Womanizer (A Standalone Novel) (A Steamy Alpha Billionaire Romance) (22 page)

Chapter 34

I stood at the window in my apartment and stared out over the city. It
had only been a few weeks before that I had a hot blonde bent over right there
and fucking her. I didn’t have the urge to go get a woman from the bar though,
instead, my mind was consumed by thoughts of Alicia’s warehouse.

It was a huge building in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t even seem like
a good choice for someone who wanted to store large amounts of cash. You could
do that anywhere in the city if you had to. Simply rent an apartment and keep
the money there. Why did they put the money into a warehouse? Why did they
choose a place so far away from everything else? There had to be significance
to the location.

“Alicia, I know you’re pissed but I would really like to talk to you.
Please come by my apartment anytime or the office,” I said into Alicia’s
voicemail.

I gave my address and then hung up. I hoped that she would be willing to
stop by so we could discuss what was going on. If she was really involved then
she wasn’t going to call me back. If she was really involved she would cut off
all communication with me and try to hide out.

I hoped she would call. I hoped she wasn’t involved at all.

My mind raced with the thoughts of everything. What had started as a plan
to just get research on a company had spiraled out of control now. I was in
much deeper than I ever thought possible. My life was wrapped up in Alicia and
her company and I wasn’t going to be able to move on until I figured everything
out.

I felt the pressure of the situation and the uncomfortable nature of what
was going on. I was Evan Gade, my life didn’t get mixed up with women like
this. My life was about work, making money, and fucking hot women. Something
had gone wrong with my plan and now I wasn’t doing any of those things. I had
stopped being able to work efficiently, stopped making money and I certainly
wasn’t fucking anyone lately.

Sleep found me late into the evening.

In the morning, I felt more exhausted than usual. I really wanted to get
everything figured out with Alicia but I might just have to give up. I couldn’t
go around being exhausted forever. Sooner or later I would have to get back to
my normal life.

My mood was glum as I headed into the office and waited for Alicia to
contact me. I would give it a day or two and then if she hadn’t reached out to
me by then I would have to move on.

“You look like shit, Evan,” Natasha said as I came down the hall toward
my office.

“Thanks.”

“I take it you weren’t able to get Alicia to forgive you yet?”

“No answer when I called.”

“Well you need to get over it. You have a fucking job to do Evan. Your
clients need to make money and they need your full attention.”

Natasha was right. Something had taken me over and I didn’t have enough
energy to concentrate on Alicia and do my work. Something was going to have to
change. I wasn’t about to risk losing my clients over this mess. If I had to
see off the stock to ALL Warren then that was what I was going to have to do.

“You’re right Natasha. I’m going to focus on work today.”

The best way for me to focus was to spend the morning on the stock market
floor. There was no better way to refocus my energy on investments than to be
smack dab in the middle of all the excitement.

From the newbie’s to the old pro’s the stock market floor was where it
was at when you needed to get back into the game. I loved it on the floor. It
felt like home to me.

The buzz of the trades, the loud yelling of the traders: it was intoxicating.
Similar to the high I felt when I took a new woman home or had fun with her in
some random location; but the stock market didn’t require emotions. In fact,
the best work traders were able to separate the emotion of the trades from the
logic of the deal.

I had lost my focus. By getting involved with Alicia, I had done exactly
what I shouldn’t have done. I had made the investment into her company
something more personal than it needed to be.

By the end of the day, my focus had returned and I was in full on trading
mode again. I sold off some stock that I didn’t think was helping the portfolio
grow and I had started investing in a couple new companies. It was a very
productive day, except for one thing; I hadn’t made the decision if I was going
to sell off the ALL Warren stock or not yet.

“Mr. Gade, there is a Ms. Warren here to see you,” Natasha said over the
speaker phone in my office.

My stomach dropped and I jumped up. Hopefully she hadn’t come with the
intention of slapping me again.

“Hi, Alicia,” I said as I opened my door.

She sat in the chair next to Natasha’s desk and looked visibly upset. But
she didn’t look angry, instead she looked very sad. Her eyes were puffy like
she had been crying and I just wanted to sweep her up into my arms.

“Hi, Evan,” she said as her eyes met mine.

I reached my hand out for her and she grabbed a hold of me. I held onto
her and made our way back into my office.

“You alright?” I asked.

“No. I’m not alright. I don’t know what’s going on at all,” she barely
got the words out of her mouth before she totally broke down in tears.

I couldn’t understand much else that came out of her mouth after that,
but Alicia started rambling on and sobbing all at the same time. The only thing
I could think of to do was pull her close and hold onto her. She obviously was
upset and I wasn’t familiar with sticking around to deal with that kind of
emotional outburst. Hugging her was the best I could think to do.

“It’s alright,” I said as I rubbed her back. “What’s going on?”

I shouldn’t have asked her a question though; she continued to cry and
tried to answer me. I had no idea what she said.

After about twenty minutes of hugging her, she finally pulled away from
me and seemed to have calmed down. Her eyes were puffy again and I had an urge
to run far away. Not because I wasn’t worried about her, only because I wasn’t
comfortable being around someone when there was so much emotion going on.

Historically, if a woman got emotional, I walked away. I just didn’t have
the temperament for comforting women. My specialty was making them moan, not
making them feel comfortable. But surprisingly, I didn’t mind comforting
Alicia.

“Evan, I don’t know what to do.”

“Okay, now that we are all calmed down. Tell me again what’s going on. I
couldn’t really understand you.”

“I tried to talk to Bill and told him that it sucked people still
remembered what happened before. He got really upset and freaked out. It scared
me.”

“What do you mean he freaked out?”

“He said he was taking a day off and going to check on some things. He
got pissed and thought I believed you and wanted to know why I would trust
someone else and not him.”

“What did you say?” I asked.

“I couldn’t say much. I really hadn’t believed he would do anything bad
ever to me, but the way he got so angry it was horrible.”

Alicia was about to start crying again and I didn’t want to deal with
that.

“Let’s take a couple big breaths and see if we can figure out what’s
going on. Maybe you just caught him off guard. We don’t know anything for sure
yet.”

I had to calm things down a little and I didn’t want her to think I was
targeting Bill personally. The only reason he kept coming up was because of his
history with Alicia. Well maybe that wasn’t totally true. I also had my
concerns about him being her finance VP and not having a graduate degree in
business or finance. He just didn’t seem qualified to be a vice president of a
company.

It was also extremely unusual that he would have a multi-million dollar
condo without even having his MBA. Surely he couldn’t be getting paid that much
money from Alicia.

Alicia hugged me again and held on tight. It felt good to have her arms
around me. I liked having her guard down and feeling her so close to me.
Normally all I would have been thinking about was how I could get her into bed.
But I wasn’t. At that moment I was just thinking about how I could help her.

“I’ve had a bad feeling about a lot of things with my company lately,
Evan. I just don’t know what’s going on. There have been people complaining
about getting double billed. There are people complaining that they haven’t
gotten their orders. I just feel like things should be running so much better.”

“I can help. But you have to be honest with me,” I said as I stepped away
and went to my computer.

I wasn’t ready to tell her that I had been researching her company since
the day I met her, but I did really want to use this conversation as a starting
place for us to move forward. I wanted to help her figure out what was going on
with her company and ensure she was making the most profit from her
organization. She didn’t need another failed company on her hands and I wanted
to make sure that we prevented that.

“Thanks, Evan,” Alicia leaned in and kissed me.

I couldn’t resist. Emotionally, I was exhausted as I was sure she was
too. It was a huge step that she had shown up at my office and it made me think
she really did not know what was going on.

There was a giant weight that had been removed from my shoulders. I could
tell by her reaction that Alicia wasn’t in on anything. Now we just had to
figure out what exactly was going on and try and get to the bottom of it before
her company was at risk.

“Let’s go back to my place and we can talk about things,” I said.

I didn’t expect her to say yes, but I also didn’t want to stay at the
office all night and my place was much more comfortable. I was exhausted again
and just really wanted to go to bed. Or at the very least, go back to my
apartment where I knew we could relax and talk comfortably.

“Sure,” Alicia said as she grabbed her bag and waited for me by the door
to my office.

Something in her eyes told me that she wasn’t angry with me anymore. She
seemed to have forgiven me and I was able to relax just enough to look toward
the possible future when everything had been figured out.

I couldn’t wait to sit with Alicia in my arms and have her thank me for
helping to save her company. The thought played in my head like the ending of a
romantic movie and I wanted it to happen. I wanted Alicia to get her happily
ever after and I wanted it to include me.

Chapter 35

“This is a nice place,” Alicia said as we walked into my condo.

The sun was setting in the distance and Alicia went to the window and
watched it for a little bit. I just stayed back and enjoyed looking at her
silhouette in the middle of the sunset. Her delicious hips swayed side to side
as she looked out over the city. I wanted to come up behind her, lift up her
skirt and have my way with her right there by the window. But then I remembered
the blonde I had had right there only a few weeks ago.

“Come sit with me and let’s talk about things,” I said in an effort to
get her away from that spot.

I didn’t want Alicia like that. I wanted to have her naked and in my bed.
I wanted to make love to her, not fuck her up against a window. My mind whirled
with the thoughts of previous women and then the thoughts of Alicia who sat
next to me on the couch.

“So tell me what you think is going on?” Alicia said.

She had obviously calmed down and seemed much more willing to discuss the
situation. I still didn’t want to tell her just how involved I had been in all
the research. I was going to have to lie a little bit.

“Well, there is a lot of public information that people go through about
a company when it comes up as an IPO. I had a research assistant who brought up
that your books looked too perfect. That’s kind of a warning for us in the
investment world.”

“So good accounting makes you think there is fraud?” Alicia laughed.

I could tell she was very skeptical of me and what was going on. She
still didn’t fully understand what I thought was happening. Really, I didn’t
fully understand what was happening.

“Yes, with most companies, you can see areas that they need to work on
when you review their financial. When a company looks perfect on paper, we get
worried.”

“I don’t get it, Evan.”

“Think about when you balance your checkbook. Have you always had every
single check written in your ledger?”

Alicia laughed. Oh, it took my breath away when she laughed. My heart
rate quickened and I felt a tingling shoot through my body. I could sit and
watch her laugh for hours on end.

“No, I’m horrible at keeping my checkbook balanced,” she said through her
giggles.

“It’s kind of like that, we expect to see little errors here or there. It
shows that the company is normal. But when everything looks perfect and there
isn’t a single error, often those are the companies we find out have cooked
their books.”

“Do you mean made fake financials to release to the public?” Alicia
looked shocked but seemed to be understanding what was going on.

“Yes, exactly.”

She took a deep breath and for a moment I thought she might breakdown and
start crying again.

Instead, she just leaned back in the couch and pulled her legs up to her
chest. I sat back as well and we just enjoyed the silence, both of us lost in
thought. The situation was unique and I appreciated that it was especially
difficult for Alicia. She had everything on the line. This wasn’t just some
investment for her, this was her livelihood and she couldn’t lose another
company.

“Evan, why do you think it’s Bill? What about Ryan?”

“Who is Ryan?”

“He’s my distribution guy. He’s the one in charge of my warehouses and
the orders getting shipped out. That seems to be the area I’m having the most
trouble.”

She had a good point. If this Ryan guy was in fact in charge of all the
warehouses, he surely must know what was going on with the New York warehouse.
But how could I bring that up without specifically telling her that I had
already snuck into her warehouse and seen stacks and stacks of case and
absolutely no product at all.

“Maybe we should take a drive out to your warehouse tomorrow. We can just
check things out and see what’s going on?”

It was the only way I could think of to let Alicia get a firsthand look
at what was going on. We could sneak in and she could see all the cash and she
would know that I was right about something illegal going on.

“Thank you, Evan, I think that would be a great idea.”

Alicia leaned over and tucked her head in by my shoulder. It felt
perfect. We fit very well together and I was happy that I could comfort her a
little bit during this difficult situation.

She looked up at me and I had to kiss her. Something overcame me and I
needed to feel my lips on hers. I didn’t care if it didn’t go past just
kissing, I had to feel her. I needed to touch her.

Slowly our lips met each other and we kissed soft gently kisses. My body
still reacted with the desire I had for her, but I knew better than to push
things further. She had denied me for weeks and I didn’t want to take advantage
of the vulnerable spot she was in at the moment. I was happy to just spend the
evening kissing her; if that was all she wanted to do.

Her hand moved up to my face and I felt the warmth of her fingers on my
rough skin. My breath quickened and I could tell hers had as well. Slowly I
turned so I could face her move directly and I kissed her with passion. Strong,
deep passion that I couldn’t hold back another second.

She exhaled and then kissed me back with equal passion. I almost exploded
with desire when she returned my passion. I needed her.

I pulled her up from the couch and stood with her there in the living
room. Our lips alternated between kissing each other softly or more intensely.
Her breasts swelled as she drew in a deep breath and my lips instantly moved
down from her mouth to the top of her mounds. I left them covered, for the
moment; but gently kissed all around them.

Alicia let out soft moans and I loved it. Not often did I like soft and
quiet women, but there was something so intimate about that moment. I relished
the thought that she desired me just as much as I desired her.

“Come with me,” I said as I grabbed her hand and walked toward my
bedroom.

I was still prepared for her to stop the process at anytime and I would
have willingly relegated myself back to just kissing her soft lips. But for the
time being, Alicia followed me to my office.

“I bet this room has seen some action,” she said lightheartedly.

I didn’t answer her. She was right and she knew it. There was no need to
talk about any other women though; I genuinely only had eyes for Alicia.

Her eyes locked onto mine and a surge of desire filled my body. She
wanted me, I could see it in her eyes. We continued to look at each other as I
started to unbutton her blouse. Seductively, slowly I made my way down the
buttons to release her from the confines of the silk top shirt. She smiled at
me awkwardly as I continued on, the sweetness in her eyes drove me hard and I
had to slow myself down.

She deserved my full attention. Alicia deserved not to have a rushed,
half-witted attempt at making love. I would do my best to ensure she enjoyed
the night. I know I would enjoy the night for sure.

It had been a really long time since I had been in bed with a woman I had
feelings for. Years, since I put any emotion into a relationship. I forgot how
it felt to have emotions tied up in my bed.

My heart pounded hard as Alicia’s hands slid under my shirt and untucked
it from my dress plants. Our lips loved on each other as her fingers unbuttoned
me one at a time. The intensity of her slow hand movements built up the tension
in my body.

I was so used to just fucking a woman that the slow movements of making
love were new to me. My body had to slow down and enjoy the moment instead of
rushing through things in hopes of a huge explosion. It was new to me, but
certainly not something I wanted to give up. I was happy to make love to
Alicia. Ecstatic to get to spend the evening slowly and methodically driving
each other wild until our throws of passion had exhausted us.

She took a deep, lingering breath as her hand felt my abs and she ran her
fingers up and down me. I had to close my eyes. The delight of her touch had my
cock raging with desire. Every sensation seemed exaggerated as her hands moved
down to unbuckle my pants.

I knew she could tell my cock was hard for her. I knew the second she got
my pants off she would be met with the glorious hardness of my body. I couldn’t
wait, yet I wanted to wait. My urge to pull off her skirt overcame everything
else and I reached over and slid the fabric down to her ankles.

Another deep breath was released as she stood exposed to me in only a
sweet pair of white lace panties. I loved to look at her. I wanted to stand and
look at her curves for hours at a time.

I seriously could have stood there and enjoyed the artwork of her female
form for hours. It wasn’t something I could say about any other woman I had
been with, but as I looked at Alicia I felt an urge to take in every moment of
our time together.

Each hip had the swelling of a woman, her breasts the voluptuous nature I
desired, and her pale skin shone beautifully in the lights of the city. My mind
couldn’t move, neither could my body. I just stood and took in her body.

“Take a picture, it will last longer,” Alicia joked.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone to take a picture. She
just laughed at first, but when I actually snapped a picture she was shocked. I
had to laugh at the look on her face as I glanced at the photo on my phone.

“Okay,” I said with a smile.

“No, no, no I was kidding. Delete that,” she said as she tried to get my
phone away from me.

She was adorable as she tried to convince me to delete the delicious
naked picture I had of her on my phone. It wasn’t something I would give up
easily, though. I delighted in the thought of being able to look at her
beautiful naked body whenever I wanted to.

“Oh, no. I’m keeping that to look at when I’m alone at night.”

Alicia lunged after me and I pulled my phone away. She had the biggest
smile on her face and she started to chase me around my room. Naked, except for
her panties, she ran after me and I finally stopped and just put my arm up into
the air.

There was no way for her to reach it, but she tried. She jumped up and
grabbed my arm and tried to pull it back down. It was fun as hell to stand
there and watch her naked sweet body as she jumped up and tried to reach the
phone.

“Evan, give it to me,” she said as we both laughed.

“Nope,”

“Give it to me now,” she said firmly.

There was something in the way she said it the second time that both of
us reacted to. I wanted to give something to her, which was for sure. I tossed
my phone onto the bed and we both jumped after it.

Within a moment we had forgotten to go after the phone and started
kissing and fondling each other. The bed turned into our playground and we
would spend the next several hours bringing each other to the climax of
ecstasy.

Her hands made their way to my cock and pulled me out into her hands.
With slow strokes, she moved her fingers up and down my shaft and I felt
pre-cum release way sooner than I wanted it to. It was embarrassing, but I
moved past it.

My fingers slid into her panties and she let out a moan right near my
ear. It was heavenly. I let my fingers play and caress her as my lips moved to
hers and I sucked in her bottom lip. She tasted so good, so pure, and so
delicious.

Without hesitation, I pressed her back on the bed and moved my lips down
her abdomen toward her center. I yanked her panties off and let my mouth feel
her and pull her in. She moaned out in delight. Again a soft enticing moan that
I could have listened to for hours.

With slow, flicking movements, I brought her body to the edge of
excitement and enjoyed every second of it. Her sweet quiet moans drove my
passion and made me want to please her more and more.

I let my lips linger on her inner thigh and watched as she thrust her
hips up towards me in desire. I couldn’t wait another minute. My body felt like
it would explode if I didn’t feel her around me soon.

My kisses trailed up her abdomen and her hands grabbed my head and
brought me up to meet hers. She pulled me down on top of her and I slid inside.
Our lips stayed locked together as our pelvises thrust slowly and rhythmically
as one.

It was quiet in my room, yet more erotic than I had ever remembered it.
The passion between us was electric and I wanted to feel every inch of her
body. Our skin touched from our chest down to our knees ,which only served to
further entice my body.

The arousal within me urged to come out and I had to try and think about
something else in an effort to last longer. But as Alicia let her nails run
down my back I knew I wouldn’t last much longer.

Our lips continued to intertwine as I felt her body pushing me to go
deeper. Her hips thrust up hard against me and I knew she was close to
releasing her pleasure. Deeper. Harder. I continued until I felt the rough
pleasure of her nails in my back as her body erupted.

I didn’t waste a second of time and I thrust hard in an effort to feel my
ultimate release, which came only a moment after hers.