The Billionaire's Favorite: A Homesburg Romance

by Elle Chance

  My father turned to me. “He admits to being a trophy wife. You want a man after your money?”

  “Well, you didn’t seem to mind trophy wives, sir.” When I gave Josh a stricken look, he had that same golden retriever smile on his face.

  My father’s glower slowly became an amused smirk. He even chuckled. “You’re taking the kamikaze approach here. I don’t admire it, but it is effective.”

  “I’m really here to support Sofie. Or as she introduced herself, Cleo,” Josh said, gesturing toward me. “My reputation isn’t necessary for that.”

  “She introduced herself as Cleo, eh?” my father asked. And then, appallingly, his eyes misted over. “You know, I gave her that nickname when she was a girl.”

  Josh nodded. “She told me. But I don’t know the backstory.”

  I stepped away from Josh to give my father a hug. The treatment was taking it out of him, but it still shocked me to see him emotional at all.

  “I’ll leave that up to Sofie to tell you,” my father said finally to Josh. “You have terrible taste in men,” he said to me, and then wheeled back toward the window.

  Josh wiped imaginary sweat from his brow, which made me want to cry. Instead, I laughed and shoved him. “You’re not winning your bet,” I told him in a whisper.

  “Well, it’s not like I impressed you with my wit and social standing,” Josh said, winding his arm back around me. “I really grow on you.”

  I rolled my eyes at him and we headed into my father sitting room, taking seats. And as ridiculous as it was, sitting next to Josh was the most comfortable I’d felt seeing my father in ages.

  JOSH

  “I REALLY THINK our visit went well,” I said as we made our way back to the car. “You guys talked longer than I expected. Your brothers are assholes though.”

  Sofie nodded. “That’s the true Tom and Lou experience. Tom went by Ace for a while so he’s toned it down.”

  “Seriously, no less than four times they implied that by dating me, an idiot, it might disqualify you for your role with the Foundation.” I was saying it lightly, but really it made me furious.

  Patty chimed in. “We think they’re making a long con to get Sofie off the Foundation. This could be good, actually. If you’re the lightning rod for the rest of the family, maybe Sofie can have some real bonding time with her father.”

  Sofie sighed, taking her heels off when she got into the backseat. “I doubt it. It’s a pleasant thought, though. I’m just glad you amused my father more than anything.”

  I preened a bit at that. “Yeah, well, jesters worked for a reason back in the day.”

  “You’re really not going to win my father over at all doing that.” Sofie had tucked one leg under herself. She seemed relieved and more cheerful than I was used to seeing her after these visits. “You’re losing your bet already.”

  And in the backseat next to her, the thought of losing out on the story of a lifetime didn’t seem like a big loss. As long as I had Sofie next to me, looking at me with that mix of amusement and affection, I thought I could be just fine without it.

  “It’s step one. It’s a process,” I told her as we headed back to the Lodge. “Let it percolate.”

  “Well, I look forward to seeing it come to fruition. Though try to be less pathetic next time. I could see it being trouble for me later if I introduce someone foolish to my father now.”

  But Sofie’s smile was warm and soft and affectionate for me, so I wasn’t fussed about that for now.

  “I take you to a hospital, and you take me to the woods behind your house after a big meal,” Sofie said the next day. It was getting crisp in September, the cool, pleasant temperature that reminded me of heading back to school.

  “Trust me, this will be worth it,” I told her, and tried to believe it myself. “You have to work off your dinners out here.”

  Sofie in the woods was a sight to behold. Not because she was beautiful, though she was. But because she was more afraid of the woods than she was of cows. She wouldn’t make it more than a hundred feet per hour without my encouragement and wheedling. We were walking on mostly flat ground, but she was still waiting for a bear to get us at every turn. Eventually, she let me take her hand so I could steady her as we walked.

  And then we were hand in hand in the woods, and that was our new normal for a while.

  “But there could, conceivably, be a bear,” Sofie said. “Like they’re around here.”

  “Yeah, one ate the neighbor’s bird feeder and pooped seeds on our lawn once,” I told her, amused at the memory. She wasn’t impressed. “I guess you had to be a ten-year-old boy.”

  “Oh, sure,” Sofie said. “But where are we going?”

  “We just climb this hill,” I told her, pointing to it helpfully. “And then we’ll be done when we reach the top.”

  Sofie looked like she wanted to give up immediately.

  “It’s cool, trust me,” I told her, and she followed me grumbling up the hill.

  It took less than ten minutes to get up, or twenty in Sofies per hour, but we got there soon enough.

  “Is that an outhouse?” Sofie asked when she saw the rickety building we were visiting.

  “Reasonable question, but nope, that’s a repurposed chicken coop. In the 1940s, our family and some neighbors were part of an airplane spotter program for the war. They used to bunk up in this chicken coop and call in any planes they saw. And the calls went all the way to New York City!”

  “Ooh, very fancy! That’s cool,” Sofie said, looking more willing to walk into an abandoned building now. “How did you find out about this?”

  “My grandfather on my dad’s side — the one from my flooding dreams — he built the coop. And this is just off our property now, but our neighbors don’t mind if we come up here. It was a part of the civilian defense for the war. It’s been a while since I’ve been inside.”

  It smelled like wet wood, and I gave the walls a couple tentative kicks. I was happy when the building didn’t wobble. I led Sofie through to the little coop.

  “Aw, there’s a little chair in here.” Sofie got close to it and peeked out the window. “This is so cute.”

  “Yeah, they used to have a phone in here. It’s weird to think about, but the road is just on the other side of the hill,” I said as I looked around the room. The smudged writing on the walls and what looked like newspaper clippings in the corners.

  “So we could have driven here?” Sofie asked, turning to me.

  “But you wouldn’t have experienced the woods.” I gestured to the red and yellow leaves outside. This was definitely the best time of the year to have a weird pseudo-relationship with a rich chick. Even if Sofie hated nature still, at least she was seeing it at its prettiest.

  “They are fine woods,” Sofie conceded, coming over to stand next to me at the door. “So did you come here a lot when you were a kid?”

  “No, it worried my parents. It wasn’t safe,” I told her, heading back out into the afternoon sunshine.

  Sofie laughed. “I see why they would think. So what made you want to visit today?”

  We both stood and looked at the sky for a minute. If you did stuff like this in New York, people would assume you were homeless or crazy. Sofie’s hand found its way towards mine and I said nothing for a moment.

  “Actually, Cory claimed this was his make-out spot when we were teens and I just remembered it. I figured he was lying, but it had been a long time.” I looked over at Sofie where she was happily admiring the views. “Your family inspired me to start a fight for no good reason.”

  Sofie laughed and pushed her shoulder into me. “Rude, but not untrue. So you were bringing me to a lookout spot?” she asked, turning more to face me.

  And years of messing around had taught me this was an opening. Her eyes had softened from grey to a warm silver as she looked at me. She’d even bought some rustic looking jacket and her hand was still in mine.

  “It seemed polite, you know. The right atmos
phere and all.”

  Sofie laughed, her gaze drifting to my mouth. “If you were really aiming to just make out with me, the woods are the last place you should have taken me.”

  “Oh yeah? Do I get extra points for making out with you here?” I asked.

  Instead of answering me, Sofie put her hands on my chest and leaned up to kiss me. It was as thrilling as last time, and my body was on fire just from the touch of her lips. I wanted my hands everywhere on her, but I settled for tangling one in her hair so I could tip her mouth back and the other coming around her body to hold her tightly to me.

  Sofie’s mouth opened eagerly under mine, and her tongue’s touch was electric. I got half hard just from a kiss in the woods. Christ, I was forever playing catchup with Sofie: not rich enough, not savvy enough to play her family politics. But she focused and thrilled me in a way no other woman had.

  Sofie’s hands moved to tangle in my hair, and I truly wished the chicken coop had been manageable. I wanted to pin her against the nearest surface and have my way with her, but I settled for running one hand down to her gorgeous ass. Sofie was so sweet and eager, reacting to my touches with soft moans that had set my blood ablaze. I didn’t know how I would survive time with my family without jumping her bones.

  One of Sofie’s hands trailed up under my coat and shirt, the chill of her hand against my skin an electrifying contrast. I let out a hiss as she stroked up my side.

  “I really wish you knew where your brother’s make-out spot was,” Sofie said when I broke our kiss to nibble my way down her neck and to her earlobe. She let out a breathtaking little moan when I nibbled her earlobe and I let out a frustrated groan in response.

  “Me too,” I told her. “But we can always pick this up back in the Lodge. Where there’s at least one bed I think of a good use for.”

  Sofie’s laugh should have cooled my enthusiasm but warmed me. And I knew that I didn’t want to just be with her physically. I knew there were words for wanting to show people small-town history sites and go to the hospital with them. But those ideas were more dangerous than just drowning in the softness of Sofie’s body.

  Eventually, we made our way back to my house. Sofie moved more surely through the trees. I was half sure that everyone would guess what we were up to when they saw Sofie’s flushed cheeks, but who cared. Part of me just wished this moment could continue forever, walking a beautiful girl through the autumn leaves.

  I was so screwed. I was in far too deep with Sofie Barlow already, and we hadn’t even made it back to the Lodge yet. And yet I couldn’t stop myself from going further with her.

  SOFIE

  THE SHORT CAR ride back to the Homesburg Lodge should have been long enough for me to shake off the romance of Josh taking me to this childhood home. Hell, him telling my father he was a “trophy wife type” should have been enough to make me never want to kiss him again.

  But as we said good night to Rocco and walked up the stairs toward my room on the second floor, it was more than enough. I wanted to touch more of Josh, to feel his hardness against my bare skin. It felt as inevitable as the leaves falling this weekend. And even though I’d been so hurt last month by finding out that he knew who I was all along, today that felt like a good sign. It felt perfect.

  “Which way?” Josh asked when we reached the landing. His room was tucked all the way back to the right, mine was to the left.

  “Come to my suite,” I told him. I pulled him toward my room again, then locked the door behind us when we got inside.

  Josh was still nervous at the sight of the bed. “We don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to. I just don’t want to take advantage of you while your father’s sick.”

  I gave him another long, slow kiss. “I want to have sex with you.”

  Josh’s warm brown eyes went darker just hearing those words from me. “We should do that. But I don’t have a condom.” His eyebrows drew together in sweet concern.

  “I’m okay with that if you are. I’m on birth control.” And this felt as vulnerable as when I’d told him my real name at the Farmer’s Market. It was still scary, but I found that Josh was a safe person to be vulnerable around.

  “Sounds perfect,” Josh said, his roughened voice turning me on as much as his words. I hadn’t done that with any of my exes. And not just because we had been younger. I wanted this with Josh in a way I hadn’t wanted it with any of my exes.

  Josh wrapped me up in his arms again and brought his mouth to mine. This was the first time we wouldn’t be interrupted and Josh was slow with me. Another surprise from him, but maybe I should come to expect them. I was clinging to him before his tongue even slipped inside my mouth, warming me from head to toe. His hands came to my coat to take it off, and I helped him, our mouths still linked.

  Josh walked me back towards the bed, breaking the kiss to lift me and set me back on it gently. He shucked off his shirt quickly and got on the bed with me, his warm weight over me everything I’d been dreaming of.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” Josh said as he ran a hand down my face delicately.

  I ran my hands over his firm muscles eagerly, relishing in the warmth of his skin. “I’ve wanted this for a while, I think.”

  Josh’s face softened even more looking at me. No man I’d been with had ever looked at me like this like I was made of spun sugar. Then again, I’d never felt so comfortable around someone. Having the usual goofy Josh look so mesmerized by me was an addicting feeling, and I was already getting warm between my legs before he even touched me there.

  Josh reached for the hem of my shirt, a boring sweater I’d bought just for spending time with his family. He didn’t need to know it was a few hundred dollars and the softest cashmere I could find, and he pulled it over my head like it was nothing.

  “You’re beautiful,” he told me as he looked at my bra reverently. “I’m a lucky man.”

  Josh kissed me again, his mouth more urgent, hungrier for me now. I wrapped my legs around his hips, pulling him closer to me before he started kissing and licking his way towards my breasts. My nipples were hard before he got to them, sucking on them through the thin lacy material of my bra. I moaned as he expertly rolled one with his hand while sensitizing my other nipple with his mouth. I was dying for more friction between my legs, and by the time he took my bra off and returned his attention to my bare breasts I was aching for his touch.

  Which I didn’t have to wait long for. Josh pulled away from my breasts, apparently satisfied with how pink and swollen he’d gotten me. He claimed me in another fervent kiss as he reached down and slid the leggings I’d worn down my hips with one hand. I wasn’t used to feeling so worshipped, especially not the first night I spent with someone.

  But Josh was reverent and eager to go straight to my core.

  “You’re so wet for me already,” he said as he put one hand against me, making me gasp. “Damn, baby.”

  I was so turned on I was ready to just rut against him if he didn’t move, but Josh spent only a few seconds rubbing against my aching nub before pulling my leggings and panties off completely. I was naked under his gaze and he still had his jeans on. I could see his bulge through his jeans and be eager to see what he looked like underneath them.

  And while that distracted me, Josh brought his mouth to me with little warning, and I was in heaven. “Oh god,” I moaned.

  Getting eaten out had never been a guarantee in my past relationships. If I asked, or ordered, or it was my birthday, it was a possibility. But no one had eagerly devoured me the way Josh did, and his enthusiasm made all the difference. He groaned at the taste of me, eagerly licking along my slit.

  I groaned and clung to his hair when he dipped his tongue inside of me before coming up to focus attention on my clit. He circled it coyly before laving me in long, slow licks that soon had my thighs tightening around his head to hold him in place. His movements became surer as I moaned and shook around him as he applied pressure just above my clit. Every dartin
g touch directly to my swollen bud wrenched cries out of me until I had to beg him for more.

  “Please, use your finger in me,” I told him. I had flushed from pleasure and still blushed on top of it.

  “What a polite please,” Josh said. He grinned at me wickedly as he brought one finger to my entrance, teasing me before sinking it. “I can’t wait to give you everything you want.”

  I moaned again as his finger joined his tongue’s rhythm, and quickly it was too much for me. My orgasm ripped through me, stars exploding behind my eyes as I reached completion. My body was loose afterward, and I could hear Josh’s jeans coming off. He settled on top of me and between my legs.

  I could taste myself on my lips as he kissed me. “Is it too soon for you?” Josh asked.

  “No, I’m ready,” I told him, lining him up at my entrance.

  We both moaned when Josh slid into me. I’d never felt closer to someone as his hardness inside me.

  “You’re so fucking wet,” Josh said, before capturing my lips in an urgent kiss.

  I wrapped my legs around his hips, urging him to move into me faster. Josh ignored my movements, settling a slow, leisurely pace that would drive me insane if he kept up the slow pace. I met his every stroke with my hips, and I relished every bit of friction between us. He was the perfect size for me, larger than I’d expected with all his cockiness in conversation.

  I moaned when his tongue mimicked his hips, plundering my mouth. I was completely Josh’s, and he was taking full advantage of it. I was used to being the one calling the shots in the bed. Even when my exes had taken charge I’d never felt so out of control, so at someone’s mercy. And Josh was loving it.

  “Faster,” I pleaded him as I broke the kiss.

  Josh smirked at me and made his next stroke even slower. “I think I changed my mind. I liked it when you said please.”

  I moved against Josh more urgently and he pinned my hips in place with one hand.

  I glared at him, trying not to be charmed by him. “It would please me for you to move faster.”