Close To Her Asian Billionaire

Stevens led her to a bench across the forecourt from the building and urged her to sit, sitting beside her and leaning forward on his knees with his elbows.

“I’m sorry we had to leave the office but walls have ears. I don’t know who would be listening in.”

Carla snorted, shifting her body so her bottom was perched on the edge of the bench. She wasn’t sure if she needed a quick exit.

“I doubt anyone would be interested in what I had to say.” She said.

“Don’t be so sure.”

Stevens rubbed his hands over his face and sighed heavily. He sounded exhausted.

“What’s wrong, Mr Stevens?”

“Rick, please.” Stevens lowered his hands and gave her a pained look. “I’m worried. Jason’s been acting strange lately and I don’t know what to make of it.”

“How do you mean strange?”

“You’ve been on a dates with him. What do you think?”

Carla felt herself blushing. She didn’t think Jason talked about his dates.

“I didn’t sense anything untoward.” She admitted.

“Date him much longer and you’ll notice it.” Stevens shook his head. “He’s been off his game, distracted somewhat. I don’t know what to make of it and he won’t talk to me. He’s very secretive now when it comes to things in the office. And I know he’s not sharing everything with me.”

This was sounding strange. Carla wasn’t able to connect the man Stevens was talking about to the man she had known. Maybe Jason wasn’t showing all his sides to her.

“How do you know he’s been keeping things from you?”

Stevens reached into his pocket and retrieved a scrap of paper.

“I sneaked into his office yesterday and swiped this from a locked drawer in his desk.”

Carla took the paper. She wasn’t about to tell him what he had done was stupid; that would make her a hypocrite. She squinted at the address scribbled in black marker.

“That’s a place down by the beach. For tonight.”

“Exactly. No one meets on the beach at night unless there’s something going on they don’t want anyone to see.”

Carla glanced up. Stevens looked absolutely convicted in his thoughts. She thought about the rumors that were meant to be going around.

“You really think these rumors about money laundering are true.”

It wasn’t a question.

“I don’t know.” Stevens sighed, looking miserable. “I don’t want them to be. But I have a feeling that something’s seriously wrong. Jason’s in deep and I don’t know how to get him out of it.”

Carla could feel the alarm bells ringing. But not with Jason’s actions. With Stevens. Everyone else had a glowing report about Jason. Nothing bad was said about him. Jason was the consummate boss. Stevens was the only one with any concern at all, giving Carla what she had been looking for.

Almost like it was what she wanted to hear.

“Why are you telling me this, Rick? I write for a living. I’m not exactly helpful.”

“But you can be. The pen is mightier than the sword and all that.” Stevens gripped her arm. “If you did an investigative report into money laundering and do some surveillance then you’d catch him in the act. Then I can show him the proof and tell him he needs to get out of it now.” The grip on her arm tightened. “A wake up call is what he needs and I don’t want him to go to prison. He won’t survive it.”

It sounded ludicrous. But it also sounded desperate.

“You really think confronting him with what he’s doing is going to make him see what he’s doing is wrong?” Carla queried slowly.

“I don’t know but he’s my best friend. I don’t want to lose him to this greed.” Stevens looked desperate. “Please, Carla. Can you help me? You care about Jason, I can tell. Please.”

Carla didn’t know what to believe. She was still sure that Jason was innocent and Stevens’ bizarre explanation and plea for help was making her lean towards her opinion even more. But, then again, if she didn’t explore every other angle and Jason was involved she was going to get into trouble for not covering all the bases. She nodded.

“Okay.”

*****

The day was going very well for Jason. After a late-night meal with his mother, Jason had gone to bed deciding that Brooke was right and that he should hang on to Carla. His feelings for her were stronger than any other woman he had been with and he wasn’t about to let her walk away.

He was in meetings all morning and didn’t see her at all. But he didn’t stop his mood; Danielle had informed him that Carla was in the building still interviewing the rest of the staff. She would still be around when he was finished.

As he sat in meetings with his agents, clients and sponsors, Jason’s mind wandered to how he was going to tell Carla that he wanted more than just a few dates after she had written the article about him. He wanted the real thing. Brooke’s wise words reminded him that the real thing was more fulfilling than just filling a void with meaningless s*x.

Jason just hoped that Carla felt the same way. It would break his heart if she walked away from him now but he was willing to find out.

As soon as his final meeting finished Jason was virtually running out, his employees giving each other confused looks. But Jason didn’t care. He needed to find Carla.

And he found her on his floor making her way to his office.

“Hey.”

Carla looked up and smiled. God, even her smile had Jason’s body stirring.

“Hi.”

“You okay?”

That sounded really lame. But Carla did look exhausted.

“I’m fine. It’s just been a long day and it’s only midday.” Carla rubbed at her eyes. “How were your meetings? Danielle said you had a lot crammed into the morning.”

“Boring.” Jason gave in to the urge to touch her. He reached out and took her hand, relieved when Carla turned her hand over and linked her fingers with his. “How were the rest of the interviews?”

“I’ve finally finished. I’ve just got to finish off with Danielle as we were interrupted and then I’m done.”

“And everything’s fine?”

“Yes.” Carla grinned, her eyes sparkling. “This is going to be a very positive article for you.”

“I’m glad.”