Counting On You (Counting the Billions 2)

I vaguely remembered having seen articles at one point about whether or not Daniel was even fit to take over the company. Whether he’d had enough schooling, whether he really understood the company well enough to make decisions on behalf of it. Whether he was going to drive the whole thing straight into the ground. Whether he cared enough about the company to make the right decisions.

They said that he only cared about himself. That he would fire half the company and replace them with people his own age, people that he could go out partying with. It was obvious that the people who had said all those things hadn’t really ever known Daniel at all. They had certainly never worked with him.

But regardless of the veracity of any of it, the stories were out there, and I knew that Daniel had to see at least some of them. He put on such a brave face to the world, as though none of that mattered to him. But I had to wonder what the truth of it was. That had to take its toll on a person after a while. It couldn’t be easy living up on a pedestal like that, with everyone expecting you to fall. To fail.

It had been so easy for me to tell Daniel that I didn’t want any part of that, that I didn’t want the media circus to become my life. But Daniel himself had never had any say in the matter. He’d never gotten that choice.

I felt a rush of sympathy for him, even as I knew that the last thing Daniel wanted was for me to pity him. Maybe I shouldn’t go over there right now, though. Maybe I should let him have his peace for once. He certainly deserved it.

But I needed to know what he was planning, for me and for the company. If he and I could no longer work alongside one another, then I needed to know that now so I could start looking for alternate positions, as much as I hated the idea of that.

I sighed, staring up at the mansion. It was just as big and intimidating as I remembered it being. Not that I’d gotten much chance to really see the place the last time I’d been there, but just finding the kitchen, despite the delightful smell of food cooking on the stove to guide me, had been enough of a challenge. I still could barely believe that Daniel lived in a place like this all by himself.

It had to be lonely, I was sure. But that was another bit of pity that Daniel wouldn’t want to know I was feeling for him.

I shook my head and slipped out of the cab, making my way to the front door. I wondered if I should have asked the driver to wait, but I supposed I could always call for another cab if I needed to. And I liked to think that Daniel would actually agree to talk to me, that he wasn’t just going to send me away straight away.

Of course, I didn’t even know if he was really in there right now, I realized, feeling foolish as my knock went unanswered. He could have gone anywhere after he’d left the office. Was I stupid for even coming there to check on him?

I shifted from foot to foot, feeling anxious as I waited for any sort of sign that someone was home. But then again, with a house this big, I supposed it was no surprise that he didn’t hear me knocking. Who knew how far into the labyrinth he might be. I tried the bell and again waited for an answer.

Still nothing. I chewed at my lower lip, remembering how he had looked when he had shown up at the office that mo

rning. Was he in there right now, drinking himself back to oblivion? I hated the idea of putting off the conversation that I knew he and I needed to have. I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to see if he actually deigned to show up at the office or not.

Slowly, I reached out and tried the handle. The place was unlocked. Surely that meant he was home, somewhere in there? If I could find him and he didn’t want to see me, then he could throw me out. But I really needed to talk to him. Before I lost my grit.

I slipped inside, taking another deep breath when I was inside the front door. I tried not to giggle as I wondered if he perhaps had alarm systems set up that I had just triggered. I knew the sound of my laugh would probably echo down the marble floors, and I didn’t really need to know how empty the place must feel every night when Daniel came home alone.

I wandered down the hallways, peeking into various rooms as I went. Half the rooms didn’t even look like they were ever in use. Oh, they were clean enough, no sheen of dust. But they looked too perfect, as though they could have come from a catalogue or something. I shook my head and wandered on.

I finally found Daniel up on the second floor. I stood in the doorway staring at him, unable to help myself. He was lifting weights in his personal gym and didn’t seem to notice that I had shown up there. For a moment, I could only watch him. He had discarded his shirt over the handlebar of the nearby stationary bike, and now, his impressively sculpted chest gleamed with a sheen of sweat.

I wondered how long he’d been going at it. Surely not all afternoon since he had left work? But definitely long enough that he looked like the endorphins had kicked in. He no longer looked quite so pale as he had that morning at the office. No, he looked good now.

Abruptly, I realized that I never should have come here. And I definitely shouldn’t have come into his house looking for him. The only time I’d been there before, we’d gone right up to his bedroom. And now, I couldn’t help wishing we could do the same. We were alone there; it wasn’t like there was anyone to see. No one would ever know. Except for us. And that was exactly the problem.

I swallowed hard, knowing that I should back up, that I should get out of there. Or I should say something, do anything, not just stand there and stare at him. This wasn’t helping either of us.

I felt a tug of lust in my gut and my panties moistening as I continued to consider his toned physique. If I hadn’t realized it before, I definitely realized it now. Oh fuck, was I in trouble...

Chapter 11

Daniel

WITH MY ABILITY TO work eluding me that day, I had finally decided to go to work in my home gym, sweat out some of that alcohol from the night before, and maybe force my body to quit thinking about Abby. It took a little bit to get myself to focus, but once I got in the groove of moving, I managed to focus just on my breathing and each successive rep.

I knew my arms in particular were going to burn by the time I was done, let alone by the time I woke up the next morning. Was I overdoing it? Maybe just a bit. But at the same time, I had a hard time caring right now. This was just what I needed, I told myself. Just what I needed.

So it scared the shit out of me when I turned around and suddenly saw Abby hesitating there in the doorway. If I’d had any equipment in my hands at the time, I probably would have dropped it. But as it was, I just gaped at her for a moment, wondering if I could possibly have overworked it to the point that I was hallucinating or something. But no—no matter how long I stared over there, the sight before my eyes didn’t change. She was still standing there staring at me.

There was an unmistakable hunger in her eyes, which darted down my chest and then guiltily back up to meet my own gaze. It made something in me want to show off, to give her a cocky grin and maybe say something flirtatious. But I couldn’t think of a single thing to say, and I knew that in the long run, it was only going to make things more difficult for both of us.

She was probably here to ream me out for ditching her at work today. But that still didn’t explain why she was here, in my house. Not that I would have heard the doorbell ring with my noise-canceling headphones in my ears.

Oh. I reached up to tug the headphones off so that I could hear her. But she still wasn’t saying anything.

I frowned at her. “Can I help you?” I finally managed to ask.