Nicole

  KYLIE SQUEAKED AS she jumped to her feet, her eyes as wide as saucers. “Mr. Lancaster?”

  Damian gave my best friend a smile that was so charming I wanted to punch him as he said, “Kylie, I presume. Nicole mentioned you during some of our conversations.” He held out his hand in greeting.

  Kylie nodded as she shook it, her expression still a little stunned. “What are you doing here?” she questioned suspiciously.

  “I wanted to have a word with Nicole,” he answered amiably.

  I stood. “I don’t think we have a single thing to talk about, Mr. Lancaster.”

  I hated the fact that I couldn’t control my reaction to seeing Damian again. My heart tripped, and my body instantly responded to his raw sensuality, while all my brain wanted me to do was kick him in the balls.

  Damian moved past Kylie once he’d dropped her hand, and stopped right in front of me. “Give me five minutes to explain, Nicole.”

  Ha! That request had sounded more like a demand to me, and I wasn’t about to give Damian Lancaster anything he commanded. He sure as hell wasn’t my boss. Thank God!

  I shook my head, trying not to let him know that his actions on our flight had gotten to me. “You had over twelve hours to tell me the truth.”

  “It’s…complicated,” he said.

  Kylie interrupted in a cheerful voice that I knew was completely faked. “Well, I’ll be right next door in my office if you need me.” She walked to the door before pausing. “I mean, right next door,” she added in a warning voice. “Like…my office shares a wall with this one, if you know what I mean.”

  Damian nodded. “Message understood. Nicole is safe with me, Kylie. I just want to talk.”

  “She’d better be,” Kylie barked at Damian as she left and closed the door behind her.

  An oppressive silence filled the room the second she was gone, and the tension was so thick between Damian and me that it was almost unbearable.

  I glared at him, but there was a stubborn determination in his gorgeous eyes that made me aware that he wasn’t leaving until he’d said what he wanted to say.

  “Just say your piece and leave, Damian,” I said, resigned. Listening to him was apparently the fastest way to get this man out of my office, and I really, really needed him to go. I looked up at the clock. “Your five minutes is ticking down as of right now.”

  His sexy green-eyed gaze met mine as he said, “I should have told you the truth, but as soon as I found out that Lancaster International was the source of your unhappiness, the last thing I wanted to do was admit that I was the head of the company. I doubt you ever would have uttered another word to me, and rightfully so. I should have been at that meeting, Nicole, but something happened—”

  “Something happened?” I interrupted indignantly. “I know what happened. A front-page article and a naked orgy picture were more than enough to tell the story of what you’d been up to until the wee hours of the morning. I doubt you were in any condition to attend a morning meeting.”

  His expression was grim. “Yes. That’s why I wasn’t there.” Damian didn’t attempt to explain any further.

  I crossed my arms over my chest defensively, doing my best to act like I didn’t give a damn what he did. “Why were you taking a flight in the business section of your own airline?”

  He shrugged his massive shoulders. “What better way to get a passenger experience? I like to know how my customers feel when they’re taking Transatlantic, and what changes we need to make to be better than the competition.”

  I wasn’t about to tell him that I found that…refreshing. There probably weren’t very many billionaires who gave a shit about how their companies were run, as long as the bottom line was in the black. “Why bother talking to me at all? Why bother to kiss me? Are you twisted? Was that entire flight just a game for you to play to pass the time?”

  “Of course not. I usually mind my own business when I’m doing a test flight, but I wanted to talk to you, Nicole. And yes, I wanted that damn kiss. I’m not going to lie.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “Why?”

  Damian raked a hand through his perfect hair like he was frustrated. “Because you’re the most captivating woman I’ve ever met. You’re beautiful. You’re intelligent. Easy to talk to. You were the one woman I couldn’t possibly ignore, Nicole, and to be completely honest, I have no fucking idea why.” His voice sounded sincere.

  But I knew better. I didn’t believe a single word that was coming out of his mouth. If I did, I’d probably have to admit that I’d felt the same weird attraction he had, and I didn’t want to go there.

  His eyes were intense, a dark, swirling pool of emotions.

  I had to give it to Damian—he was an excellent actor. I almost believed that a little of his chagrin might be…real.

  I forced my gaze away from him and looked up at the clock.

  Shit! He still had a little more time.

  I turned my eyes back in his direction. Damian was dressed more casually today in a pair of black jeans and a green polo shirt that matched his eyes. I didn’t want to admit that the casual style made him seem more…approachable. “Why are you here?” I asked bluntly.

  “I had to see you, Nicole. At first, I thought it would be better to let it go, but I don’t think that’s true anymore. I wanted your number. I wanted to ask you out. I was just too cowardly to tell you the truth because I was pretty sure you’d end up hating me.”

  He reached out a hand, as though he wanted to touch me, but I stepped back before he could make contact. “Don’t touch me,” I said in a warning tone. “Look, you’ve said what you wanted to say. What else do you want? Your five minutes is almost up.”

  “Do you really want me to answer that question?” he asked in a husky tone.

  “No!” I said hastily. “Forget it. Just get out of my office. God, did you really think you could just apologize, and I’d fall all over you just because you’re Damian Lancaster?”

  He shrugged. “Most women do.”

  Oh, I’m sure they did. Strangely, I didn’t detect a hint of arrogance in his comment. He sounded more like having women fall all over him because he was one of the richest guys in the world was just a…fact. “I’m not most women,” I told him firmly. “I actually have to like a guy to go out with him. And I don’t like you. Now just…go.”

  I hated the way my heart was racing, and how damn hard it was to keep up my indifferent façade.

  “Not so fast,” he said smoothly. “There’s one other issue I’d like to discuss.”

  “I think I’m done here,” I snapped, my hostility rising. I was thoroughly pissed off at myself because even though I knew he was a man-whore and a liar, my body still wanted him. My involuntary reactions to Damian were hard to control, and that was something my rational mind just didn’t understand. How could I want this man to fuck me when I didn’t even like him?

  Damian ignored my curt dismissal. “You were right about everything you said about Lancaster International,” he said in a more businesslike voice. “We do need a good crisis management agency right now. Social media is having a field day with the article and the photo, and that’s something my marketing team has never had to deal with in the past. We’re seeing more pushback from the public than I ever imagined. We do need a specialist.”

  I couldn’t hold back on my sarcasm as I retorted, “Maybe you wouldn’t need a crisis manager if you could keep your damn pants on when you’re in front of a camera.”

  Damian’s lips twitched like he wanted to smile. “You looked up the photo and the article, I assume.”

  Busted! “Strictly for business reasons,” I explained hastily. “I wanted to see the scandal that screwed me on my presentation.”

  “The whole story was a setup,” he said, frowning. “A trap to make Lancaster International look bad, probably by a competitor.”

  I scoffed. “Seriously? Do you really expect me to believe that?”

  “No. Not now. But if we’re working together, maybe you will someday.”

  “That would be impossible since I don’t plan on taking on your company.” Did he really think he could hire me, and it would make what he did all right?

  His brow furrowed as he studied me. “Nicole, it would be a ridiculous business move to pass on Lancaster International. It would be a huge account, and it would definitely open the door for a lot more international clients for you in the future.”

  Dammit! I hated the fact that every single word he said was…true.

  “I don’t care about the money,” I said defensively. “I have to be able to work with every client, and I can’t work with you.”

  The guy was arrogant and presumptuous, not to mention the fact that he’d already lied to me, and I had no idea whether he’d do so again and again if we were working together.

  “You can work with me,” he told me, his voice persuasive. “Don’t turn down this opportunity. You’ll hate yourself for it later.”

  I was silent as I thought about what he’d just said. Would I hate myself later for making a big decision like this based on emotion instead of reason?

  I’d desperately wanted to secure Lancaster International as a client, not only because they’d be a huge account, but also because of the doors it would open for ACM to branch out into the UK and European markets.

  My employees had kept this business booming after my mother’s death. I felt like I owed all of them a decision that was made with a clear mind and not emotion.

  “I suppose I should take some time to consider it,” I told him reluctantly. “Are you sure you’ll be able to stifle the urge to throw another orgy while I think about it?”

  He grinned at me. “I think I can contain myself.”

  His smile made me so breathless I couldn’t say a word.

  Dammit! I really hated the way I could still want this man, even though I knew what an asshole he really was.

  I needed to get Damian Lancaster out of my office. “Then I’ll consider it,” I said with absolutely no enthusiasm. Thank God I managed to resist the urge to get in another insult, though. I was showing my cards every single time I let him know he could irritate me.

  Lancaster International was one of the largest and most successful corporations in the world, and Damian hadn’t stayed in that position without being a master at manipulation and an excellent game player.

  I refused to be one of his pawns, but how could I not take some time to think about something that could mean so much to the future of my mother’s beloved company?

  This opportunity wasn’t just about me. If it was, I could have easily told him to go fuck himself. But I had employees, and a business that needed to grow in the future. My decisions directly affected the people who worked for ACM, and their job security.

  What if I could use Damian Lancaster to further my business interests?

  He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a business card. “Don’t take long to decide,” he suggested. “The situation is out of control already.”

  My PR mind kicked in as I asked, “What kind of damage control are you doing right now?”

  He shrugged. “The PR department is mostly punting questions at this point, hoping it will die down. We’ve never had something like this happen before.”

  I let go of a sigh. “I told you that you needed to get in front of it. If this has really blown up on social media, avoidance is only going to make it worse. Have you made a statement?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Get on social media and make it clear that you were set up, but take total responsibility for putting yourself in a bad position in the first place. I’m assuming all this started in a bar or a nightclub?”

  My heart ached when he nodded slowly.

  Part of me still didn’t want to believe that the Damian I’d gotten to know on the plane had been so out of his mind on alcohol that he’d allowed himself to end up in this situation.

  My memory went to the single beer he’d consumed before he’d asked for tea.

  Was he trying to reform?

  “Stay away from the club scene in Los Angeles,” I suggested tersely. “There are usually reporters around who are trying to catch celebrities misbehaving in some of the posher nightclubs.”

  He held up a hand. “I’m here on business only. I wasn’t planning on setting Hollywood on fire.”

  Honestly, I couldn’t see Damian partying at a swanky club. It just didn’t seem like his style. But what did I know? He’d obviously gotten drunk enough to be set up, if this whole thing had ever really been a trap.

  I took his card and tossed it on my desk. “I’ll be in touch. I need to think about this. If you aren’t sincere about wanting to fix this, then it could ruin my company’s reputation.”

  I watched as he raked a hand through his hair again. “I do want to fix it. I hate the fact that my family is going to suffer. Reporters are already camping out at my mother’s home in Surrey, trying to get some kind of statement. She doesn’t need this.”

  “So most of what you told me on the plane is true? Your mom lives in Surrey at your childhood home?”

  “Nothing I said was untrue,” he said. “Although I’m definitely guilty of lying by omission.”

  For a moment, I felt bad about his obvious distress over his mother’s treatment by the media. If I could trust nothing else about this man, I was pretty sure his agitation about the press hounding his mom was completely sincere. “They’ll go away eventually,” I said quietly. “There’s always going to be another story more scandalous than yours. It’s just really uncomfortable while you’re in the hot seat.”

  He nodded sharply. “Don’t get me wrong. My mum is a strong woman, but she’s been through a lot, and our family reputation means a lot to her. Like I said, nothing I told you on the plane was a lie, really. My mother was born in Spain, and she met my father while he was in her country on business. She came from a humble background, and she turned herself inside out to be accepted by the social elite once she married my father. She said she never wanted him to regret that he’d married beneath himself.”

  I surveyed his expression as I asked, “Did he marry beneath himself?”

  He shook his head. “Hell, no. My father never felt that way. Ever. He loved my mother, and he didn’t care what the gossips said. It was Mum who always felt like she wasn’t good enough to enter the Lancaster empire. She even cultivated a British accent, so nobody was reminded of her origins. My father thought it was ridiculous that she worried so much about appearances. But I think she was traumatized after her first meeting with the Queen.”

  I gaped at him. “She met the Queen?”

  “Of course,” he said nonchalantly. “Technically, my father was the Duke of Hollingsworth. It isn’t a royal dukedom, but we’re well acquainted with the peerage.”

  I moved to my desk and sat down in my chair, trying not to hyperventilate. Dear God! No wonder Damian’s mother had felt like his father had married beneath himself. I could only imagine what her struggles had been in trying to find a place in such a powerful family.

  I looked up at him as I said breathlessly, “So doesn’t that make you the Duke of Hollingsworth now?”

  He looked disgusted as he answered tersely, “Yes. But I rarely use the title unless I’m at a royal event. My father didn’t put much importance on something he’d simply inherited, and I don’t, either. I’d rather be known for my business acumen than for an aristocratic position I never earned. I was born to privilege, and I inherited a fortune. I’d like to work hard to prove that I’m worthy of that, not some antiquated title.”

  I nearly smiled because he was starting to sound like an American. While I didn’t believe in advanced status just by a happy accident of birth, I also couldn’t deny that the Lancaster family must carry a lot of weight in England’s social circles. “I thought the British loved their titles.”

  He shrugged. “Some love their traditions.”

  I’d read enough English history to have a basic understanding of the peerage. “So nobody refers to you as Your Grace?”

  He actually looked embarrassed as he admitted, “Occasionally. I don’t encourage it.”

  It was strange that Damian seemed to be a lot more comfortable as the billionaire CEO of Lancaster International than he did with his position as the Duke of Hollingsworth.

  “So your mother actually became a duchess when she married your father, and the wife of a billionaire, too. I get why she was intimidated. I’m American, and I’d find meeting the royals pretty daunting.”

  “She put more importance on our title than our father ever did,” Damian scoffed.

  Maybe so, but I could still empathize with her. I’d nearly buckled under the stress of having a conference room full of Lancaster executives staring at me. I could only imagine how his mother had felt when she’d been under the critical eye of England’s aristocratic crowd. “I can totally understand why this entire situation upsets her.”

  He studied my face until it grew almost uncomfortable. “Can you, Nicole?”

  I nodded. “Give me some time, Damian. I’d like to help, but please understand that I don’t trust you. I doubt I ever will.” I saw no reason to dance around the truth.

  “I’m sorrier about that than you’ll ever know,” he answered in a low, regretful tone.

  I let out a shaky breath as I answered. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Where are you staying?”

  “Here in Newport Beach,” he informed me. “I took some time to drive around the city. It’s beautiful here. A friend of mine has a place here that he’s not using at the moment, so he offered it to me for as long as I wanted to stay here. The press found me at my residence in Beverly Hills early this morning. So I’ll be hiding out here in Newport Beach for a while. I doubt the press will find me since this place isn’t affiliated with Lancaster.”

  If the US media had picked up on the story, the social media storm must be crazy right now. “Where exactly are you staying in Newport Beach?”

  His brow furrowed. “The exact address is in the car, but it’s on Seashore Drive. Do you know it?”