Read Online Rise of the Billionaire by Ruth Cardello - Free Book Online

without looking back at him.
    He tried to answer but got momentarily lost in the long expanse of tanned legs that her shorts revealed and the tight little ass they just barely covered. “I got the contract,” he said, his mouth suddenly dry.
    “That’s great,” Jeisa said, still not turning from the coffee machine. “Did you see Alethea?”
    His enthusiastic retelling of his trip died before it he uttered a word of it. Was it his imagination or was Jeisa upset? A myriad of emotions swirled within Jeremy. He strove to get things back to normal between them. “Yes, and she loved the jet. You were right about that.”
    “I’m glad,” Jeisa said and turned, lean ing back onto her hands, which gripped the edge of the counter on the opposite side of the small kitchen. The pose lifted her breasts and pressed them even more tightly against the material of her thin T-shirt.
    Jeremy swallowed hard.
    Seeing Alethea should have lessened his attraction to Jeisa. Instead, it had done the opposite, and he was struggling to understand what that meant.
    “What did she think of the new you?” Jeisa asked.
    The triumph he’d felt about finally gaining the interest of Alethea felt out of place with Jeisa. Still, he wasn’t about to lie to her. He tried to lighten the mood with a joke. “I rocked her world.”
    Jeisa spilled the coffee as her hand jerked . She swore in Portuguese as she mopped the hot liquid off her bare legs. When she looked up, her eyes were full of hurt that had nothing to do with the spill.
    No, Jeisa doesn’t feel that way about me . . . does she?
    “Did you kiss her?” Jeisa asked as if the question were torn from her.
    “No,” Jeremy said. He could have. She’d given him the opportunity when he’d dropped her off at her plane. His reluctance hadn’t made sense to him until just now. “That wasn’t part of the plan.”
    Nor was this.
    “But now the two of you will be working closely on this project, won’t you?” she asked.
    “Yes,” he answered and hated that he felt guilty. She knew this was what he’d been working toward. None of it was a surprise. The only unexpected part was how empty his success now felt.
    “I’m happy for you,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “You did it, Jeremy. You fought for what you wanted and you got it.”
    Did I?
    Jeisa continued, “I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you that I won’t be going to Thanksgiving with you. In fact, I’ve already resigned my position, effective immediately.”
     
    Whatever Jeisa had expected, it wasn’t for Jeremy to surge out of his seat and corner her against the counter. He said, “What are you talking about? You can’t quit.”
    His nearness had an instant effect on her ability to concentrate. She tried to slide away, but he blocked her retreat by placing a hand on the counter beside her. She licked her suddenly dry lips. “I already did. Marie understands my reasons.”
    “Well , I don’t,” he boomed with an emotion she hadn’t seen from him before, “and you work for me.”
    Jeisa shook her head. “Technically I work for —or rather I did work for—Corisi Enterprises.”
    He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “You can’t quit. I need you.”
    Oh, how I wish that were true.
    Just as her heart started to soften a bit, opening ever so slightly to allow a ray of hope in, Jeremy said, “You said you would come with me to Thanksgiving next week. I can’t go to the Andrades’ alone.”
    Of course, he needs me to choose his suits, prepare him with topics for light discussion. What next, pick up the condoms in case Alethea joins them? No way. I’m done. “I never agreed to go with you.”
    His frown deepened. “Why are you doing this Jeisa? I don’t get it.”
    Something in her snapped. She raised herself onto her tiptoes, yanked his head down and settled her lips on his, using a kiss to tell him what she couldn’t yet put into words.
    Like a match to dry kindling, heat burst from