Dangerous Deception (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (5 page)

As Storm sipped his black coffee his mind wandered to
the young chauffeur who’d taken him home for the second time in the space of a
week.  Danny, he’d said his name was.  He frowned as he thought about the kid. 
There was something about him, something he couldn’t put his finger on, that
was needling him but what it was he couldn’t tell.  And that was why he’d asked
him to take him to the airport on Monday.  He had to get to the bottom of his
unexplainable interest in this young man.

As a kid he’d always pestered his parents for a little
brother and was more than pissed each time they produced a girl.  But that
couldn’t be it, could it?  He was almost thirty years old.  He must have gotten
over his ‘kid brother’ obsession by now.

He took another sip of coffee then shrugged.  By the
time Monday came around he was sure he’d figure it out.  With his baby face and
huge dark eyes Danny probably reminded him of one of his younger cousins.  That
had to be it.

Storm nodded in satisfaction.  Mystery solved.

******

Today was going to be a great day.  Dani was sure of
it.  How could it not, when she’d received such a wonderful surprise this past
weekend?

After leaving Storm Hunter’s residence Dani had driven
the limousine back to headquarters and she was fuming.  Midnight had long gone
and now she had to make her way home, another twenty minute drive.  She wasn’t
going to make it to bed until after one o’clock in the morning.  Dani groaned
just thinking about it.  If there was one thing she loved it was her sleep and
she was getting less and less of it each day.

She was surprised to see Tony still in the office when
she went to drop off her key.  She'd expected to see the night manager on duty.

“Ben called in sick,” he explained, then he handed her
a check.

“What’s this?”  she asked with a frown.  “It’s not pay
day.”

“No, but it’s like pay day for you,” Tony said with a
smile.  “That’s from Storm Hunter.  He told me to charge his account for the
amount and write you a check.  It’s his tip for the two times you dropped him
home.”

Dani stared at the check then at her boss.  She glared
at him.  “Is this a joke?  Because if it is I’m not amused.”

“No joke,” he said, putting up his hands and backing
off in mock fear.  “The check is as real as the one you got last pay day.”

“Are you serious?”  Dani said with a gasp.  “This is more
than I make for a week.”

“I know,” Tony said with a grin.  “Now aren’t you glad
I assigned you to a big tipper?  Although he seemed to have gone overboard with
you.  I’ve never seeing him tip quite so generously.”  Then his grin
disappeared and his eyes narrowed.  “Did you tell him you’re a woman?”

“Of course I didn’t,” Dani retorted.  “How could you
even think that?”

Tony waved his hand.  “Forget I said that.  Just take
the money and be grateful.  I’m sure it will come in handy.”

“Will it ever,” she said with a grin and tucked it
into her pocket.  This would be the first installment on Brian’s trip to
Europe.

And that was why this fine Monday, although it was
only five o’clock in the morning, she was in a good mood.  She was beginning to
see light at the end of her tunnel and it was all because of Storm Hunter. 
Just for that she would ditch her serious face and be especially nice to him. 
He more than deserved it.

This time when she pulled up in front of his door he
was ready.  She would deposit him at the airport and he’d probably make his way
to an exclusive lounge and then head off on a private jet.  Then she would do a
quick turnaround, get the limo back to base then dash home to change so she’d
be at Applewood school by eight thirty on the dot.

After giving Storm a cheerful good morning which got
her a sour look from an obviously still sleepy Storm, she opened the door for
him then went to deposit his luggage in the trunk.  That took some doing. 
There were only two full sized suitcases and a carry-on bag but the second
suitcase felt like he’d either packed it with lead or had stuffed a dead body
in it.  While he lounged inside the car she pushed and shoved till she got them
in, almost giving herself a hernia in the process.  Still, she did it without a
murmur of complaint.  Whatever this man put her through, overweight bags or no,
it was worth it.

Storm seemed to wake up on his way to the airport. 
With the glass partition down there was nothing to stop him from carrying on a
conversation with her and for the first time since they’d met he seemed to take
a genuine interest in her.

“So Danny, you’re a school teacher, huh?” Storm asked.

She nodded but she didn’t turn her head.  “Yes.  I
teach preschool.”

“So you teach in the daytime and moonlight as a
chauffeur at nights and on weekends.”  He grunted.  “When do you have time for
fun?  A young kid like you should be out partying with your friends.”

Dani almost laughed out loud.  What friends?  She
hardly even had time for herself let alone to socialize with friends.  She
didn’t say any of that, though.  “I get by,” she said and left it at that.

For some time there was silence and Dani had begun to
wonder if Storm had succumbed to his sleepiness when she heard his voice again.

“So, do you have a girlfriend?”

“Um, no…not right now.”  He'd caught her off guard. 
Where in the world was he going with this?

“I don’t blame you, fellow.  It’s good to take a break
from women sometimes.  They're something else, aren’t they?” He laughed softly,
as if they were co-conspirators of some sort.  “They're the most confusing
creatures on the planet.  Today they love you like you’re the only man in the
world and tomorrow they can’t stand a bone in your body.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” she said, trying to
sound like she knew what she was talking about.

“Trust me, don’t be fooled by all the glitz and glamour
that some of them bring to the table,” Storm said with a snort of disgust. 
“The best thing you can do is find one who’s honest and real.  If you find a
woman like that, hold on to her for dear life.  That kind of woman is precious
and rare.”

Dani didn’t have an answer for that one so she said
nothing.  Thank goodness he didn’t press her.  He fell back into silence and a
glance in the rear view mirror told her that he’d leaned his head back and
closed his eyes.  To her relief he remained like that for the rest of the
journey.

Now what had come over Mr. Billionaire to make him
confide in her like that?  He’d practically presented his life philosophy on
the female sex.  She chuckled to herself.  If he only knew…

Storm did not open his eyes again until they arrived
at the airport.  He probably hadn’t been sleeping as she’d thought because he
knew exactly when to sit up and he seemed fresh and alert.  At his instructions
she drove through a separate gate and then was directed to a ramp at the end of
which sat an impressive private jet.  There were a couple of immigration officers
in the area ready to process Storm so that he could head out.

He hopped out of the car and while he was speaking to
the agents Dani popped open the trunk to get his luggage.  The carry-on bag and
the smaller of the two suitcases came out easily enough.  Then it was time for
the one with the dead body.  Using all her strength she hauled it toward her
then she bent her knees as she’d been taught, grabbed the handles and lifted
the massive weight out of the trunk.

And that was when it happened.

The suitcase tumbled out and fell to the ground with a
thump, dragging her down with it.  She started to pitch forward and only had
time to let out a yelp before she was falling, face first, toward the tarmac.

In a microsecond Storm was there grabbing hold of her
before her face slammed into the ground.  He’d grabbed her by the collar and
the back of her jacket and as he hauled her back upright her chauffeur's hat fell
off and her mass of dark brown hair tumbled down her back and covered her face,
hiding it from view.

“What the-”  Storm’s hold on her slackened and she
almost fell back to the ground.  Then his hands tightened on her and he dragged
her to her feet.

“Who are you?”  His voice was full of outrage.

She pulled out of his grasp and pushed the hair away
from her face.  And found herself staring into the flashing, dark eyes of a
very angry man.

“You’re not a guy.  You’re a girl,” he said, his voice
incredulous.

“I think I know that,” she said, deliberately keeping
her voice light.  Maybe they could both laugh this off.  The situation was
actually quite funny.

“Yeah, but I didn’t,” he bit out as he glared down at
her.  “Why didn’t you tell me?  Was this supposed to be some kind of joke on
me?”

Now she realized there was no hope that he’d laugh it
off.  Where was his sense of humor?  “Look, I’m sorry I deceived you but it was
for a good reason.”

“Like?”  he demanded then he glanced at the men who
were staring at them.  Storm grabbed her elbow.  “Come over here.  You have
some explaining to do.”

He marched her over to the far end of the limousine
where they were partially hidden from view and only then did he let her go. 
“Now talk.”

Okay, so it was like that, was it?  He was going to
play rough.  Well, she could be tough, too.  Dani folded her arms across her
chest, lifted her face and looked him straight in the eyes.  “There’s no need
for you to fly off the handle.  I told you, I had a very good reason to conceal
my true identity.”

“So spill it,” he said tersely.

“I had a scare my first week on the job.  One of my
passengers tried to grope me.  I had to fight him off.  I decided right then
that I wouldn’t put myself at risk again.”  Her voice was bold and unapologetic. 
If Storm Hunter didn’t get it, then tough.  “Ever since that night I’ve
concealed the fact that I’m a woman.  It’s a whole lot safer, especially during
late night pick-ups.”

There was a flicker in Storm’s eye then the tightness
in his jaws slackened - just barely.  “Well you could have told me.  I wasn’t
going to grope you.  And I talked to you like you were a guy.”

So that was it.  It wasn’t just that she had deceived
him, it was that she'd deceived him so well that he’d shared some private
thoughts with her, thoughts he’d probably only have shared with a man.

“I know and I’m sorry.  But I’d already started being
Danny the guy when I met you.”  She shrugged.  “I couldn’t very well just
abandon that.  And anyway, Tony asked me to maintain the disguise.  He thought
it was safer for me and his business.”

Storm was still frowning at her, seeming unconvinced
with her line of reasoning.  Then he expelled his breath and shook his head. 
“So what’s your real name, anyway?”

“It’s Dani.”

“Yeah, right.”

“No, it is.  Really.  I’m Dani with an I.  It’s short
for Danielle.”

He looked at her through narrowed eyes.  “And are you
really a school teacher?”

She nodded.  “Everything I’ve said to you is true. 
Except for the being a guy part, which I never said.  You were the one who
assumed I was a guy so I never lied to you.”

“No, but you let me go on believing a false
assumption.”

“Listen, I’ve already apologized to you and I’m not
going to do it again.  If you can’t understand the reason for my disguise then
I can't help you.”  She set her mouth in a rebellious pout and refused to back
down.  Billionaire or not, she was not about to let any man intimidate her.

That seemed to take him by surprise.  He was probably
not used to a woman standing up to him.  He stared at her for several seconds
then slowly, almost imperceptibly, he nodded.  “Alright, I take your point. 
But from here on don’t even think of deceiving me again.”

And with that he turned on his heel and stalked off,
leaving Dani staring after him.

CHAPTER FOUR

An hour had passed since the grand revelation and
Storm still could not believe it.  He'd been duped.  Danny, or Dani as he would
now have to think of her, had made a sucker out of him. Jeez, was he so easily
fooled?

The signs had all been there but he’d been too stupid
to see them. Now, in hindsight, he didn’t know how he could have missed the
clues - the fullness of her lips, the softness of her cheeks, the silky smooth
skin of her face.  And each time he’d gone near her there’d been that faint
fragrance of rose petals. 

More than anything, though, he should have known
something was wrong when the hair on his arms stood up each time she got close
to him.  He’d noticed it and thought it strange but then he dismissed it.  But
now he knew why.

Dani.  She was different from any woman he knew.  She
was bold and confident and she’d actually stood up to him when he tried to
intimidate her.  He couldn’t recall that ever happening to him except for his
run-ins with his mother and mothers didn’t count.

He began to smile as he thought about Dani and then
his smile turned into a chuckle.  He was actually beginning to admire her
spunk.  She’d certainly taken him for a ride and she refused to apologize for
it.