The Bishop Affair (Dominated by the Billionaire Brothers - Part Four) (3 page)

“Yeah, sure...” Jordan’s
cut-and-dry explanation did little to quell my emotions. It seemed all too
coincidental. Easy for an experienced rich playboy like him to come up with.

“I’m serious.” He extended
his palm as his face tried to regain its composure. “I’ll take a lie detector
test if that’s what it takes to prove it to you.”

“Whatever. Those things are
inaccurate.” I waved my hand dismissively. Knowing that Eric passed his
polygraph test to work at IBM when he denied having tried marijuana made me
certain it didn’t work.

Jordan huffed. “C’mon Lori,
you know me. You know I’d never do anything to hurt you or anyone else.” He
took a step closer, offering a hand to my elbow.

I jerked my arm away from
his touch, but didn’t budge from my spot. I was determined to stand my ground
this time.

With my anger at the
forefront of my mind, it took a moment to process his words. Although he had
his intimidating boss-side, Jordan had been warm and gentle the entire time I’d
known him, not just with me but with everyone he interacted with. The first
time we met at the gym, he had tended to my head injury and told me to put some
ice on it. It seemed so long ago...

...But it actually wasn’t.

“No wait, I don’t know that.
I’ve only known you for like a week.” I exhaled in frustration. “I don’t know
what
to think.”

He took another step closer
and this time gripped my arm lightly. The heat from his touch rippled through
me, and I didn’t possess the self-control to pull away from the sensation. “We
haven’t known each other for long. But that doesn’t change the way I feel about
you.” His scorching gaze bore into mine, green eyes flickering with conviction.
“We have a connection Lori.”

I was drawn closer into his
aura like a moth to a flame. Being in such close proximity to him, my body
threatened to betray my cause. My mouth went dry and a soft breath escaped my
lips.

“You feel it too.” His voice
resonated through me, exciting parts of my body I wasn’t accustomed to feeling
excited when I was angry. “From what I know about you, you wouldn’t have been
so involved with me if you didn’t trust me deep down.”

I sucked in a deep breath,
attempting to steel myself against his effect. Sweet words and a mind-blowing
sex vibe were not enough to placate me. Not this time.

“...Actually, I’m pretty
gullible,” I quipped.

That hadn’t been the answer
he expected. He paused for a moment, unsure how to process my admission of a
personal flaw Sam had made me acknowledge over the years. He shook his head.
“Well I can assure you that I’m not the type of guy to cheat on his girlfriend.
That would tear me up inside.”

Girlfriend.
The word was like cool ointment on a fresh
wound. I wasn’t just his personal assistant that he was having a fling with. I
meant something more.

“You think of me as your
girlfriend?” I asked, doubtful if my mind had imagined it from being exposed to
his pheromones.

“Of course.” His eyes
smoldered. “Ever since I took you home in my limo. I’d never been so intimate
with someone so soon before. I just couldn’t resist you.”

I’d always thought of Jordan
as being the sex first, ask about feelings later but maybe I had been wrong.
Maybe he was like me and going this fast was new to him as well.

“You think of me as your
boyfriend right?” His soft tone betrayed a vulnerability I hadn’t expected.

“Um...I guess, yeah.”

I did think of him as my
boyfriend, but was reluctant to admit it, not knowing how he felt. My only
experience had been with Eric and we had been friends years before we ever even
kissed. Jordan and I met two days before we had sex. I wasn’t sure what it meant
to think of him as my boyfriend after only a few days, but it somehow felt
right. I suspected that he thought of me as his girlfriend as well. It wasn’t
until Vanessa appeared that I began to have doubts. Even now, I still felt we
had a real bond. Maybe I was a fool, but everything about him—the way he spoke
my name, stared into my eyes, touched me—told me his words were genuine.

Despite my anxiety about
Vanessa’s kiss, I couldn’t help feeling reassured by Jordan’s use of the word
‘girlfriend’. My lips cracked a smile which I immediately tried to hide.

He reciprocated the gesture,
his intensity turning to relief. “You’re smiling.”

“No I’m not. I’m mad at
you.”

His hand gently cupped my
jaw, his thumb searching, exploring the corner of my lips. I tried to maintain
my pout but he playfully pulled my lips into a half smile. It turned into a
real one.

“There we go. That’s the
smile I like so much.”

I grumbled as his arms
wrapped around me and drew me in for a tight hug, his pecs becoming a pillow
for my face. He was so warm, his muscles beneath his shirt so firm. I
immediately melted into him, my stress momentarily fading away for better or
worse. He kissed the top of my head and stroked my back gently. We stayed that
way for a bit in silence, only the sound of the waves nearby and our deep
breathing punctuating the quietness. The moment seemed to last an eternity. No
work, no stress, no ex-boyfriends, no Vanessas. Just existing in our own little
world.

Realizing there were
unresolved issues, I tilted my head up to meet his sexy green eyes. “Tell me
about you and Vanessa.”

A frown marred the space
between his brows. Still, his masculine face was nothing less than captivating.
I waited with bated breath, knowing that his answer could either be really good
or really bad. He searched my eyes for a moment before sighing. “I guess you
should know that Vanessa and I used to date,” he said finally. “It lasted maybe
half a year. I didn’t think it was important to tell you about her because it
ended months ago. When we ran into her yesterday at the mall, it was the first
time I’d talked to her in weeks.”

Pushing off his trim waist,
I stepped back to put some distance between us. Jordan and Vanessa dated. That
means he’s kissed her more than once and probably even has had...
sex
with her. A billionaire dating an actress. That made a lot more sense than a
billionaire dating his lowly personal assistant.

“Wait, don’t freak out
Lori,” he pleaded.

“I’m not,” I said flatly. “I
just want to hear the rest of it.” I really did, but I was also starting to get
a bad feeling about the whole thing.  

He lightly kicked some sand
with his black Ferragamo loafers. He glanced out at the dark ocean before
returning his gaze to me. “All right, I’ll tell you. Yesterday, after you and I
parted ways, Vanessa tried to talk business, about appearing on the cover of
one our entertainment magazines, but she couldn’t.” He pinched the bridge of
his nose and exhaled heavily. “Vanessa is still in love with me. She talked
about how much she missed being together. You don’t need to know the gory
details, but I didn’t want to leave her in the shape she was in. We had coffee
and talked—nothing sexual.”

Vanessa already tried to
pull a fast one on him once before...and he fell for it again?

“Did you know she was going
to show up tonight at the ball?” I asked, unable to look at him. An awful
feeling crept through me.

“I mentioned last night that
you and I were flying out here for it. She was leaving for LA in the morning
anyway.”

“So you invited her.” My
stomach churned, but I didn’t have anything else to throw up.

“I told her she should come,
yes. This was a charity ball. All the money raised through entrance fees and
the silent auction are donated to help orphans around the nation. The tickets
are kind of exorbitant, but it’s a good, guilt-free time for those who can
afford it. And Vanessa can definitely afford it.”

“You already knew she still
had feelings for you and yet you still followed her into that back room?”

Jordan sighed and shook his
head. “I gave her a chance. But it was pretty stupid in hindsight.“

“You’re gullible too.” I
frowned. God, how could he be so dense? He knew she wanted him back and was
willing to trick him to do so.

“Believe it or not, the
goodness of people is something Trevor and I often argue about. He focuses on
the flaws in people, which is why he can come across as an asshole. Maybe I’m a
fool, but I like to think that deep down people are good. Despite Vanessa’s
actions, I still think she’s a good person.”

Exasperation flooded me.
“The next thing you’ll be telling me is that Vanessa’s an orphan,” I muttered,
crossing my arms.

“No, she’s not. But my
brother and I are.”

I looked Jordan fully in the
face. The moonlight casting soft shadows on his chiseled features as I examined
him for lies. The Bishop brothers, orphans? How was that possible? How could
they go from having nothing to being billionaires? Didn’t they need family for
that or some kind of connections?

“I won’t go into a sob
story,” he said casually, perhaps anticipating my questions. “But when it
became clear that we were doing well for ourselves, Trevor really wanted to set
this charity organization up. And that was the birth of the Children’s Hope
Ball.”

That was perhaps even more
surprising information than the fact that the Bishops were orphans. Trevor
Bishop had enough of a heart to set up a charity for kids? My world was
crashing down. I shook myself from those thoughts, not ready to be distracted
from what was upsetting me.

“About Vanessa, do you still
have feelings for her?” I was surprised at how much it hurt me to say it aloud.

Jordan pressed his lips
together and I wondered if he was remembering how her lips felt against his.

“Vanessa and I are just
friends.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t harbor any
romantic feelings for her. What you saw back at the ball was the product of too
much alcohol and desperation on her part.”

“What does a Hollywood
starlet have to be so desperate about?” I asked suspiciously. If Vanessa was
truly the rising star all the magazines made her out to be, I couldn’t think of
anything she’d have to worry about except being seen at the right parties.

“Everybody has their
problems, even the rich and famous.” He pointed at himself. “Money and fame don’t
make issues disappear. Some problems go away but then there’s new ones. Beyond
the glamorous media image of her, the photoshoots, the movies, the television
appearances, Vanessa’s a real person. She’s under more stress than anyone
should be—that’s the ugly part about the public eye. She has an image to
maintain and sometimes it’s hard for her. She’s really not a terrible
person—well, what she did tonight was terrible, knowing that you and I were
there together. She knows I’m upset about it.”

Jordan took a deep breath
and sat down heavily on the sand. He spotted a seashell and began fiddling with
it between his fingers. I remained standing.

“I actually said some things
I probably shouldn’t have to her,” he said ruefully. “I panicked when you ran
out of there.”

Jordan talked so tenderly
about Vanessa that it gave me pause. Was he sure he didn’t have feelings for
her?

“Why did you guys break up
in the first place?”

“That’s a tough question to
answer.” He paused to inspect the shell he was playing with, reminding me of a
little boy at that moment. “She was my longest relationship—six months. I’m
kind of unlucky at love. Not that I don’t try enough at it.” He said the last
statement glumly.

Billionaire adonis, Jordan
Bishop needs to “try” with women? Gimme a break.

“You’re doubting me,” he
chuckled lightly, looking at my face. “There are far too many women who want to
be with me just for the the cash, the status, the looks. You’re not one of
them, but Vanessa was. She doesn’t really have feelings for me, just the idea
of me. I don’t think she ever realized the difference between the two. She had
feelings for Bishop Corp—its prestige and company credit cards included.”