Close To Her Asian Billionaire

“Thanks for saving my ass. I’ve got to get going. My boss will have my hide if I’m late.”

“Let me jog with you for a bit.”

Carla was tempted. It meant spending more time in his company. But she was a realistic woman. This man was out of her league and there wouldn’t be a chance with him.

“If you do we’ll talk and I’ll get distracted, which I can’t afford right now.” She shrugged. “Maybe some other time?”

“Okay.” He dug into his pocket and withdrew a slim white card, which he held out. “Here’s my card. Give me a call sometime.”

Carla took the card, swallowing back a gasp as their fingers touched and her whole hand tingled. She glanced at the card. Jason Liu, CEO.

CEO. Which meant she wasn’t even anywhere near his league. But Carla kept those thoughts to herself and gave him a polite smile.

“I will do.”

But she knew as she jogged away that she would never see the man again.

*****

This brief, and somewhat pleasant, interlude resulted in Carla getting behind in her schedule. Instead of having the bath she had planned on having she switched to a shower and dressed quickly, tugging a brush through her hair. No matter how much she washed it and kept it in good condition her hair kept getting tangled. Either that or her brush had taken a personal dislike towards her.

Dressing in a black t-shirt and navy jeggings, her hair tied back in a simple ponytail, Carla charged across town to her office. It was a miracle she didn’t get caught by a police car breaking the speed limit. While that might have been a decent excuse for being late with any other employee, her boss didn’t accept it. He wasn’t a fan of lateness, even when the reason was legitimate.

Carla couldn’t wait for the day when she had earned enough to go out on her own and start her own private agency business. At least she could keep her own hours and not have to run her life like a military schedule.

By skimming the traffic laws and cutting out on a few luxuries – breakfast being one of them – Carla arrived five minutes early, her stomach growling at her. There was a box of brownies in the bottom drawer her boss hadn’t found yet so Carla was intending on sneaking a few when she made her first coffee of the day.

Grabbing her purse and barely remembering to lock up, Carla hurried across the parking lot into the lobby that was the front for the private investigation services she worked for. The girl behind the desk looked up as Carla came charging in and nearly got the sleeve of her coat caught on the door handle.

“Morning, Faye.”

“Morning.”

Faye didn’t blink at Carla’s whirlwind entrance. Despite having only worked at the business since September to fill her hours while studying at the University of Miami and pay for her fees, the nineteen-year-old seemed unflappable and calm in a crisis. Born with dwarfism, the pixie-cut brunette had a big attitude that came out in contrast to her stoic persona. Carla liked the girl on sight and the feeling was mutual.

“Nothing on my calendar come in?”

“You’ve got a client waiting in your office.”

“Already?” Carla glanced at her watch and saw she did have the right time. She wasn’t seeing things. “But I don’t start for another five minutes. My office should be locked.”

“The Boss had to unlock it. The woman didn’t want to wait in the lobby.”

Carla grunted. They did come across those who wanted things their way, including going into Carla’s office when she wasn’t there. It was an unwritten rule that no one was to go in there unless she allowed them.

She was going to have a word with that old man she called an employer. Next time the client could wait in the corridor if she didn’t like the lobby.

“Let’s hope she hasn’t found the secret stash of brownies in my bottom drawer.” She muttered, burrowing into her bag for her phone.

Faye gasped.

“You’ve got brownies and you didn’t tell me?”

Carla winked.

“I’ll send a few out once I’ve got rid of this client.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Carla’s office was near the back next to the big boss. Carla didn’t know if that was deliberate or because there hadn’t been any other space. She didn’t like being that close to the Boss, who liked to leer at her bre*sts when he thought she wasn’t looking.

Another reason for leaving when she could. She didn’t let men outside of work treat her like she was there for their visual enjoyment so why should she let men in her workplace treat her that way?

Carla pushed into her office and kept walking to her desk, still searching for her phone.

“Sorry you were kept waiting.” She said without looking up. “I don’t start until nine so I wasn’t in the office to get started the second you arrived.”

“Are you Carla Romaine?”

“You got that right.”

Carla put her bag down on the desk and fired up her computer. Then she glanced at the steaming mug sat near the edge of her desk without a coaster. Evidently her boss had given the woman a drink, probably while leering down her cleavage, which Carla noticed was on heavy display.

The woman seated in one of her two leather chairs was in her early twenties and slender the way a model is slender. She wore a black pants suit that had to have cost at least two-grand right off the rack. Her blonde hair was kept up on her head in a tidy and stylish bun, pulled away from a beautiful face, tanned to perfection with exquisite make-up.

She looked like a businesswoman, a rich woman. This might come to something after all.

Carla took a seat and sat back, lacing her fingers across her stomach.

“So, what are you here for, Miss…?”

“Oldham. Joanie Oldham.” Joanie’s mouth twisted in slight annoyance. “I told my reasons for hiring a PI to your boss.”

“Yeah, well, he and I don’t often cross paths unless I want a lecherous old man undressing me with his eyes so you’re going to have to do a little bit of retracing your steps.”

Joanie didn’t look happy at having to repeat herself but folded her hands in her lap, her back straight, and stared at Carla unblinkingly.

“My former boss is a criminal and I want him locked up.”