Bill is one suave guy! How are we liking his interaction with Steffy? Get ready for some drama! Hurricane Amber is on the way!
Thanks for reading!
"Steffy!" Before turning around, Steffy took a deep breath. She needed all of her composure for this.
"Ambrosia Moore!"
"Aahhh!" They both screamed. This was her best friend, her sorority sister, the one person she trusted in the world as much as her mother.
"Why didn't you call me to pick you up? I would have come to the airport."
"I called your house this morning after trying your cell, but Lame, I mean, Liam, said he couldn't find you. You know I never miss a birthday! Why are you working?"
Steffy didn't want to tell her best friend how she had sex with her neighbor less than a hour after a fight with Liam that she took as a breakup. She didn't want to tell her that the fight was partially over her, and she also didn't want to explain the cowardly way she ran to her grandfather's guesthouse to hide from both guys.
"How did you find me?"
"Are you kidding? I was there for Steffy 101. I know all your hiding places and I want to know what or who has you in hiding."
"No one," Steffy lied. "I'm not running from anyone."
"So it's option two. I know Liam is looking for you with those sad ass flowers for the birthday he forgot, again, so maybe him." She looked at Steffy and shook her head. "No, it's not him. And what the hell are you wearing?"
Steffy still had on the t-shirt and shorts she got from Bill before running off. He distracted Liam long enough for her to be able to grab her phone and keys to come to the guest house, and she had been there for hours.
"It's a long story, but I'm glad to see you."
"Again, what the hell are you wearing, and why are you working on your birthday?"
Steffy tried to remain calm and not let her poker face slip, but she couldn't lie to her best friend. She couldn't hide from all the questions in her mind.
"I did something. I'm not even sure why, but it freaked me out, so I ran here. And my dad is slacking on work. Liam thinks he can handle it, but I don't trust him to handle things like dad would, and he—Liam forgot my birthday again, and I thought we broke up. I thought it was real this time, but he came back. And I—"
Steffy was almost hyperventilating, and Amber stopped her. "Calm down, honey. So Liam forgot your birthday, your father is being an ass probably over that crone and her serial whore daughter, but what did you do? That's the only thing I'm not getting."
Steffy bit her lip, and Amber snatched the files from her hands. "Tell me, Steffy."
"I slept with someone."
"Oh my God!" Amber squealed. "You cheated on Liam? Congrats, honey!"
"Congrats?" Steffy hissed. "I cheated on my boyfriend. And not just that, it's a neighbor and he came looking for me. The other neighbors probably saw me go into his house and told Liam. It's a huge mess."
Amber hated Liam. She had been waiting for the end of their relationship since it began. Steffy didn't expect her to be sympathetic at all. "Sweetie, tell me why you thought it was okay to sleep with this man and why you're hooking up with random neighbors. I don't remember you telling me about spending time with a neighbor. You just talked about that guy from years ago. Now he sounds yummy. Wait—"
"Bill is my neighbor, Amber. He came over this morning for the swim we were supposed to have, and things just escalated. Me and Liam fought and he told me I had to choose him over everything else, but I knew—I know things aren't right between us."
"And you slept with this Bill after your fight? You don't do those type of things. What made you do it?"
"He's charming. I know he might be wrong for me, he might not be serious, but do I want serious? He was there and he was so sweet. He actually remembered my birthday, he got me this beautiful cake, and I felt so free with him."
"So he gave you cake and you gave him your cookie jar? Got it."
"It's not funny, Amber. I'm being serious here."
"It's not funny. It's a shame that you've been tied to that ass since you were twenty-three and haven't really lived enough to know more than the two creeps and this yummy neighbor. I must meet him, by the way. I want to see the man that got my best friend to finally step out of the box and dog Lassie."
"Liam is not Lassie," Steffy defended. "He's—we're just in a bad place, and I made things worse. I should have never slept with Bill today."
"Today? You putting a disclaimer on it sounds like you wanted to sleep with him, but maybe just not today."
"I—" Steffy couldn't and wouldn't lie. "I wanted him. He didn't push me. We were in the pool together and he—God, Amber, I let him see me naked. He ate me out and while all that was going on, all I could think is why didn't he—"
"Why didn't he screw you? So what, you made him?"
"I was waiting downstairs for him to bring me dry clothes and I went upstairs for the restroom and there he was. He was standing in his room naked, and I just wanted it. I needed it. Me and Liam hadn't had sex in over a month. Maybe I was horny, I don't know, Amber, I just—it's so complicated now."
"What are you going to do, and how can I help?"
"I'm going to have to fire my dad," Steffy smiled sadly. "You want a job?"
"Oh, I get the office and to rub it into the great Ridge Forrester's face that I took his digs? Hell yeah I'm in. I'm here as long as you need me." Amber hated Ridge for all the years he put Hope over his own kids. She was one of the first to ever call him out, and consequently both he and Brooke hated her.
"I really needed you."
"You bet your ass you did. You need someone to talk to about these atrocious clothes. I'm taking you shopping."
"I would love to go shopping," Steffy admitted. "I haven't been in a long time."
"It shows, sweetie. It really does. You're getting a hair appointment and new clothes."
Steffy sighed in relief and thanked God something was going right today. Amber coming when she did might have just saved Steffy's sanity. She was always brutally honest and didn't spare any feelings, not ever hers.
"For now, let me see what you're doing."
Steffy handed over her papers and Amber looked them over. She was quiet for a few minutes and looked up at Steffy. "I need all his files. Something is off here."
"Off?"
"Steffy, only twenty percent of the profits are going to that charity you set up for your grandmother. The breakdown is all murky because they split it into several different divisions, but when you look at the bottom line, only twenty percent of the Devine line is going when I know you pledged twenty-five. Where is the rest going? Someone is pocketing the money. It only took me a few minutes to catch this. Your dad should have caught it a long time ago."
Steffy took the papers back and looked at what Amber was talking about. She was right. Someone was stealing from the foundation. Only three people had access to the information. She mostly looked at the bottom line of it all, but Liam and her father were supposed to monitor it. One if not both of them should have caught it. Now she wanted to know who did it and how much they had gotten.
Bill rushed into his office and sat down. He just needed to clear his head. He had her, she came to him just like he wanted, and then she ran. She took his clothes and ran.
Maybe the appearance of her current or possible ex made things awkward, but she came to him. She started the whole thing, and he loved it. He couldn't have planned it better.
Damn she felt good. Tasting her was his plan for the day, but her coming into his room and grabbing his waistband drove him crazy. He lost his head. He pushed it all the way and she seemed to love it. She screamed his name. Those screams would never be erased from his memory. She was so sexy with him inside her.
"Bill," his father greeted as he walked into his office. "I thought you took the day off. Isn't it Steffy's birthday? You've been planning this day for a week."
Bill was embarrassed. He had planned to take her poolside and have a beautiful lunch set up. The cake would be eaten around the pool and they'd just enjoy their day. He'd just let himself get carried away and probably did too much too soon. He didn't plan the amazing sex they had, but he didn't regret it. He just hoped it hadn't set them back.
"I was with her earlier."
"And?"
"And we enjoyed our time together, but work comes first."
Senior took a seat and cleared his throat. "I don't want you to adapt that attitude."
"It's the one you have," Bill pointed out.
"It's the one I had when you were growing up, but I've learned it was wrong. I put this business and my ambition over my family and you and Karen paid the price. You didn't know me then, I wasn't a good person. I don't want that for you. Now I can tell that you're really interested in this girl, so don't blow it."
Bill couldn't lie, he cared deeply for Steffy. She was unlike any woman he had even dealt with before. She just made him feel good.
"Dad, I can appreciate the fact that you want to be better and show us the love you didn't when we were kids, but I'm fine. Karen is fine, and she's a great mother."
"You would be a good father. That girl you have your eye on, she's a keeper."
"How do you know Steffy?"
"I've only seen her a handful of times when she was younger, and even then, she had the spirit of her grandmother. She's strong and brave. She's beautiful and so intelligent. I just want the best for you, and I believe she could be that. I don't want you to shortchange yourself because of being afraid to end up like I was. I hurt you, son. I know I made you wary of love and family, but don't let my mistakes cost you something great."
"Dad, you loved Stephanie, why didn't you go after her? Why didn't you make her the one? You left my mom and us, but you kept Caroline. I just don't get it. You raised Caroline and gave her everything me and Karen had to claw to get. When you didn't get Stephanie back, why weren't we enough?"
"I can't explain the stupid things I did. Stephanie didn't wait for me. She met Eric and fell in love. He's a good man, I'd never begrudge him anything because even with all their problems, he made her happy."
"They've all had a turn with that Logan tramp, why didn't you take Stephanie from him? No one deserves to be made a fool of. I hate that I can't be honest with Steffy. I can't do it without sounding like I'm here to wreck her life. I don't want to do that. I won't hurt her."
"Then love her. I didn't tell Stephanie about Eric and that Logan whore years ago because I knew what it would do to her. I didn't want to make that mistake, but I made an even bigger one."
"What?"
"I did nothing at all. I stayed out of it because I convinced myself that he loved her more than I could. I could have stepped in and given her the world and shown her things he never did, but I let fear stop me, and it made me bitter. Don't be like me. Be better."
Bill had already adapted the attitude of being better than Liam. Whether the poor fool knew it or not, Bill had his number. Anything he did for Steffy, Bill topped it. He'd already given her a great birthday morning, he hoped.
"I'm here for her, she knows this. I'll continue to be that."
"Good, well I'll leave you to it. Get out of here, son."
Bill was going to take his father's advice and go look for Steffy, but a call held him up. He ended up spending forty-five minutes on the phone with London and almost ended up with a headache. A show they were covering needed so much attention and manpower, he'd have to go himself. He and Justin. The vacation would be great, but there was no way he was going without Steffy. He'd find a way to get Forrester there. It could take some maneuvering on his part, but he'd get it done.
Just as he was getting ready to leave, there was a knock at his door and called out for them to come in. A leggy blonde with alluring blue eyes walked in and flicked a file on his desk. He was about ready to send her away, but her presence was commanding. She almost reminded him of—
"Skip the pleasantries. I know you've been looking into these assholes. Who is he screwing, and who are we suing?"
"And you are?"
"Ambrosia Moore, best friend of the woman you screwed this morning. I want to know what your intentions are and and I want to know what you know about Liam, Brooke, and Ridge."
"How do you know—"
"I went to your house. Lovely roommate you have."
"Justin," Bill growled. "He should have kept his mouth shut."
"There is no need to get angry with him. I hate all of those ho bags. They have never treated Steffy right, and I will make sure they don't get away with whatever they're doing. Now, I know you hate Ridge, so he and Brooke are a given, but Liam I assume is because you want Steffy. You had better not be playing games with her. I will cut your balls off if you are. I want to know everything."
"I'm not playing games with her, and I'm afraid I don't know much."
"Bullshit," Amber spat out. "Now talk."
"I don't have a name. He meets a woman every Wednesday at a hotel, but I don't have her name."
"Get it. I want a name and a picture."
"I'm working on getting a video. I just have to get my people in before he gets there."
"You do that, and I'll work on something different." Amber shook his hand and walked toward the door. "I mean it, hurt her and I'll kill you."
Bill watched her leave and noted that he had never met a more intense person in his life. She really loved Steffy, he saw it in her eyes. He was glad Steffy had that in at least one part of her circle. The only other people he saw in her space trustworthy were her mother, brother, and grandfather. The rest were snakes.
