Page 3 of Quarantined with the Billionaire

Chapter Two

My heart might have stopped beating for a moment. Worse, I almost spilled my cup of piping hot coffee on Mr. Steel.

And then, it was as if time stood still. I had no need to breathe nor to blink, and I hoped my jaw wasn’t slack, drool spilling out of the corner of my mouth—because the CEO was far more handsome, far more astonishing than I’d remembered. Taller than my memory recalled, probably six and a half feet, although most men seemed tall to my barely five-foot-four stature. His eyes seemed a deeper blue, almost piercing, and he was actually looking at me, unlike that day in the elevator. I’d only ever noticed his cleft in the picture that went out with press releases, but it was almost adorable.

Why was I lusting over Maddox Steel?

“Um, excuse me, sir.”

And why in hell was I deferring to him?

“Of course. Bailey Bernard, right?”

Holy crap. How did he know my name? My badge wasn’t conspicuous, so it couldn’t have been from that. I blinked, my mouth suddenly dry. “Yes.”

Elise came around the corner. “Hey, Bailey, I found those—” She stopped short, likely feeling as stunned as I did. “Uh, hello, Mr. Steel.”

Nodding, he flashed another arresting smile. “Elise, right?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Oh, God. I was surprised my best friend wasn’t melting in a puddle on the laminate floor. I already knew I’d have to hear about this moment for the rest of our lives.

“Please, call me Maddox. Thank you both for your dedication to Essential Solutions Finance. I couldn’t do it without you, especially in times like these.” He stepped toward the coffee machine. “Now, don’t you two have a meeting to attend?”

My eyes grew wide and I felt Elise take my arm. Practically scurrying back to our department, we barely managed to keep the coffee in our cups.

“Holy shit, Bailey. I can’t believe it.”

A grimace threatened to mar my entire face, but I didn’t care. “Don’t you think that’s kind of creepy?”

“You’re giving yourself frown lines. And what’s creepy?”

“How he just appeared out of nowhere. And then how he knew exactly what was going on with us.”

“It’s his company. I’m not surprised. I’d be more surprised if he was clueless.”

“He knew our names.”

Elise squealed. “I know. Oh, my God. And I forgot how gorgeous he is in person.”

I wasn’t going to agree with her out loud, although that thought had already flown through my mind.

And stuck.

I couldn’t even risk a nod—because then my friend would never shut up about it.

The next several hours flew by as we received training and did our normal jobs, finally sent home later in the day. In spite of everything we’d been told about social distancing, I gave Elise a huge hug on the first floor before she took the elevator down to the parking garage and I made my way out of the building to the sidewalk. Before parting ways, we promised to meet for lunch sometime the next week.

That was before we knew just how bad things were going to get.

* * *

Monday morning, I began my new work routine. I set my alarm as usual and even showered and put on makeup. There was the possibility that I’d have to Skype or Zoom with coworkers or my boss, and I wanted to be prepared.

But I wore a pair of soft, cuddly PJ bottoms, just because I could—and I planned to tell Elise about it, since it had been her idea in the first place.

By Friday, things felt a lot different. Still new, but foreign. Even though Elise and I had chatted on the phone every night and I’d made a trip to the supermarket and even had lunch with my bestie on Wednesday, I was starting to feel disconnected from the rest of the world. For having once thought I could be a hermit and live happily, I got a taste of what true isolation felt like. What made my mood worse was checking up on my applications on Indeed, finding that I’d been passed up for not one but two jobs.

What the hell was wrong with me?

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