Tamed by the Billionaire (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (5 page)

Serena’s eyes snapped over to Roman’s desk and there he sat, face rigid, dark eyes flashing with an anger she could feel clear across the room.  She stood stock-still, heart pounding in trepidation.  Her fingers curled into fists as she fought to steady her nerves. 
Come on, Serena, what’s the worst he can do to you?  He certainly can’t kill you.
  Still, she did not budge, opting to stay close to the door…just in case.

She was still contemplating her next move when, in one fluid movement, Roman got up from behind the desk and began to walk toward her.

Serena gasped and took an involuntary step back.  When her bottom smacked the door she realized there was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.  What the heck had she gotten herself into?

But then, to her relief, he stopped in front of the desk and pulled out a chair.  “Are you going to stand there all day, Miss Van Buren?”  He held out his hand, directing her gaze to the empty chair.  “Have a seat.”  Then without so much as another glance in her direction he went back around the desk and sat down.

Serena expelled her breath.  The man wasn’t coming to get her, he was simply offering her a chair.  What was she thinking?  She’d been so wired up, expecting his rage, that she’d imagined his anger.  Her sudden fear had been unfounded.  She was not out of the woods yet.  She’d be stupid to think that.  But at least it seemed that he would be calm and collected about things.

Before she could lose her courage Serena walked over to the chair and perched on the edge, hands clasped tightly in her lap. 
Okay, Roman Steele.  Do your worst.  I’m ready for you.
   She was preparing herself for the fight she knew was coming.

He did not cut corners.  Folding his arms across his broad chest he gave her a cold stare.  “So what’s your excuse today?  More traffic on the road?”

Serena shrugged in as casual a manner as she could muster.  “No.  I just didn’t feel like coming in early today.”

Roman stared at her in stunned silence.  Then his brows fell and he glared at her.  “You seem to misunderstand your position here.  As an employee of this company it is your responsibility to get to work on time-”

“And what do you do with employees who don’t follow the rules?”  Serena cut him off before he could launch into the lecture she knew was coming.  “You fire them, right?  Well, I would suggest you give me my walking papers because you and I know this is not going to work out.”

“Oh, so that’s it.  You’re working to get fired.  Well, don’t hold your breath.  It’s not going to happen.”

Her shock at his response made Serena hop to her feet.  “What?  What do you mean, it’s not going to happen?  You have to fire me.”

Roman’s lips curled in a sardonic smile.  “Oh, do I?  Sorry to disappoint you but you’re stuck here with me.  You’ll leave in six months and not a day sooner.”

“You can’t do this to me.”  Serena’s voice cracked with frustration.  “I’ll never fit in here.  I’ll never do what you want.  You need to fire me.  Now.”

Roman leaned forward in his chair, his face as hard as rock.  “Never.”

Serena gasped.  What kind of game was this man playing?  Why couldn’t he see reason?  “I don’t want to be here and you don’t want me here. Why don’t you fire me?  You know you want to, so what’s stopping you?”

Roman’s nostrils flared.  “You don’t know what I want to do right now.”

“Of course I do,” Serena retorted.  “You want to take your perverse pleasure in torturing me.  You know I can’t quit because of my father’s conditions.  The only way I can get out of this is if you fire me.  So why don’t you just do it?  You want me to beg?  Is that what you want?”

“You don’t know what I want,” he said through gritted teeth, his scowl as black as night.

“I do know, you sadist.  You want to make me suffer-” Serena gasped as Roman got up and in two strides was right in front of her, his large frame towering over her.  “What-”

“This is what I want.  I’ve wanted it ever since I laid eyes on you.”  His arm snaked round her waist and he pulled her body into his, so close that she could feel the powerful muscles of his suit-clad legs and the hard ripples of his chest through the cotton of his shirt.   His other hand cupped her head as he pulled her even closer, bringing her face up to his, forcing her to stand on tiptoe.

She put her hands up, clinging to his broad shoulders for balance, and he pressed firm lips to her gasping ones, taking full control, kissing her until she melted in his embrace.  As his tongue explored her she responded willingly, eagerly, wanting this too, more than anything in the world.  Had he known she wanted his kiss from the very first day they met?  Had he seen the desire in her eyes?  She would not ponder any of that.  For the moment she would wipe everything from her mind and revel in his kiss.

Too soon he lifted his head, withdrawing his lips from hers, leaving her panting.   Slowly, he withdrew his arm and set her back on her feet.

Still feeling like she was floating on air Serena opened her eyes and peered up into Roman’s face.  What she saw there made her step back in dismay.  The scowl on his face was even darker than before.  Was he totally unmoved by the kiss?

Roman gripped her upper arms and set her away from him.  “I suggest you leave my office now,” he said, his voice a harsh growl, “or else I won’t be responsible for my actions.”  Then, with a look of disgust he released her arms and turned back towards his desk.

Serena did not wait to see what he would do next.  Smarting from the blow of his rejection she turned and marched to the door.  When she went through it she pulled it shut none too gently.  She was fuming.  She was mortified.  She was…she didn’t know what she was.  She’d never been so humiliated in her life.  So she disgusted him, did she?  And yet he refused to release her from her bondage?  Well, she would just see about that.

******    

  Roman dropped into his chair and let his breath out in a whoosh.  He shook his head, hardly believing what had just happened.  What the hell had he done?  Serena Van Buren was an employee, for Christ’s sake.  On the job for all of two days.  The daughter of his associate, a girl entrusted to his care.  And what did he do?  He’d done a damned good job of playing the pervert, taking advantage of the girl right there in the middle of his office.  Jesus, what was he thinking?  He was so disgusted with himself he could not sit still.  He got up and began to pace the room. 

What had he gotten himself into, offering to mentor and train Serena Van Buren for six months?  He could not even keep his hands off her.  Damn!  He was in big trouble.

CHAPTER SIX

It was almost a week since the incident in Roman’s office and Serena was finally getting over the shock of his kiss.  Thank goodness he’d left for California the next day so she hadn’t had to face him again.  After the incident she’d felt ashamed and somewhat bewildered.  The man had practically thrown her out of his office.  She couldn’t understand his reaction after what she thought had been a passionate, earth-shaking kiss.  She’d spent days reliving every moment of that kiss and each time her heart would thump and her breath would catch in her throat.  It had been absolutely magical.

Today, though, she would have to get her emotions under control.  Roman was scheduled to be back in office this morning and, as much as she thought she was not ready to see him again, she knew the meeting was inevitable.  How would she handle their first encounter after that kiss?  Maybe for him the whole thing meant nothing but it had practically devastated her defenses.  This was the first man she’d ever met who’d knocked her barriers down with just one blow.

The clock on her desk said nine thirty when there was a knock on her door and Theresa entered the room.  “Mr. Steele needs you in his office.  Make sure you take your notepad with you.”  She was formal, as usual, but this time there was more of an edge to the woman’s voice.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing.  Just get down to Mr. Steele’s office right away.”  Without another word she turned and left the room. 

Serena lifted her eyebrows, surprised at Theresa’s terseness, then she sank back into her chair.  Her heartbeat had accelerated at the announcement and she took a couple of deep breaths to calm her nerves.  “Well, here goes,” she murmured and grabbed her pen and pad.   

When Serena entered the office Roman was sitting at his desk holding a bottle of what looked like shampoo and a small gold jar which she guessed contained face cream.

“Have a seat, Miss Van Buren.”  His voice sounded pleasant enough but his stare was intense.  She slid into the chair in front of him and kept her eyes downcast. 

For a moment there was silence then Roman spoke in a low voice.  “Serena, look at me.”

Surprised at his change of tone, she lifted her head and looked into his eyes.  She was taken aback by what she saw there.  He actually looked ashamed.

“Serena,” he said, “I owe you an apology.”

Serena held her breath and stared back at him, incredulous.  Roman was apologizing to her?  He’d seemed like the kind of man who would apologize to no-one.  Now that she was seeing a new side of him it confused her all the more.  Was he apologizing for the kiss or for kicking her out of his office?

“I behaved inappropriately and for that I’m sorry.  I assure you, it will never happen again.”

It will never happen again.  It will never happen again.  The words reverberated in her head and for some reason her spirits sank.  It will never happen again?  Dear God, she wanted it to happen again.  More than anything.

Swallowing her disappointment Serena looked back at Roman and gave him a small smile, accepting his apology with a quick nod. 

“For the next few weeks you’ll be working closely with the marketing team,” he said, his voice professional and cool.  “I’ll make sure you participate in meetings that are relevant to your development.  What I want is that at the end of your time with Steele Industries you should have a good handle on project management, marketing, and promotions.  For today, though, you’ll sit in on my meeting with the ad agency.”

He leaned forward and placed the bottle and the jar in front of her.  “These are two products from the Enchanted line we’ll be launching next quarter.  I want you to get involved in every aspect of the launch, starting with this meeting.  The ad execs will be here in about ten minutes so I’ll give you a quick briefing to prepare you.”

Roman spoke quickly, filling her in on the consumer research that had been done and the reason why the company thought the line had great potential.  Serena scribbled feverishly, trying to keep up with him, and was relieved when he finally told her it was time to head for the main conference room.

The agency executives arrived moments later and as soon as Roman introduced her to Martha Foxworth and Herman Moore the meeting began.  Martha presented storyboards of television commercials with the first one depicting a woman shampooing then drying her hair and a man coming in and sliding his fingers sexily through her long brown tresses.  On a second storyboard a woman applied Enchanted face cream to a wrinkled face followed by a close up shot of the crow’s feet by the side of her eyes.  The next shot showed a close up of the same eye but this time the skin was smoother and softer.  The tagline for this commercial was “Your face never looked so good”.

Last in her set Martha presented a print advertisement featuring the moisturizing face cream.  The model was a beautiful dark haired woman, seeming to be in her late thirties, and she held a young child in a close embrace.  The little girl had her hand on the woman’s cheek, as if stroking it, and the tagline for the product said, “I just love your baby face.”

After the initial presentation Martha reviewed each campaign in detail, giving Roman and Serena a chance to understand the reasoning behind each and soliciting their input.  Serena was impressed by Roman’s knowledge and understanding of the advertising business and, for the most part, she kept silent, absorbing as much as she could.  She did make some suggestions on the clothing worn by the models but she kept her comments to a bare minimum, leaving the meatier comments to her boss. 

Roman expressed concern about how the message was relayed while Serena’s few comments were focused on the visual impact of the ads.  Being the daughter of a wealthy man, she had lived for years in the public eye and knew how to make a good first impression.  She was an expert in haute couture, make-up and styling.

Because of that she looked at the advertisements with discerning eyes and was able to find flaws where she knew the average woman might not.  She felt a little guilty for involving herself too much but she knew she would feel even guiltier if she kept silent.  After all, Roman had invited her into this meeting, not to be a statue but to participate.  She knew she was here to learn but she also knew she had a lot to share, regardless of her lack of experience in business.