Page 1 of The Billionaire's Temptation

Chapter 1

The intense cacophony wasn’t the worst part of the massive, busy warehouse. It wasn’t the dim lighting or the constant movement of the forklifts. It wasn’t even the constant, disapproving scrutiny of the management from the upper windows.

It was the unrelenting heat! It felt almost as if the heat was coming at him in waves, almost like wind!

Levi Harris slipped off his jacket and loosened his silk tie. Why wasn’t there adequate air circulation? This environment couldn’t be healthy for the employees. Why in the hell would any employer put his staff through this kind of daily misery?

“Donata!” the man with the clipboard beside him bellowed.

Somehow, the foreman’s rough bellow managed to rise above the noise. Someone in a pair of baggy blue overalls turned and came toward them. Levi realized the person was female, but only because of her soft, pale skin and the way she moved. He couldn’t see her well from this distance, but as she turned, he noticed the heavy, steel-toed boots and the long, brown ponytail hanging limply down her back.

“You got a visitor!” the man bellowed, lifting his clipboard in the air as if waving to her.

The woman rushed towards them and, unexpectedly, Levi felt his body tighten. He was stunned…shocked…to be turned on by a tiny woman in hefty boots!

Subtly shaking his head with self-derision, Levi ignored the reaction, concentrating on his mission. Levi was here to pay back a favor. One last obligation and the debt would be paid.

When the rosy-cheeked woman stopped in front of the foreman, her head tilting back with a bright, eager smile, the ass beside him snapped, “You got five minutes, then I need you back on the floor!”

The man turned, leaving Levi alone with the woman whose bright, happy smile was quickly fading.

With wary eyes, the woman asked, “You needed to speak with me?” She shifted her weight from one heavily booted foot to the other, shoving her hands into the enormous pockets of her too-large, blue coveralls.

Levi’s eyes narrowed. This couldn’t be the woman he was looking for. “You’re Clarissa Donata?” he asked, very aware that he needed to be sure of the woman’s identity before he gave her the information.

“Yes,” she replied, her brown eyes sparkling, as if she was anticipating what he was here to tell her.

Yep, her shy smile proved to him that he was speaking to the right woman. Her yellow safety helmet had hidden her eyes, but now that he could see her face, he knew that this was the right woman.

Levi looked around, searching for a place where they could speak in private. But he didn’t see an office. He asked, “Is there some place we could talk that is a bit…” he wanted to say cooler, but he wasn’t sure if that was a possibility.

The woman, Clarissa Donata, immediately pointed towards a nearby door with a window. There was a bright light inside, indicating fluorescent lighting, but nothing else to indicate what the space was used for.

“There’s a break room over there,” she explained, raising her voice to be heard above the jingling of chains off to the right. “Will that work?”

Levi nodded sharply, wanting to get this over with. Five minutes, he thought. In five minutes, his debt would be paid. He could breathe easier, knowing that he’d accomplished his goal. Glancing at his watch, he calculated that he could explain the situation to Ms. Donata, give her the keys and the envelope with the papers, and get back at his office in thirty minutes.

His climate controlled,quietoffice!

Pushing through the door, he looked around. There was nothing in the room but a couple of folding tables and two metal folding chairs. The walls were a dingy white and, other than the various colors of marks on the wall, there was no other decoration. It was stark and brutal. Just like the rest of this warehouse hellhole!

“Is this better?” Ms. Donata asked.

Levi mentally sighed. “It will have to do.” He moved over to one of the metal chairs, waving towards the other. “Have a seat.”

The woman shifted the well-used yellow hard hat, tucking it between her arm and her body, as she sat down, leaning forward slightly. Her hair was a sweaty mess and she lifted a hand self-consciously, attempting to settle it into some semblance of…something. But the woman had obviously been working for several hours already and the heat had matted her hair to her head.

Even so, Levi had to admit that she was quite lovely. Her rosy cheeks, another gift from the heated warehouse, made her skin glow. Long, dark lashes surrounded her brown eyes. Ms. Donata had a pert nose with a cute little lift at the end, which contrasted with her stubborn chin. But it was her mouth that captured his attention for several long moments. Her lips were wide and full, pink even without lipstick. His imagination ran away with thoughts of those lips and…!

Clearing his throat, Levi reminded himself firmly of his mission. Debt, he thought to himself. Repay the debt and get out of here.

With that goal in mind, Levi slid the keys and envelope across the folding table. “I am here at the request of an….” He paused, not sure how to describe his relationship with Arthur Fuque. The man was an absolute bastard. But then, so was Levi. In every sense of the word, Levi was a bastard. “Acquaintance,” he finally finished.

Ms. Donata’s head tilted slightly to the side in polite inquiry. “Does your ‘acquaintance’ have a name?” she asked, her lips curling upwards slightly at each corner.

Levi took a moment to appreciate the woman’s smile. There weren’t many people in this world who could distract him, but that smile…yeah, he blinked, reminding himself of his mission.

“Arthur Fuque,” he supplied. “Your father.”

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