The Billionaire Ritual Read Free Page A

never in a million years expected anyone to challenge him - especially not Robert. But, there it was and here he was.
    Cameron had been with enough human women to know that convincing her to mate in front of others was impossible without at least being sexually intimate with her, alone. He had planned for the retreat to be the time for this sort of courting, but the timeline had been moved up. He loosened his tie and pulled out his phone. It was time to make plans.
     
    When the alarm rang, Lynn groggily considered calling in sick. Today, all those that were going to the retreat had to meet their work deadlines early, not to mention that after her late day she’d have to come home to pack for the next mornings’ trip out to the middle of nowhere. At five a.m.  As she dragged herself out of the warm confines of her comforter and sheets, she wondered how in the hell she had gotten dragged into the retreat. She brightened when she remembered that it was at the behest of one Cameron Caine, a man she’d been too shy to utter more than two words to but yearned for desperately. Now there was the faintest sliver of a hope that having his children was not a complete and utter fantasy. Lynn chuckled to herself. She called it being ‘girl crazy’ when she got like this, thinking of having a man’s baby. In her defense she had only experienced it herself twice, now and in the twelve grade with Bobby Stoker. However, she’d seen the phenomenon in her girl friends time and again.
    When she arrived at the office her supervisor, Maxine, was waiting outside her cubicle. Before Lynn could say anything, Maxine explained:
    “The Boss wants to see you in his office immediately,” she said.
    Lynn was stunned. She had never been called in for anything. She checked her watch once more. No, she was on time.
    “What is, Max?” She asked, genuinely afraid.
    “I don’t know. He didn’t seem angry, but that might change if you keep him waiting. Better head over. Good luck, sweetie.”
    Maxine waddled off. Lynn paused a moment, gathering her bearings. Apparently, she’d gone from having babies to getting fired in only a few days. Lynn walked over to the office in a daze. Peering over, a few of her colleagues pretended not to see her. However, she could feel their wary stares on her back as she approached the dragon’s den. She had the right idea, just the wrong animal.
    Taking a moment outside of the door to take a breath, she straightened and knocked. She’d done nothing wrong, and if she was being hung out to dry, she’d just have to find more work. Job hunting was never fun, but at least now she had a solid resume and plenty of references.
    She knocked twice.
    “Come in,” boomed a voice, young but commanding and heavy.
    She opened the door to find Cameron prowling the room moving papers to various stacks. He spoke into a Bluetooth head set.
    “David, I want the orders ready by the middle of next week….Listen, I’ve got to go. And David? No mistakes this time.” He hung up, looking at her and smiling. Normally he was absolutely intimidating. But he was sitting there with a five o’clock shadow and mussed hair. He’d been pulling an all-nighter for some reason.
    “Mr. Caine? You asked for me?”
    “Yes, Lynn. Call me Cameron, by the way,” he said, smiling brightly.
    Okay. So far so good. It doesn’t look like he intends to fire me, anyway.
    “I’m sorry about this mess,” he continued, as if she were some honored guest. “I’ve got to get more work done than I had previously imagined. So my time is open for the retreat,” he said, as if that explained it all.
    “I guess preparing for a vacation can be stressful,” she said, smiling. He laughed a little too loudly, but with genuine mirth.
    “Ha! It can. Listen, I think this evening I could do with a vacation from my vacation prep. Any chance you’d like to join me for a few cocktails?”
    Lynn froze. Never mind how odd it was to be asked out by her boss, she was