Boxed Set: The Billionaire’s Desire Complete Collection (Books 1-3 and Bonus Books 1 and 2) (Submitting to the Billionaire) (25 page)

We both showered and changed for the dinner event and this was the first time that I was attending an event with Joshua where I was less than excited to go. Normally, he would want to see my dress and he would comment on how beautiful I looked and things like that, but I knew that tonight I would hear none of that.  As I looked at myself in the mirror wearing the gorgeous sky blue dress, I actually liked the way that I looked.  For once I was having a perfect hair day and my makeup looked just right.  As I walked down the stairs toward Joshua who was waiting at the bottom of the landing, he turned and looked up at me and I know I saw a look of appreciation in his eyes.  I knew that look, I had seen it many times before when Joshua liked the way I looked or something that I was wearing.  Well at least he can’t control that, he can’t control his instinctive reaction to me.  

He looked me over from head to toe and held my gaze for just a few seconds.  I could tell that he wanted to say something but he held his tongue and just opened the door for me.  The dinner was teeming with people by the time we arrived.  We had assigned seats and we were seated with people who represented companies on the West Coast which was great for us because it gave us the opportunity to spend some real time highlighting our office. 

After dinner I mingled and spent a bit of time chatting with a woman named Chelsea from Chicago who I really hit it off with.  She supposedly was number one in her office, she was really blunt and it was refreshing to hear someone say what they actually were thinking and not try to be politically correct all the time.  She had been married for 15 years but she told me that she still liked to look at other men because there was no crime in appreciating a good piece of eye candy.

“Sarah, I love my husband to death but I am still human you know, and as women we can appreciate a gorgeous piece just like a man can.”

I wasn’t really used to being around women that talked like that but it really was refreshing to be around her.  She didn’t hold back in what she was thinking or saying and she had a reputation for being a real pit bull in the boardroom.

“Oh I know what you mean, they don’t realize that we like to look just as much, if not more, than they do.”

We both giggled and took a sip of our wine as we surveyed the crowd.

“Like him for instance, that guy over there with the gorgeous dark, wavy hair and those dark, brooding eyes.”  I heard the tone in her voice change so I knew he must have been really attractive.

I turned to see who she was staring at and I nearly choked on my drink as I saw Paolo Santorini staring right back at me.  He raised his glass to me and smiled at me and I quickly averted my eyes, hoping that she did not see that.

“Well well, it looks like you have an admirer!  Who is that?”

“Oh, that is Paolo Santorini  he used to work for our company.”  I tried to sound as nonchalant as possible so that she would not know how rattled I felt.

"Well he seems to be awfully interested in what you're doing because he cannot take his eyes off of you, Sarah.  What kind of love potion did you put in his coffee?”

“Chelsea, I am a married woman and he is probably looking at all of the women here.”  I wanted to tell her that that was part of the reason that he got fired, but I don’t know that anyone knew that he got fired.  The rumors seemed to have been that he told people that our office wasn’t a good fit for him and he decided to leave.

“I don’t know Sarah, he seems to have eyes only for you. Well look at this, here he comes.”

I started to panic a little bit because I didn't want him to cause a scene and I really didn't want Joshua to see Paolo talking to me.
But wait a minute, maybe it would be good for Joshua to see Paolo talking to me, maybe it would snap him out of this mood that he’s been in.
 
In fact, I think it would be a great idea for Joshua to see that other men are interested in me!

Paolo walked up to us with a big smile on his face, flashing his gorgeous pearly whites, and I was instantly reminded again of how incredibly good-looking he was.  Chelsea could barely contain herself as he made his way over to us.

She whispered under her breath to me so that no one else could hear her.  “Holy shit, he’s gorgeous.”

I had to agree with her, Paolo was definitely a good-looking man but the only man that I wanted to pay any attention to me was not speaking to me at the moment.

"Good evening ladies."  He turned his attention to Chelsea.  "I don't believe that we have met, Paolo Santorini." He extended his hand to her and she held it gingerly as he kissed the back of her hand.  His dark, intense, brooding eyes turned toward me and held my gaze.

“Sarah Hunter, how nice to see you again, you look absolutely stunning this evening.” 
I wonder how much he’s had to drink tonight?

I could feel my cheeks flush under his intense gaze and I started to feel very uncomfortable.  “Thank you, Mr. Santorini.  Enjoying your drink I see.”

“Please, call me Paolo.  I have had a couple of drinks, but I am fully in control of all of my faculties.”  His eyes still held mine in their intense grip and I found it difficult to tear my eyes away.  I heard Chelsea clear her throat and quickly was embarrassed that I had nearly gotten lost in his eyes.

"I should go look for my husband.  Mr. Santorini, it was so nice to meet you and Sarah, lovely to meet you as well.  We should definitely catch up later this week and exchange business ideas.  Take care.”

I should go look for my husband as well but for some reason I have a feeling he will find me first.

“Speaking of husbands, where is yours?”  Paolo had a small smirk on his face and I could tell that he thought he was getting away with something by talking to me.

“Oh, he is around here somewhere probably cooking up new deals, which is exactly what I should be doing.”

“Then why aren’t you?”  His eyes smoldered as they perused my body.

"You are flirting with me Palo, and you know that is inappropriate."  For some reason I sounded very flirtatious when I said that to him and maybe it was because my husband hadn’t given me any attention in the last few days or maybe it was because I seriously found this man attractive.  Either way I knew that it was dangerous for me to continue to stand there and talk with him.

“What can I say? I enjoy the company of beautiful women, especially if they are smart.”

“I have to say that I am surprised to see you here.  I am happy that you were able to find other employment so quickly.”  I tried to turn the conversation toward work so that he would stop staring at me with those gorgeous dark brown eyes.

“Yes, I was very fortunate and I am very grateful.  How have things been going at Hunter International since I left?”

“Great, business is great.”

“Well it’s good to know that my absence did not hurt the company in any way.”

That’s a pretty arrogant statement.  The company is doing just fine without you.

“Well, it was nice to see you again Paolo, but I better mingle and work on making more contacts.”

He reached out and grabbed my arm and I flinched a bit under his touch. “Do you have to go so soon?”

At that exact moment I could feel a hole being burned through the back of my head from someone's intense gaze, and I quickly turned around to see Joshua’s hardened face glaring at me from across the room.  Paolo leaned around me slightly to see what I was looking at, and when he saw that it was Joshua he started to slowly rub my arm.  I whipped my head around and snatched my arm from his hand and gave him a stern look.

“Don’t touch me like that!” I snapped at him.

“Hubby doesn’t like that, huh? When are you going to be your own woman and stop letting a man control you?”

“He does not control me, and that is none of your business!”  I quickly turned around again to glance at Joshua and he was frozen in place still staring a hole right through me.  At first I was really nervous but then the more I thought about it, I figured it was good for him to see me talking with someone else. 
He’s going to be so pissed about this and it serves him right! 
 “I think that we are done here, have a good night.”   As I turned to walk away from him he grabbed my elbow and quickly pulled me to him, and give me a quick kiss on either side of my cheeks before slipping a small piece of paper inside my purse, and whispered in my ear.

“It was lovely to see you and if you would like to continue our conversation in private, you can find me at the address on that piece of paper that I just put in your purse.”

Just as I was getting ready to pull the piece of paper out of my purse and give it back to him, Joshua was at my side.

"Paolo, I see that they decided to let just anyone into this event.  If you know what is good for you, you will step away from my wife immediately.”

Joshua was very careful to keep his voice low so as not to cause a scene, but the stern tone in his voice made it very clear to Paolo that it was in his best interest to walk away from us.  Thankfully Paolo turned and walked away, but in doing so he left me with a very angry and very jealous Joshua.

“I would think that you would know better than to parade around here like a floozy, flirting openly with a former business colleague.  Geez Sarah, I have a reputation to maintain and I don’t need for you to blow it by throwing yourself at some sleazy guy!  Conduct yourself like a lady!”  He spat the words out to me under his breath so that only I could hear him.

That
pissed me off.  “I was not flirting with him Joshua!  And what do you care anyway? You’ve barely said two words to me in the past few days!”  Then I pulled the piece of paper out of my purse and held it up to Joshua’s face.  I sneered as I looked him in the eye and said something that I probably should not have said, and I regretted it the instant I said it.  “Maybe I should take him up on his offer to go back to his place and talk in private.”

Fire shot across Joshua’s eyes as his face turned bright red and every vein in his neck stood at attention.  He snatched the piece of paper out of my hand, grabbed the back of my elbow and led me through the crowd toward the door.