Elizabeth Lennox - The Billionaire’s Challenge

A scowling hawk settled in among the fluttering butterflies.

Selena faltered as she pulled her gaze from the man who folded his massive frame into one of the chairs at the back of the training room. So tell your clients not to drink this! External use only , she stressed, waiting until the laughter settled down again. This is a serum for the skin and, trust me, after a week, you will notice a difference. Its amazing! Softer skin is only a few drops away! The ladies who worked the retail counters for Rembrandt Cosmetics were frantically scribbling notes, eager to hurry back to their makeup counters at the various upscale department stores so they could sell the new products.

She moved on to the next product, explaining the value of it, application process, and any tips to help sell the product. On and on, she moved from skin care to color palettes to body products, painfully aware of the man. It would be hard to miss him since the ladies were all wearing the bright, lemon yellow smocks which were the uniforms for Rembrandt representatives. Even the training room was painted the signature color with green lettering, the chairs were lemon yellow, the desks green, the curtains green, the walls yellow.

So the man in the dark suit stood out likewell, like a scowling hawk. Ready to swoop down and grab one of the dainty ladies. None of the women noticed that the man was there. It helped that the man had stepped in silently and sat down, not saying a word.

Okay, ladies! Thats it for the day! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Im more than happy to clarify anything you might not understand.

The room breathed a sigh of relief. Slowly, the ladies gathered up their belongings, chatting amongst themselves. Selena would have smiled with the triumph of a job well done, but the man in the back of the room was watching her closely, which left her uneasy.

Selena gathered up her notes and packed them away, eyeing the man warily. She sensed that the man might be trying to appear laid back, butno. He wasnt relaxed. Selena doubted that he even knew how to relax. Looking at him, she doubted that the man even slept.

Mentally, she chided herself for her ridiculous ruminations. Of course the man slept. Everyone slept! This man might just sleepless.

As the room emptied, he approached the podium. Not good, she thought, but stiffened her wobbly self-confidence, refusing to be that woman. Shed forcefully banished that woman from her life a long time ago.

May I help you? she asked, leaning her head back further than she expected. Wow, he was impressively tall.

The man extended his hand. Im Reid Jones. Youre an excellent trainer.

Selena blinked at the name, surprised and more than slightly awed. Youre Mr. Jones? CEO of Rembrandt Cosmetics? she asked, a bit too breathlessly, and closed her eyes, shaking her head slightly. Im sorry, silly question. Opening her eyes, she took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. Its a pleasure to meet you, sir, she stuck her hand into his enormous one.

She was startled by the shock that sizzled through her as his fingers closed over hers, but she tried to hide it. This wasnt just a big kahuna in Rembrandt Cosmetics, the cosmetics company for which she worked. This was THE big kahuna! Wait, there were two of them, she thought quickly, trying to place this particular one.

Call me Reid, he smiled, distracting her from trying to place him correctly in the corporate hierarchy.

She might have relaxed or smiled at his offer, but his hand was still holding hers and Selena couldnt seem to pull her eyes away from his hypnotic gaze. The look in his eyesshe sensed a strange expression, a look that caused her feminine instincts to stand up and take noticebut she couldnt quite define what it was.

Was it attraction?

No! Impossible!

Selena wasnt all that great in the relationships arena so she dismissed the idea, focusing on the fact that this was her bosss bosss bosss boss. This was the man in charge, the creator, founder, and director of Rembrandt Cosmetics.

Yes. Right. Staring up into his eyes, she shivered slightly. They were the color of dark chocolate and held whispers of untold delights in their depths.

She blinked and stared at her shoes, fearing he might think she was flirting.

Not that she was! Even if she wanted to flirt, she didnt know how. Her historythe whole learning-how-to-flirt period of her lifewell, that hadnt happened. Shed never learned and afterwellthat one, horrible night, shed never even bothered to try learning. So Selena accepted that flirting just wasntwell, she couldnt do it. Not really. She looked like an idiot whenever she tried so she simply didnt try.

Swallowing a sigh, she focused back on the man, all the while trying not to focus too hard on him. He was so tall, with broad shoulders andwell, wow!

She squared her shoulders and tried to focus. This was business. This was the owner and founder of the company! His eyes seemed to promise something but she didnt want to try to interpret the message, sure that shed mess up the translation.

You are an excellent trainer, Ms. Bailey.

Please, call me Selena, she replied automatically. And thank you. I truly enjoy my job.

He chuckled softly. Exactly what any good employee would say when confronted by the boss.

She smiled as well, feeling his soft laughter all the way down to her toes. Something curled inside of her. She should probably be flattered, but shed learned the hard way not to wish looks from men meant something more than what they were.

Youre very kind, she realized that he was still holding her hand and pulled away. What brings you to Virginia? she asked, grasping for a topic. She stepped back, putting the podium and table between them. The air around him seemed to sizzle. She stared like a deer caught in headlights until he broke her trance with a smile that seemed incredibly sexy somehow.

She jumped, looking down at the papers and cosmetics scattered across the table. With shaking fingers, she clumsily started stuffing everything into her bag. Anything to distract her from the oddly intense pull drawing her towards the man.

What are you thinking, she mentally chided herself. Keep your eyes off him. Ignore those wickedly broad shoulders and that taut, tapered waist. Even though it was nice. Very nice! The whole mans body was incredibly fit and nice andwellamazing!

I saw your marketing ideas, he announced.

That grabbed her attention, and she dropped the lipstick shed just picked up. Her marketing ideas? The ones shes submitted just last week? Woah!

Shock stole her voice for a long moment before she gathered her wits and straightened her shoulders. You did?

He smiled slightly, not a full-out smile. Nor could the flash of his expression be considered even a grin. But there was a curling of his lips and his white teeth showed for a brief moment.

Not only did I read through your plan, but a brilliant financial analyst has already done a work up of the cost to implement your ideas. Theyre good, Selena. Really good!

The blush was fast and furious, but thankfully, dissipated before she looked too foolish. Thank you, she replied, hoping she sounded professional instead of silly and flustered.