Billionaire by Design (A BWWM Romance) Read online

  “See what I mean?” Ali rose from her chair to walk to Zane’s side of the desk and read over his shoulder, pointing out bizarre discrepancies in both printouts. “Says we took a total of eighty thousand dollars out of our marketing account to fund their promotional material, but—”

  “No expenses documented,” Zane finished her sentence as he nodded his head.

  “Exactly. These clients are from eight months ago. It’s marked that we completed all of their promotional needs, but there’s no expense report and no record of them having ever paid us. The whole thing’s just… weird,” Ali said as she adjusted her horned-rimmed glasses again. She was standing so close that Zane could hear her breathing heavily.

  “Let me see their contracts,” Zane insisted. Ali rushed back to her manila folder, retrieved them for him, and scurried back to his side.

  “I knew you’d want to see them, so I brought them with me,” she said with a small smile, clearly pleased at her forethought.

  Zane reviewed the two standard-issue contracts, both of them signed, dated, and seemingly in order.

  “Basically we spent eighty thousand dollars to help promote these businesses, we have no record of what we spent that money on, and they never paid us,” Zane recapped, baffled by how such a huge financial error could have been made. Sensing the anger brewing under his surface, Ali retreated to her chair and sunk into it deeply. Zane could see she was crumbling quickly, once again close to tears, and spoke to her in the same comforting tone he‘d used before.

  “Look, I’m not pointing any fingers yet. You’re not fired, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He forced a fake smile, adding, “I’m sure something just slipped through the cracks somehow. We’ll find it and everything will be okay. I bet something just got misplaced.”

  “O-o-okay,” Ali stuttered as she fought back her emotions.

  “Head back to accounting and I’ll follow up with this. I’ll let you know if I need anything,” Zane told her, dismissing her as nicely as he could.

  “Okay, and… I’m sorry, sir.” Ali’s voice shook and the tears welled in her eyes as she left his office with her head hung low.

  His door hadn’t even finished closing, yet he was already dialing Phil’s extension. Seeing that the call was coming from his boss, Phil picked up after only one ring and answered with a typical wise-ass greeting.

  “What’s up, slut?”

  “I need to see you in my office,” Zane ordered with a voice so serious that Phil fumbled with his words.

  “Okay, uh, yeah, okay, be right there.”

  While he waited for Phil to make the short walk down the hall to his office, Zane closed his eyes and took a deep breath, fully aware of how his mood had changed from good to bad so suddenly. Eighty thousand dollars was an inexcusable amount of money to be misplaced, and it had destroyed the high of speaking to Jenna. He’d been so elated minutes earlier, and now he was fuming mad.

  His office door cracked open and Phil stuck his head in cautiously.

  “You wanted to see me?” he asked with concern.

  “Come in. Shut the door,” Zane instructed in his powerfully deep voice. Phil did as told before nervously taking a seat in front of his boss’s desk.

  “What’s going on?” Phil questioned in a hushed tone, his eyes wide and panicked as Zane sat staring at the printouts Ali had given him.

  “Take a look at this,” he said, sliding the papers across his desk and into his confidant’s hands.

  “What’s is it?” Phil asked as he went over the two printouts.

  “That’s what you’re going to find out for me,” Zane replied as he folded his hands on his lap.

  “Okay?” Phil said slowly, confused by the entire situation.

  “We’re missing some money. Eighty thousand. I’m sure it’s just some clerical error,” Zane explained, his mood seeming to lighten by Phil’s presence. “Looks like we did some work for Kroger and Tanque Verde Ranch and misplaced the expense reports. Can’t find any record of them paying us, either.”

  “Shit. That’s no good. I’m sure some chowder head in accounting just forgot to deposit the checks or something,” Phil reassured him.

  “Well, maybe we shouldn’t hire ‘chowder heads,’ then,” Zane said sternly. “And didn’t I leave you charge of the hiring?”

  Realizing he’d inadvertently made himself look bad, Phil swallowed hard and squirmed in his chair.

  “No, you’re right,” he replied apologetically as he began to backpedal, “Everyone in accounting is pretty sharp. I only hire the best. Seriously, I’m sure there’s a simple explanation for this.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Zane nodded. “I’m meeting with an old client today, so I need you to take care of it for me.”

  “Aye, aye, Cap’n!” Phil rose from his chair and saluted. “I’m on the case!”

  “Let me know what you find out,” Zane said as Phil headed towards the door.

  “Pow, pow!” was Phil’s response as he turned to grin at his boss while pulling the tired move of pretending his hands were guns.

  Feeling slightly better about the financial debacle, Zane turned his thoughts back to Jenna in hopes of putting a genuine smile on his face before meeting with his client.

  It worked.

  Chapter Six

  Jenna nervously paced back and forth in her apartment, occasionally glancing in the mirror to reassure herself that she looked presentable. Saturday had come fast, and in a few moments she’d be leaving to meet with Zane Talbot.

  He’d called earlier in the day to confirm their appointment, and the deep sound of his voice had yet again kicked her heart into overdrive. Like the previous two times, their conversation was short, but she hoped that would change today.

  She’d been thinking about him all week, despite her best efforts to push him into the inner recesses of her mind, and now she was moments away from seeing the handsome entrepreneur in the flesh. Even more distressing, this charming marketing genius was going to be judging her work. Her art had always been deeply personal to her, and having it viewed and critiqued was an adjustment she’d had to make when she began taking graphic design classes four years earlier.

  She’d learned to let her guard down, but found herself panicked by the thought of Zane Talbot reviewing her portfolio. From what she’d read online, he was quite the artist himself and his designs could be found not just across the city, but across the entire nation. He was a prodigy with an inherent understanding of what would please a consumer’s eye. Was there any chance her work could possibly please his?

  She glanced at the clock for the hundredth time that hour. 3:40 pm. Enterprise Marketing was only ten minutes away, but parking downtown could be a nightmare and she didn’t want to be late.

  Stealing one last look in the mirror, she grabbed her purse and headed out the door. Climbing into her rusty Ford Tempo, she sat with her hands frozen to the steering wheel as a wave of anxiety rocked her entire body. She was teetering on the edge of a full-blown panic attack when she suddenly remembered Zane’s words.

  Confidence is the key to success.

  With that phrase repeating in her head, she stuck the key in the ignition and in what had become somewhat of a tradition over the years, thanked her car for starting. Before kicking her car into gear, she double-checked to make sure the flash drive she’d loaded with her artwork was still in her purse. She mused over how times had changed and how lugging around wallet portfolios had become a vestige of the past. These days, a person could fit their entire library of work on a storage device as small as a pinkie finger. A part of her missed the days of carrying a big folder under her arm. It somehow seemed more… artistic.

  Downtown parking was a pain, as usual, but she finally found a spot and hurried down the sidewalk to the address the business card had given her. It appeared to be a four-story building, and she was surprised to find Zane Talbot waiting for her in the spacious yet rather barren lobby.

  He was every bit as hands
ome as she remembered, perhaps even more so, and he flashed his perfect smile as he moved to greet her with a friendly handshake. He was elegantly dressed in a grey three-piece suit and black tie today, making her suddenly self-conscious about the outfit she’d selected. Her wardrobe left a bit to be desired, given her limited selection, so she’d chosen to wear the only pair of black dress slacks that she owned with a matching pair of black heels.

  A black leather belt and a white button-up shirt completed the look, and she accented herself with a series of silver bracelets on her left wrist and a silver chain with a small heart pendant around her neck. Free of Family Burger and their policies, she was able to wear her dark, wavy hair down, and it flowed luxuriously halfway down her backside. A working student who struggled to make ends meet, she couldn’t afford to buy a new outfit just for this one meeting. She hoped what she’d gone with would make do. “Wow,” he grinned as their hands locked and sent a shiver of excitement down her spine. His sincere eyes immediately put her at ease as he looked her up and down. “And I thought you looked good before!”

  She looked away sheepishly and laughed off his compliment before returning with one of her own.

  “As do you,” she beamed. “And I did not look good before. That stupid uniform… ugh. You have no idea how much I hate it.”

  “Well, I think you looked adorable,” he said as his smile widened, revealing his perfect white teeth. “And I suspect you won’t be working there much longer,” he winked. “Follow me.”

  After leading her across the lobby’s marble floor to a pair of elevator doors while making idle chit-chat along the way, he hit the fourth floor button and guided her inside. She used the short ride up to ask him a bit more about his business, trying not to act as nervous as she was.

  “So… this entire place is yours?”

  “No, no, no,” he laughed. “I wish! Maybe someday. Right now we share the building with three other businesses. We take up the entire fourth flour. Third floor’s split between a law firm and a real estate agency. Second floor’s a tech support call center, and the ground floor’s a paper distributor, which is handy.”

  “I see,” Jenna replied as the elevator chimed and its doors parted, giving way to a large reception area. A plump red-haired woman was seated high behind a tall counter with the words “Enterprise Marketing” decorating its front in big, silver letters. The company’s logo, a silver globe with an arrow circling it, was situated to the immediate right of the lettering. It was simple yet beautiful, and Jenna suspected it had been designed by Talbot himself.

  The heavyset woman greeted them with a smile and a friendly wave as they passed her. Zane flashed her a polite nod while Jenna returned her wave and they continued down a long, wide hallway with several doors, some open and some closed, on both sides. Incredible artwork from various marketing campaigns the firm had worked on hung from the walls, and Zane slowed their pace so Jenna could admire it.

  “Wow,” she gasped, soaking it all in.

  “Pretty cool, huh?” Zane grinned as he stole a glance at her eyes that were widened in admiration. One particular piece made her stop in her tracks and her jaw drop slightly.

  “You did the marketing for Mama’s Pizza?!” she asked excitedly as she leaned in closer to the framed art.

  “Guilty,” Zane laughed as he looked at her in curious fascination. “I take it you’re a fan of that place?”

  “Oh my God, yes!” she shot back with uncontainable enthusiasm. “I love it. I go there with my roommate sometimes. Their food is so good.”

  “Ah, so you have a roommate,” Zane noted as he stood taking in her beauty.

  “Guilty,” Jenna joked as they proceeded down the hallway. She absorbed everything, peeking into the open doors to catch a glimpse of the company’s inner workings while Zane happily watched her take it all in. In what appeared to be a conference room, a small group had gathered and seemed to be discussing possible campaign ideas.

  In what she instantly recognized as the art department, several men and women were hunched over their drafting tables while others sat in front of computer screens. The room was quite large and brimming with every supply imaginable. Everyone seemed to be working diligently, and when one of the employees spotted Jenna, she shot her a small wave while mouthing the word “hello.” Jenna mouthed it back with a smile before resuming her journey down the hallway.

  “That’s… that’s… wow. It’s like my dream come true in there,” she said in stunned wonderment.

  “Not bad, right? That’s where most of the magic happens,” Zane explained.

  The end of the hallway gave way to a shorter, narrower hallway to their right, but they continued straight and into the smaller reception area preceding Zane’s office. An attractive blond woman sitting behind a midsized desk stood to shake Jenna’s hand as Zane introduced the two.

  “Jenna, this is my secretary, Sheryl. Sheryl, this is my friend Jenna.”

  The two exchanged pleasantries and shared a moment of small talk before Jenna followed Zane into his office. Jenna didn’t miss the gold “Zane Talbot - President” name plate fastened to his door as he politely held it open for her and motioned her into the room. His office didn’t fail to impress. The large windows lining the back wall gave way to a beautiful view of the mountains and evoked an exhilarated “oh my” under Jenna’s breath. More of his firm’s marketing artwork adorned the walls, interrupted by an enormous flat screen television mounted in the center of the wall to her right. His desk was centered along the back wall just in front of the windows, with what appeared to be a rather expensive black leather chair sitting behind it and two basic office chairs in front of it.

  To the right of that sat a low bookcase in the same wood and style of his desk, leading Jenna to believe they were likely part of a set. The bookcase itself was loaded with books, as expected, and the top was lined with framed photos of people she could only assume were friends and family. A black leather sofa was positioned against the wall to her left with a mini-fridge next to it, and a big glass coffee table took up the middle of the room. Potted plants of different varieties sat in all four corners of the office and added to its overall atmosphere.

  With the door shut behind them, Zane made his way to the front of his desk and pulled one of the two chairs out for her. Jenna wasn’t sure if he was being professional or chivalrous, but she appreciated the gesture either way. He invited her to take a seat and she obliged as he made his way around his desk to sink into his high-back executive chair.

  “I’m really glad you made it in today,” he smiled. “Would you like something to drink?” he asked as he pointed towards the mini-fridge.

  “No, I’m fine, thank you,” Jenna smiled back. “And thank you for this opportunity.

  “Tell me a little about yourself, Jenna,” Zane began, leaning back in his chair and crossing his hands in front of him with his index fingers forming a steeple. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about you. Are you from around here?”

  “New York City, actually,” Jenna replied, unsure of what to make of his admission. In what way was he curious about her? “I moved here four years ago.”

  “From the East Coast to the Southwest. That’s quite the change,” Zane commented. “Plenty of good schools in the Northeast. What brought you all the way out here, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Oh, you know. Just wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. Plus I have asthma, and everyone always told me the climate out here would help,” Jenna answered, purposely omitting the whole story. She sensed he’d be understanding if she told him the truth about the neighborhood she’d lived in, her dysfunctional family life, and her longing to escape, but opted to keep that to herself for now. She could see in his eyes that he knew she had more to tell, but he tactfully let the topic go with a change of subject.

  “What got you interested in graphic design?”

  “Well, when I was a kid, drawing was kind of my escape, you know
? I used to doodle all the time…” she trailed off, her eyes growing distant as she recalled memories from her previous life. “Mom said I used to draw all over the walls with crayons when I was really little. I don’t remember doing it because I was so young. One year, I think I was about ten or eleven, she surprised me with a sketchpad and some pencils. God, I was glued to that damn sketchpad. My doodles kind of evolved over time.”

  “And the graphic art?” Zane asked with a look of sincere interest. He seemed to be glued to her every word, which was something Jenna wasn’t used to but found herself liking.

  “Ah, yes. Tablets became all the rage around the time I was in high school, so my grandmother bought me a generic one for Christmas my junior year. Honestly, I didn’t even care about the thing until I found out I could draw on it. Being able to erase my work without leaving smudges was one of the biggest appeals,” she laughed. “I tend to make a lot of mistakes.”

  The second those last few words escaped her, she regretted having said them and silently lambasted herself for it.

  Stupid! Why did you tell him you make a lot of mistakes? Do you ever want a job? Good going, idiot.

  “Ha! I know all about that.” Zane’s hearty laugh interrupted the internal lashing she’d been giving herself. “I’m the master of fuck-ups, to be perfectly blunt. Please excuse my language, but it‘s true. I‘m constantly screwing things up.”

  His deep laughter was infectious, and Jenna found herself laughing along with him. This gorgeous, powerful man, whose talent had earned him every penny he’d ever made, always seemed to know how to put her at ease. She realized she needed to stop over-thinking every little thing, or she’d wind up getting in her own way.

  “That makes me feel better,” she smiled, adding, “and you don’t seem like the kind of guy who ever fu—” she stopped herself short and finished with, “screws up.”

  “I hate to shatter the illusion, but I’m not perfect. Shhh… don’t tell anybody,” Zane joked.

  “Your secret’s safe with me,” Jenna giggled.