The Billionaire's Club: Secret Billionaire’s Club Book Six

by Tracey Pedersen

  MINDY

  Two hours pass in the blink of an eye and I laugh at Merek’s squinty eyes when I turn on the light and move to close the curtains. He had his head deep in the pages and didn’t hear me come in.

  “You seem engrossed. What part are you reading?”

  “A particularly scandalous passage. It goes like this,” he lifts the book, and with a quick raised-eyebrow glance at me, begins to read. “The weight of her breasts in my hands did strange things to my insides, and I gulped. I followed her lead and explored her nipples, which felt large in my inexperienced fingers. I rubbed my thumb across the hardening pebbles, just like—”

  “Okay, I’ve got it.” I hold my hand against my hot cheek. “I know where you’re up to.”

  “This is saucy. When you said you wrote romance, I didn’t expect to get the good stuff.”

  I shrug and turn away. “You can joke all you want.”

  “I’m not making fun. Why do you think that?”

  “I’m uncomfortable when you read it out, that’s all.”

  “Why? You wrote it. I think it’s really good. Let me read you my favourite bit.” He flicks back a few pages and scans down the page. “Here. Slowly, he got the idea and started to move in and out of her mouth. She sucked, licked, and swirled her tongue wherever she could make contact, and his groans excited her even more as he buried his fingers in her hair and jerked forward, harder now.” He looks back at me and licks his lips. “That’s hot. I can picture it.”

  “Don’t picture it too much. You’ll fall out of bed again.”

  “You’re funny. You should write comedy.”

  “I have some comedy, when you’re finished with the saucy stuff.” I can’t seem to wipe the smile from my lips. Hearing that people like my work makes me happy, even if it’s confronting. It’s the reason I put words on paper every day.

  “I can’t wait. I’m going to guess you don’t have a car full of books. Where can I buy the others?”

  “All the usual book places. I’m all over the internet if you check.”

  “Ooh.” He grins and holds up his phone. “Lucky I have this again. I can stalk you when I’m awake in the middle of the night. I bet your background check lists everywhere you’re mentioned.”

  “You didn’t look at it?”

  “No. I’ve been kind of busy.”

  I laugh. The look on his face is a mixture of amusement and anticipation. It never occurred to me that men would enjoy my books. I’ve always imagined I was writing exclusively for women. “Well, look up my other books, if you want to be bored. Anyway, are you hungry? Can I get your dinner?”

  “Sure.” He shoves my book under his pillow. “Want to eat together? Can you help me out of this bed?”

  “Of course.” I roll the chair toward his bed. “We can eat in the kitchen if you’re up to it.”

  “Sounds good, and after that I think my bed needs to go back in my bedroom.”

  He won’t meet my eyes, which is unusual for him. Normally he stares at me, whether I’m speaking or not. I’ve caught him with his eyes on me more than once since I got here. It seems my book has had an interesting effect on him today.

  Chapter Fourteen - Merek/Mindy

  MEREK

  I can’t spend another night thinking of Mindy sleeping next to naked with just a door between us. Two doors are unlikely to make a bigger difference, but it’s all I have right now.

  Mindy’s pocket beeps and her hands still, our dinner forgotten. She pulls her phone out and frowns at the screen.

  “Something wrong?”

  “No.” She looks at me, a smile forming. “It’s good news. Kate’s mum is going to be fine. She had a stroke but she’s stable. They’re on their way home.”

  “Good for her. Have you met her mum?”

  She tucks her phone away, a new bounce in her step. She pulls a dish from the oven and sniffs the air when she lifts the lid. “Yes. We’re close. I’ve been freaking out, but there’s been a lot going on here to keep me busy.”

  “True. Grown men falling out of bed. Hordes of crazy friends descending on the house to complain about the problems of the wealthy.”

  She chuckles. “Something like that.”

  I wheel myself to the table, taking several tries to get in position. Tomorrow I plan to practice moving through the house on my own. I’m anxious for Mindy to see me as a man, instead of her patient.

  MINDY

  Just after midnight I close my laptop and stretch my arms over my head. My back is aching, but I’m thrilled with what I’ve achieved. Two full chapters now weave details into the next part of my story, and I have a twist in my belly, my words having had a physical effect on me. My eyes are burning, and I need a drink before bed.

  For the second time today I’m glad Merek is sleeping in his own room. Thinking of him out there has seen me toss and turn for the last two nights.

  A glance down reminds me I’m wearing my flimsy not-suitable pyjamas. I can’t help but smile, remembering how awkward we both were when I rushed out to check on him. And how I felt. How I nearly drooled with my arms around him, his warm chest pressed against me. It’s warm in this old stone house. Even if I had a robe, I wouldn’t want to put it on. I’d melt.

  With a chuckle I slip into the lounge room and head for the kitchen. A glass of iced water hits the spot and I refill my glass with milk to take back to my room. I take an apple from the fruit bowl and push the door to the lounge room open with my elbow.

  I’m padding across the room, being careful not to make a noise when an unexpected sound shocks me. I slide to a stop, the blood draining from my face, as a key turns in the lock and the front door silently swings open, just like it did when I arrived days ago.

  I take a step back, but I’m too slow, and before I have a chance to think about what’s happening, I find myself face to face with Merek’s mother.

  At least, I think she’s his mother. We played get-to-know-the-family after dinner, him pointing out his parents and various important people to him in the photos he has mounted on one wall. His mother had jet black hair in the photos, and the woman now flicking on the light and turning disapproving eyes on me has the same. Her fringe is cut in a severe style and I could ignore that if her eyes weren’t now piercing right through my skin.

  “And who might you be?” She barks the words in my direction, her hands clutching the same keys that I found hiding to allow my own entrance. “Merek moved someone in here already?”

  My arms go across my chest, the milk slopping onto the inside of my elbow. “I’m Mindy. I’m here to look after him.”

  She rolls her eyes and drops the keys into a glass bowl on the table. “He doesn’t need that kind of looking after, dear. In case you didn’t notice, he has a broken leg, amongst other things.”

  “Yes. Two broken ribs, three broken fingers, a fractured wrist, and his blood pressure is one-twenty-three over eighty-two. He needs to go to the toilet seven times a day and he had his last meal at six forty-five.”

  “You know what time he ate. Good for you. The blood pressure number is a nice touch, but you’re barely dressed. You can’t expect me to believe you’re the nurse.”

  “I am the nurse.” I lift my chin, determined to make her see the truth, despite what this looks like.

  “Bullshit,” she spits. Her gaze is like steel and my instinct is to step backward. “I chose the nurse and I specifically asked for someone plain. They promised me she would keep covered up.”

  I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. “You made a request that the nurse would stay covered up?”

  “I did.” She steps toward me. “Which means you are not what I asked for. If they sent you instead of the one I chose, you’re still wrong and can go. I’m here now.”

  She’s two inches taller than me and it kills me to look up at her to argue. “Really.” I hold up my hands, mortified when I remember they hold a glass of milk and an apple. “Ask Merek. My room is in there.” I nod to my open door
and she sighs.

  “I’m familiar with the many ways you can pretend you’re not doing the wrong thing. I have four sons. Now, please pack your things and leave.” She turns away, dismissing me as though I didn’t even speak. I open my mouth to insist we talk to Merek, but she turns back before I can get a word out. “Oh, and what kind of nurse wants to wake up the patient in the middle of the night? More proof you’re a fake.”

  Chapter Fifteen - Mindy

  My forehead hits the table with a gentle thud. “Why did I agree to go there? Why did I have to fall for him?”

  “Oh, come on, Mindy. You couldn’t know.” Kate slides a piece of cake across the table. “Who’s ever heard of a chain of circumstances like this leading to true love?”

  “Not me, that’s for sure.” Tears prick my eyes and I keep my head on the table. “I might need to get a full-time job to take my mind off him. Learning something new could keep my brain occupied.”

  “Don’t be silly. I have a full-time job and it sucks. Stick with writing and housesitting.” She sips her coffee and softens her tone. “He hasn’t called you. That must mean something, don’t you think?”

  “How would he? I didn’t leave a number. I stormed out and told his mother I didn’t want to hear from any of them ever again.”

  Kate laughs and then covers her mouth. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh. I can see you spitting words at her in your underwear, though.” She sips her coffee and makes a face, “This could be hotter. How’s yours?” I hear my saucer drag across the table then she mutters again. “Yuk.” Her fingers graze my arm and I lift my head. Her eyes are filled with sympathy, but that just makes me feel worse. “Do you want to go somewhere else?”

  “Nope.” I sniff. “It makes no different to me where I cry. It makes me unhappy here and will make me unhappy at home. How’s your mum doing? I’m sorry I’m being so selfish.”

  Kate rolls her eyes. “You’re not being selfish. If we weren’t all tiptoeing around Mum, we could go to her and joke about how this is all her fault. If she didn’t have that stroke—”

  “Stop, Kate.” I manage a laugh, my eyes wide. “Don’t even joke about it. Is she going to be okay?”

  “Yes. She’s a tough old bird. She’ll be fine. I’m not so sure about you, though.” She squeezes my arm. “I feel so bad for putting you in that position.”

  “I agreed to it. You know that.” I lean back in my chair and sigh. “And let’s face it. If his mother hadn’t shown up, I wouldn’t be sitting here unhappy. I’d be there pretending not to feel anything.”

  There’s silence between us as we stare at each other. Kate blinks and I giggle, our smirks soon turning to laughter. We snort and guffaw until new tears trickle down my cheeks and Kate joins in. When we’re done, I don’t know if I’m laughing or crying. Kate wipes her eyes and then looks at me, assessing me.

  “Why don’t you just visit? Drop in on him and see if there’s still a spark?”

  “No. That’s not going to happen. What if his mother is still there? What if he has another carer who tells me I’m not welcome?”

  “It doesn’t sound like that will happen. If he feels half of what you do, it won’t be like that.”

  I tap my fingers on the table. “I’m not going to see him.” I shake my head. “I’m not. It sounds great when I tell it to you, and I know what I felt when I was there, but we never discussed it. No one made a move. I might have been drooling behind closed doors, but that doesn’t mean anything. I probably imagined it all.”

  “I don’t know, Minds. What about the morning with his friends? You said they liked you and they were nice.”

  “They were.” I bite my lip, unsure if I should mention the thing that’s been playing over and over in my mind. “They were talking about their billions, Kate. Billions. I don’t think that life is for me.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’d hate him to think I went there because of that. And really, it was only a few days. Nothing to get excited about. It was nothing.” I nod my head. “Really. Nothing.”

  Chapter Sixteen - Mindy

  “What are you doing here?”

  The heat from his gaze blasts straight up my spine. I want to run to him, but I want to race out the door and back to my safe life just as much. Coming here didn’t feel like a mistake until I saw him. My foot lifts to take a step back, but instead I step to the side and slouch nonchalantly, giving myself one chance to fake my way through the reunion I’ve thought about every day.

  “You invited me back in July. I hope you weren’t drugged that day.”

  “I wasn’t. I didn’t think I’d see you again, though.” His eyes bore into mine, like he can’t look away.

  “Melody and I are online friends. She made sure I hadn’t forgotten.” I grin, knowing I’m playing with fire. “How could I pass up a party invitation with Cole Grant and Melody Aimes?”

  “Oh, no you didn’t.”

  I chuckle, my eyes locked to his. “I’m joking.”

  “Come with me.” His voice is gruff—that whisky-ravaged tone I remember from the first day we met. The sound I’ve missed every day since I left—the same one that has haunted my dreams almost every night. His fingers close around my upper arm and he tugs me toward the kitchen, a limp evident. When we’re through the door he pushes it closed and wedges a chair against the handle.

  “Is that really necessary?”

  “You must have forgotten how nosy Danny can be. That should keep him out long enough for us to clear a few things up.” He leads me to the kitchen and turns me to face him, my back against the countertop. He’s close enough for me smell his shampoo. Close enough that I have to look up to speak to him. My heart tries to crawl into my throat when I find him staring at me. “Why did you really come? I don’t see you being star struck.”

  “Do I have to spell it out for you?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re going to make me say it?”

  “I am.”

  “Isn’t it obvious?”

  “No.”

  “I came to see how your scar was healing.” There’s a heavy silence until I reach up to touch his cheek, my fingers running over the puckered skin. He groans and I quickly drop my hand. “It looks good.”

  “They said this is almost as good as it will get without plastic surgery. Do you think I need to take that step?” Merek twitches, obviously uncomfortable asking the question. His eyes tell me he’s truly seeking my opinion.

  “Absolutely not. It gives you character.”

  “Character?” He blinks. “I like the sound of that. Now, why are you really here?”

  I seal my lips against my answer. I made the trek all the way here. I believed Melody when she promised me his mother wouldn’t be here. Now it’s his turn to give a little. To let me know I didn’t come back for nothing. As much as I want this chance, I’m not prepared to humiliate myself if Merek doesn’t feel the same.

  His fingers grip my chin and force me to look him in the eye. “I can’t believe the most honest person I know isn’t talking.”

  “Being honest doesn’t make me a risk taker,” I whisper. He’s so close he’s affecting my breathing.

  He leans closer, if that is even possible. “Since when? The Mindy I knew crept into this house pretending to be someone else. She raced to rescue me from an imaginary burglar, even though she was half naked. She put her fears aside and faced my mother, and met my rather imposing group of friends. She’s friends with a Hollywood actress after one in-person meeting. I’d say she’s a risk taker.”

  I can’t seem to find my voice, so my whispers continue. “The meeting with your mother didn’t go well.” A look of pain seeps into his eyes and I drop mine to his chest. “Why did you drag me into the kitchen?”

  “For this.” He dips his head and without preamble his warm lips brush mine. They’re firm and he seeks more, his tongue running along my bottom lip. I kiss him back, a sigh building in my throat. His hand slides up my arm allowing h
is fingers to settle in my hair. He tips my head back slightly and my mouth opens, giving him free rein to explore. He sucks my lips for a split second, then speaks against my mouth. “I’ve wanted to do that since the first moment I saw you.” His words are lost in our next kiss and my fingers clutch the seam of his jeans when he presses his whole body into me. Our moans mingle, and within seconds my legs are wrapped around him and he’s lifting me to the counter, a finger hooked in my skirt to drag it up over my hip. His hands slide inside my shirt and then he grinds against me, the thrill of him standing like this almost too much for me to take. For weeks, I stood over him for every interaction. Now he towers above me, taking his time to thoroughly kiss me.

  I can hear Danny talking on the other side of the kitchen door and my lust-filled head clears with a jolt. Merek hears it too and our kiss winds down before he leans his forehead against mine.

  “I want to take you on a date.” He kisses my chin. “Soon.”

  I laugh, a shuddering breath bursting out of my chest. “I’d like that.”

  Merek kisses along my jaw before sucking my earlobe into his mouth. “I don’t suppose you’re available for house sitting?”

  I tilt my head, glad that Danny has moved away from the door. As we’re engulfed in silence, again, we take the moment to float back into our own little bubble. Merek’s fingers tighten on the skin around my ribs and I moan out a sigh. “My calendar is free for a couple of weeks. Do you know someone looking?”

  “Me.” He pulls away and stares into my eyes. “I’m looking. For a woman who knows what she wants. Who’s honest. And brave.” He runs a finger across my cheek and kisses me lightly. “I want you to stay. I want to spend time with you on an equal footing, instead of me needing care. I want to treat you to the things I would have done if we’d met differently. I want the chance to romance you properly.” His intense stare is almost too much and I have to force myself to close my mouth.