Page 23 of The Broke Billionaires Club
5
It was an incredibly long weekend.Trevor had never before looked forward to Monday morning. He couldn’t wait to see Millie and attempt to make her feel better about their budding relationship. He had texted and called her several times, but she hadn’t answered. Even though he was certain that if he contacted her about work, she would have immediately responded, he didn’t want to trick her into talking tohim.
He had considered driving over to her condo and banging on the door, but finally decided that if she wanted to hear from him, she would have answered her phone. Rather than beating down her door, he had thrown himself into work. The office was quieter on the weekend, so it was a good time for him to learn as much as he could about inflight projects. The neatly filed, color-coded folders reminded him of Millie, but he tried not to think too much about her as he digested every detail he could about the deals Trey had brewing before he left the helm of this massiveship.
He couldn’t deny that he had secretly hoped that Millie would come in to the office over the weekend to get a little extra work done, but that didn’t happen. He tried telling himself he was glad to not have the distraction of her being so perfect and poised right outside his office, but he knew that in reality, he’d give about anything to seeher.
After getting a few hours of shut-eye, he jumped out of bed and into the shower early on Monday morning. He planned to be there when Millie arrived. Maybe he’d even stop and get her one of those fancy cappuccinos she loved to sip. The fact that he remembered what she liked might help convince her that he was suitable boyfriend material, even though he was her boss at themoment.
He shook his head at the unlikelihood of that ever happening. He’d only known Millie a short while, but one thing he was certain of was that she liked to play by the rules. Unfortunately for him, dating one’s boss (or acting boss) was definitely against therules.
After picking up two cinnamon crunch bagels with cream cheese, black coffee for himself and Millie’s sugary brew of choice, he rode the elevator to the top floor of Donovan Enterprises––his building. He liked the sound of that and wasn’t sure if the grin that surfaced on his face was from that thought or the knowledge that he would get to see Milliesoon.
He was mildly disappointed that Millie wasn’t already at her desk clacking away at her keyboard so fast that her fingers nearly blurred. He knew it was a long shot for her to already be in since it was so early, but it hadn’t kept the hope of seeing her from creepingin.
After depositing the surprise treats for her on her tidy desk, he went to his office to get some early morning correspondence done. Even though he had worked yesterday, his computer indicated there were already five voicemails on his phone line. He was pleasantly surprised when he reached the third message and Millie’s lovely, lilting voice came through the speaker. When he heard what she had to say, he nearly slammed the phone down infrustration.
“No!” he shouted to the empty room before ending the call without bothering to listen to the last twomessages.
Millie had called in sick. Her reputation for always being reliable, poised, and prepared was well-known throughout the company. She never called in sick. Ever. If she wasn’t coming in to the office today, it was because ofhim.
The realization made his stomach feel queasy. Millie was a strictly by-the-book person and he had tempted her into crossing the line into forbidden territory. The guilt must be eating away at her. He had to go talk to her and convince her that their situation was not her fault. If he had to promise never to touch her again in order to get her to come back to work, that was what he would do, even though it would practically killhim.
He cared about her enough to let her go, if that was what she needed. Besides, she was vital to the operation of the business. He couldn’t risk losing her. He would be lost without her. He would just have to learn to live with the temptation of being near her all day, without being able to express his true feelings forher.
Wishing he had his own car, he texted Jim to let him know he needed to be picked up downstairs. It was embarrassing to give the chauffeur the address of where he was going, but Jim was a complete professional. He simply nodded his acknowledgment and went about his job of delivering Trevor to hisdestination.
One thing Trevor had to give his older brother credit for was finding the best employees to keep close by his side. He didn’t want to ruin that in his first weeks filling in for Trey, so it was vital that he convince Millie to come back during thisvisit.
His palms were clammy as he made a fist and pounded on her door. It was still early, but he knew she was up, since she had already called his desk phone. The realization that she probably called in the middle of the night so she wouldn’t have to risk talking to him didn’t help with his already frazzlednerves.
He didn’t have to stress about it for too long because he heard her door unlocking and a chain sliding free before the door opened a crack. Millie was standing back in the shadows as if she were afraid of him. He had already told Jim that he could leave. He would hate to have to immediately text the driver for a ride back to the office––alone, but it was beginning to feel like a distinctpossibility.
“Are you okay? I got your message and wanted to check on you.” He tried to lean in to get a better look at her, but she was holding the door firmly inplace.
“I’m fine,” she answered, but her voice didn’t soundfine.
He didn’t believe her for a second. “Please let me in.” He waited for what seemed to be an interminable amount of time. Just when he was beginning to think she might actually turn him away, she sighed and opened the door wider. That is when he saw the gel ice pack she was holding up to her cheek near herhairline.
“What happened?” he asked, shocked by seeing the woman he cared about be in obviouspain.
“It’s nothing.” She tried to brush the injury off like it didn’tmatter.
Fury and rage immediately formed a hot mixture that raced through his veins. “Who did this to you? I’ll kill him.” Seeing Millie look vulnerable brought out his naturally protectivenature.
“No, it’s nothing like that,” Millie reassured him as she gave up keeping him out of her home and went over to rest on the couch, leaving the doorajar.
Following her inside, Trevor sat down on the edge of the couch and placed her calves across his lap. When Millie adjusted the ice pack on her cheek, he noticed the scrapes on her elbow. “What the hell happened?” He reached out gingerly to examine herinjuries.
“I fell,” she saidsimply.
He wasn’t buying that. There was more to the story, he could tell. If she was protecting some loser boyfriend that had hurt her, Trevor thought he really might murder the other man. He couldn’t bear the thought of anyone raising a hand to her in anger. “How about the truth this time?” He lifted his dark, slashing brows at her, hoping that he was mimicking his brother’s menacing look that told others he meantbusiness.
She sighed and looked down. He knew that this time, he would get the truth. “I was attacked by a goose,okay?”
“I’m sorry, what?” Trevor had heard her, but he was stalling and trying to keep from smiling––both with relief that another man hadn’t hurt her and at the visual of a goose chasing afterher.
Unable to hide the smile, Millie saw it and reached forward to smack his shoulder playfully. “It’s not funny! It really hurt,” she tried to pout, but she was grinning too. Before she knew it, they were bothlaughing.
