Ella was late. Miss Ella Stanford was clearly late.
Javier could not stop himself from glancing at his Rolex watch and then at the entrance every now and then. Another ten minutes and everyone who was currently enjoying cocktails and light snacks in the foyer would be moving to the dining hall. Yet here he was, standing on the balcony, looking down at the crowd beneath him and trying hard to find his little secretary.
“Where on earth is she?” he growled to himself. His buoyant anticipation had slid through a heap of frustration at her lack of appearance before it turned into a nagging worry. Had she perhaps been in an accident?
“Babe, what are you doing here?” A sultry voice asked then followed by hands snaking their way around his waist. London Star placed her head on his left shoulder, her lips grazing the side of his throat. “All your friends are downstairs. Why don’t we go down and say hello?”
“Ten more minutes,” he replied curtly as he moved slightly away from her.
“I could make that ten minutes worth it,” whispered London, clearly had not noticed the worries on his face and how his brows had furrowed. Her hands started moving on his front and her breasts pressed against his back.
“Not now, London.” Javier put his hands on her wrists then put her hands away. He fished out his phone and dialed Ella’s number. She did not pick it up and he tried again. After the fifth try, he ended the call and shoved his phone inside his pocket. He was starting to feel like a stalker with his incessant calling. Perhaps she had been driving thus she could not answer her phone.
He turned around only to find London standing there in nothing but her lingerie. Before he could say or do anything, she placed her mouth on his, silencing him with her kisses. And for a few seconds, he let her ravish his mouth before finally putting a stop to it.
No matter what, his mind was still worried about Ella and her whereabouts.
***
Ella had arrived exactly five minutes before the guests were being led into the dining hall. Even though Javier had told her to enjoy herself, she knew she had to make sure that the event went on without a hitch so she had gone to meet Jackie, the event organizer. Jackie had been Ella’s friend since college and recently she had opened her Event Organizer business. Since Ella wanted to help her friend, she had given this job to her instead of the usual EO who had been arranging such events for Javier and Summers Entertainment.
It seemed that she had been right to talk to Jackie as soon as she had arrived because Jackie looked frantic. “What happened?” Ella asked.
“Oh, Ella, what should I do? We’re doomed! I’m so, so doomed!” Her friend was literally shaking, cold sweat forming on her temples despite the air conditioner being turned on.
“Calm down and tell me what is wrong,” asked Ella, keeping herself calm and cool-headed so that she could find the right solution.
Except that there was no right solution here. The singer who had been booked to sing happy birthday to Javier had diarrhea and she could not perform tonight.
“I wish I can sing!” cried Jackie, her face looking pale. She wanted to blame the singer so badly but even she knew that this was a mere coincidence that the light snack being served had eel in it and the singer simply could not stomach it. The poor girl was still occupying one of the bathroom cubicles.
“We can find someone in the audience, maybe?” Damon suggested. “I mean, most of the guests are artists and people who work in the entertainment industry, right? Surely there is someone who won’t mind singing for your boss.”
Damon had been right but knowing her boss and how he had prided himself, there was no way he would accept one of his guests singing for him freely. He would be embarrassed and then Jackie and her company would suffer. “No. We can not. Javier will not have it. He will be pissed if he knows we ask one of his guests to sing for him.”
Jackie blinked and when she stared at Ella, her face finally regained its natural color. “You can sing, Ella. You can sing!”
“W-what?”
“You can sing. I know you do. You won the talent show back when we were in college. Why don’t you sing for him? I am sure he will not mind if it is you.”
Damon nodded in agreement. “She’s right. Your boss won’t even know that you’re not supposed to be singing. He’ll think that this is part of the plan and that you want to surprise him.”
“B-but—”
Before Ella could utter her disagreement, both of her friends already started planning what needed to be done. They agreed that Ella’s red dress was a killer dress thus she did not need to swap her attire. Damon and Jackie were still discussing her make-up and accessories for her hair when Ella finally found her voice back. “Wait!”
Both of her friends stopped their discussion and looked at her.
“I can’t sing for Javier! That is way too personal! He’s my boss for goodness sake!” Ella shook her head frantically, she could not even imagine singing for him let alone truly doing it.
“Oh, come on, Ella. Please,” begged Jackie, holding Ella’s hands. “This is my first gig, I don’t want it to fail.”
“You are going to be alright, Ella dearest,” said Damon, trying to convince her. “Did you not say that you want to surprise him with your new look so he would stop thinking that you are boring?” He lifted one brow and smiled. “This would give you the perfect, grand entrance. All eyes will be on you including his.”
Ella closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts. Damon had been right and what was more important, she wanted Jackie’s business to succeed. Giving her this job would open her chances to meet Javier’s great connections who perhaps could be her future clients.
“Okay, okay. I’ll do it.”
Both Damon and Jackie squealed in joy, clapping their hands while Ella tried to recall all of the condescending comments Javier had ever said to her, about her being uptight and prim.
Oh, to prove him wrong and to see the look of surprise on his face would salve her wounded pride.
Ella was literally trembling as she waited to make her entrance. Perhaps she shouldn’t have let Damon and Jackie talk her into doing this. Nevertheless, she was already here right outside the huge door leading to the dining hall. Someone inside was making a speech and once the speech was over, she would make her entrance. Cheers followed with applause had erupted, indicating that it was her time now. Jackie gave her a brief hug and Damon whispered encouraging words into her ear. Okay. All she had to do was go up there and then sing for him. How hard could that possibly be? *** Javier was still glancing about the room. Ella was not here. He was tempted to give her another call but that would only up the number of missed calls she would see on her phone. “Damn it,” he cursed under his breath, not paying attention to what his brother, Thornton, had been saying on the podium. His mind was too distracted by his missing secretary. Then a dangerous thought came to his mind. Perhaps sh
She looked like her usual self yet at the same time, she looked different. There was something about the way she moved, the way her hips swayed. And when Javier looked at her, he noticed the sensual shape of her lips as she gazed up at him and wished him a happy birthday. “Come on, babe, blow the candle,” urged London at his side, putting her hand around his arm. Javier spared one look at Ella, then blew the candle. The crowd cheered and one by one, his guests started to congratulate him and wish him well. Soon, Javier left the guests to join her siblings. Two out of seven of them were here celebrating his birthday. Albeit there were so many of them, they were truly close with each other. They had not had any cousins since both their mother and father were only children. “We still don’t know where he went,” said Thornton, informing Javier about their missing brother Draven Summers. After their grandfather had written Draven off his will, his little brother had taken it so badly t
Javier Summers didn’t like this. Not even one bit. He could even consider this as the worst birthday he had ever had. No, he could not blame it on the food being served. They were splendid, cooked, and prepared by the best chefs in the U.S. And he could not fault the decor either, they were exactly how he wanted it: elegant and high class. The band playing the music right now was also giving their best performance so he could not fault that either. What irritated him the most was the fact that his little secretary who had always shown propriety suddenly decided to let loose tonight and not only did she do this on her own, she had a gorgeous man at her side, eager to please her and could not wait for the pleasurable night that might follow afterward — preferably in her place or his. Javier needed some time to cool himself or else he would drag Ella to the nearest available room and shake some sense into her. And then do what? Javier shook the naughty, inappropriate thought off his m
The band started playing again. Only this time, it was a song with a slower tempo, something that would be best suited for a slow dance. Ella had just gotten back to the table when she caught the sight of Javier and London Star. Her only salvation was having Damon by her side. It was always better to have a friend with her than to face something like this on her own. London’s eyes sparkled and she rose to her feet. “Damon, I love this song. Come dance with me,” she linked her arm to Damon, pressing her large breasts on his forearm. “You don’t mind if I borrow him for a dance right, Ella?” “I really don’t want to leave her alone,” answered Damon, freeing his arm from her grasp and failing miserably for she had held him tightly. Before Ella could say anything, a low husky voice had answered on her behalf. “She’s not alone. I will accompany her.” Then Ella could feel his arm linking around her waist and she nearly jumped on the spot. Damon’s eyes were on her, waiting for her decisi
Ella stared at her boss and for a second there, she was going to lose her temper. She’d specifically said that she was trying to find a restroom, then why on Earth had he led her into his bedroom? Her earlier thought about his wish to claim her as one of his conquests reared its ugly head. Her jaw clenched as she tried her best to calm herself by telling herself that if he made any moves, she could always knee him between his thighs, then run like hell. So when she finally opened her mouth, she was quite proud of herself for sounding calm and reasonable. “Why did you bring me here?” Without saying a word, he took her hand and was about to drag her when she planted her feet firmly on the floor and refused to follow him. "What on Earth are you doing, Sir?" She had subtly added ‘Sir’ in her sentence in the hope to remind her that he was her boss and that this was borderline inappropriate. “Didn’t you say you want to go to the restroom?” he asked incredulously as if she’d just asked h
Ella Stanford "He did kiss you, didn't he?" asked Damon once they were out in the parking lot. Ella blinked before her face reddened. "Did you see?" She knew there was a little chance that Damon had seen it since she and Javier had been in his bedroom but still, there was no other reason that she could think of. "Nope, but I wish I did." Damon wiggled his eyebrows, teasing her. "It is all over your face, babe. You look slightly flushed and when you came back from the restroom, you acted all weird." He paused, scrunching his nose then clapped his hands. "Oh, and you can not wait to get home. That is the weirdest one." "I am just tired," said Ella which was not entirely a lie. She was emotionally tired having to remain cool and unaffected by Javier's every move. "Because of the kiss?" teased Damon again, to which Ella replied with a nudge on his waist. "Ow! No need to harass me. But seriously, girl, was he good?" Hearing Ella's contented sigh and watching the look on her face, he
A smile hovered on Javier’s lips as he arrived at his office this morning. Over his coffee and the splendid breakfast made by his maid, Leigh, he’d thought of his plan in seducing his little secretary Miss Ella Stanford. A lively sense of anticipation tingled through his body as he swung the door open, fully expecting Ella to be at her table. Yet it quickly died down when he noticed that there was no sign of her arrival. Her usual brown coat wasn’t on the hanger and her desk was still cleared, looking precisely as it had been when he had left his office last Friday. Where the hell was she? Or perhaps excitement had made him arrive earlier than he had thought. He moved his arm and checked his watch. It was fifteen minutes past nine. He hadn’t arrived early, she’d been the one arriving late! He had never known her to be here before him. She’d always been punctual. Her failure to do so today was aggravating, especially since he had sent her a text telling her that he needed to discuss
C H A P T E R 1 2 : T H E O V E R D U E B R E A K U P J A V I E R S U M M E R S Javier stared at the door for a few minutes once he heard the click signaling that it had been tightly shut. If he was being honest, Ella's resignation had shocked him. Through and through. He had never thought that she would quit her job. "Damn," he hissed under his breath so that the one person who just had shaken his world on the other side of the room would not hear a thing. He had tried his best to remain cool and calm in conveying his response earlier because the last thing he wanted was for Ella to realize how important her role actually was. If she knew how scared he was to lose her, she would be inclined to overvalue herself. He blinked as a thought came to her. Perhaps she wanted to quit because the money was not enough. Maybe the reason why sh