What He Hides (What He Wants, Book Seven) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (2 page)

My heart pounded in my chest and the
blood rushed through my ears.
 

I knew who had defended Audi James before
I even looked back down at the Wikipedia page.

But I did anyway, just to see it there in
black and white.

Audi James had been defended by Noah
Cutler
.

***

I couldn’t concentrate.

All during class, my mind was a million
miles away.
 
When it was over, I
had no idea what had been discussed.
 
I was dimly aware of taking notes, but if you asked me what they were
on, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you.
 

When class was finished, I walked across
campus to the library, where I pulled out my laptop and typed up an email to
Professor Worthington summarizing what I’d learned from Noah this morning.
 
It wasn’t much, and I tried to pad the
email without making it obvious that’s what I was doing.
 
My fear was that if I didn’t get enough
information from Noah, or prove myself to be helpful in some way, I was going
to be taken off the case.

The fact that Noah was refusing to talk
to anyone but me was only going to hold weight for so long.
 
Eventually Professor Worthington was
going to get sick of Noah’s antics.
 
He’d been patient with Noah so far, because it was a high profile case
that would lead to a ton of publicity.
 
But Noah was sabotaging himself, and Professor Worthington wasn’t going
to stay on a case he felt he had no chance of winning.

When I was done at the library, I packed
up my things and walked outside.

 
Noah’s sleek black car was parked right in front of the
building.
 
Jared, Noah’s driver,
was standing next to the passenger side door, his hands carefully folded in
front of him.

I knew what he was doing – he was
waiting for me, making sure I didn’t try to pull anything tricky like taking
the subway.
 
I was sure Noah had
sent him here, had told him to park right in front and wait for me. I wondered
how Jared had managed to get the parking spot right in front of the main
library.
 
I decided it was probably
best if I didn’t know.

I sighed and walked over.

“Hi, Jared,” I said as he opened the door
for me.

“Hello, Charlotte,” he said, and tipped
his cap.

“Did I get you in trouble?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,”
he said, with a glint in his eye.

“I’m sorry, Jared,” I said.
 
“I’ll make it clear to him it wasn’t
your fault.”

He nodded, but there was a slight smile
on his face.
 
He knew it wouldn’t
matter that much, and he also knew that Noah wouldn’t
really
hold him responsible.
 

I settled into the backseat and stared
out the window as the car moved through the city streets.
 
I thought about asking Jared if he
remembered Noah during the Audi James trial, if there was anything different
about him, if Jared had picked up on anything significant.

 
But to do that would be putting Jared in an awkward position,
not to mention crossing a line.
 
I
shouldn’t have to sneak around being Noah’s back, asking questions of the
people who worked for him.
 
If I
wanted to know something about Noah and Audi James, I would have to ask him.

I was out of the car and back inside Noah’s
apartment when I realized I still had nothing to wear to Force.
 
I’d been out of place at the last club
we’d gone to – the women there had been dressed to the nines in designer
clothes and elegant dresses.
 
I’d
worn a tight black dress, and although it had been sexy enough, it definitely
didn’t fit the vibe.

Was Force the same?
 
Should I try to find something more
expensive?
 
The way people spoke
about Force, with almost a whispered reverence and awe, made me think it was a
little rougher around than edges than Calvin Klein and Oscar de la Renta.

I didn’t have anything appropriate for
that, either, which meant I was definitely going to have to buy something.
 
The thought filled me with anxiety and
trepidation.

It was a big deal, going to Force with Noah
for the first time.
 
I wanted him
to be pleased with me, wanted him to think I was submitting to him in the way
he required of me.
 
I wanted
whatever I wore to be perfect.

I remembered the things he’d done to me
in his office earlier, the way he’d told me he thought he was falling in love
with me.
 
It was the first time
he’d even come close to saying something like that, and I
wanted
 
him
to fall in love with me, wanted him to
think I was perfect and wonderful and everything he’d ever wanted.

I wanted to be sexy for him.
 
The problem was, my body was
all wrong
.
 
I’d
been able to get away with a simple black dress for the last club, but now… how
was I supposed to wear anything more revealing than that?
 
I had hips and an ass and I was
voluptuous – I didn’t hate my body, but I wasn’t exactly comfortable
showing it off, either.
 
Especially not in a room full of strangers.
 
And I didn’t relish the idea of heading
to some lingerie store and trying on things that wouldn’t end up fitting.

I paced around the kitchen, trying to
decide what to do.

My phone rang.

Noah.

“Charlotte,” he said when I
answered.
 
“I’m glad to hear Jared
was able to convince you to get into the car.”

“It wasn’t Jared’s fault I took the
subway earlier,” I said.
 
“You
shouldn’t hold him responsible.”

“Jared has responsibilities,
Charlotte.
 
I expect the people who
work for me to live up to those responsibilities.”

“But he – ”

“Did you eat anything after your class?”

“No.”

“I’ll have lunch sent over.”

“That’s okay.
 
I can find something here.”

“It’s not a problem.”

“You don’t trust me to get my own food?”

“It has nothing to do with trust,
Charlotte.
 
I’ll feel better if I
know you’re eating enough.”

“I eat,” I said, wondering if he could
seriously be worried about me eating enough.
 
I did not have the kind of body that made people wonder if I
was eating enough.

“You need to keep up your strength,” Noah
said.
 
He lowered his voice and
said huskily, “Especially for what I have planned for you tonight.”

I swallowed, the anticipation flowing
through me hard and strong.
 

“About tonight,” I said.

“Yes?” he prompted.

“Um, what… what should I wear?”

“You haven’t found something
suitable?
 
Did the credit card I
gave you not work?”

“No.
 
I mean, I haven’t tried it.”

There was a pause.
 
“I’ll pick something out for you.”

“You don’t know my sizes.”

“I know what I want to see you in,
Charlotte.”

I frowned.
 
That wasn’t really the problem.
 
Men knew nothing about picking out clothes for women,
especially when the woman had curves like me.

“I don’t think –”

“Charlotte,” Noah said, sounding
exasperated.
 
“You’ve been very
combative today.
 
Is that on
purpose?
 
Are you angry with me for
some reason?”

“No.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Then I’ll have something sent over.
 
I’ll be working late tonight, but I’ll
pick you up at eight pm.
 
Please be
ready.”

“I will,” I said.

There was a pause, and my heart sped up
for a moment, thinking he might tell me he loved me.
 
Not just that he was falling in love with me, but that he
actually did, truly love me.
 

But all he said was, “I’ll see you
tonight.”

“Okay,” I said, trying hard to keep the
disappointment out of my voice.
 
“I’ll see you tonight.”

We hung up and I let out the breath I’d
been holding.
 
Goosebumps had
broken out all over my body.
 
I had
a feeling tonight was going to be intense.
 
And I was beginning to wonder if perhaps Noah had been right
about me not being ready for Force

***

The food Noah ordered for me arrived
about an hour later -- fresh fruit salad, a turkey and sliced brie sandwich on
multigrain bread, and chunky organic vegetable soup.

It was delicious.

The outfit he was sending over, however,
didn’t arrive until around seven.

By then, I’d showered, done my make-up,
and curled my hair into soft waves around my shoulders.
 
I was sitting in a robe in the living
room, flipping through channels on the TV and trying not to freak out, when the
doorbell rang.

When I answered it, no one was there.

There was a black box wrapped with a red
ribbon sitting in the hallway.

I reached down and picked it up, saying a
silent prayer that whatever was inside would fit me.
 
There was no time to get anything else, and it would be a
severe level of humiliation to have to admit to Noah that the outfit he’d
wanted to see me in was too small, or even worse, just simply
unflattering.
 

I carried the box into the bedroom and
set it down on the bed.

For a moment, I just stared at it.

There was a cream-colored envelope stuck
underneath the red ribbon, and I reached down and pulled it out.
 
My name was written across the front in
swirling silver letters.
 
I slid my
finger under the flap of the envelope.
 
The paper was a heavy bond, and felt smooth and creamy in my hands.

Charlotte- -

Can’t wait for tonight.

~N

It wasn’t Noah’s handwriting.
 
Obviously.
 
I hadn’t expected him to run down to a store and actually
hand pick something.
 
He was at
work.
 
He was busy, he had clients
and meetings and all kinds of prior commitments.

But something about a shop assistant
writing a note for a box that contained an outfit I was supposed to wear to a
BDSM club seemed a little impersonal.
 
It was fine, nothing to get upset about, really, unless I wanted to seem
like a spoiled child.
 
But it was
just that little bit of distance that was always there with Noah, that little
bit of separation that was always smacking me in the face – no matter
what, he was always holding me at arms length.

I sighed and opened the box, holding my
breath in anticipation as I pushed away layers of white tissue paper.
 
The box was bigger than it needed to be
– the tissue was covering what seemed like just a scrap of material.
 

At first, I was sure the outfit had been
ripped or torn, and that I was going to have to return it.
 
The material seemed shredded almost.

But when I got it out of the box, I
realized it wasn’t shredded at all.
 
It was a dress -- a body hugging black dress with tears all the way down
the front, right across the middle.
 

My heart sped up.
 
There was no way Noah could expect me
to wear something like this.
 
My
breasts were way too big to wear a dress like this – the material would
hardly be covering me, and I was too tall for the length.
 
I’d be lucky if it covered my ass.

There was a silky drawstring bag still
inside the box, and I pulled it out, hoping it was some kind of alternate
outfit.
 
Perhaps Noah knew he’d
been pushing the envelope with this one, and so he’d instructed the shop
assistant to put in an extra, less revealing option.

But the bag was filled with a compliment
to the dress—sheer black thigh highs, a garter belt, and the tiniest
g-string I’d ever seen.
 
My pulse
raced, thinking about putting this on, about wearing it in front of anyone
except Noah.
 
I hadn’t worn
lingerie for anyone except my college boyfriend, and even then it had only been
once or twice.
 
I’d change into it
in the bathroom quickly, then slip under the covers and shut the lights off
before he had a chance to see me.