The Billionaire & The Barfly (Coming Home) Read online

  “Yes, Jenna, you would,” she muttered to herself as she cleaned up the papers strewn all over the table.

  ~*~

  The first two meetings went just about as well as the no show. Apparently, Maximus had an exclusivity clause in their contract. Even though they were making football games, and Viola was looking to make a line of sports games for girls that included softball, volleyball, and field hockey, they couldn’t sign on.

  Needless to say, Aubrey was rather irritated as she searched online on her phone as the cab driver took them to their third and final meeting of the day. If Leslie were already signed with Maximus, she would have to start calling smaller companies and make phone appointments or push back their flight.

  Jenna sat beside her absolutely silent. She got that way when she was worried. Usually, Aubrey would tell her it would be okay and remind her of how much other business they had acquired on their trip. Only this time, they hadn’t gotten anything. The last two trips were the same.

  The cab pulled up in front of a tall building with Leslie’s Athletics in big bold letters across the front. Aubrey paid the cab driver, and the two women stepped out and crossed their fingers that Maximus wasn’t inside wooing them with their fancy new systems and iron clad contracts.

  Aubrey and Jenna were met at the door by a very fit woman. She had to have been more toned than any other woman Aubrey had met before. She wasn’t a body builder by any means, but each and every one of her visible muscles were defined.

  “Welcome!” the woman beamed at them, “Thank you so much for coming to see us today. I’m Leslie Hunter.”

  Aubrey was taken aback. She had never met with an owner of a company before. Usually, they sent people like her and Jenna to meet with them, people who were hired, so the owner didn’t have to worry about little stuff. Well, little in the scope of the entire business.

  “It is so nice to meet you, Leslie. My name is Jenna Peterson, and this is my assistant Aubrey Vincent. Thank you for seeing us on such short notice.”

  The three women walked into the large building that definitely held a woman’s touch. It wasn’t girly, but it was well decorated, and the artwork with big muscular men was kept to a minimum. Most sports companies Aubrey had visited had been really into athletic art. This building had images of people winning races, before and after pictures of employees, and a ton of children.

  “I love the decor in here. Are these children of employees?” Aubrey asked, trying to make conversation besides the sale. Make a connection to your consumer and making the sale is so much easier. Sales 101.

  “Actually these are all children with disabilities who have found sports and activities to help them in their treatments or just to give them something to do to feel normal. We have a foundation that connects personal coaches with these kids. They each receive a gift card for new equipment and apparel and a year of coaching. These are our kids.”

  Aubrey was blown away. She had never met a more generous company before. It warmed her heart to know that at least someone actually existed that cared for complete strangers. She hadn’t found any in a long time.

  “That must be a very costly charity, but I have never heard about it. Where do you advertise it?” Jenna asked. She didn’t get it. It wasn’t about the money or the prestige of the charity.

  “Because we don’t advertise it. It isn’t about growing Leslie’s Apparel, but about helping these kids.”

  “But how do you fund it?” Jenna asked, still completely confused. Aubrey knew she needed to jump in and get Jenna to stop talking if they planned on getting the sale at all. Sales 101 rule number two: don’t insult the consumer.

  “Jenna, what she is saying is that they fund it from their profits. But they don’t advertise it because they don’t want to exploit what they are doing. They don’t do it for the acclaim, but because it’s a good thing to do. They earn a little less, but it’s worth it to them.”

  “That is exactly right, Aubrey. Now, shall we head into the conference room? I am really interested in this all woman’s sports line of games. That’s something new, and I am all about empowering women and encouraging girls to become more active. You know a game where the girls are dressed.”

  Aubrey gave a little laugh even though it wasn’t funny. It was one of the reasons that Viola was launching a new line. A panel of women employees, as well as a street survey, both revealed that many women would be more interested in video games if the women characters were more than eye candy for the male players. Even the games where the women were warriors, they were barely dressed while the male characters were clad in leather and armor.

  “Absolutely. And if you are interested, the characters will all be wearing Leslie’s Apparel,” Jenna said. She was back in the game, and Aubrey knew this was where she stepped back and just took notes.

  ~*~

  An hour later, Aubrey walked out of the building behind Jenna and Leslie. The excitement was bubbling inside of her, and she couldn’t wait until they were safely in the cab to let it out in a very unprofessional scream of joy.

  “Thank you again. The final contracts will be signed and sent to your office in the morning,” Leslie said, and then shook Jenna’s hand. Jenna responded with a thank you of her own and opened the cab door.

  Aubrey smiled at Leslie and moved to get in the cab when Leslie placed a hand on her arm. Stopping, she turned to look at her.

  “Thank you, too. You keep working hard, and this one will eventually have to move you up, even if she won’t be able to find another assistant quite like you.”

  “Thank you. You and this company are an inspiration. I hope to have your success one day.”

  “I’m sorry, but we have to head out now. Our flight leaves in just a few hours. Aubrey,” Jenna said then nodded toward the cab. Aubrey shook Leslie’s hand, even when she really wanted to hug her, and climbed into the cab. A few more words were shared between the women outside, and then Jenna climbed in after her.

  As soon as the cab had pulled away from the curb, both women cheered. They had done it. Not only had they secured an apparel line, but also it seemed it was the perfect one after all. Maybe they should thank Maximus for their ninja like skills just this once. If they had signed with any of the other companies, they would have lost out on what seemed like the perfect match.

  Chapter Three

  Aubrey woke up covered in sweat. It was always incredibly and horribly hot in her bedroom. Unless it was winter, then it was practically an ice cube. She had two fans already on but flipped the switch on a third. She looked out the window to see that the sky was barely tinted pink and wondered why on earth she was awake. The heat didn’t wake her. She had grown used to that over the years. After all, her bedroom was in her parent’s attic and had been since she was sixteen.

  When she heard the yelling coming through the floors, she knew why she was awake. Her younger brother was fighting with her parents again. What she didn’t know was why it was happening at the butt crack of dawn. She would be so glad when she could move out and into her own apartment in the city. She was close. She had been saving since she became Jenna’s assistant. But living in the city was more expensive than she had ever realized.

  She had already moved out twice before. Both times she made a big deal out of leaving and being grown and ready and not needing her parents help. Both times had been utter failures sending her back to the damn attic with her tail between her legs. But that was who she used to be. She failed at everything she did, except high school—she was definitely not a failure in High School, until Viola. With Viola, she had learned her strengths and learned to play them up. She knew that things would be different when she moved out next time. They had to be. She couldn’t take it if they weren’t.

  Aubrey dove back into her bed and stuffed her head under her pillows hoping to block out the noise coming from downstairs. For a brief moment, she thought it worked. And technically, it had. The noise was no longer coming from downstairs. Her brother had decided t
o come and bang on her door.

  Aubrey threw the pillow at the door, not that it would actually do anything, but it felt good to throw something. She was tired. The plane hadn’t landed until almost midnight after some stupid delay, and then it took another hour and a half to get home. Aubrey sat up and padded to the door, and swung it open to see that she was right. Ben stood there, looking completely exasperated.

  Most of the time, she was glad for the close relationship they had. They weren’t close in age, but it had never mattered. She was there when he needed her, and he was there for her. Aubrey stepped back and let him come in, then closed the door behind him.

  “What happened this time?” she asked through a yawn. Aubrey climbed back into her bed and sat, waiting for him to go into the typical tirade. Most of the time, she could understand both sides of the argument. She tried to be the peace keeper between her less than perfect brother and her slightly over protective parents. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.

  “They are completely over reacting. I broke curfew, it’s not like I stole the car.” That was when Aubrey really looked at her brother, not through sleep filled eyes, but actually looked. He was completely dressed. She looked back out the window and squinted at her clock. He had been out all night. It was five in the morning, and he just got home. It was no wonder that their parents flipped their lids.

  “Ben, you have got to be kidding me! You just got home, and you think they are overreacting? Sorry, this one I can not argue for you. Where were you?”

  “I thought you would understand. You used to stay out all night, too. Do you even remember or are you too old to actually get it anymore? You know what, forget it.” Ben stood and left her room, and slammed her door behind him. With a huff, she fell back to lie in bed. She would deal with that mess later. Or she would just let him be mad and ignore her for a few days. At least then she could get some damn sleep.

  ~*~

  After struggling to fall back asleep for over an hour, she gave up. Jenna had told her to take the morning off and rest up, but she figured she might as well head in. She wanted everyone to see her dedication to her job and to the company.

  After a quick shower and a banana on the way out the door, Aubrey started the hour long drive into the city. She had two weeks before the next trip, and Aubrey had a ton of organizing to do in the mean time.

  The music flowed through her car as she mentally started working on her to-do list. Meetings had to be set, flights scheduled, hotels booked. Not to mention dinner reservations made for current clients and Jenna’s over all errands that were never ending. She needed to find new sources for market research and make a ton of copies.

  It was going to be one long day.

  The office was buzzing with activity when she walked in. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but from the worried looks on everyone’s faces, it wasn’t a good thing. Rushing to her desk, she managed to overhear the name Maximus and her heart fell. Could they have swooped in and managed to undo the work that she and Jenna had done with Leslie already?

  Aubrey placed her purse on her desk and peered through Jenna’s glass office wall. She was on the phone and pacing the room, her arms swinging wildly, and her face turning redder and redder as the seconds ticked by. Aubrey quickly got a bottle of water from the refrigerator around the corner and a hot cup of coffee as well as two aspirin and headed back to Jenna.

  Aubrey knocked softly, knowing that she was still on the phone and opened the door slowly. Jenna gave her a quick nod of acknowledgement before turning her back to continue her tirade.

  “Damn it, Mike. NO. We signed Leslie........ I know they are small, but...... Would you listen? Maximus cornered all the other companies in New York City. Would you rather we had come back empty handed? Plus, Leslie is a female brand. Sure they have a men’s line, but they are female owned and operated. Plus, they have this charity that will help sell just about anything sports related.”

  Aubrey was annoyed that she brought up the charity. They had been told by Leslie herself that it wasn’t for marketing purposes, but it wasn’t her place to correct her boss. Jenna turned and faced Aubrey. She wasn’t sure if she should leave or stay. Would she be needed or not? She tried to give her a questioning look, but Jenna had walked away and opened the door. There was her answer.

  Aubrey high tailed it out of the room, but not before hearing Jenna say the one thing she never thought she would. “Mike, Leslie was my idea. I know we saw them last, but that was Aubrey’s fault.”

  The door clicked closed, and her heart sank. She had been thrown under the bus with the second most important person in the whole damn company. Aubrey sank into her desk chair and stared at the door, still trying to make sense of everything. She had done her job. She had booked the appointments, and she had saved Jenna from losing the contract over the charity… which, from the sound of it, was about to be thrown out anyway. Leslie would never agree to use the charity the way that Jenna intended. Aubrey thought she knew that.

  At least, it was obvious to her. Deciding that moping wasn’t going to actually make her look any better, she cleared her desk and got to work. In two weeks time, they would be meeting with the head of the women’s soccer league, the top college’s athletics divisions, and the United States Olympics committee. She wanted to be able to say that she was part of the project from conception through development and sales. She wanted to be the one to book the meetings and make sure that the contracts were in the right hands at the right times. Too bad Jenna would get all the credit for it.

  ~*~

  By the end of the day, the commotion had calmed, and people were coming by every few minutes to congratulate Jenna on landing the perfect deal. Jenna never even said thank you. Typically, Aubrey felt the appreciation from her. She never thought of her as selfish or attention seeking, but for some reason, things were changing.

  “Hey,” Bridgette, Mike’s assistant, said as she came down the hall. Aubrey looked up for the computer to see that it was already seven.

  “Hey, heading out?”

  “Yeah, you should, too. Hell of a day today. Congrats on Leslie.”

  “You know, you are the first to say that to me. But hey, I’m just an assistant, right?”

  “I know you, and I know Jenna. You had more to do with that contract than she did. Just don’t tell her I said that. Come on. Let’s grab a drink and a bite to eat.”

  Aubrey agreed wholeheartedly when her stomach rumbled loudly. When she got in the zone, she tended to forget to eat. “Sounds like a plan.”

  The bar wasn’t far from the office. Bridgette and Aubrey had gone there many times after work for a drink. Sometimes they would stick around and dance a bit, other times they had their one drink and headed home. Bridgette was the closest thing to a friend that Aubrey had at the office. She knew other people, and was friendly with them, but no one had actually cared to go out after work. Aubrey thought at first it was because she was the only one in the same age decade as Bridgette, but the more they hung out, the more she saw her trying to build a friendship.

  It was time she tried to build one, too. She needed a girl friend. She had a million friends in high school. She hadn’t realized when she had lost them. But she had. The only one who still kept in touch was Fiona, who was off at college doing the good girl thing and getting some degree or another. She never failed at anything.

  “Have you ever had the food here? We won’t get mad cow or anything, right?” Aubrey asked as she warily looked at the menu. It had burgers and wings and nachos and just a few other things that were either frozen or in a can when they came into the kitchen.

  “I have. Stay away from the nachos, but the burger is pretty good.”

  The girls ordered their food and some drinks but instead of waiting at the table, they headed to the dance floor. Aubrey let loose whenever she was dancing. She didn’t care what she looked like, even though she could dance. All she cared about was feeling the music flowing through her, feeling the emo
tions the songs were meant to induce. Most of the time, in a bar, it’s more about energy and sex. But every once in a while, they would play something that had real meaning behind it, and Aubrey was always able to feel the meaning.

  “OH! Food’s here!” Bridgette yelled over the music, pointing to their table. Aubrey nodded and wiped the sweat from her brow. The two walked over, dodging dancing bodies the whole way.

  “I’m going to go wash up first. Be right back,” Aubrey said. Bridgette nodded and dug into her fries with a sigh. With a laugh, she walked toward the bathroom. There was no way she was about to eat covered in sweat. The least she could do was wash her hands.

  She passed by the bar and had to stop. She turned to see the same man, or what looked like the same man, sitting on a bar stool watching her. The same hot blonde man with the stupid superman shirt—only this time he had on a batman belt. It had to be him. How many hot blonde superhero geeks were actually out there?

  Aubrey continued to the bathroom to wash up, but made sure to make a note of where he was, so when she returned she could keep an eye on him. It was strange that he was in the same bar as her twice in the same week in two completely different cities, a thousand miles apart.

  Why was he there? Had he followed her? Or did he actually have some reason to be there? She washed quickly and stormed out. She was going to ask him. Forget waiting around for him to be a creep. She wanted to know right then. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to enjoy her dinner or her night dancing with Bridgette.

  Hot Geeky Man (oh, the names she came up with for the men she didn’t actually know) was still sitting at the bar and with his eyes still on her. The minute she opened the bathroom door she found his eyes watching her. She thought they were blue, but as she grew closer, she saw they were more of a slate grey. They were deep and captivating. Why did Hot Geeky Man have to possibly be a Hot Psycho Stalker?