The Billionaires Club- The Complete Series

by Leslie North

  “It’s so nice to meet you all,” Jackie said once everyone had introduced themselves, including Grayson’s very pregnant wife-to-be, Mila.

  “Sit down, sit down!” Mila encouraged. “And please, have all the wine that I can’t.”

  Jackie grinned, drinking Mila in. Of all the people here, so far she felt an immediate connection with her. There was just something in her face that seemed so down-to-earth and approachable. She could tell that Grayson, Daniel, and Blake’s world wasn’t necessarily hers, either.

  “Where’s Daniel?” someone casually inquired from the other end of the table—already she’d forgotten his name.

  “He had a last-minute meeting come up,” Jackie explained. “So he sent me to get the party started.”

  A ripple of laughter moved across the table.

  “Typical Daniel,” Grayson said. “Even when he shows up, he’ll still be typing on his laptop under the table.”

  A few others laughed, and Jackie tried to as well.

  “I made him promise to take a few hours off each day,” Jackie said, trying to add to the conversation. It was unsettling, though, how everyone’s perception of Daniel immediately reverted to late and workaholic.

  Grayson scoffed good-naturedly. “Good luck with that. The man checks his emails while he sleeps.”

  “I’m sure you’re not telling her anything new,” Blake added.

  Mila swatted away their comments. “Honestly, guys, the teasing between you three can get tiring.”

  “That’s just the pregnancy talking, dear,” Grayson joked, grinning as he rubbed his fiancée’s back. “You know you love it when we shit talk each other.”

  Mila grimaced, but Jackie could tell there was a hint of a smile behind it. She didn’t know how long Mila and Grayson had been an item, but it seemed like they were already an old married couple.

  “Jackie, I haven’t heard much about you,” Mila said as she sipped at water with lemon and lime slices floating in it. “What do you do for a living?”

  Mila, Grayson, and Blake were all crowded around one end of the table. The other end of the table had begun their own conversations now that the introductions were over.

  “I’m still studying, actually,” she said. “But I’m almost done. And I hope to be a fully licensed social worker by this time next year.”

  Mila’s eyes lit up as Daniel’s friends nodded their approval.

  “Very noble,” Blake said. “Daniel needs someone like you. His idea of a social worker was always someone who dresses up and has dinner during a business meeting.”

  Jackie feigned a laugh, but the comments only continued to drive home the vast differences between her and Daniel. The high-powered business meetings that seemed to be his whole life were worlds away from the path she’d chosen for herself.

  Even though she’d been fantasizing about Daniel way too often over the last week, his friends were reminding her of an inalienable truth: he was the opposite of her, and they would never be compatible. Not even in her wildest fantasies.

  It was just driving home the fact that the deepest part of her seemed hesitant to accept: that this would begin, and end, as a business arrangement.

  Appetizers arrived, skinny wooden boards filled with panko shrimp and canapes and slabs of salmon draped over oiled greens. Jackie ate recklessly—she’d never seen so much gourmet food in one place—and was absolutely stuffed before the main course even arrived. The excellent wine filled her belly too. She’d started with a pinot grigio but segued into a cabernet sauvignon that they said was bottled on site. Bottled on site! The drunker and happier she got, the more items she added to her Napa to-do list.

  Once Daniel finally showed up, it felt like only a half hour had passed in the whirlwind of good food and wine—but when she checked her phone, it showed that he was actually an hour and a half behind her, and not the hour he promised.

  The whole table cheered and catcalled him as he sat down. Especially—and unsurprisingly—Grayson and Blake.

  “There he is!” Blake lifted his glass as Daniel eased into the seat beside her. She grinned up at him, feeling more eager to see him than she’d expected. Was it possible to miss a fake boyfriend she’d only had for a few hours? She patted his knee as he sat down, but he didn’t even glance her way.

  “Who’s paying out now that I’m forty seconds late?” Daniel cracked, immediately reaching for a waiting glass of wine.

  “I was forbidden by my love to engage in betting during our wedding week,” Grayson said, raising his palms in surrender. “So you have a free pass.”

  “You got lucky,” Blake added.

  “Now the two lovebirds are reunited!” Mila cooed, grinning at them from across the table. “Oh, you two are cute together.”

  Jackie grinned, leaning into Daniel’s side. This was all pretend—so why not have fun with it?

  “We get that a lot,” she said, tilting her head to look up at Daniel. He laughed, but it sounded forced.

  “Did everyone welcome you nicely?” he asked.

  “More than nicely,” she said, hooking her arm through his. God, he was nice to hang onto. She grinned out at everyone, hoping that this level of look-we’re-dating was what Daniel had in mind. “We’re already best friends, all of us.”

  Daniel smiled, but he felt wooden beneath her grip. She loosened her hold on him, reaching for her wine instead. He did the same as Blake launched into a conversation about some work thing the three of them were familiar with.

  Dessert made the rounds soon, and Jackie could only take one bite before her full belly protested. She tried to keep a smile pasted on and stay engaged in Daniel’s conversation at her side, but the longer they sat together, the more she understood why his friends had doubted he’d make time for a girlfriend—even if it was just for a week-long wedding celebration. If this was how he treated the women he dated, it was little wonder that they got fed up. He wasn’t rude to her, but he made no effort to include her.

  When it got to the point where she imagined all his friends were probably thinking they looked like the least happy couple ever, she grabbed his hand, bringing his knuckles up to her mouth.

  “Hey, babe,” she said, trying to sound bubbly. “Did you check out our suite yet? We’re in the plum orchard.”

  He looked down at her, curiosity sparking in his gaze before it faded away to confusion. He hesitated before he said, “You mean, outside?”

  “No, the suite is called the plum orchard, silly.” She slapped his shoulder playfully. “It’s gorgeous. I can’t wait until you see it. We’re going to have so much fun there.”

  His laughter sounded forced, and Jackie tried to squash her annoyance. This whole thing was his idea, and he wasn’t even going to try to pretend? His friends would figure out this was a farce, and he would lose the bet tomorrow at this rate—which meant she’d lose her tuition money.

  And she wouldn’t allow that happen. Not when her future was riding on it.

  This meant they needed to have a serious talk about what this whole ‘dating’ thing meant, and what they planned to show to the world.

  Because this right here? He was as convincing as a piece of driftwood.

  And Jackie knew that even workaholic Daniel had to have more passion inside him than that.

  She just needed to coax it out of hiding.

  5

  Daniel’s head was spinning by the time he and Jackie went back to the plum orchard.

  It was hard to orient himself to all the new elements surrounding him here. The lush villa begged him to forget about his work obligations and deadlines. And with this version of Jackie at his side—darkly rimmed eyes, cleavage screaming his name, her cute little feet stuffed into the sexiest heels he’d ever seen—it was easy to get lost in the vortex. This fantasy place where he could relax and enjoy this beautiful woman at his side.

  It was too disorienting. Because one look at Jackie made him forget the rules they’d put in place. This stays platonic. He’d prom
ised it to her. He’d promised it to himself.

  As soon as he shut the door to their suite behind him, Jackie let out a long sigh.

  “That was seriously, hand down, the best dinner I’ve ever had.”

  He smiled but it faded quickly. He worked at undoing his watch and slipping off his shoes. He’d had a long day, and it wasn’t over yet.

  “You didn’t seem to enjoy it,” Jackie said as she floated toward their bedroom. An enormous king bed sat beneath a wall where water trickled noiselessly, like a miniature cliff face instead of a headboard. The sight was mesmerizing, and he watched it for a few moments as she eased onto the side of the bed, kicking off her heels.

  “It was great,” he admitted. “I was just a little too distracted to enjoy it fully.”

  She nodded like this didn’t surprise her. “Your friends talked a lot about that.”

  “About what?” he asked, heading for his briefcase. He went over the list of emails he needed to send in his head, lest Jackie’s winding down process distract him.

  “About the fact that you’re constantly working.”

  He tugged his laptop out from his briefcase and hit the power button. “They work just as much as I do, don’t let them fool you.”

  “Yeah, but they at least were able to seem mildly interested in focusing on dinner and the people around them.”

  Her comment seemed like an odd jab. He drew his brows together. Were they already having a couple’s quarrel on their first official day as a pair? “I don’t know what you mean.”

  She sighed, wilting dramatically. He wasn’t sure how many glasses of wine she’d had tonight, but it was probably more than two. “Daniel, we were a pathetic excuse for a happy couple.”

  “What do you mean? We were there at dinner. We talked. We drank. We engaged.”

  “Yeah, but every time I tried to talk to you, you acted like I was a complete stranger—possibly speaking in ancient Greek.”

  “Oh, come on. It always takes me time to unwind after work. I told you, I was distracted.”

  She didn’t look convinced. “We need to practice.”

  He turned his gaze to his laptop, flipping through screens. “Practice what?”

  “Practice being a couple.”

  “We’ll have this entire week. This was just the first night. Don’t be so hard on us.”

  She crawled over to him on the bed, pushing her head into his line of sight. “Your friends are going to know by three p.m. tomorrow this is a fucking joke and that you’re paying me to be here.”

  Her words made something tighten inside him. If they weren’t convincing, his friends probably would accuse him of paying off some actress just so he didn’t lose the bet. It wasn’t that unbelievable that they might do some digging and find out she was his house sitter…if they had reason to suspect he was lying, that was.

  “Fine. We’ll practice, but I just need to send a few emails first,” he said.

  “Okay. You have a half hour.”

  He laughed despite her out-of-line request. “Now you’re setting the terms and conditions?”

  “Hey. This week, we’re a couple, and that’s how it works when you date Jackie Stone.”

  He couldn’t fight the grin as she rolled off the bed and rummaged around in her suitcases. He could finally breathe a little easier after she disappeared into the bathroom, but once he heard the water running, he realized he needed to go to a different part of the suite. If he caught even one more glimpse of her lithe and sopping wet body, well…he’d throw platonic out the window himself.

  Daniel settled into a large, wooden desk near a bay window, overlooking a few acres of vineyards. He sank into work easily, sending all the emails he needed and getting a head start on tomorrow’s as well. He jolted when he felt a tap-tap-tap on his shoulder.

  Jackie smiled down at him, wearing what he’d learned over the past week were her standard issue pajamas: a flimsy tank top and cotton booty shorts. He swallowed, fighting to keep his gaze off her hardened nipples. She wasn’t wearing a bra, which meant he could see just how perfectly her breasts would fill his hands, if he’d venture to take a handful.

  “Almost done—”

  “No. I actually gave you forty minutes, because I’m a nice girlfriend, but you’re done now,” she said, closing his laptop. Before he could protest, she sank down onto his lap, slinging her arms around his neck. She giggled, so close that he could smell her minty breath.

  “Is this what you mean by practice?” He relaxed into the chair a little, welcoming the weight of her on top of him. This wasn’t all bad. In fact, the familiar haze of lust was descending. Even if this was under the guise of ‘practice,’ this was something he’d been wanting to explore. A little too much.

  “We need to get comfortable in each other’s space,” she explained, adjusting her position on his lap. Rocking back and forth right on top of his semi-hard cock. “From a psychological perspective, if we’re not physically comfortable with each other in private, then we’re never going to convince the rest of the world we are when we’re in public.”

  He nodded slowly, his palm finding the small of her back. He pushed his fingers beneath the hem of her shirt, absent-mindedly stroking the smooth skin there. “Makes sense.”

  “So let’s just loosen up a little.”

  “I think you’ve loosened up quite a lot,” he teased. When she adjusted on top of him again, his cock swelled from semi to fully hard. “How many glasses of wine did you have tonight?”

  She giggled, rubbing her nose against his. “Plenty.”

  His eyes drifted shut. Now this felt pretty nice. It just meant he’d have to fight even harder to make this intimacy work like a switch he could turn on and off.

  Except he wasn’t sure, once she turned it on, that it would be so easy to turn off.

  “The wine was pretty great,” he murmured, feeling himself get swept away in the current. Aided by her delicious weight on top of him, the heat of her against his hard-on, and the light floral scent coming from her freshly washed hair…Jackie was like the ripest fruit, and he was dying to get a taste of her. He nuzzled her neck. Why not just dive headfirst and see what happened? If she wanted them to get comfortable, then maybe they should get really comfortable.

  She laughed when he nipped at her earlobe. He felt a shiver wrack her body.

  “You wanted us to get comfortable, right?” He pushed his palms down to her hips, urging her to toss a leg to the other side of his lap so that she straddled him. Her eyes were hooded as she watched him, nodding as she dragged her teeth over her bottom lip.

  “Well, come on. Get comfy. We’ll prove we’re the happiest couple they’ve ever seen.” His voice was edged with heat. Maybe she noticed it too. Maybe she was feeling it right along with him, because she did as he urged and hooked a leg over to his other side, straddling him in the plush armchair.

  “Good,” she whispered, tilting her head to the side as he brushed his lips over her neck. She shivered visibly, and this time, he allowed himself to ogle the tight points of her nipples through the thin green fabric of her shirt. God, he was so close to grabbing that handful…

  “This was a good idea,” he murmured, his hands lowering to cover the tops of her ass cheeks. With his pinkie fingers, he could graze the hem of her shorts. Jackie released some of her body weight onto him then, and he wondered if she could feel the thick ridge of his cock yet. She was sitting right on top of it. She had to.

  “I mean, we’re relative strangers,” she went on, and he could have sworn she bucked her hips against him. Or maybe she was just fidgeting with nervousness. “It’s good that we, you know, become familiar.”

  “Mm-hmm.” He dragged his lips up the side of her neck to her jawline, drawing back so he could snag that pretty green gaze of hers. He needed a breather, because he was headed full steam to the point of no return. Knowing him, he’d be the one to fuck things up because he wanted to push things too far, too fast, with the woman who was only try
ing to help him out because she needed her school tuition paid.

  He needed to remember that. Even if his hard-on could drive a nail into the wall.

  “Do you want me to kiss you?” he asked.

  She nodded eagerly, and he surged forward, capturing her lips against his. The first kiss was intense, but holy hell, the second one was slow, thorough, and passionate. Daniel pushed his tongue past her lips, finding hers waiting for him. She moaned a little through the kiss, and the next time she moved against him, he was positive she was rocking against him.

  Because maybe she wanted it too.

  Daniel’s hands cupped the roundness of her ass, his fingertips finding the hot flesh just under her ass cheeks, right past the hem of her panty line. He couldn’t stop himself. He wanted to dip in to that sweet, sacred area so bad. Jackie moaned through the next kiss, pressing herself against him. He squeezed her ass again, and she tore herself off of him mid-kiss with a groan.

  “Wow, yeah!” She pushed off of him, laughing weakly. “Yeah, okay, I think we got the hang of it!”

  His mouth hanging open, palms still cupped like he was touching her ass, he could only stare at her. “Yeah?”

  “Yep. That’s all we needed to do.” She ran a hand through her hair and hurried back into the bedroom, calling out over her shoulder, “I think we’re solid. Good practice!”

  Daniel let a long sigh slide out of him, rubbing at his face.

  It was better that she stopped it when she did.

  But it didn’t mean he would be able to think about anything other than her sexy ass in his grip for the next few weeks…or possibly longer.

  Jackie moved on wooden legs, unsure of where she was going, just knowing that she needed to get away from Daniel.

  It was too good. Her drunk plan had backfired. And she knew the full scope of the worrying situation now: if she had let it go any further, she would have torn his pants off herself and ridden him until dawn.

  Come on, Jackie. Daniel’s hot, yes. He kisses 1000% better than you expected, yes. But this is a business arrangement, and you’d better not fuck this up with needless romantic bullshit that’ll set you up for eventual heartbreak!