Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 201 Nathaniel's POV The moment the door clicked shut behind Annie, I let myself smile for the first time since the meeting started. Hell, that woman knocked me completely off balance. I dropped into my chair and dragged my hands over my face, trying to process what had just happened. It had been two full months since that flight to London, and I still hadn't managed to get Annabelle Bennett out of my head for a single day. And it wasn't just the sex. Although God, that had been... intense in a way I never saw coming. It was everything about her.

The way she had clung to me during the turbulence, terrified and brave at the same time. The way our conversation had flowed so naturally. The way her eyes lit up when she talked about her career goals. But mostly, it was the fact that she had rejected me. Nathaniel Carter, COO of Kensington London, a man who never had trouble getting a woman's attention, and she had looked me straight in the eye, said it wasn't happening, and walked away. No one had ever done that to Usually, I was the one women chased. The successful Englishman with money, social standing, and Kensington apartment.

I was used to being treated like some prize people wanted to win. But Annie had slept with me because she thought she was about to die, then dismissed me like I was a mistake she preferred not to remember. And that only made me want her more. I picked up my phone and typed a message to Christian, then erased it before sending. How the hell was I supposed to explain to one of my best friends, my CEO no less, that I'd hooked up with his sister-in-law in an airplane bathroom? Not that Christian would judge me. Knowing what he and Zoey had been through, he'd understand complicated situations.

But Annie clearly hadn't told anyone, and I wasn't going to be the one to ruin that. When I found out that "Annie Bennett" was being transferred to London to work under my supervision, my first instinct was to shut it down. Tell Christian she should work directly with Gwen, tell him I had too many trips lined up, any excuse. But I couldn't do it as curiosity won. And seeing her again today... God. She was even more beautiful than I remembered. That gray dress hugged her curves in a way that made it impossible not to remember exactly what it felt like to touch her.

kiss her. The way she kept trying to hold on to her professional composure while I threw out those comments... it was addictive. Watching her cheeks warm, her breathing hitch, even as she stood

make a mess chasing after employees. Especially employees who were family. The right thing would be to keep my distance. Stay strictly professional. Hand off all her training to Gwen and limit our contact as much as possible. But every part of me fought against that

of dying talking. I wanted to know if the insane chemistry between us had been real or nothing more than adrenaline. And if I were being honest with myself, I wanted her again. I wanted far more than those stolen minutes in an airplane bathroom. I wanted time to actually explore her, to show her what I could do when I had more than ten minutes and a space bigger than a closet. But that was

to do that again but this time in a real bed? Not when she worked for me. Unless... Unless I was smart about it. Subtle. If I could get her to realize I was still interested, that it hadn't been just a fling for me either, maybe she'd make the first

looks we exchanged today, from the way she reacted to my comments, I was sure that pull between us was alive and burning. The problem was figuring out how to do that without crossing professional lines, without putting her in an uncomfortable position, without making it seem like her job depended on anything between us. I needed to think this through. Be patient. Create natural opportunities for us to spend time together, for her to get

than that, more layered than that. She would be a challenge. And I loved challenges. I grabbed my