Facade (Billionaire in Disguise 1)

Typical of his species.

The doors flew open, and we stepped out into the main lobby, my eyes scanning the room for the men who were so easy to get past. I could see their shocked glances as I walked alongside Mr. Steele, but soon, a bouncy young woman appeared in front of me.

“Mr. Steele, might I steal you for a second?” she asked.

“Hello, Emma. I’m kind of on a time crunch. What do you need?” he asked.

“Well, I just ... people were talking about the woman in the main office, and I tried to come find you. But when I went back there, she wasn’t there, so I figured maybe you had found her. And it’s obvious you have. But now that begs a new question. Should I start new employee paperwork for her?”

Emma’s eyes gazed up at Derek, her pupils dilating bigger every second. Her body was open to him, and her arms were at her sides. Her nonverbal cues were all but hurling themselves at Mr. Steele. Whoever she was to him, she was interested in him romantically.

But I could tell by his body language that he wasn’t.

“No, you don’t need to start any new employee paperwork for her. She’s been hired personally by me. Not by the company,” he said.

“Well, we’ll need a record of anyone who comes in and out of the building with you, remember? The security measures you put forth?” she asked.

“I’ll be taking care of those, and we’ll start by slashing that necessity,” I said.

Derek turned his head toward me, and our eyes locked. But instead of defying me like I figured he would in front of one of his employees, he simply nodded his head.

Interesting.

“It’s no longer your priority to know who comes and goes with me. This is Samantha Williams, and you’ll leave all new and evolving security measures to her,” Derek said.

“You can call me Sam. Everyone does.”

“Oh,” Emma said. “So, you don’t want me to take down any information about her?”

“No,” Derek said. “I do not. This is no longer any of your concern, Miss Emma.”

“Well, where are you headed? You know you need to stick to your schedule this morning. You have a very important phone call to take just after lunch. If that’s where you’re headed, you can’t be too long.”

“Miss Emma, thank you for your concern. Trust that I know my schedule as well as you do. I will see to it my schedule is handled today. You’re dismissed.”

“But Mr.—”

“Goodbye, Emma.”

She looked put off as we buzzed by her and kept walking for the door. Emma was jealous. Another woman was walking with Mr. Steele, and she wanted to know if I posed any sort of competition. But she didn’t need to worry. It wasn’t that I was competition.

It was that she thought she was when she really wasn’t.

“I’m sorry. My personal assistant isn’t usually that rude. I’m not sure what’s gotten into her,” Derek said.

I grinned as we got into his limo, choosing to keep my mouth shut. It would be interesting to see how that played out in his world, but if her possessiveness ever turned ugly, she very well could have been a suspect in all of this.

And the last thing I needed was for him to fire her.

“Not a problem. People have bad days. Maybe she’s having one. You never know,” I said. “Especially with women.”

“What? You didn’t analyze her every move while we were standing there? I’m disappointed. I thought that was your schtick.”

“Like being a pompous billionaire is yours?” I asked.

Our eyes connected, and I could tell he was studying my reactions, trying to play on the field level I inhabited. But no one played on the field I inhabited.

I’d created the field I inhabited. It was private property, and I kept it that way for a reason.