Page 23 of Interning For A Billionaire

After fifteen minutes, he was supposed to come out. When he didn’t, I decided to go check on him. I came in quietly, saw him lying on the chair, clearly having fallen asleep.

I gently squeezed his arm, but he didn’t wake up.

I looked at him for a while, lying there, aware of having a rare opportunity to observe him without him knowing it. Even asleep, he was extremely handsome. He exuded a kind of energy and confidence that I had at first taken for arrogance. But I’d come to realize that he had the kind of clinical intelligence that looked at things from a more rational and logical perspective. He was not very emotional or in tune with his emotions. I had started wondering if he even knew how affected I had been by the hotel incident. I had the feeling he had no clue. Was it possible that I had misconstrued his reaction? Could it be that he hadn’t been flaunting his nakedness and hadn’t even known he was naked? I had heard stories of his incredible focus at work, how one time he was walking around the office in socks. When someone pointed it out to him, he stared at his feet in wonder and it turned out he’d come in to work like that, without shoes. They were working on a big pitch, and he hadn’t slept for days. But that was the kind of guy he was, distractable and socially a little awkward.

“Michael,” I called out to him, and he opened his eyes.

The light was low and soft,I could hear the music playing from his headphones, which had slipped from his head. His gaze locked on my face, and I stared into his hypnotic blue eyes.

“Time’s up,” I whispered.

“Is it?” he said, his voice a bit sluggish.

“Come, let me help you,” I said, lowering the chair, to help him get up. I leaned over him, my hair brushing over his face. It had been tied up, but it had come undone in the course of the afternoon.

“Sorry,” I quickly took my hair and flipped it over my shoulder, in the process, hitting him in the face with my elbow.

“Oh, no! I’m sorry about that!”

“Ow!” he grabbed his face, wincing. “Is that part of the massage?”

“Totally!” I said with a nervous laugh. “It’s called aggressive relaxation!”

“Aggress…what?” he started laughing and I couldn’t stop myself laughing too. We were bending over, unable to stop laughing. Finally, I straightened up and exhaled.

When I opened my eyes, he was standing in front of me. I could make out his face but not the expression in his eyes. There was a tension suddenly that was so intense that I couldn’t breathe. The very air between us was charged and I knew what was coming even before it happened. For a moment, time stood still and then we were in each other’s arms, kissing, hungrily. I could hardly believe what was happening, but it felt incredible.

Chapter 10

Michael

I don’t have bad nights.

But tonight, is one of them.

I toss and turn, I can’t seem to fall asleep. Despite having the top-selling Amazon Snore-no-more pillows and even though my mattress is the Maxi DeLuxe 500, which cost the same as a small car. I have a luxuriously soft weighted blanket, a Christmas gift from Nathan and his wife and a gadget that plays white noise until I fall asleep. Usually.

But nothing works tonight.

I keep waking up, being uncomfortable, unable to find the right position to sleep in.

Finally, I sit up and go for a drink of water in the kitchen.

I love my apartment. It’s on Pacific Avenue and has one of the best views in the city. There is a small terrace, which I have decorated with outdoor furniture and some pots, and I love seeing the open water, the bridge and on clear days, the hills in the distance. It was expensive, this place. I remember Nathan lifting his eyebrows when he heard what I’d paid. But I’d long ago surpassed him when it came to the income stakes. Nathan did well enough, but after I sold that dating app ten years ago, the money was crazy.

I walk around the apartment, finally switching the TV on and watching some sports. But my mind isn’t on the game. It’s on Belle and that kiss. It hadn’t lasted that long. Samira came in to help clear out the massage chairs. Fortunately, she was carrying boxes and wasn’t paying attention to what was happening in the room.

We had enough time to break apart, for me to grab my jacket and get back to my office.

Samira is a lovely girl, but she is really scatter-brained, I’m not worried about her finding out anything. But I do wonder about Belle, and what she made of our little encounter. I won’t lie, I’d love to bring her here, lie her down on my Maxi DeLuxe 500 and strip the clothes from her body until I can see her naked again, the way I had on those photographs.

I have the feeling that now, she might just let me.

But I’m not entirely sure.

There is something tantalizingly mysterious about her. Is she unstable or was that just something she pretended to be for my benefit, to get me to back off? This is my suspicion and I’m probably 99.9% right. It is that 0.1% that bugs me though. If I’m wrong, the consequences could be spectacular.

I haven’t forgotten that thing with Darian a while ago. It was huge. Before we moved him away, there was an investigation. Then the girl decided the relationship was non-consensual, that he had intimidated and harassed her into sleeping with him. The police were involved, it created a lot of bad press. If another incident like that happened at Pyramide, this place would be called toxic, and it would not survive in the current business climate.

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