Page 19 of Quarantined with the Billionaire

As he backed the car out of the garage, I saw Ferrari on the front of the dash, and I stifled a grin, because I’d never been in a vehicle like this one before. Once he got the car out on the street, I could feel the smoothness of its tires against the pavement, along with bridled power. I was almost sad we wouldn’t be driving down the interstate, because I would have bet this car would be fun and go from zero to sixty in seconds.

And I wondered if this car was a metaphor of the man himself. Driven. Powerful. Mysterious.

Yes, mysterious. I didn’t know anything about this man, and that made him all the more intriguing, even though I still harbored the belief that he was an asshole. And the latter part of the day had only confirmed that belief. But I’d seen a side of him today I hadn’t known about—a sweet side. Inventive. Fun. Even kind.

I was still smarting, though—and reminded myself that I’d been chosen out of an entire pool of coworkers, because I was thorough, hardworking, and good with customers.

And I finally decided I was going to say something about that incident when he dropped me off.

“You’re on Pearl Street? Off of Colfax?”

“Yes.”

He wasn’t using his phone, but what little I knew about Maddox Steel was that even before he’d begun renting the building I worked in (or maybe he owned it—I wasn’t sure), he’d rented other property downtown and worked in that same area before then. So he probably knew downtown like the back of his hand. I drove around the area a little but walked more, so I had to use Google Maps when I wanted to go somewhere new. Driving to my mom’s or going to my favorite places were easy.

I definitely respected the brilliance of the man.

I admired a lot about him—but not the way he treated people.

Me, specifically.

As he wove through side streets I wasn’t familiar with, making it hard for me to tell how close we were to my neighborhood, I started formulating a speech of a few sentences in my head. I wanted to tell him how I felt without seeming defensive or whiny. After all, I needed my shitty customer service job until I could find something else. If I seemed to be a troublemaker, it might be easy enough to just get rid of me, pandemic or not.

Braking the car at a stop sign, he looked both ways before accelerating the car once more. “Bailey, I need to apologize to you. I made an incorrect assumption—and I could blame my reaction on a lot of things, from the fact that I’m used to my usual admin to the strangeness of doing all my work at home. But I’m not going to make excuses. I accused you erroneously, and I apologize.”

Words escaped me for a moment as the speech in my head disappeared like wisps of steam into a breeze. I’d never expected from Maddox Steel any sort of apology, much less one so sincere, succinct, and thoughtful.

But I took another breath and looked over at him. He seemed handsomer, more powerful, more intelligent than I’d initially given him credit for.

“Thank you, Mr. Steel. I appreciate your apology.” I looked back at the road, feeling suddenly shy. “And I forgive you.”

I slid my eyes sideways without moving my head. His eyes seemed to squint but he gave a small nod, turning the wheel at the next intersection.

“Now, as to your concerns about a promotion, I think perhaps you and I need to sit down with Jeffrey and Dominique to discuss your concerns once things are back to normal at the office.”

God. I’d already been there.

But not with the owner of the company.

“Okay.”

“And you promised to stop calling me Mister.”

“I will. When you’re nicer.”

The way his eyebrow cocked before his eyes met mine made my words totally worth it.

But would they be worth it tomorrow?

---