The Billionaire's Secret Flame Read online

  Erin had responded with a frowny emoji and the promise of chocolate, but she hadn’t come over yet and Sami almost felt starved for some attention. She wasn’t sure why. She’d always enjoyed being alone, and she didn’t normally need much affirmation in her life.

  The day passed without so much as a text from Andy, and she showered, shaved, and shimmied into the red dress. She may have eaten one too many tacos in Costa Rica, but she managed to get everything zipped and into place.

  She curled her hair and swept more makeup on than she normally wore. Andy had mentioned that there would be a lot of reporters there, with cameras and microphones and lights. She’d done a bit of theater in high school, and she knew bright lights washed a person out.

  Feeling very much like a clown about to be put on display for all of Forbidden Lake—and the State of Michigan—to see, she left the house when she saw the sleek, black luxury car pull up.

  “Sami,” her brother called from next door. Liam stood on his front porch too, his arm around his girlfriend, Serenity. “What’s with the limo?”

  It wasn’t a limo, but the car was clearly not normal on this dirt lane. “I’m going to the Best of State Awards,” she said. “My boss is getting honored.”

  Liam nodded, never one to pry or ask too many questions.

  “I love the dress,” Serenity said, a smile sitting on her face.

  Sami did too, so she said, “Thanks,” with a smile too. Liam and Serenity had only met at the beginning of the summer, and now, three weeks into August, she wore a diamond ring on her finger. They might be married before Jon or Phoenix, but Sami hadn’t been able to get the latest news from her family.

  Tomorrow, she told herself as she allowed the driver to open her door and help her into the back seat of the car.

  It smelled like oranges and lemons, and she took in a deep breath of the citrus to try to calm herself. The speech was seven minutes. Nothing long. Nothing too serious. She could deliver it with precision, as she’d studied it for days now and worked on the enunciation with Andy the previous afternoon.

  She didn’t take out her phone on the drive over to Andy’s, and she didn’t get out of the car when they arrived at the curb. Andy came out several minutes later, dressed in his tuxedo, that blue bow tie so sexy, her breath caught in her throat.

  He got in the other side of the car with a, “Thank you, Jack,” and the door closed behind him. The privacy guard was already up between them and the driver. The windows were nearly black they held so much tint.

  Andy looked at her, and she was already gawking at him. “Wow,” he said, and Sami could only say the same about him. He slid across the seat, a hungry look in his eye. “If I kiss you, will I mess up your lipstick?”

  “Depends on how aggressive you are,” she said, already reaching up and trailing her fingertips down the side of his face. “I’m willing to risk it.”

  Andy’s stormy eyes darkened, and he tenderly pressed his lips to hers in the most non-aggressive kiss they’d shared yet. Sami felt his adoration in that simple kiss that wasn’t so simple at all.

  Her heart raced all the same, but she felt calm and ready for whatever this gala held.

  “Thank you,” he whispered, easily sliding back to his side of the car and adjusting his tuxedo jacket.

  Sami touched her lips and looked out the window, a secret smile stealing through her at the knowledge that only she and Andy shared.

  He’d been right—having a secret relationship added a bit of thrill and excitement to their relationship. She hadn’t wanted to believe him, but as she got out of the car at the gala and walked next to him as they went inside, it was definitely thrilling to know she’d kissed him a few minutes ago. Exciting to think she could do it again later and no one would know.

  The secret flame they had for each other definitely burned through her, giving her the courage to make the small talk required during the mingling time before dinner. Providing her with the strength to get up on that stage when it was her turn to accept the award for Tanner Global Communications, one of the best small businesses to work for in the state of Michigan.

  She couldn’t wait until the party was over and she could get away from all these eyes. All the smiles. All the applause.

  Because then she could kiss Andy again.

  Chapter Nine

  Andy waited for Sami to slide into the back of the town car, her red dress hitching up her hips a little. He kept his head down as the cameras clicked and ducked in behind her, his pulse bumping in his neck.

  She was stunning. In every way, she took his breath away. She’d delivered the acceptance speech without a single flaw, and she’d worked the crowd and reporters away from him for over an hour.

  A sigh came from her side of the car, and Andy turned toward her, the privacy divider already in place. “You were magnificent,” he said, reaching over and trailing his fingers up her bare arm.

  Their eyes met, and Andy slid toward her so she wouldn’t have to move in that dress. He kissed her gently, taking his time to really express how much he appreciated her tonight. “Simply magnificent,” he whispered, moving his mouth to taste her neck. She leaned into him, held onto his shoulders as if she couldn’t hold herself up without him, and made everything male in him awaken.

  He pulled away before he got too involved and tucked her against his chest. “I’m glad that’s done.”

  “Me too,” she said with a light laugh.

  “And tomorrow is the dinner.” He wasn’t exactly looking forward to it, and that must’ve come through in his voice.

  She pushed away from him slightly—enough to look up into his face. “You’re going to come?”

  “I mean, I thought I was invited,” he said, tucking a tendril of her hair behind her ear.

  “Yes, of course you are.”

  “Then yes, I’m going to come. I just….” His gaze dropped to her mouth. “I have a hard time acting like we’re not together.”

  “You did fine tonight,” she said.

  “That’s because I stayed in the corner all night.”

  “Then stay in the corner tomorrow night too.”

  He cocked his head and looked at her with doubt streaming from him. “Really?”

  “Fine, you probably won’t be able to do that.” She gave him a small smile and pressed her cheek to his heartbeat again. “But it’ll be fine. Everyone’s cool, and you won’t be the only guest there. All of my brothers have girlfriends now.”

  “No, I know.”

  “And,” she said. “They all kept their girlfriends a secret too. I’m just following in their footsteps.”

  Andy wasn’t comforted by that. “Then won’t they know we’re together?”

  “Of course not,” she said, a bit of bite in her voice. “You’re my boss. I’ve worked with you for eight years. I’ll just say you finally wanted to come.”

  “Finally?” This conversation just kept getting worse and worse, and Sami could obviously feel it too.

  She sat up and emitted another sigh. “I’ve asked you to come before.” She glanced at him and focused out the window. “You never leave that building.”

  “I told you why,” he said softly.

  “I understand now,” she said. “Before, I just thought you were some sort of billionaire hermit or something.”

  “I am a billionaire hermit,” he said.

  “No, you’re a man with secrets.” She looked right at him, unblinking. Unafraid. Absolutely glorious. “Which is fine. We all have things we don’t go around telling everyone. No one has to know why you didn’t leave the building before and you are now. Trust me, it’ll be fine. It’s food and talking for a couple of hours. We’ll leave when they start a movie or get out a game. I never stay for that stuff anyway, and you can say you have work to do.”

  “Well, there is always work to do.”

  She smiled and shook her head, the tension between them gone. They rode in companionable silence for a few minutes, Andy mulling over somet
hing she’d said.

  As they left the town behind and headed out toward her family’s orchards where she lived, he said, “I like that you think of me as a man and not just a billionaire.”

  Sami turned toward him, surprise in her eyes. “You do, huh?” The playfulness in her tone suggested that she knew how much her opinion meant to him.

  “Yeah. Some people just see the suits and the stylish hair.”

  She laughed, but he simply smiled at her, glad he could elicit such a response from her. He felt himself slipping in his resolve to go slow with her, slipping down that steep slope that led to falling in love.

  “But I think you’ve always seen me. Just me.”

  Sami slid over a few inches, crossing her left leg over her right now and pressing into him. She cupped his face in her hands, her eyes searching, searching, searching his for something.

  “You’re a great man, Andy.”

  “Even though you didn’t know my real name for eight years?” he whispered. “I wanted to tell you, I swear.”

  “I can’t even remember what your birth name is, but that doesn’t make it your real name. You’re Anderson Tanner.” She’d always been able to reestablish his confidence when she told him that. It wasn’t the first time she’d looked him straight in the eye and said, “You’re Anderson Tanner.”

  She usually followed it with, “Now, let’s go secure this deal,” or something business-like. Tonight, though, she kissed him, and Andy could only hold on for the ride.

  The next afternoon found him pacing in front of the wide windows in his penthouse. Rusty panted in the corner, watching him through slitted eyes, a doggy smile on his retriever face. He finally got up and came over to Andy, nosing his hand.

  “I’m fine,” Andy said, though he felt like someone had poured an entire hive’s worth of bees down his throat. He twitched and itched, and it felt like every second was agony.

  Finally, the buzzer near his front door sounded. “Andy, I’m coming up,” Sami said. He’d walked her all the way to her front door last night, where she’d glanced to the house next door.

  Her brother Liam lived there, and while he was private too, Sami wouldn’t allow Andy to kiss her out in the open. So they’d gone inside. She’d given him a little tour of her house, which could fit in a quarter of this penthouse. It was rustic, and functional, with Sami’s personal touches in the curtains and couch cushions.

  In the end, he’d pressed her against the back door—the site of the end of their tour—and kissed her until they were both breathless. He’d wanted to stay the night, but he hadn’t dared ask. Sami kissed him back with as much passion as he poured into the exchange, but he also knew she had values she believed in.

  He respected her, so he’d led her to the front door with her hand in his, kissed her again in a sweet, chaste manner, and gone home.

  A chime dinged, alerting him that someone had arrived in the elevator on his floor. He had to manually push a button to allow the doors to open, and he had cameras inside the only elevator that could even get to the twentieth floor.

  He caught Sami looking up at it, wearing her usual slacks and blouse, and carrying two cups of coffee. He pushed the button, and the elevator doors slid open.

  His front door was locked too, but he could unlatch it with a keypad on his desk, which he did. Sami entered a moment later, bringing the scent of dark roast and sugar with her. As she joined him at the window, she handed him a cup of coffee with the words, “Half-caf.”

  She took a sip of hers and then turned all of her attention to Rusty. He got a good body scrub, some giggles, and to lick Sami’s face—all things Andy wanted too.

  When she finally eased into his side, she lifted up on her toes and pressed the sweetest kiss to his cheek. “You ready?”

  “Mm.” He took a sip of his coffee with one hand and squeezed her upper arm with the other. “Can’t we just stay here? You haven’t even seen my whole penthouse.”

  “Oh, so you want to give me a tour now. Is that it?”

  “You showed me your place last night.”

  “It’s a fraction as big as this place.” She glanced down at her feet. “And I wore heels.”

  He chuckled. “You always wear heels, Sami.” Sudden panic hit him. “Am I dressed up enough?”

  She slid her gaze down his body, and he felt like she’d turned on a hose of scalding hot water. “Slacks and a button-up shirt.” Her eyes flew back to his. “You look great.”

  “We even sort of match.” He indicated his blue and orange plaid and then her light blue blouse with orange monarch butterflies on it.

  Surprise crossed her face. “Well, you’ll clearly have to change.” She didn’t seem to be kidding, but Andy laughed again anyway.

  “Really?”

  “Yes.” She turned and set her coffee on his desk. “You can show me your bedroom, and I’ll help you pick out something that doesn’t make us look like a couple.” She clicked away from him in those heels, but he couldn’t move.

  His bedroom? She wanted to see his bedroom?

  He couldn’t go into his bedroom with her. Even last night, he’d stayed in the doorway while she’d kicked off her heels and swept her arm toward the bed with the words, “This is my room.”

  “Matching shirts make us look like a couple?” he called after her, his feet still glued to the hardwood.

  “Yes,” she said. “Are you coming?”

  He turned toward her, and she’d already put dozens of feet of distance between them. “You just go pick something. Everything goes with black slacks, right?”

  She cocked her head, but Andy didn’t want to explain anything. He should probably just talk to her about sex, and as she came back toward him, he resolved to do just that.

  “I’m going to get lost.”

  “I don’t want to go into my bedroom with you,” he said, keeping his eyes on hers. “It’s a little too…intimate for me.”

  Surprise filled her whole face. “Oh.”

  “I’ve known you for years. I know you don’t believe in sex before marriage.”

  Sami swallowed, a blazing determination in her eyes now. “Is that a problem?”

  “Only if you expect me to go in my bedroom with you,” he said. “Or for me to come in yours. It’s just not—I mean, now that I know how you feel about me, and all of that, it’s just—I’m thinking about it, all right?”

  “About what?”

  “Sleeping with you,” he said, hoping he didn’t drive her away. “It’s fine. I don’t need to do it. I’m okay with what we have.” He reached out and threaded his fingers through hers. “I respect you, and I never want you to do anything you don’t want to. But I can’t go in my bedroom with you.”

  “Fair enough.” She squeezed his hand. “Thanks for telling me.”

  “I’m tired of keeping secrets,” he whispered.

  “Good. We shouldn’t have any between us anyway.” She stepped into his embrace, and he held her close, the scent of her perfume and shampoo in his nose.

  “Should we go then?” he asked. “Or do I really need to change my shirt?”

  “It’s fine,” she said, stepping back and smiling at him. “Let’s go. We can arrive fashionably late so we’re not the first ones there.”

  He left his coffee on the desk, already keyed up for this dinner. As they descended to the parking lot, he took her hand in his. “You don’t think I’m a pervert do you?”

  “Of course not,” she said, glancing away. “I think about…things too.”

  “You do?”

  “I’m not dead, Andy.” She rolled her eyes, which caused him to laugh. The tension between them lifted, and he hoped they could keep this easiness between them during dinner.

  “I’m going to kiss you now,” she said. “And then we’re just friends. Co-workers.” She nodded and looked at him. “Right?”

  “Right.” He kissed her over the console in her car. A slow, sweet kiss that had all of his fantasies completely tamed. When
the kiss ended, he said, “All right. Let’s go eat.”

  Chapter Ten

  “Mom, you remember my boss, Anderson Tanner.” She stepped back so Andy was in front of her, and he shook her mother’s hand.

  “Of course.” Her mom leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Haven’t seen you since last summer.”

  “Oh, Sami keeps me shut in at the office,” he said, and Sami had no idea what to say to that. She wasn’t his boss. She just kept her smile on her face, hoping it didn’t look too plastic. Karly and her husband were there, along with all of her brothers and their significant others. Serenity had been eyeing her the most, and she wished Mia were there.

  At the same time, Mia being there would make things worse. She alone knew about Sami’s crush on her boss, and it was true that Andy hardly came to anything outside of meetings and the office.

  “There’s ham sandwiches,” her mom said. “Tons of salads. Sami usually brings a dessert.”

  “I always buy it,” Sami said. “So it should be safe.” She laughed at herself, though she did sometimes feel like the odd man out because she wasn’t a great cook like her mother.

  She continued introducing him around, each time she said he was her boss a little harder than the last. Just when she thought she was finished, Mia came in with a huge sigh.

  “You won’t believe what happened to me on the way here.”

  “You mean from two houses down?” Phoenix asked dryly, a teasing smile on his face.

  “Shut up, Nixon,” she said, swatting him with her purse. “I went into town to get a couple of things for the salad I was making.”

  “You aren’t carrying a salad,” Jon said, making a big show of looking behind her and everything.

  Mia huffed at him and came further into the kitchen. “I got hit by this guy in a huge, black truck. I mean, huge.”

  “What?” Her mother ran forward, grabbing onto Mia’s arms and examining her. “He hit you?”

  “In my car, Mom.” Her eyes landed on Sami and slid next door to Andy. Recognition and shock flowed from her, and Sami wished she’d texted Mia to warn her about Andy’s presence.