Touching the Billionaire - Holly Jaymes Page 0,8
Theo. You should call her.”
I looked at my watch. “I’ve got to run. I’ve got another meeting. We start again next week. I’ll see you then.”
Like Madeline had done a few minutes before, I strode out the door with no intention of looking back. I had no meeting to get to but I didn’t like the unsettled feeling I had about how the scene had gone or being chastised by my director and producer. I needed to wrap my head around this. The pressure I was feeling to make this project go off well was starting to fuck with me and turn me into something I wasn’t. It wasn’t a good feeling to think that I could be like that. Yes, I had a reputation as a womanizer, but I’d never disrespected a woman or touched one who didn’t want me to.
I went home to my upper East side penthouse condominium and changed into running clothes and a running hat. I exited my building and went across the street to run along the river and through the park. It was early summer so it was hot and humid, but I welcomed the heat. As the sweat poured out of me, I hoped all the toxic thoughts and abhorrent behavior was flowing out of me with it.
Exhausted, I stopped, taking off my hat and running my fingers through my soaking wet hair from my sweat. Not wanting to be recognized, I put the hat back on, and with my head down, walked back towards my condo building.
I entered the building and made my way to the elevator. I got there just in time as the doors were open. I stepped in and then almost immediately stepped back out when I saw Madeline standing there.
“Are you stalking me now?” The minute I said it, I knew it was an idiot question.
She arched a brow. “You’re the one following me.”
“I live here. What’s your excuse?” The door shut behind me, so I had no choice but to ride up with her. I looked over at the buttons and noted she had pressed for the eighth floor. I reached over and pressed the button for the twentieth.
“I’m staying with my sister. She lives here.”
I stepped into the opposite corner, leaning back against the wall. Then remembering what she did to me earlier, my hands automatically drifted down covering my family jewels. My running shorts did very little to protect them from a woman who threatened to break them.
She must’ve understood what was going on because she smirked and said, “If you think I have any interest in your dick, you’re sadly mistaken. I suppose that’s a first for you, isn't it?”
I was supposed to be apologizing but she wasn’t making it easy. I was really irked that she was tossing my playboy ways in my face. I didn’t know why, especially since having a reputation as a playboy at one point was welcome. But today, I wanted to be taken seriously. I wasn’t where I was just because I had a pretty face and a great body. At least that wasn’t what I wanted. “Should I judge you by your past as well?”
Her eyes narrowed and I was certain that if she could fire lasers from them, I’d be toast. “Isn’t that what this test today was about? You are judging me by my past. Did you expect an eleven-year-old girl with pigtails and buck teeth to walk in?”
Fuck. She was right again. I shifted uncomfortably as that unsettling feeling moved through my gut again. “I’m told I should apologize to you for today.”
She laughed derisively. “Don’t hurt yourself. Besides, if someone has to tell you to apologize, how authentic can it be?”
I was beginning to think there was no way I'd be able to redeem myself in her eyes. As much as we needed to maintain that push and pull, it really bothered me that she thought I was an asshole. Maybe I did an asshole thing, but that didn’t mean I was an asshole deep down. At least I hoped not.
I looked down, giving myself a moment to get my thoughts right and hopefully to figure out how to articulate myself in a way that sounded sincere.
I lifted my head and took a breath. “I am sorry for how I behaved today.”
She shrugged. “I know how it is in this business.”
I frowned but what I got hung up on wasn’t that she was comparing me to other men in this business, it