay the blame.

Meanwhile, his security chief was busy compiling a list of enemies and disgruntled employees and their possible sources within Blackstone’s. Matt Hammond had been suggested then discarded. No proof, plus the man got his fair share of negative press, too. Shareholders? No, too much to lose.

So he was back once again to a person Howard had personally offended.

And that’s where it got confusing. Holly had had no direct contact with Howard. Blackstone’s had put her through university. Outwardly, she was passionate about and dedicated to her job. She genuinely liked working here. Yet she was broke and floundering under a mountain of debt, and could still afford rent, food, clothes.

Was she that good an actress?

A shot of heat started low and crept up his body. Hazardous, thinking about Holly McLeod. Because if he did that, he’d have to acknowledge how paper-thin his control was. Instead of quenching his fire, his suspicion only stoked the flames higher, creating a burning need that was slowly dominating his every thought.

You have to stop thinking about her .

With a sharp snap, he opened the file in front of him and focused on Ryan’s scrawling signature at the bottom of the page.

Jake leaned back in his chair. Underneath the stubbornness, the pride, he’d sensed Ryan’s private pain. Only a close family member could hurt so deeply, scar so indelibly. Ryan refused to toe the line, said what he felt.

There’s a lot of me in him .

Jake couldn’t go back and change the past. God knows he would’ve tried years ago. He’d even admitted as much to Ryan. I can’t be angry at the woman who saved my life, who raised me as best she could. Who loved me. A lot of kids don’t even get that .

He’d hit an unexpected nerve with that, judging by the look on Ryan’s face. And when he’d offered up the signed statutory declaration, formalizing his verbal promise to keep Blackstone’s afloat, surprise had rendered Ryan speechless.

Jake sighed, suddenly tired of justifying something he himself couldn’t explain. Hell, there were a lot of things that would send his legal department into a spin if they only knew. For instance, last night he’d made a nice little profit on the NASDAQ, an event that would’ve normally brought him the usual adrenaline rush of satisfaction and pleasure. So how come it felt…less than a total rush?

He stood and stalked over to the small kitchenette in the corner of the office, tapping out his impatience as the coffee machine slowly dripped out the expensive Colombian blend.