Billionaires, Bad Boys, and Alpha Males (92 page)

Red nodded, and there was a glimmer of
respect there.
 
“I admire your
tenacity but in this case it was a mistake.”

“Clearly,” Anderson said, his voice
dripping with sarcasm.

“Onto the second thing I want to
resolve.
 
I’m your boss now,” Red
told him.
 
“And as your boss, I want
to know who leaked those stories to you.
 
The ones about my previous engagements and the plans to change my image
by dating an average girl.”

Anderson hesitated.
 
“I need confirmation first, that you
actually bought my magazine.”

Red shrugged.
 
“Call your editor.”

Anderson pulled out his cell phone and
quickly made the call.
 
A few
seconds later he was speaking to someone.
 
“Well, I bet you’ll never guess where I am,” he said, his voice
trembling.
 
Pause.
 
“Red Jameson’s office…yes….yes.”
 
Longer pause.
 
“It’s real then.
 
He bought us out?”
 
Another long pause.
 
“Okay.
 
Okay.
 
Thanks.”
 
The older man hung up and stared at his
cell phone as if it had betrayed him.

“I’m an honest guy,” Red said.

Nicole truly felt sorry for Anderson
now.
 
He looked beaten.
 
All of the condescension and creepiness
seemed to have been knocked out of him by the realization that he was at Red
Jameson’s mercy.

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,”
Anderson said.

Red smiled.
 
“Hey, you had to have confirmation.
 
I understand.
 
And now it’s time to tell me what I want
to know.”
 
His expression darkened
and he looked positively frightening.
 
“If you don’t tell me who leaked those stories, I’ll make you wish you’d
never heard my name.
 
Firing you
will be the easiest part.
 
Making
sure you never work again—anywhere—will be the fun part for
me.
 
By the time I’m done, you’ll be
lucky to get a job shoveling yak shit in Afghanistan.”

“I don’t need to be convinced,” Anderson
said, guzzling the last of the vodka.
 
“It was Talia Ferring.
 
And
she
contacted me,” he finished.

Red was positively beaming.
 
He moved from his desk to where Anderson
was standing, simultaneously taking the empty glass from one hand and shaking
the other.
 
“You’ve done well,” he
said, ushering him toward the door.
 
“Now go home and try to get some rest.
 
I want you up and working on a new
story—preferably about Justin Timberlake or Brittney Spears.
 
Just stay away from my fiancé.”

Anderson groveled a little about how
happy he was to be working for someone like Red, as Red kicked him out.
 
And then the door closed and Red was
back, grinning like a kid who just stole the cookie from the cookie jar without
getting caught.

“Aren’t you pleased with yourself?”
Nicole laughed.

“Sort of.
 
That felt good, I admit.”
 
He took her by the shoulders and looked
in her eyes.
 
“I’m not going to let
anyone hurt you ever again.”

“I’m not a delicate flower, I can take
it.”

He smiled.
 
“I know.
 
That’s what I love about you.
 
Among many other things.”
 
And then he was kissing her again and it
was heat, so much heat and she was lost in it for a long time.
 
The way Red’s hands moved on her body,
touched her just right.
 
She wanted
him all over again.
 

She loved that he was protective of her.

When they broke the kiss off, he was
suddenly all business again.
 
“I
want to show you something, just so you know your trust in me is well
founded.”
 
He took her by the hand
and brought her to his computer, had her sit right next to him as he navigated
through his email.

It took him a minute or two and then he
found what he was looking for.
 
It
was an email from him to Talia, dated well over ten months ago.
 
It said:

Hey,
T.

I’ve
been thinking about that image makeover idea we discussed yesterday.
 
It was a funny little thought, but last
night I slept on it and actually it’s a pretty tacky gimmick.
 
I can’t let myself get caught up in the
expectations game.
 
I’ll just be
myself and let the media do what it does.
 
Hope you weren’t too far down the road with planning anything.
 
Let’s just focus on the Jameson brand
and not worry so much about the dope who runs the place.

-R

He turned to Nicole and smiled.
 
“I might be an idiot, but I’ve never been
that big an idiot.”

“You were just a little confused,” she
said.
 

He sighed and rapped his knuckles on the
desk.
 
“Unfortunately, now I need to
take care of some housecleaning in the marketing department.”

“Are you going to fire her?
 
Talia?”

Red stood up and buttoned his suit
coat.
 
“You bet your sweet ass.”

“I want to do it.”
 
Nicole got up and swept her hair over to
one shoulder and put her hands on her hips.
 
“I’ve got a little score to settle with
that bitch.”

Red’s eyes widened with surprise.
 
“You’re serious?
 
You want to fire her?”

“Do I have the authority?”

“Not really.
 
But I’ll give it to you, if you want.”

“I do.”

“Well, then.
 
By the power invested in me as founder
and CEO of Jameson International, you—Nicole Masters—may go to the
marketing department and fire that bitch.”

“Good.”
 
She leaned in and kissed his cheek.
 
“I’ll be back in a jiff.”

She walked out of the office and went to
the fourth floor, where the marketing department was located.
 
Nicole hadn’t thought anything
out—she just knew that this was something she wanted to do.
 
Remembering how Talia had called her a
hobo and humiliated her in the hallway not long ago—not to mention leaked
those horrible stories—made Nicole want to fight.

And if she was going to fight, she damn
sure well wanted to win.

The marketing department was fairly big
and she walked down a few hallways before she finally saw the nameplate outside
the door of one of the corner offices.
 
Talia

Ferring.

The door was open already, and Nicole
could see the beautiful blond at her computer, on her desk phone talking and
laughing.
 
“…I know.
 
Did you see that awful picture
though?
 
The two of them?
 
You’ve got to be kidding me…”

Nicole knocked on the door loudly, twice.

When Talia glanced up and saw who it was,
her face went almost white.
 
“I’m on
the phone,” she said, covering the receiver with one hand.
 
“Can you try back tomorrow?”

“No.”
 
Nicole crossed her arms and stood there.

Talia sighed and took her hand off the
receiver.
 
“I’m sorry, something
just came up,” she said into the phone.
 
“Can I call you in a few?”
 
And then she hung up.

Nicole entered the office and shut the
door.
 
“I’m going to need just a
moment of your time,” she said.

Talia leaned back in her chair.
 
“Do I know you?”

“I think you do.”

The woman snapped her fingers.
 
“That’s right!
 
You’re the wrinkly little hobo that was
sleeping in the hallway outside our CEO’s office.”

“Right,” Nicole said, smiling back at
her.
 
“And you must be the idiot who
leaked stories about me and Red to the tabloids.”

Talia’s face really did turn white
now.
 
“Excuse me?”

“I think you heard me.”

“Don’t accuse me of things in my office,
you little twerp.
 
Believe me, I’ll
have you fired so fast your little head will spin.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.”
 
Nicole leaned back against the
door.
 
“In fact, I think I’m going
to fire you instead.”

“Just get out.
 
Get out before I call security.
 
I’m vice president of marketing and
you’re a little nobody.
 
Just
because Red’s sleeping with you, doesn’t give you the authority to fire
me.
 
You couldn’t fire our caterer.”

Nicole wanted to pull her hair and slap
that bitchy look off her face.
 
But
then she got herself under control.
 
Either way, Talia was out of a job.
 
She didn’t have to believe Nicole—she’d find out soon enough.

“Enjoy your last day,” Nicole said,
opening the door to leave.

“And you enjoy giving Red blowjobs in
exchange for pocket money, hon,” the woman called after her.

Just then, Nicole saw two security guards
heading her way.
 
They didn’t look
very happy, either.
 
When they got
to Talia’s office, they stopped.

“Thank god,” Talia said to them.
 
“This girl’s disrupting my work and
being incredibly rude and unprofessional.
 
I want her escorted out of the building, please.”

“Ma’am, we have orders to escort
you
out,” one of them said.
 

“What?”
 
Talia’s jaw dropped.

“You’re to take only your personal
belongings.
 
Please do not touch
your computer, any files or items from your desk.”

“I don’t understand.
 
Please call Red Jameson and let him know
what’s going on.
 
He’ll explain to you—“

“Red called us personally and told us,
ma’am.”
 
They moved into her office
and stood over her, watching every movement she made.

“Good luck, Talia,” Nicole said.
 
“I’m sure you’ll have no problem getting
another job in advertising after this.
 
You know Red, he’s a very forgiving guy.”
 

Talia was gathering her things and tears
had begun streaming down her face.

That was enough revenge for one day,
Nicole thought, leaving the scene.

***

That night, Red and Nicole were on the
couch at their home in Connecticut.
 
It felt strange to call it their home, but it was.
 
And Nicole was starting to feel
that—more importantly—Red was her home.

As long as he was there, she knew she’d
be safe and taken care of.
 

“I still need to call my parents and tell
them the wedding’s on,” she said, lying on his chest.
 
His easy breathing was a sign of just
how relaxed he was tonight.

“You want me to do it?”

“Call my parents?” she laughed.

“I’ll do it.
 
What’s the worst that can happen?”

Nicole thought about it.
 
“You have no idea.”
 
Then she climbed up and kissed him on
the lips.
 

The sparks became a bonfire and then a
raging inferno.
 
They were starting
to tear each other’s clothes off.
 
“Wait, just one thing,” she told him.

“What?” he asked.

“Promise me that no matter what, we’ll
never let anyone get between us.”

“I promise,” he said, looking into her
eyes.

“I can’t wait to be your wife.”

“Give me your phone,” he said.
 
“I’m calling your parents right now.”

“We’re half-naked!” she cried.

“Good.
 
They’ll never know the difference.
 
I always talk to people while I’m
naked.”

“Red, please!”

He tried to grab her phone but she
wouldn’t let him and soon he’d stopped trying.
 
He was busy putting his hands other
places.