Free Mr. Arrogant: A Billionaire Romance by Alexis Gold Page B

her, and then she realized that it was perhaps the business function and he wanted to make sure that everything was going as well as it should be with her as she spoke with their business partners. She had finished speaking with a couple of people and bid them a good day when she heard a gentle voice at her shoulder and she turned to see Shane, Anthony’s assistant, at her shoulder.
    Guilt gripped at her stomach. He smiled at her and leaned in to hug her shoulders and she touched his elbow as he did; not really hugging him back, but not ignoring his greeting. Memories of the night at the hotel came rushing into her mind and she sighed slightly.
    They had met in the restaurant for dinner, but it had been immediately after her awkward moment with Jonathon in the doorway of her room, and she hadn’t wanted to see Shane at all after that. He had tried to talk with her and flirt with her all during dinner, but she was distant; her mind on nothing but Jonathon, and she had left him immediately following dinner, not wanting to spend any more time with him than she had to.
    She had bid him an early goodnight and gone up to her room. They hadn’t spoken since, and she had forgotten that he would probably be at the party as well.
    “Naomi! You look stunning. How are you doing?” he asked with a wide smile as he let her go from his half hug, while still standing right beside her.
    She smiled and nodded. “I’m good, thank you. How are you?” She wanted to turn and walk away, but she knew that of all the people at the party that day, he was one of the two people that she probably needed to talk with the most. She and Jonathon were still trying to get Anthony to close on their business deal, and Anthony hadn’t said yes yet.
    Shane, being Anthony’s assistant, had some minor pull in the issue; not as a decision maker, but as an influencer. She could not afford to walk away from him.
    He shrugged. “I’m good. I wish we’d had more time together at the hotel…” his voice drifted off and his eyes and his hand lifted to the dark curls of her hair that were pinned up at the back of her head. He ran his fingers over them lightly until he reached her shoulder, where his hand stopped and he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
    She felt her whole body tense. “If we’d had more time at the hotel, perhaps we could have gotten more work done. It’s a really important business deal that we are working on with Anthony.” She smiled and he stopped short and nodded slightly.
    Leaning in a little closer, he lowered his voice. “I was thinking more along the lines of just you and I working on a few things, and none of them have to do with the business deal.”
    Her stomach tightened, but before she could respond, she felt a solid wall of warmth and strength at her side, and she turned her head to look up and see Jonathon standing right next to her. His hand went to her waist and he pulled her toward his body slightly. Everything in her rushed wildly and she sucked in her breath silently and sharply at the feel of him against her. She tried to appear outwardly as if it was a familiarity between them that happened often, and not something that had affected her so deeply in the moment.
    “I see you found my right hand lady!” Jonathon said with a smile and a hint of possession. “I couldn’t do anything without her. She’s absolutely vital to me in practically everything I do. I have no idea how I ever managed before she came along.”
    Shane looked up at him and blinked in surprise, and then his eyes moved slowly from Jonathon to Naomi, and his gaze fell to Naomi’s waist where Jonathon’s hand was clamped. Realization came into his eyes and his face fell as he stepped backward a pace, and nodded.
    “Yeah, she’s pretty great,” he agreed shallowly. He looked around them and then back up at Jonathon. “You haven’t seen Anthony, have you? I was hoping to talk with him about your business proposition.”
    Jonathon’s eyes