Billie and Quentin rode up in the elevator in silence. Quentin stole a side-glance at the raven-haired beauty beside him and wondered what she was thinking. He had to admit her invitation to go back to her place took him by surprise.

They exited the elevator and walked down the hall together. Quentin took note of how Billie kept pace with him, making certain she didn't make the mistake of getting ahead of him again. A walking contradiction, Billie baffled him exceedingly.

She opened the door to her apartment. The moment Billie stepped inside the foyer, she kicked off her heels. Now she had to crane her neck to look up at him. To Quentin, she looked tiny and a little vulnerable without her heels on.

"Uh... make yourself at home. I'm going to... get into something more comfortable."

Quentin's eyebrow rose. "Ookay."

He followed her into a living room area. Billie took a left and disappeared into what he figured was her bedroom. The apartment was nice. It had a sleek and modern design with a cool grey and white pallet, yet somehow still felt homey.

Quentin undid his tie as he took it all in, from the artwork on the walls to the view of the hedged courtyard below. He draped his tie over a winged-back chair along with his jacket and moved on to explore her bookshelves. Billie was well-read. She had everything from the classics, to books on business strategy, to a nice collection of romance novels. 

Huh. So, the self-proclaimed loner likes love stories. Interesting, Quentin mused.

He picked up a frame that contained a picture of a cute little girl and woman that looked exactly like Billie. For a half-second, Quentin wondered if Billie was a single mom and that's why she was against the idea of relationships but upon examining the picture closer he noticed little differences between Billie and the woman.

It must be her mom," Quentin thought. Her dad was right. Billie definitely got her beauty from her mother.

"I'll be out in a minute," he heard her holler from the bedroom.

The last thing Quentin wanted was Billie catching him touching her personal things, so he set the frame back into place and took a minute to get ready. Quentin didn't want to appear too eager so he took a seat, sprawled out a little in a relaxed pose, and draped his arm across the back of the sofa.

The bedroom door opened. Billie stepped out looking at her phone. "I'm sorry to drag you here but I..." Billie looked up. Stunned, her phone slipped through her fingers. A fumbling act ensued but she managed to nab it mere seconds before it would have smashed on the tile floor.

"What are you...?! Um... where are your clothes?"

Quentin's surprised expression mirrored Billie's as he took in her ponytail, sweats, and razorback tank top. Was that a sports bra she was wearing? Quentin thought astounded. Good lord, the only thing low-cut this woman wore were her socks!

To answer her question Quentin looked over at the chair that had his suit haphazardly strewn across it. Well, at least he still wore his boxers or this would really be embarrassing.

Billie's gaze followed his. She picked up his pants and tossed them at him. "Please, put those back on."

Quentin stood up to put on his pants, did a little hop to pull them up quicker, buttoned, and zipped them, all the while wondering how he had gotten this bad at reading signals.

"What would ever possess you to think..." Billie started to ask. She sat on the chair containing the rest of his clothes and rubbed her fingers against her temples, unable it would seem, to think clear enough to finish her sentence.

"Hey! Not entirely my fault here. You're the one inviting me back to your place and saying she's going to slip into something more comfortable. In the circles I travel, the woman normally comes back from the bedroom dressed in a cute nightie not dressed like she's going to go run on a treadmill."

Billie's eyes widened as she stared at him in disbelief. "I met you like..." Billie looked at her watch, "what... less than an hour ago and you thought I was just going to tumble into bed with you?"

Quentin stood there in front of Billie still bare-chested, hands on his hips, so wanting to say, "Yeah, duh?" but knew this would be the incorrect answer by her reaction.

For all her protesting, however, he observed Billie's eyes seemed drawn to his chest. Quentin grinned. "Hey! I'm up here," he teased.

Billie threw his shirt at his face. Quentin caught it with ease, laughed, and put it on but purposely didn't button it. He enjoyed knowing his state of undress unnerved her. Maybe she wasn't as immune to him as she would like him to believe.

He wondered. "Are you afraid of sex?"

Billie scoffed at this. "No. I just don't believe in having sex with strangers."

Quentin nodded. He sat back down on the sofa, taking up the same position he was in moments ago, and said, "Then let's get to know one another, shall we?"

Billie groaned in disgust. "You're unbelievable." She popped up from her chair and stormed into her kitchen to grab a bottle of water. She turned back around to find Quentin leaning in the doorway with a quizzical expression on his brow. His movements were made silent by his feet still being bare. 

"Why did you bring me here if you have zero interest in me?"

"Because I..." Billie tried to get past Quentin but he moved to block her. "I..." Again Billie moved and again he moved with her. Billie raised her hand in an attempt to push him out of her way but a second before she would touch his skin her hand dropped to her side.

"Get out of my way!" she demanded. Billie's face flushed from her exasperation and anger. She glared at him and Quentin found it maddening that she was even more attractive this way than in her sophisticated dress and heels.

"Not until you answer my question?"

"Fine! I brought you here because I didn't want to be seen alone with you in public, okay? Now move aside!" Billie commanded but Quentin refused to budge.

"Why?"

"Why he asks." Billie threw her hands in the air and turned away from him for a brief moment before turning back. "Do I look stupid to you?"

Quentin couldn't  fathom where she was going with this question, but answered honestly, "No."

"I know my Father and yours are trying to get me out of the way so they can talk about a merger."

"A merger?" Quentin stepped back. "No, that's not..."

***

Billie almost felt sorry for him. Obviously, by his disillusioned appearance, Quentin was even more out of the loop than she was.

Back to the refrigerator she went, to grab another bottle of water. Handing it to Quentin she said, "Come on, Clueless. I'll fill you in."

Billie sat on the edge of the chair not wanting to wrinkle Quentin's jacket. She was grateful to see him buttoning up his shirt as he joined her in the living room, the bottle of water she gave him tucked securely under his arm.

Quentin still didn't button it completely, but he was far less distracting than before. Billie could not believe she found him sitting nearly naked on her sofa. Now that the shock had worn off, she thought the entire scenario almost comical. To be that self-assured that someone would throw themselves at you must be something to experience.

Quentin cracked his bottle of water open and brought it to his lips, drawing Billie's attention to them, he pulled the bottle away and it wet his lips. A brief thought of what those moist lips would feel like against hers flickered in her mind.

Quentin's eyes sparked with amusement and something more. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand. "Thinking of changing your mind were you?" he taunted.

His words brought a heated burn to her cheeks. How could he possibly know what she was thinking? She covered it up with an angry retort. "No! I won't be changing my mind! Not now, not ever!"

He gave her a rather knowing grin before he said, "Never say never, Ms. Dupree."

She wanted to argue with him but then Quentin's look turned serious. "So, what is it that you think you know?"

"I don't think. I do know. My father is concerned about our business. He believes he has to merge our two companies in order to save it."

"And you think they wanted to get you out of the way, why?"

"Because he knows I'm adamantly against the idea."

"If your business is in trouble, wouldn't a merger be favorable?"

"It would if I believed for one second that your father was interested in helping us save it but you'll have to forgive me if I find that hard to believe."

Quentin rolled up his sleeves showing his muscled forearms and crossed them in front of his chest. "Why wouldn't he help? Our fathers have known each other for decades."

Feeling edgy, Billie got up and started pacing the room. "Your father has dismantled the last three companies he's acquired, all former competitors. He won't acquire us to help us thrive. He'll buy us out to put us under."

Quentin's eyes shifted and he appeared disturbed by what she said. Billie wondered just how much of his father's business practices Quentin was aware of. "If you know something I do not, now would be the time to tell me," she offered.

Quentin ran his hand through his hair. "I can neither deny nor confirm your suspicions. He had asked me to distract you today. I figured it was as a favor to your father."

Her phone rang. Billie looked at it briefly, sighed, and then answered it. "Hi, Dad." She stood up and walked out of the room because she did not want to have this conversation in front of Quentin.

"Billie? Where are you? We are at the restaurant and you're not here. The maître d said he hasn't seen you or Quentin."

"I took a little detour. Don't worry I'll be there soon."

Her father was about to say something else but she hung up on him. She hated this. If Harrison got hold of the company, even if he kept it intact there is no way he would allow her to run it and her father would be forced into early retirement.

So much work, all for nothing.

Billie knew she would have to get Quentin back to his father, but she didn't plan on staying for lunch. She'd drop him off and let them have their little boy's club. Meanwhile, she needed to find a way to buy some time to stall this plan.

She felt so close to an answer. Billie wished her father would have more faith in her. However, there was nothing she could do about that now. She left her room and found Quentin sitting on the sofa. He didn't look happy.

"Come on. I'll get you back to your dad," she told him.

Quentin looked confused. "You're going to the restaurant dressed like that?"

"No. I'm dropping you off at the restaurant, and then I'm going to go shadowbox to blow off some steam. So, are you ready?"

Quentin shrugged. Got up and picked up his tie taking a minute to knot it. He shrugged into his jacket and put on his socks and shoes. Finally, he was ready to go.

Billie grabbed her keys and was about to head out the door when her phone rang again. She answered it. "Ms. Dupree, there is a lobby full of photographers waiting for you," Mitch told her.

"What?! That's..." Billie looked at Quentin and she wanted to kill him. What a jerk! How dare he? He must be in cahoots with his father. Calling in the paparazzi while she was in the bedroom.

"Give me a moment, Mitch. Will you? And thanks for the heads up."