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Lucky for him, none of the tech-sector ladder climbers want to touch me with a ten-foot pole these days. After all the bad press, I’m a pariah. A cautionary tale. Another eccentric billionaire bound to lose it all.
Pulling Jules’s card out of my back pocket, I pick up my phone. I need to call Jules and tell her that I won’t be needing her services after all. It’s the only sane thing to do.
I get the entire number punched in, but my thumb just hovers over the call button.
Mine.
I know the stress of the last few months is finally getting to me. And, after being separated from the pack, my wolf is acting erratic. It would be stupid to invite Jules here, and yet I can’t bring myself to make the call.
Even though it’s selfish and stupid and reckless, I shut off my phone and toss it onto the couch.
Now that I’ve met her, I can’t just forget her. For the first time in months, I don’t feel that suffocating weight on my chest threatening to crush me. I feel light and untethered. Or maybe unhinged.
I find myself looking forward to seeing her again, and I realize that it’s not just my wolf who wants Jules to stay.
Chapter Five
Jules
Three days after my consultation with Dimitri, I’m moving into his chalet. I could easily fit everything I own into the back of my cleaning van, but Dimitri insisted on sending movers to pack up my one-bedroom apartment and ferry my stuff to his house.
My insides are a fluttery mess as I pull through the gate and park my van. I’ve spent the last few days second-guessing my decision to take the job as Dimitri’s live-in maid.
As soon as I got home, I looked him up and realized why the name Dimitri Lazos sounded so familiar. The guy is the founder and CEO of Nesteg — the mega-successful cryptocurrency exchange platform that shot up right along with Bitcoin.
According to his bio, Dimitri founded the company straight out of college, and he’s among the youngest self-made billionaires in the world. He’s also been in the news a lot.
From what I gathered, Dimitri laid off a bunch of his top people a few months back, and the decision tanked his company’s stock. It rebounded for a week or two as investors bought the bottom, but it’s been on life support ever since.
I guess the guy has a good reason to be grouchy.
Deep down, I know it’s crazy to stake my business’s future on one eccentric billionaire, but I just couldn’t bring myself to call Dimitri and quit. I keep telling myself that the money is just too good to pass up, but if I’m being honest, I’m more enthralled by a certain handsome slob than the paycheck itself.
Grabbing my purse, I climb out of the van and make my way to the front door. This time, Dimitri answers on the first knock, and my jaw drops.
The man standing before me bears almost no resemblance to the surly, unkempt billionaire who showed me around his house a few days before. Dimitri is clean-shaven today, and his hair is still damp, as though he just stepped out of the shower.
He’s wearing a pair of low-slung designer jeans and a simple gray T-shirt that hugs each and every muscle. I swear, if it were possible for a garment to make love to its wearer, that’s what it would be doing.
Dimitri’s spicy cedar scent wafts toward me on the breeze, and I have to take a few breaths before I’m able to form a coherent sentence.
“Good afternoon.” That’s it. Those are the only words my brain offers up, but thankfully, they appear to be enough.
“Good afternoon,” Dimitri rumbles back, blinking down at me with kind, soft eyes that look more hazel than amber today.
“Uh . . . Did the movers already get here with my stuff?”
He nods. “Everything is in your room.”
“Great. Thanks again for arranging that.” I still can’t believe I agreed to shackle myself to a total stranger — albeit a drop-dead gorgeous one — and move into his house.
“It was no trouble.”
I pull a tight smile, and Dimitri steps aside to let me pass. I feel his eyes on me as I walk through the door — into the house that will be my home for the next six months.
“I’ll . . . show you to your room,” he says, running a hand through his silky hair and looking oddly nervous. “Once you’re settled, I can order us some dinner and have it delivered.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” I say quickly, hitching a thumb toward my van. “I stopped by the store on my way over and picked up some groceries. I’ll cook all my own meals while I’m here. You don’t have to worry about feeding me.”
