Capsizing Her Billionaire Boss - Sarah Gay Page 0,16
her number anyway.
“In her email,” said Rob as if he could read Damian’s thoughts.
Rob caught his eye. “It’s not a marriage proposal. It’s only a phone call.”
Damian wiped the sweat from his brow. “Why are you pushing this?”
“When you see the same look in Eli’s eye that I see in yours, you’ll know.”
Eli perked up. “What about my eyes?”
Damian threw his head back and laughed. “Aren’t there attention pills we can give him?”
“It’s called sleep,” said Rob. “And both of you need more of it.”
They pulled up to their yellow rambler two days before they were scheduled to be back from their cruise. The neighborhood hadn’t changed. It never changed, but Damian preferred it that way; he appreciated coming home to their neighborhood’s old world, comforting charm.
On their way into the house, Rob grasped Damian by his shoulder. “You stick with Kai and you’ll be able to buy a thousand homes like this one, but is that what you really want? You’ve got to follow your heart, Damian.”
Poppy’s sweet voice echoed in his mind, telling him about her father. “Yes,” said Damian. “If I do this, she’s set.”
“Set with what, exactly?” asked Rob, handing Damian a box of produce to carry inside. “Please don’t lose sight of why you’re doing this…and who you are.”
Damian raised a brow. “Why aren’t you giving this fun little pep talk to Eli?”
“Oh, I will. When the time’s right. Back to the conversation at hand, it couldn’t hurt to see how Poppy’s doing. She took a nasty fall.”
Rob was right. It wouldn’t be too personal to check on her health, but the real question was how he would get her out of the hotel she was staying at with her boyfriend. He needed to make a phone call, but not to Poppy. “Excuse me,” he said to Rob, “I need to use my phone.”
“There he is.” Rob pointed at him and smiled. “I’ll let you know when lunch is ready.”
Three days later, Poppy pressed the acceleration button on the treadmill. Running on a machine felt nothing like running on the beach, or even like jogging down an open Idaho farm road, but it did have its merits. For one, she was all alone in the exercise room of the hotel. And two, she could catch up on celebrity gossip. She turned up the volume on the remote for the large flat screen television in front of her.
At least something other than Damian will get my heart racing today, she thought as she pumped her arms with greater intensity, matching her leg speed. He’d texted her twice over the past two days. Once, to ask her how she was doing after the fall—and if she needed anything. The other text asked her if she could join him to look at an office space he’d found. He kept the location a surprise but said that it was in the heart of downtown. Whatever or wherever it was, he said to plan on a full day away.
She glanced down at her watch. She had thirty more minutes to exercise before she needed to jump in the shower and get ready. If she pumped her heart hard enough this morning, then maybe it wouldn’t go as crazy when she saw Damian.
She’d fallen into a comfortable routine with Kent, meeting him for breakfast every morning, then heading out with him for a quick lunch and dinner between business calls in their respective rooms. He’d suggested that they take their laptops to the business center to work a few days out of the week together, but she said no; she had to set boundaries.
Kai had her finishing up a few loose ends for him before she transferred completely to the new company. Anytime he saw Kent in the background of their virtual meetings, it seemed to bother him.
“Who is Damian Jones?” the gossip reporter said in a polished, newscaster’s voice. “And who is this mystery woman?”
Poppy’s mouth dropped open when she saw a closeup of her own face. In the video footage, she stared at Damian with longing as Kent pulled her into the back seat of a car at the airport.
The other paparazzi scumbag must have been filming in the wings. Why do they care about me? she asked herself.
“Will this man be America’s next sexiest billionaire?” The glammed-up reporter stared into the camera for affect. “And will this woman be his downfall?”
“Downfall!” Poppy screamed in anger, tripping over her feet. In that moment, she’d regretted not clipping the automatic