He kind of liked her, and that was going to be a problem.
The first Yankees player stepped out to take the first at-bat. Simone sat back down on the edge of her seat and drank some of her beer. “Strike him out!”
The pitcher couldn’t accommodate Simone’s request, and the batter hit a double.
“Dammit.” Simone sat back down with a sigh. “Though it would be boring if they actually made this an easy game.”
“We wouldn’t want that, would we?”
Simone leaned all the way back in her seat and half-turned to face him. “So why don’t you come to baseball games very much anymore? If I had seats like these, I would never leave the Rogers Centre.”
“As I said, I don’t really have anyone to come with. Half the fun of a baseball game is spending time with other people.”
“So, what do you do for fun?” Simone rested her chin on her hand and looked up at him with genuine curiosity. “Do you honestly do nothing but work? I find that so strange, especially given your side project.”
“I told you I wasn’t normally one of my own customers.” Until now, that was. “And I’m not into—”
“Long-term relationships. I know, I know.” Simone leaned a little closer to him, and for a moment, it felt as though they were the only two people in the stadium. “Don’t you get lonely? I mean, I’m not really much for dating myself, but I also find it difficult to be alone. Maybe that’s just me.”
Dylan really wasn’t a fan of being on his own; it was one of the reasons he’d enjoyed spending time with his brother at the ball games. But dating wasn’t necessarily the solution to that particular problem. More often than not, it created more issues than he wanted to deal with, and Dylan would often feel lonelier on a date than if he was spending time with someone for some other purpose.
But to verbalize something like that made him sound crazy. What kind of person didn’t want to be alone and yet refused to seek companionship?
“I’m human; of course, I get lonely. But in my experience, having a partner doesn’t always solve that problem. My parents ended up hating one another by the time their marriage was over. My brother is about to walk down the aisle a third time. Even my grandparents didn’t stay married. Every time something would fall apart, I was the one who had to help the parties put the pieces back together again. I was their shoulder to cry on. It’s not the sort of thing I would want to put myself through.”
Again. He had done this once before; he had gotten his heart broken, and he would be damned if he would suffer again.
“That’s one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever heard.” Simone shook her head and turned around as the next batter walked to the plate. “The irony isn’t lost on me, either.”
“What’s that?”
“That the man who runs one of the most successful sugar daddy sites on the Internet, a site that has the strange tendency to create long-term relationships based on common interests and not sex, is one of the loneliest people I have ever met. Kayla wouldn’t believe me if I told her.”
“But you won’t, right?”
Simone sat straight up, totally ignoring the fact that the Blue Jays pitcher had struck out the current batter. “Oh my God, no. I just, she’s my best friend, and I have this terrible habit of telling her everything. But no, I won’t say a word to her about you or your alter ego.”
There was a strange look on her face, and Dylan wasn’t sure if she was lying to him, or if she was worried that she would be unable to keep her promise. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
The rest of the game continued without any further discussion of relationships or sugar daddy sites. They did talk on about the housing project and the best way they could position it in the paper. With each consecutive meeting, Dylan was becoming more invested in the success of this venture. Simone also seemed to genuinely care about what they were trying to accomplish.
“I can’t imagine it’s easy for people with mental health challenges to find a place where they feel safe and don’t have to worry about their personal problems spilling out into their living arrangements.”
“I’ve been doing some reading on these types of co-op homes in different cities around North America. When they’re done right, not only are they a boon to the community, but they help these individuals become more successful. That is the sort of thing that I want to have the Williams label attached to.”
Simone smiled, and she reached out and gave his hand a squeeze. “You’re a good man, Dylan. And not exactly who I thought you would be.”
“What was that?”
“I don’t know? Maybe I thought you were possibly a bit of a sexual deviant? Maybe?” She blushed and pulled down the bridge of her ball cap, which partially covered her eyes. “You could still be, I guess. And that might be interesting too.”
Dylan was many things, though he’d never been accused of being deviant when it came to his sexual desires. He wasn’t precisely vanilla, but he wasn’t going to be shocking anyone in the tabloids with his exploits. Still, he was the guy who had finger-fucked her in the front seat of his car parked at the side of a busy downtown street. He could ratchet things up if he needed to. And there was something about Simone that made him want to, made him want to try to live up to the image of him that she had had before their meeting.
He wanted to be the Candy King for her.
Maybe he needed to take a chance, to give in to some of his wilder impulses. If she was willing, why couldn’t he be her sugar daddy? Why couldn’t he spend his money on her, buy her things that she wanted, merely for pleasure’s sake? It might not lead to anything long-term—nor would he want it to—but, for once, the void inside him might be filled, even if for only a short time.
The crack of cork hitting wood filled the air, causing everyone to leap to their feet. The Blue Jays were at-bat, and the batter had just knocked in a double. Simone was jumping and screaming along with everyone else. Her face was flushed, her glasses had slid down her nose, and her blond hair was bouncing behind her as her unbridled excitement exploded. Falling into bed with her would not be his worst idea.
Before she retook her seat, Dylan reached out and took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “What are you doing later tonight?”
She bit down on her bottom lip and looked away from him. “Other than checking in with the office? I’m pretty much free from this point on. Somehow I’m going to have to justify a baseball game to my boss.”
“All you need to tell them is that you were following the story where it led.” He cocked his eyebrow.
“That will work. Carl would sacrifice his own mother if it meant getting a good story.” Simone snorted. “As long as I bring him the story, everything will be fine.”
“Once the game is over, why don’t you come back to my place?” Dylan let go of her hand and reached for his beer. “Only if you want to. We haven’t even discussed the details of our potential arrangement.”
“That is definitely something we would need to work out.” Simone ran her hands across the tops of her thighs. “Guidelines would be critical. This isn’t exactly something I would want to do long-term. I mean, I’m not exactly someone who would be signing up for the site.”
“I get the impression that you’re not the first person who has said that.” Despite rarely being a client himself, Dylan was more than aware of the expectations of the people who came to the sugar daddy site. Very rarely did people come to it who didn’t need something—whether money, companionship, sex, or merely a warm body to sit beside and talk to. All of those reasons were valid; all of those reasons, and the people they were important to, mattered. There had to be a mechanism in society that wasn’t based on the principles of matrimony.
He tried to pay attention to the game but couldn’t take his eyes off her. “Are you okay with doing this? Really?”
Her gaze dropp
ed to her lap as her face scrunched up. “You know what? I am.” When she finally looked over at him and smiled, her whole body seemed to glow with excitement. “It’s easy to see the appeal to this sort of thing. We will have guidelines, clear expectations. My anxiety won’t kick in at a moment’s notice to tell me that you don’t want to really be with me because you’re just using me for sex. I already know that part. I can simply enjoy our time together until we’re done.”
When she put it that way, Dylan couldn’t help but smile. “Okay then.”
Simone quickly drank the rest of her beer as the announcer came over the PA system once more. “Blue Jays fans, everyone, welcome the Home Hardware cleanup crew.”
“I wanted to be one of these guys when I was younger.” Simone cheered as the group of men and women raced onto the field, brooms in hand, sweeping dirt off the bases and grooming the infield. “I thought it would be the best job in the world.”
Dylan chuckled even as Simone whistled at the crew.
“The irony is that I hate cleaning.”
One additional point that he would have to file away about this fascinating woman.
The next hour and a half passed quickly, and it was tense right up until the ninth inning. Simone had given up all pretense of being a calm, rational human being and began screaming and hollering as the Blue Jays had two men on base. With only one man out, there was a chance they might be able to pull this one off.
Those hopes were dashed when the batter hit a low fly ball to center field and the runner on second was thrown out trying to get to third. The crowd moaned, and Simone pulled her ball cap from her head. “Fucking Yankees.”
“We’re having another one of those seasons for sure.”
Simone turned to face him. “Is that offer to go back to your place still open? I think I could use the distraction after this.”
Dylan’s cock grew hard, and for a moment he had to catch his breath. “If that is something that you want to do, the offer still stands. We can discuss…specifics.”
Simone might blush easily, but that didn’t seem to mean she was shy. She grinned as she reached for her brand-new purse. Putting the strap over her shoulder, she shoved her new Blue Jays cap into it and sat up. “As a journalist, I appreciate specifics. Clear guidelines, word counts, definitions, things like that.”
He had no doubt that there were hidden meanings to each one of those words, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure them out. “I’m more of a hands-on guy. More a doer and less of a speaker. I like physical examples, hands-on learning.”
“Well, I think our two learning styles might be compatible. At the very least, they’ll make for an interesting conversation.”
He was absolutely numb from the teasing at this point and grabbed her hand, tugging her along behind him. “It’s gonna take us forever to get out of here. God only knows what traffic is going to be like.”
“Horrendous. Traffic is always horrendous.” She moved up alongside his body until the side of her breast was pressed against his arm. “We may have to sit in the car for a while. I’m sure we can find something to do.”
Jesus Christ, she was trying to kill him.
It took them a half hour to make their way from their seats back to where he had parked the Tesla. The parking garage was full of laughing people, families and friends enjoying themselves despite their team’s loss. There was a buzz in the air, a mix of excitement and summer relaxation that clung to every person they passed. Usually Dylan would be one of them, laughing and carrying on, but not tonight. Tonight, the only thing he could focus on was Simone and all the things that he wanted to do to her when they got back to his place.
He helped her into the passenger seat before making his way around to the driver’s side. With each step, he berated himself for mentally stripping her naked and sliding his hard cock inside her. There was still every possibility that she would not want to have sex with him, and he was going to have to be on his best behavior until he knew for sure.
The moment he closed the driver’s-side door, he turned to look at Simone and realized that he could see her erect nipples through her bra and T-shirt.
Okay. Clearly, she was either cold—highly unlikely in this heat—or she was just as excited about the prospect of sex as he was. Unless there was another reason a woman’s nipples get hard; he was a dude, after all, and sometimes he wasn’t aware of everything that happened to a woman’s body.
Simone chuckled. “I know this goes against pretty much everything I have ever been taught as a journalist, and I might even get fired if my boss found out. I know that we haven’t even discussed the particulars of what it would mean for me to pretend to be your sugar baby and that I am under absolutely no obligation to have sex with you. All that said, unless something strange happens between now and when we get to your place, that’s probably what’s going to happen. Unless you don’t want to. And maybe I’m being presumptuous, that’s absolutely something that I have been in the past.” Her eyes widened again, and her voice lowered. “You do want to have sex, right? I’m not imagining that, right?”
Dylan burst out laughing. Probably not the wisest decision, given her obvious distress, but he couldn’t exactly stop, as his laughter was based on the expression of real panic mixed with arousal on her face. “If that is something you want to do, I am absolutely on board.”
Simone sighed and leaned back against the seat. “Oh good. I’ve been known to jump the gun.”
“You don’t need to worry. My gun appreciates the enthusiasm.”
And with that, Dylan put the car into reverse and mentally calculated the fastest way he could get them home.
Chapter 14
Simone did not know what to expect when she’d agreed to come back to Dylan’s place, but taking an elevator to the penthouse of a condo building that looked out over Lake Ontario wasn’t exactly it. Over the years, she had driven by these buildings so many times that she had lost count, but not once had she even considered stepping foot inside them. And going up to a penthouse? She wasn’t exactly in the pay grade that would allow for such as a visit.
It was easy to forget that Dylan was incredibly wealthy. How rich she wasn’t exactly sure, but she knew the family was worth billions. Add in the money that he would be earning from the website, and she knew that Dylan wasn’t exactly hurting financially.
The elevator dinged, and the door slid open, revealing a short hallway that led to a single entry. Simone looked down the hall and noticed one other door at the opposite end of the building. “So, you just have one neighbor?”
“Yes. My brother actually owns that unit. His ex-wife, Lidia, lives there right now. He still owns it, but he lets her stay there rent free as part of their divorce settlement.”
“That’s one hell of a settlement.”
“Lidia is one hell of a negotiator. And despite everything, Jonathan really did care for her. He wasn’t about to cause her problems just because he was impossible to live with.”
Amicable divorces were not exactly the norm. She would have to give Jonathan bonus points for not being a complete asshole, even if he wasn’t exactly thrilled that she was on board with the project. “Why is he so against me doing a piece on the condo building for the paper? I would think he would want as much positive exposure as he could get.”
“It’s not you that he has the problem with. Jonathan hasn’t had great luck organizing projects, and Dad tends to push him to the side and lets me take the lead. You were my idea, so Jonathan would be a bit resentful.”
The last thing she wanted was to get into the middle of a family feud. She would make a point of walking carefully between these family lines.
Not that any of that mattered at the moment. She watched with excitement and a tiny bit of fear as Dylan opened the door to his condo. Fresh air rushed out into the hallway, greeting her with relief from the heat outside. As sh
e walked into the room, her sneakers squeaked against the tile floor.
Windows lined the side of the living room, giving her a perfect view of the lake. The sun was setting, and a golden glow filled the room. Shoving off her shoes, she followed Dylan into the kitchen and gladly accepted a beer from him.
“I thought we would start with something simple.” He cracked open the bottle and took a drink, moving to sit opposite her. “I’d rather not do this in writing, but I will if that makes you feel any better. I want everything to be clear and obvious, so neither of us feels trapped or deceived.”
Simone couldn’t take her eyes off his throat as he swallowed his next drink of beer. The muscles moved, his Adam’s apple acting like a sensuous tease. He’d worn a light blue, button-down shirt even to the ball game, and she wanted nothing more than to pop every button that held the fabric together. After they were alone, with no prying eyes to watch or pass judgment, there really wasn’t any reason why Simone had to behave.
“Simone?”
“Right! Yes, rules. I mean, I don’t need them written down. But yes, we should have them. Rules are important.”
Dylan cocked an eyebrow. “Are you nervous?”
“I don’t get nervous.” She snorted, hating that she did that whenever she got nervous. “I’m excited.”
“Excited to be my sugar baby? Or excited to see if I’m as good with my dick as I am with my hands?”
“Yes.” She smiled and put her beer bottle down. “It’s been a while since I’ve had good sex.”
“Thank you for assuming that I’m capable of good sex.” He winked at her. “I take it very seriously.”
Of that, Simone had no doubt. “So, what does it mean to be a sugar baby to Dylan Williams?”
“It can mean anything you want it to mean. But I think for your article it’s important to have the full experience.” Dylan stood, coming around beside her close enough to touch, but not touching. “I’ll give you money to buy things, whatever you want. I’ll take you to shows, the ballet, to the most expensive restaurants in the city. You’ll be pampered and cared for the way that only a man with more money than he can count can afford to do.”
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