Page 322 of Billionaire Temptations

He took a seat in the chair across from my desk and crossed his legs.

“Anna looks great sitting outside your office. She’s one hell of a looker. How did dinner go last night?”

“It was good. She used to work at Young Vine Enterprises in California.”

“The wine company?”

“Yeah. She was the chief operating officer, and her father fired her after she ran off.”

“No fucking way! What the hell is she doing being your personal assistant? Jesus Christ, she’s probably more qualified to run this place than you or me.”

“Apparently, she gets bored easily.” I rolled my eyes. “I need to keep my distance from her.”

“Why? I can tell you like her.”

“I do, but I’m afraid I can’t trust her.”

“Why? Because she lied on a stupid resume? Big deal.”

“I believe she’s more trouble than it’s worth. She left her fiancé at the altar. Her father fired her from the family business that she was supposed to take over, and her mother isn’t in her life at all. What does that tell you about her?”

“It tells me that she comes from a shitty family,” he spoke.

“Or it could be that she’s the problem. I mean, I’m all for her knowing what she wants, but leaving that guy standing at the altar the way she did just isn’t sitting right with me. She should have called off the wedding if she didn’t love him or was unsure. I just think she has some major problems, and I’m not getting involved with someone like that.”

“Is this because of Alexa?”

“No. This has nothing to do with her.”

“I think you’re wrong, man. I think this has everything to do with her and with what happened. Everyone has issues, and nobody’s perfect.”

“I know that, and as much as I like Anna, I can’t get involved with someone like her. It’s too much. I’m at a good place in my life, and I don’t need any drama.”

Anna

I stood at the door and heard every word he said. My heart broke in half, and I couldn’t listen anymore. He didn’t know me. He only knew what I chose to tell him. He didn’t know anything about me or how I grew up. I walked back to my desk as I tried to hold back the tears that formed in my eyes. Picking up my phone, I sent Franco a text message telling him to cancel Bernard. I’d handle this event on my own, and then I’d quit, and he’d never have to see me again.

I went through the file, and the place where the event usually was held was booked. So I started calling around. I found a place, the Hudson Terrace, that had an opening for the night of the event. Grabbing my coat and purse, I walked past Tori’s desk.

“Mr. Carter is in a meeting. If he’s looking for me, tell him I went to check out a space for the small business event.”

“He isn’t going to like that,” she spewed.

“And I don’t really give a shit.” I kept walking.

As I was checking out the Hudson Terrace and speaking with the event manager, my phone dinged with a text message from Wes.

“I don’t understand why you had to leave. We have the event at the same place every year. All you had to do was make a simple phone call.”

I sighed as I rolled my eyes.

“Excuse me for a moment,” I spoke to Laurinda, the event manager. “My boss is being a dick head.”

“That place was booked already because you failed to plan this event more than two weeks ahead of time. I had to find somewhere else.”

“Where are you?”

“Don’t worry about it. You wanted me to plan this, and that’s what I’m doing. I’ll give you all the details tomorrow.”

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