The Billionaire's Deadline

*Sandra*It had to be tonight. There was no other time, and no other way.I looked in the mirror and straightened the dress with the too-deep plunging back and too high leg slit. The too-high heels made my ankles wobble the first half hour I’d worn them, but I’d been walking around the low-cost hotel room for hours, pacing and thinking and breaking in the shoes and my ankles.The dress was wine red and fit my slim body well. It was tight where it needed to be and had light ruching at the neckline. The dress was spaghetti-strapped, but the neckline was just high enough to hide the scar from my port. I’d had it taken out, just in case. The pity vote might get me places, but I didn’t want to win that way. I needed to be strong for my company.My cell phone rang, and soon I was walking out to a black town car. The driver was probably more than confused, seeing a woman in a pricey dress coming out to his town car in this neighborhood. But I needed to save money everywhere I could.“The Rit

*Sandra*“Mr. Harrington will see you now.” Ashley, the assistant who had deflected me so skillfully these last few weeks, gave me a tight smile. She wasn’t any happier to see me than I was to see her.“Thank you,” I replied with a polite smile of my own. I’d often thought of strangling this woman with her hair extensions, but she wasn’t that kind of assistant at all. Her hair was clipped short to her head in a kind of 1920s bob. She was possibly in her forties, and she had on a white blouse and black pencil skirt, much like mine.This time, I’d only been kept waiting ten minutes.I smoothed my hands over my own lilac blouse and stepped through the frosted glass doors into Blake’s office.Blake was on the phone and held up one finger to stop me from saying anything. He gestured for me to sit instead and turned around to face the window.“Yes. All the shares that are being sold. I mean it. I know it’s tanking, but it won’t be for long,” Blake was saying to whoever was on the other end

*Blake*I choked on my wine. “Pardon?! A billion dollars?!”“You could keep your voice down. It’s rude to discuss money in public,” Sandra said, sipping her water and setting the glass back down next to her untouched wine.“I can’t believe... There’s no way–” I stuttered.“Do you need to call your mother?” Sandra asked calmly.I pressed my lips into a thin line. “You’ll find there are some things I can do without my mother.”“All evidence points to the contrary,” Sandra muttered.In my mind, I tried calling her a bitch, but she wasn’t. She was betrayed, and desperate, and… something else.It was the “something else” that kept my temper in check. “If Mother promised you a billion dollars of her own money just to marry me…”“She didn’t say where the money was coming from,” Sandra said. “Just that she would give it to the foundation.”“The Adriana Kingsley Foundation,” I assumed.“Yes,” Sandra replied.I snorted. “I don’t know what Mother’s game is, but fine. I’ll play. So, I suppose a m

*Sandra*“How are you doing, little flower?” Blake asked, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me as I leaned against the yacht rail.Tearing my eyes away from the dolphins who’d come to play by the yacht, I looked back at Blake. It still surprised me how freely he’d touch me after we had sex. Also, the pet names. Was that how sex worked? You let a man shove his dick inside you, and then suddenly, you’re in some strange land of couple-hood?But then, we were engaged, and I had the ring to prove it. “Just watching the dolphins.”Blake smiled and kissed my nose. “I suppose you haven’t spent a lot of time just watching dolphins.”“In Chicago? No, not really,” I laughed.“It’s good to hear you laugh.” Blake looked around then smoothed one hand up my sundress to caress my breast through the fabric.“Blake!” I hissed, even as delicious tingles began to spread all over my body.“Hush. No one’s watching.” He kissed my neck and pushed himself flush against me so I could feel his ha