Sugar Sweet

by Christine d'Abo

  She was going to have to have a long conversation with her mom once she got back to Toronto. “Don’t bother putting me on speed dial. I’ll be dumping it as soon as I get home.”

  “Oh. Where are you, baby bird?”

  There was a time long ago, when she’d loved his pet name for her. Now, the sound of it turned her stomach. “None of your goddamned business.”

  “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have fucked me over. Goodbye.” Without waiting for another word, she ended the call. Then she turned her phone off.

  Dear God.

  Her entire body shook as she set her phone beside her on the bed. Andrew never did anything without a reason, nor did he simply reach out to see how she was doing. He didn’t give a flying fuck how she was.

  No, Andrew was clearly up to something.

  She couldn’t afford for him to know how badly she was doing, nor about her deal with Vince. While she doubted there was anything Andrew could do to him, Vince didn’t deserve to have her shit-show of a life spill over onto him.

  She’d have to keep her phone off and her mind focused for the rest of the weekend. She’d be there for Vince, help him however he needed her to so he could sell his company and then she’d get the hell out of his life.

  For both their sakes, she had no choice.

  Chapter 11

  Vince knew something was wrong the moment Marissa crept out of her room that morning. The sparkle that had been in her eyes last night while they’d flirted in the hot tub was gone. The smile she gave him as she walked into the kitchen didn’t reach her eyes. Wrapped up in the fluffy bathrobe, she looked like an orphan plucked from the streets from one of those feel-good movies.

  It didn’t suit her.

  “I made an assumption that you like coffee. If I’m wrong, there’s also a variety of teas.”

  She shoved her hands deep into her pockets as she walked around the side of the counter. “Coffee, please. And I’ll take some cream if they have any.”

  “Of course.” Vince topped her up and handed her the mug. He gave her another look, trying to figure out if she was simply not a morning person, or if something had happened when he wasn’t looking. “Did you sleep well?”

  “God, yes. Those sheets are the softest things I’ve ever felt. I’d take them home with me, but I don’t think I could afford the bill.” She took a sip of her coffee and moaned. “That’s so not bargain coffee.”

  “I’m partial to Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. I’ve stayed here before and I believe they’ve made a note about my preferences. It’s always stocked when I stay over.”

  She looked at him for several seconds before giving her head a shake. “Must be nice.”

  It was weird how he’d never been as painfully aware of his own privilege as he was around her. Not that she ever did any one thing to make him uncomfortable, but rather her reactions to the things he took for granted cut like a paper cut. Not deep, but painful and annoyingly present.

  Marissa slid onto the stool and took another long sip of her coffee. “How was your run? I didn’t hear you leave. Or come back for that matter.”

  “Good. I needed to stretch my legs after all the sitting yesterday.”

  He’d also needed to put a damper on his libido after sitting with her in the hot tub. Running with a hard-on had been painful, but thankfully the exercise helped cool him off. It would have been far too easy for his own liking to have picked her up and kissed her until they fell into bed. Seeing as that broke all of his self-imposed rules, Vince had to get out.

  Coming back, sweaty and tired he’d thought everything was fine. Until he climbed into the shower in the bathroom next to where she’d been sleeping. Hello again, hard-on.

  “I’ll probably try and get out for a walk today.” She hugged the mug between her hands as she leaned her elbows on the counter. “There’s so much I want to see.”

  His meeting with Peter was set for three hours from now. Vince had wanted to review some notes with him, to ensure he had a feel for everything Simon Berry would want to discuss. It was practical, given how little time they were going to have in New York, how badly he wanted ETS to buy GreenPro.

  But standing there, staring at Marissa and seeing the excitement on her face, where moments earlier there’d been sadness, did things to his insides he didn’t fully comprehend. “Where do you want to go?”

  “I’ve always wanted to go to The Met. I’ve seen it in so many movies, and read about it in books. It looks amazing. God, and I want to see either the Statue of Liberty, or the Empire State Building. Or go to Times Square.”

  The more she spoke, the more palatable her excitement became. Vince didn’t remember a time that he’d been that excited about sightseeing. Hell, he didn’t remember the last time he went and did anything for pleasure in a city that wasn’t Toronto. Sad state of affairs, but the truth. When you know you can come back to a place at any moment, it takes away some of the urgency to squeeze in as much as you can into every moment.

  How many times had he been to New York? And of all those times, how many did he take time for himself to look around? None.

  Marissa swallowed down the rest of her coffee. “I know you said something about a spa visit, but I don’t want to miss out on seeing anything.”

  A tingle deep in his chest threatened to explode through him. Excitement wasn’t supposed to feel this way, was it? He cleared his throat, hoping she didn’t notice the impact she was having on him. “How about this? You go to the spa treatment while I change my meeting to a call. Once you’re done, I should be finished as well and we can go see the city together.”

  She blinked at him, a smile exploding across her face. “Really? That wouldn’t be a problem? I mean, we’re here for your work stuff. I don’t want to do anything that could jeopardize your sale.”

  He waved away her concern. “It’s not a problem. I only need to touch base with my contact, and I can do that just as easily on the phone as I can in person. The real meeting will be tonight over dinner. That’s when we’ll need to be ready to go.”

  It was surprising how good he felt seeing Marissa’s excitement. Gone was the dark cloud that had accompanied her from the bedroom and in its place, was a radiance that lit the room. “Oh. This is amazing. Okay. Ah, how about I get dressed. Then I’ll figure out the spa thing.”

  God, he wanted to laugh at her silly grin, but he squashed his own giddiness down and replaced it with a smile. “Not much to figure out. I’ll call down and they’ll get ready for you. Go change and we’ll get this day started.”

  He didn’t have to prod her twice. In a heartbeat, she was on her feet and bounding back to her bedroom.

  Vince stood in the kitchen, watching after where she’d disappeared. His body was warm from her excitement, his mood radically improved from the dour concern he’d been feeling over the details of this sale. He was going sightseeing with a woman he barely knew. And yet, it didn’t matter. Marissa took pleasure in the unexpected things. In the short time she’d been in his life, she’d forced him to really look at the things he took for granted.

  A trip in a limo became an erotic ride.

  Putting his feet in a hot tub, a hedonist delight.

  And now a sightseeing tour, an adventure he couldn’t help but look forward to.

  Things in his daily life were suddenly exotic, exciting; his perspective on his life skewed whenever he saw how she looked at things.

  It wasn’t exactly what he’d expected when he’d decided to go forward with the sugar daddy plan. For all his money and privilege, he’d assumed their relationship would be nothing beyond his ability to provide for her during their agreement. How closed minded was he to assume she had nothing she could bring to the table. Everyone had something to offer, no matter their social or economic status. His father had taught him that early
on in his life. Clearly, it was a lesson Vince had forgotten.

  He put his mug down and walked over to the phone. “Hello. Ms. Roy will be ready for her spa treatment within thirty minutes. Is that a problem?”

  “Not at all, Mr. Taylor. Please send her down whenever she’s ready and one of our girls will be waiting.”

  He hung up when Marissa came back out. She’d slipped into a sundress that hugged her frame perfectly. “I don’t know if it’s too cold out for this, but I figure I can change if I need to once I’m done.”

  “You’ll be fine.” He’d make sure they had the limo take them anywhere they wanted to go. “They’ll be ready for you once you go down.”

  “Okay.” She looked around, making a beeline for her purse. “I haven’t gone to a spa since my eighteenth birthday. It was a gift—” She froze, the expression on her face falling. “It doesn’t matter.”

  No doubt, it had been a gift from the ex. “Don’t worry about your purse. Everything is covered. If they have any products that you want, they’ll add it to the bill.”

  “I don’t think I’ll need anything.”

  “I insist. The last few times I stayed here I didn’t take advantage of the spa. I need to get my money’s worth this time.”

  Thea wouldn’t have argued and would have made sure to get as much as she could. It would have simply been an expected part of her experience. With Marissa, he wasn’t sure she’d ask for anything beyond the basics. He got that she didn’t want to be beholden to him any more than necessary, but what was the point of having a sugar daddy if she didn’t take advantage of him?

  Marissa set her purse down with a shrug. “We’ll see. I might not even like the stuff.”

  “I’ll be here when you’re done. Then we’ll go out for lunch and see the sights.”

  Vince stood with his hands in his pockets as she came over and placed a kiss on his cheek. It was only a peck, but the brush of her lips against his skin was as erotic as the kiss they’d shared in the car last night. “Thank you.”

  He didn’t move again until she’d left the penthouse. Only once the door was safely closed did he reach down and press hard against his erection. Shit, keeping things professional was proving harder than he’d anticipated. It was one thing to be sexually attracted to her, but it was something else to feel this emotional tug.

  Marissa was too sweet a person to be anything but upfront with her. She’d been honest about what she’d wanted from him. She didn’t deserve for him to change the rules, to steer her toward a sexual relationship when he’d been so adamant that wasn’t what he’d wanted.

  You need to keep it in your fucking pants, asshole.

  As soon as the sale of GreenPro went through, Vince would pay off whatever debts Marissa had and set her free. Then, he could get on with his life and leave her to enjoy hers.

  * * * *

  Marissa’s body still tingled from the cream the masseuse had rubbed all over her skin this morning. Despite what Vince had said, she didn’t take any of the products that the spa had to offer for herself. Yes, it would be amazing to have them to use, but it would also be a reminder that she wouldn’t be able to afford to have them again. Eventually, this fairytale would come to an end and she’d wake back up sleeping in her hovel.

  She did, however, get a small package to take home to Naomi. It was because of her Marissa was in New York enjoying the experience of a lifetime, the least she could do was bring her back a thank-you present. She’d safely tucked the few creams that they’d wrapped up for her into her suitcase before Vince whisked her away in the limo.

  “I know you might be hungry, but there’s more to see at The Met than we’d be able to manage in a day. We can grab something quick, but you’ll want as much time as possible inside.”

  Stepping inside the museum had been overwhelming. She’d believed Vince when he said they wouldn’t have time to see everything, but there was enough in the great hall to keep her busy for ages.

  He held out his arm for her, and she took it without a thought. “Left or right?”

  She looked in either direction. “Which do you recommend?”

  “I’ve only been here once before, years ago. Everything I would have known would be outdated.” He pulled out the little map. “Egyptian or Greek?”

  That was a no-brainer. “Egyptian.”

  He turned them toward the right. “This way.”

  Marissa was floored by everything. She’d walk over to a display, reading as much as she could, talking to anyone who seemed to know more than she did, all while Vince trailed along behind her. It was one of the most amazing experiences of her life and she had a near-perfect stranger to thank for it.

  They’d barely made it to the armor section when Vince stepped up against her. “I hate to do this to you, but we need to head out. We’ll need time to change before supper.”

  Right, their event for tonight. It was amazing how quickly she’d forgotten about the reason they were in New York to begin with. “Sure. Sorry.”

  He shook his head, his lips twitching in a half smile. “Why apologize? This is the best afternoon I’ve had in a long while.”

  “I doubt you following me around a museum is the best day you’ve had ever. I mean, you’ve been to resorts and other countries. I know you’ve been to movie premieres and have been on television.” She slipped her arm around his and let him lead her to the entrance. “But I appreciate this. I’m going to have to find a way to get back here so I can see the rest.”

  There was something odd in the way he looked at her moments before they stepped out into the sunlight. If he was going to say something about their day, he held it back. “The car is this way.”

  Climbing back into the limo was beginning to feel less strange than the first few times she’d done it. It was even beginning to feel natural having Vince slide onto the seat beside her. “Tonight will be a formal event. I might have to leave you to speak to the spouses while I make my pitch to Simon. If that happens, I won’t abandon you for long.”

  She snorted. “After everything that you’ve done for me today, don’t worry about it. I’ll be the best pretend girlfriend you’ve ever had. I’ll have them eating out of my hand in no time.”

  At least, she hoped she would.

  Vince pulled out his phone and scrolled through his emails. “As long as you have a good time, that’s all that matters. I’d hate to see you upset again.”

  Her mind was racing a mile a minute, but screeched to a halt. “What do you mean?”

  “You were upset this morning when you woke up. Yes, this weekend is about work, but there’s no reason why you can’t have a good time as well.” He set his phone down and looked her right in the eyes. “The real world is far away in Toronto. Right now, for the next twenty-two hours is about having fun. Relaxing. Nothing can hurt you here while you’re with me.”

  Marissa forgot how to breathe. “I…I’m not hurt.”

  Vince narrowed his gaze. “You mean I completely misread you this morning? You weren’t upset?”

  “I mean, I was. I’d gotten a call…look that doesn’t matter.” She licked her lips, unable to form a logical thought. “I don’t need you to protect me.”

  “I’m not. You’re here helping me out. I want you to know that I’m here to help you as well. Think of it as a bit of a strange friendship.”

  “Friends?”

  He cocked an eyebrow and went back to reading his email. “There are worse things we could be.”

  There were also better things they could be—like lovers.

  No, no no no, that so wasn’t going to happen between them. She did not need the complication of a physical relationship with Vince being added to everything else going on in her life. Even if she wanted nothing more than to strip him naked and crawl all over his body. “Sure, we can go with being friends.”

  Vinc
e smiled. “Good.”

  Marissa wasn’t so sure about that, but she was certain she’d find out one way or the other.

  Chapter 12

  Marissa’s heart raced as they entered the restaurant and stepped into God only knew what kind of situation. Vince had filled her in on the details of his business dealings with ETS Investments and how the CEO Simon Berry was far more conservative than she was probably used to. She didn’t exactly consider herself as crazy liberal, more of a live and let live person. But she really didn’t know any super conservative people, unless she counted Sarah Murphy from her mom’s church. But even Sarah was more about her own actions than what other people did. No, Marissa was a pretty average girl when it came to her outlook on life.

  Then again, Vince was her sugar daddy, so clearly she was more open minded about certain things than some other people would be.

  Vince’s large body beside her was a reassuring presence as they walked into a private area. She’d chosen the midnight blue dress Caroline had insisted she buy, knowing it looked good on her, but shouldn’t raise any eyebrows. Well, except for Vince’s when he saw her step out into the living room.

  If looks could strip a person, she’d have been naked on his bed in half a second.

  “Relax, Marissa.” He gave her hand a little squeeze. “You look like you’re going to break in two.”

  “I’m just scared I’m going to screw this up for you.” The closer they’d gotten to the restaurant, the more she’d started to freak out. “I know how important this sale is.”

  Vince leaned in and placed a kiss on her temple. “You let me worry about the sale. Enjoy the food and drinks and be yourself. Everyone will love you.”

  It wasn’t as though she was ever going to see any of these people again. She took a deep breath and put on her best smile. This was her job, the entire reason she’d come to New York in the first place. She could do this.

  “Vince!” A man several inches shorter than Vince, but every bit as handsome, strode over to them. His brown eyes belied intelligence. “Dear God, where have you been hiding this beauty?”