Filthy Rich Alpha - Virna DePaul Page 0,12
head, and tomorrow she’d get back to being her old self—work-focused, practical Cara, the Cara she’d been before she’d met Branden.
She took several deep breaths. Even from where she was, she could see waves crashing against unseen pilings in the near distance, throwing sparkling spray up in the air under park lamps that had just come on. The wind was coming straight off the ocean, chopping the gray-green water of New York’s harbor into a million whitecaps.
Elsewhere in the city, you could forget Manhattan was an island. Not down here.
She walked along the waterfront, loving the smell of the ocean and the cries of the wheeling seagulls, slashes of white against the darkening sky. At the corner, a block away from the office, she noticed a low-slung car crawling through traffic.
Its driver was Branden Duke.
Instantly, any feeling of relaxation and well-being disappeared
Heart pounding, Cara ducked out of view but unable to stop herself, watched him drive away, negotiating slowly over potholes and around construction barriers. The car was built for speed but down here, five miles an hour was about as fast as anyone could go. When he stopped at a red light up ahead, his flashing right blinker hypnotized her for a few seconds.
The street he was about to turn into had no outlet. It ended at a new residential tower, the kind that had separate elevators for luxury cars so residents could actually park right on their very own floor.
Unless he was visiting or picking up a friend to go somewhere else, it was possible that he lived in the tower. If he did, in addition to the mansion on Long Island Sound, he most likely ruled his world from one of the penthouses, complete with wraparound terrace and sweeping views. Too close for comfort.
The light where he was waiting turned green and in seconds Branden was out of view.
He had all the toys. Fantasy wheels. Awesome real estate. Limitless money to roll around in. He was a man anyone would envy, incredibly good-looking and exceptionally intelligent.
And now, out of nowhere, he was her boss, give or take a few layers of managers, and he owned the company.
He seemed to be trying to do the right thing—telling her that things would remain professional between them. But even so, he wasn’t denying that he wanted her in his bed.
He was off-limits.
But tempting. So very tempting.
He was also a mystery to her, as was the lovely Deena who seemed to have no problem claiming him in front of Cara.
She cursed softly. Because in that moment, she knew that despite working so hard to put him out of her mind and keep her attention on work, she was going to give in to at least one temptation.
The temptation to know more about Branden Duke.
“Did you have a good day, Miss Michal?”
“Hi, Joe.” Cara gave the stout, brass-buttoned doorman of her apartment complex a frazzled smile and pushed her flyaway hair out of her face. “Yes I did, thank you.” She frowned when she looked across the street. “Where’d all that construction equipment come from?”
The building across the street was surrounded by wooden barriers and warning signs. A scaffold had been erected during the hours she’d been away, rising no higher than the second floor.
“They set it up this morning.”
“Oh no. I hope the building isn’t going to be knocked down. The noise is going to be awful.”
“Don’t let it get in the way,” Joe said.
“Of what?”
“Fun, of course. You work hard and need more of it,” he said randomly before he went out to whistle up a taxi for a waiting resident. Cara sighed. First Iris, now Joe. Clearly she was a walking advertisement for a workaholic.
A half hour later, she had everything she needed at the ready. Laptop. Pen and paper. Novelty pajamas from Victoria’s Secret for comfort. A pint of Ben & Jerry’s Americone Dream to keep her from getting depressed if she found too many photos of Branden with different women.
She jabbed a spoon in the caramel swirl and left it there.
Then she began Googling Branden Duke.
As she’d expected, there were tons of pictures of him with beautiful women. Models. Actresses. Even a member of the royal family. Each of his dates were gorgeous, and she couldn’t help but feel jealous. Ever since that kiss they shared, some part of Cara, as ridiculous as it was, couldn’t help but feel some part of him was hers.
Ruthlessly, she stopped looking at the pictures and focused on more substantive articles,