Page 18 of My Billionaire Neighbor's Secret

I smiled at her. “Hello, next door neighbor,” I simply said. “What can I do for you?”

She looked at me with disbelief, then her eyes dropped to the signage on the front of my desk. It clearly spelled out my name: CARTER CROFT, PRESIDENT AND CEO.

“You are the President and CEO of The Haven,” she said, seemingly trying to absorb that piece of information.

“That’s right,” I said, grinning. I just couldn’t help rubbing it in and gloating about it. “I own this hotel too so if you have any concerns regarding the operations or supplies of The Haven, you can come to me.”

I could see the color beginning to drain from her face as she supported her weight by leaning against the chair in front of my desk.

“Let me assure you that I am no pimp or porn star or indecent filmmaker,” I said in a serious tone, though my eyes were probably glimmering with mockery.

Her face registered some sort of realization so I guessed she knew what I was talking about. The way the expression on her face changed from that to anger and then to a weird kind of business-like calmness entertained me, to say the least. I felt myself enjoying every second of this encounter.

“Oh, my gosh…” she whispered. “Did you think---? I mean, I didn’t spread any rumors about you. I would never… Oh, shit. You dropped Luxe Linen because of that?”

I frowned. She made it sound like I was being so silly and childish. But yes, she did have a point if that was what was going on in her mind. Nonetheless, I had the upper hand here.

“Not really,” I said. “I never knew that gossiping was a skill characteristic of a CEO. I should have gotten lessons if I had known.”

“I am not a gossip,” she said firmly through gritted teeth. “It was Ellie who had all those ideas about you, and she was probably the one who talked to others about it. I’m too busy with my job to bother discussing the strange activities of my next-door neighbor.”

I laughed, which made her throw me a dagger look. But I could tell that she was struggling not to lose her composure and to remain courteous and professional. I wanted to clap and cheer her on.

“Thank you for that explanation,” I said. “Don’t worry, I believe you. I just didn’t want our hotel to be associated with people who like to gossip.”

She was seething, but I noticed that she bit her lower lip to keep from making a retort.

God, I was enjoying this so much.

As I found myself gazing at that lip she was biting; my mind was conjuring up images of that lip touching mine. I wondered how it would feel under my tongue or against my own lips. I thought about kissing her passionately and lifting her up to straddle me on my office chair.

Careful, Carter.

Leigh took a deep breath. “I understand,” she suddenly said, to my bewilderment. “I’m sorry if it came off that way or if you heard about such rumors from other people. I’m sorry if I sometimes see you engaging in your private activities inside your home…”

She blushed when she said that and I wondered if she had seen more than I knew.

“I’m really sorry, Mr. Croft,” she said. “The Haven has been our client for years and I believe we have always been one step ahead of providing the best products and services. I really hope that we can work on mending this misunderstanding and bringing our relationship to the next level.”

Next-level relationship. Hhhmmm…

“I really hope you’ll restore the contract and let us remain your supplier…” she said. Then being the excellent CEO she was, instead of pleading with me, she laid out an irresistible offer that included complete computations on how we could save more with their linens in the long run while satisfying our customers.

I could tell how passionate she was about this job and how knowledgeable she was about these linens. The way she talked was impressive, erasing my party girl impression of her thoroughly. This was how an award-winning CEO spoke.

“Impressive,” I admitted when she was done. She looked at me hopefully while I took my time with the pause, pretending to think it over. In fact, she’d already won me over.

“Should we sign on it?” she proposed, bringing out some documents. She had come well prepared. I admired that too.

“Alright,” I finally said.

Her eyes widened, but she did not smile. She stayed polite and very professional, keeping her initial outburst to a minimum and recovering very quickly from the shock.

We signed the papers and closed the new deal.

She looked at her watch after she kept her copy of the documents.

“Is there somewhere you have to be?” I asked straightforwardly, checking out her outfit again.

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