Undercover Billionaire Boss: A BWWM Contemporary Romance (10 page)

Christian donned his undercover clothes; a ratty pair of jeans and worn t-shirt. He finished the look with the signature cap and his contact lenses. Raina would get the shock of her life if she knew that his eyes were not brown but a startling Caribbean Ocean blue. They were somewhat of a dead giveaway to anyone who knew that “Christian Del Mar” was known for having just that particularly unusual eye color.

He left the apartment an hour later and got Jim to drop him off a few blocks from Raina’s house.

By then, it was noon and as Christian walked, he felt the beat of his heart change at the thought of seeing Raina again. It had only been a few hours since they had been together, but it felt like a year.

He whistled a tune as he walked. The world felt right, and even the weather was unusually warm, as though reflecting the joy in his heart.

Something told Christian that he had found an uncommon woman. Brilliant, beautiful, but most of all, kind-hearted; such women were rare in his world.

He knocked lightly on the door. Though he had a key, he found it awkward to enter without knocking as though it was his house. Raina flung the door open and when she saw him, she broke into a wide smile, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she saw him. Christian leaned on the doorframe and admired her loveliness.

“I thought I had dreamt everything up,” Raina said. “Where did you run off to?”

“I remember everything,” Christian drawled. “If you like, I would be more than happy to remind you.”

Raina laughed, throwing her head back, her wild curls shaking as she did so. Christian’s eyes ran over her sleeveless light pink blouse and black trousers that hugged her hips. He drew a sharp breath, about to grab her in his arms, wanting to take her right there—and then, Jeremiah’s face appeared at Raina’s side.

“Hi Chris, Aunty is taking us to the Water World Park, will you come with us, please?” he said, looking at Christian intently.

“Well, maybe we should ask Aunty Raina first?” Christian said.

Raina swatted him on the shoulder. “We’d love for you to come with us, you know that.”

It gave him a jolt of delight that she wanted him along on a family outing. He and Jeremiah linked arms and followed Raina inside.

“Hey Chantal, what are you up to?” Christian said, walking towards the dining table where Chantal sat.

“Hi Chris,” she said with a sweet smile. “Just waiting for Crystal to get ready.”

“She’s still up there primping herself,” Raina said with an exasperated voice.

“It’s just a stage, she’ll get over it,” Christian said, winking at her. “She just wants to be as beautiful as her Aunty.”

Raina bit back a smile and looked down at her feet at his compliment.

They left the house thirty minutes later and squeezed into Raina’s car. Christian enjoyed the opportunity to observe her delicate profile as she drove. Her brow was creased in concentration as she navigated the road around careless drivers.

The children chattered in the back about the rides they planned to go on. There had been an awkward moment back at the house when Jeremiah asked him where his swimming trunks were.

“I can’t swim,” Christian had lied smoothly.

Swimming was out of the question. For starters, it would mean that he had to remove his contact lenses and also immerse his hair in water. Christian didn’t know how the chlorine in the water would react to the dye in his hair. His whole fake ensemble could melt away and he could just imagine Raina’s reaction.

Something in his gut told him that she wouldn’t take the whole business of him going undercover well. He felt a heaviness in his gut at the uncomfortable thought, but shrugged it off again as something he would have to sort out in the coming days. He would have to break it to her gently, so that she would understand why he had done it.

The Water World Park was designed to delight both children and adult senses, with bright colors decorating the rides and splash pads. Raina paid the entry fee for all of them, which made Christian thoroughly uncomfortable. He knew she was on a limited income. He thought about pulling out his own wallet, and then realized that all of his credit cards gave away his real name. With regret, he let her pay.
I’ll make it right with her, later,
he thought to himself.

He chose a picnic table near the water and waited for Raina and the children to change into their swim suits.

They came out of the changing room minutes later and Christian’s jaw dropped when he saw Raina. She wore a red one-piece swimsuit which shone bright against her dark skin in contrast. The garment was cut like a modest suit from the 1950’s, with ruching on the side, and a halter around her neck, drawing attention to her ample bustline. She looked like a pinup girl from his fantasies, and for all that she was much more conservatively covered up than the women in the amusement park who were parading around in thong bikinis, she was all the more attractive for it.

She walked toward him, her hips swaying, and when the children were not looking and he saw her laughing eyes at his expression.

“You’re the most beautiful woman here,” Christian growled into her ear, wrapping his hand around her well-defined waist. She looked up at him, smiling, but before she could answer they were interrupted by one of the children.

“Chris, will you watch me slide down the blue one? It’s the scariest slide!” Jeremiah shrieked with excitement, jumping up and down.

“That blue one is not the scariest slide, it’s for babies,” Crystal said in a faux-bored voice. “Me and Chantal will go to the yellow one; it’s the scariest, Chris. You should come watch us on that.”

“I don’t think I could manage either of the slides, myself,” Christian said and shivered. “I think you’re very brave, especially you Jeremiah. That blue slide does look pretty scary. I can take turns watching all of you.” Jeremiah, whose face had fallen, now perked up and he grinned.

“Watch me first!” he said, sprinting towards the water and the slides.

The girls ran after him, leaving Christian and Raina to follow alone after them. He looked at her delicious brown eyes and her half-clad body and wanted to grab her right there and then.

“You look very serious. Are you all right?” she said softly, looking up at him, her brow furrowed.

“No. No, I’m not all right. I want to hold you in my arms and do unspeakable things to you that will make you scream.” His voice was low as he bent to murmur in her ear. “It’s a good thing I’m not wearing swim trunks. I’d be very embarrassed right now. Oh, Raina, if only you knew what you do to me and seeing you in that suit doesn’t help matters.”

She felt the heat flowing through her body, and she knew it wasn’t the force of the blazing sun that was shining on them.

“You do the same to me too,” she murmured. “I’ll take a short swim to satisfy the kids.”

“Don’t rush on my account, I’m content to sit here and admire you.”

He let her go join the kids in line and Christian stood up and went to the end of the slides to cheer on Jeremiah and the girls.

The day passed quickly, with lots of sun, laughter, and splashing in the water. Christian was content to watch at the periphery, taking joy from their happiness.

Later they ate a simple, but delicious, lunch of hotdogs and burgers, and finished it off with ice cream.

“What a lovely family!” An older woman passing by exclaimed at them. She smiled and nodded at Christian and Raina. “Enjoy it now while you can, dears! They don’t stay this young forever!”

Sitting under the trees in the picnic area, Raina and Chris turned and looked at each other. The woman had already gone, but her words hung in the air over them like a bubble that neither wanted to pop.

“Is Chris a part of our family?” Jeremiah interrupted the silence, putting words to the unasked question that had been lingering.

Chantal looked back and forth between the adults, and sensing their discomfort she interjected on their behalf, “Family is anyone that you love.” Chantal said, her mouth full of hot dog.

That answer seemed to satisfy her brother, and they went back to loudly talking about who had been the bravest and who had gone down the most number of slides.

Listening to them talk, Christian realized that in the last week, the loneliness that he always carried with him had disappeared. He listened with a soft smile on his face. The heaviness he always carried with him had dissolved like sugar in warm coffee under the gentle kindness of Raina’s care. Discovering that Raina had feelings for him had been more than he could have hoped for.

He felt like part of a family and he loved it.

Raina and the children liked him for who he was—not what he could do for them—and it was a wonderful feeling. What he wished for now was that he could show them his world and spoil them rotten, the way they deserved. Take them on rides in his private helicopter; fly them off to private islands for a weekend away. Hell, he would build these kids their own private water park on the private island he owned in the Bahamas.

He had worked hard for his money, and the truth was that he enjoyed the kind of life that his wealth afforded him. But of course, there was the downfall of not really knowing who were your true friends and if women were only attracted to your money rather than your person.

With Raina, Christian knew that he would never have to worry that she only cared about his money—she had fallen for him when she thought he had nothing. That night, Raina invited him upstairs to say goodnight to the kids and it moved him, as he knew what a huge step that was for her. It meant that she was opening up her life to him, and inviting him into the kids’ lives.

He only wished that he could do the same.

R
oger’s skin
tightened against his bones and his blood raced through his body like greyhounds on a track. His eyes were focused on the security monitor and what he saw made him want to strangle someone.

Raina and the tall maintenance man were in the hallway, holding hands and whispering into each other’s ears, their bodies pressed against each other.

What was wrong with her? She had refused his advances only to turn around and fall into the arms of a low-class handyman? Despite his anger, Roger could not help but admire Raina’s curves. But the last straw was seeing the handyman run his hands over those very curves that Roger was admiring. The maintenance man’s hands grabbed her hips as he pulled her against his pelvis, and Raina kissed the man, twining her arms around his neck.

Roger’s loins ached with longing and his brain roiled with a mixture of anger and jealousy. When the two parted and Raina went into her office, Roger felt like he had run a marathon of emotions. A cold hard anger jolted him back to the present and he knew the time had come to finally get rid of the bitch.

He had an idea, but he needed Raina out of her office.

The idea had been growing in his mind for a while, but a part of him had realized how drastic it was. Now, seeing Raina and that handyman (in public, in the hallway of all places!) convinced him that his plan was perfect for her.

That bitch would learn that there were some people you just never crossed.

Roger watched Raina leave her office with some files, heading towards the conference room, minutes later other staff members followed her, including Kelly.

He turned and abruptly left the control room with quick, sure steps. He headed for Raina’s office, making sure no one saw him, and he shut the door.

He could barely contain his excitement as he sat on her chair and flicked on the computer. Raina followed all the cost cutting measures that Roger had all the employees trained on, including shutting off the computer when not using it.

Too bad she wasn’t as smart when it came to looking out for herself.

Roger had looked up her work email and password and he had visualized this moment for so long, that his fingers moved automatically across the keyboard.

The first email he wrote was to an email address he had made up days earlier, to one of his supplier shell companies.

It wasn’t necessary to write the emails, but it would give a nice touch when Christian saw the supplier accounts which would be Raina’s personal bank account details. Roger knew Christian would insist on an investigation, and that investigation would only further confirm Raina’s deception

Roger shut off the computer when he was done. He was a little hesitant about the next step which was to have Raina’s account details inserted into the supplier system.

When it all came to light, Roger knew that there was a possibility that Raina would go jail. In fact, he had no doubt that his nephew Christian would go all the way to punish her for stealing from Del Mar.

Perhaps he should give her another chance, Roger thought, remembering the handyman’s hands on Raina’s hips. He swung on her chair and fantasized about how it would feel to touch her himself, to have his hands run over her body the way that man’s had.

He could feel his body growing hot and his erection growing.
Damn, Raina!
She had gotten under his skin more than the other women had. Probably because no other woman had dared to reject him before.

The only way to get over her was to have her, and Roger felt his determination return. No one had ever humiliated him before, and Raina would not be the first.

Roger leaned back in the chair, his face curving into a smug grimace, and he decided to wait for her. Soon, Roger heard voices coming from the hallway and he smiled in anticipation.

The door was pushed open and Raina walked in, followed closely by Kelly. They were laughing about something but when they saw him, they stopped abruptly. Kelly’s face fell when she saw him behind Raina’s desk.

Seeing the women together like that gave Roger an idea. Raina was curvy, while Kelly was slim, opposites of each other.

“Hello ladies, what a pleasure to see you this morning,” Roger said with a smirk. “The two most gorgeous women in the Del Mar group of hotels.”

“Morning Roger, I have to run,” Kelly’s words were a jumble and she fled before he could even respond.

He was not pleased she had gone, but he would not chase her. Not now, anyway.

Raina stood at the door, her palm on the handle, watching him warily.

Maybe it was just as well that Kelly had left. Raina didn’t look as though she would be so receptive to his idea—the three of them tumbling over each other in bed.

Roger would have given anything for what he knew would have been the experience of a lifetime. Still, Raina would do for now, and he would be generous enough to give her one more chance.

“So, did you give my proposition further thought?” Roger asked, ignoring the memory of her sharp teeth on his tongue.

Raina backed against the door. “I think I made it pretty clear that I have no interest in pursuing a relationship in the work place.”

Roger sneered. “But that’s a lie, my dear. You’ve been seen hanging all over low life scum in the hallways.” His rage was growing. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out about your little tryst with the handyman? What can a man like that do for you? Be a smart woman …” He leered at her. ‘I can give you the world. But I’ll give you this week only to think about it. If I were you …”

He stood and walked toward her, lingering, pausing to give her a light slap on her backside, and then walked away from Raina’s office laughing softly.

He was glad that he had given her another chance. It would be worth it to take her and punish her for her disrespect in bed.

But, if she agreed it would leave him with the problem of who to blame the theft on. But then he got a flash of inspiration.

His plan of a threesome might just work. It was crazy how the two women had captured his imagination and if he was honest with himself, Roger was enjoying the chase immensely.

Kelly would not be as difficult to convince as Raina. She would play along if she knew her job was on the line and if she didn’t, he could just as easily blame the thefts on her.

It felt good to know that at the moment he could control the destiny of the two little whores. He thought idly of the handyman and dismissed him as unimportant.