The bathroom door opened.
“Oh my God!” a woman shrieked.
Jay jumped back and I yanked my dress back down, hoping I hadn’t just given her a wide-angle shot of my crotch.
Jay flashed his dazzling smile at her. He tipped his head at her and said, “Ma’am” and left the bathroom.
Meanwhile my skin had turned the same shade of red as my dress and I fumbled to regain some composure. She rushed into a stall and I fled the room.
Jay was sitting at the table as if nothing had just happened. I hurried back to the table, the g-string bunched up in my hand. I dropped it in his lap as I passed him and sat down in my seat.
It was so much more comfortable now I didn’t have a narrow piece of fabric taut across my sensitive parts.
Jay picked up the g-string, propped his elbows on the table and held it out between his fingers, like a cat’s cradle. My eyes darted around the room, praying no one was looking our way.
“I wish you’d stay at my house,” he said, his eyes on the silk triangle.
“We talked about this, I want to stay at my place on weeknights. I like walking to work. It means I can sleep in longer.” When was he going to understand I needed my home? I loved my condo. I’d worked so hard to keep it. I didn’t want to give it up.
“Don’t the nights make it worth it?”
Still worked up from the bathroom, I tingled all over as I pictured one of our nights. It was true. Tonight would be the first time in two weeks that we hadn’t slept in each other’s arms after fucking half the night away.
“You could always stay at mine,” I said, trying not to sound like I was begging. Which I was.
“I don’t know, I think I may be done with slumming it now,” he said, joking.
“Ouch, harsh! My condo is not a slum, I’ll have you know,” I said laughing.
He flashed his dazzling smile at me. “You know I can see your nipples through that dress?”
My hands went to my breasts, covering them. How were you supposed to wear a bra with the cut of this dress? They could at least have put extra fabric in the front, to shield the nipples.
“I didn’t have a bra that wouldn’t show with the cut-out back.”
“So you’re telling me you’re sitting there in no panties or bra?”
“I guess I am.”
“And you expect me not to fuck you right now on this table?”
My eyes widened, unsure if he was serious or not. I wouldn’t put it past him.
Our food arrived, distracting us from the idea. I dug into a dish of… something. It tasted nice anyway. Better than nice, amazing. I stopped talking while I finished all that yummy something.
Jay ordered another bottle of wine.
While waiting for our entrées, he said, “This weekend, before the weather gets too cold, I’m going to take you out on my boat.”
“You have a boat?” Of course he does.
“Technically a cabin cruiser. It’s supposed to be sunny Saturday.”
“Sure.”
“Don’t wear underwear.”
I laughed. “Okay, I get it now. Is this more of you marking your territory?” Jay had this thing going on, where he had to fuck me in a different room in his mansion every night. I still hadn’t been back in his bedroom. But twelve bedrooms takes time, especially when you include en suites. After that we were starting on the ground floor. We probably wouldn’t finish the basement until spring.
“You know, it’s going to take a lot longer if you’re not there Monday to Friday.”
“Yeah? Maybe I want to do the same to you in my condo.”
“You have three rooms. Including the bathroom. And we’ve already fucked in two of them.”
“I have areas. There’s a living area, a dining area, a kitchen area.”
Jay laughed, his smile lighting up his entire face.
Our next course arrived, and I laughed at the tiny little bird on my plate. Good thing I wasn’t that hungry, other than my hunger for Jay.
We finished our meal with dessert, mine a panna cotta with gooseberry. Whatever panna cotta was. Or gooseberry. It was insanely delicious, like the rest of the meal.
“Coffee?” the waiter asked.
“Just the bill,” Jay said.
“Hey, maybe I want some,” I protested. The waiter and Jay both looked at me and I squirmed.
“Maybe I’ve been sitting here all night knowing you weren’t wearing a bra or panties and now I want to take you home and rip that dress off you,” Jay said, his voice stern.
I burned red and stared down at the table, debating whether to crawl under it. How could he say that right in front of the waiter?
“I’ll get the check,” the waiter said.
“Hurry,” Jay said.
I raised my eyes to glance at him, still burning. But somehow I found the courage to say, “I’m going to pay tonight.”
He laughed. “No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I insist. It’s to celebrate my first day. I want to get it.” I put as much confidence into my voice as I could muster.
“Don’t be ridiculous. This is a celebration, and you don’t pay for your own celebration.”
“Jay, I mean it. I want to pay.”
His lip curled. “No.”
“Half, at least let me pay for half.”
“Why do you want to pay so badly?” His voice was puzzled. He really didn’t get it.
“Because I don’t want you paying all the time just because you’re rich. I want to pay my own way in life. Not depend on a rich boyfriend.”
The waiter discreetly set the bill on the table. We both reached for it. Jay’s hand got there first, mine landing on top of his. I didn’t let go, I would not let him pay my way.
He pulled his hand away, taking the bill with it.
“I mean it,” I said, trying not to grit my teeth.
His eyes flicked over it, ignoring me. I stared at him, waiting for him to look up. He took his black American Express card out of his wallet and tucked it in the leather folder the bill had come in.
I kept staring at him, waiting for him to notice me. At last he looked over and laughed. I don’t think I have a very good steely look.
“You want to pay so badly?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Fine.” He slid the check across the table, chuckling. I picked it up, flicked my eyes to him then down to the bill. Fuck me. I swallowed. Two thousand bucks. How was that even possible? Over eight hundred dollars for each bottle of wine alone.
I cleared my throat. “Maybe I’ll just cover the tip.” I mentally calculated twenty percent. Four hundred dollars! Why didn’t I figure that out before I’d made the offer? And why wasn’t I waitressing in a fancy restaurant?
He laughed. “I warned you.”
Annoyed, I held my ground when I probably shouldn’t have, but I didn’t like the way he’d laughed. “I insist, I’ll cover the tip. Is that good?”
“If it’ll make you happy, but you really don’t need to.”
Chapter 4
I nestled up against Jay in the cab, relishing his closeness. His phone beeped, and he took it out of his inside suit pocket to look at it. My heart sank. There’d been so many times our plans were quashed after he’d looked at that phone that I wanted to smash it into a million pieces.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Fine.”
“You’re not going to rush off on me, are you?”
“No chance.”
“Promise?”
Jay laced his fingers through my hair and angled my face to his. He kissed me in a way that showed his lust before pulling my head away and sitting back in his seat.
Breathless from the kiss, I willed the cab driver to hurry. To put his foot down and make it through that yellow light.
We pulled up in front of my building. Not in front of the doors, as Jay’s car was blocking them, but just behind the McLaren. Jay paid and we got out.
As we walked to the
doors, I dug around in my purse for my keys. I pulled them out triumphantly and held them up for Jay to see. Except he wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at his car.
Someone had keyed it. A big scratch all the way along from headlight to taillight. Guess that was from the ninety-nine percent.
“Oh no,” I said.
“Don’t worry, let’s get upstairs.” He bundled me to the entrance.
We got in the elevator. I expected him to grab me as soon as the elevator doors shut. But he stared straight ahead, a vacant look on his face, which unnerved me.
We arrived at my floor, and he followed along behind me to my door. Once inside my condo, I undid my trench coat and let it slide off my shoulders and down my arms, until it landed on the floor.
He looked at me but didn’t seem to be seeing me. I pulled my dress over my head and dropped it on the floor. Jay remained motionless. I suddenly felt exposed and doubted myself.
“Why don’t you sit down and I’ll make us some coffee?” I said.
“Why would I want coffee at a time like this?” Lust returned to his eyes.
He reached for me, grazing my breasts with his fingertips before removing his suit jacket and hanging it on the doorknob. He loosened his silk tie, pulled it over his head and laid it over the suit jacket.
“Stop holding your arms in front of you,” he said.
I let go of my hands and put them at my sides. I didn’t know why he still sometimes made me so nervous.
“Better,” he said.
I stepped up to him, intending to undo his shirt and reveal his perfect chest muscles underneath. Every time I saw them they took away my breath. But before I got to him, he had me up against the wall and kissed me. My lips, my cheeks, my hair. His hands gripped my ass while I worked at undoing his shirt.
“So you want to break in your areas?” he asked between kisses.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Carrying on with his kisses, he guided me into the living area and backed me up against the dining table. I got his shirt undone, pulling it wide open and undoing his pants.
“You made me sit there all night, looking across at you in that dress.”
His words set me on fire. To know that someone as gorgeous as him felt that way about me.
He sat on the chair, his lips too far from mine. I opened my mouth to protest but he grabbed my legs and pulled me onto him, until I was straddling his lap.
“Do you know how hard it was for me not to pull you onto my lap in the restaurant?”
“If it was anywhere near as hard as it is now, I can imagine.”
I reached between us and wrestled his hard cock free of his boxers. He lifted me, then lowered me onto him, his cock sliding into my wet pussy.
He gripped my ass, and raised and lowered my body, faster and faster. His lips licked and nipped over my tits, his mouth becoming more frantic as my moans increased.
“Next time you wear a thong out in public, I will be fucking you. I don’t care where we are.”
At his words, an orgasm crashed through me, slackening my feet and leaving me unable to move myself.
Jay clamped his hands onto my waist and continued the earlier motion of moving me up and down on his shaft. His hands hooked up behind my back and held me onto him, releasing himself in me.
I thought that was a speed record for us. But it was already after ten on a work night.
“I guess you need to get going home,” I said, playing with his hair.
“Unfortunately, I have a meeting at seven in the morning.”
“Stay with me.” I kissed his neck.
“I would, if I could. Come home with me. How will I get to sleep without you against me?”
My heart filled with his words. He made me feel better than I’d ever felt in my life. Certainly better than Matt ever had.
With Matt there was always a sense he wasn’t fully in the relationship. Which, of course, it turned out he wasn’t since he’d been living a double life and lying about who he was to con me out of as much of my money as possible.
With Jay, I only ever got the sense that he wanted me. Just me. And nothing else. Like I was the only woman he’d ever been interested in in his life.
“I’ll miss you,” I said, meaning it.
Maybe I should go back to his. But I hated the idea of leaving my condo, of abandoning it after killing myself to make the mortgage payments. I didn’t want to live off him, or anyone. I needed to pay my own way in life, and there was no way I could financially contribute to his ridiculous mansion. I doubt I could even afford the electricity bill.
Jay lifted my body off his and I stood beside the chair. He stood and hugged me tight before doing up his pants and shirt.
“I can stay a little longer.” He brushed his hand down my arm, the warmth filling me.
We cuddled together on the sofa, flicking through TV channels without seeing any of them. My eyelids became harder and harder to keep open. It was so cozy in Jay’s arms, I couldn’t bear to tell him to leave so I could go to bed. Instead I worried how tired I’d be for my second day at my new job, but I’d get through it. It was all worth it to have more time with Jay.
He kissed my hair and he said, “It’s late.”
I knew he was right. It was after midnight on a Monday. He had an early morning meeting, and he still had to drive to his house. Though by the looks of his McLaren sports car, I somehow doubted he’d stick to the speed limit and it wouldn’t take him long to get home.
“I guess you’d better get going,” I said.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Really?” I said, excited.
“If you won’t come home with me then I have no choice, I have to stay here.”
“Thank you.” I hugged him and kissed his cheek.
“How could I leave you?”
Cuddled up against him in my bed was the best feeling in the world. Happier than I’d ever been before, I drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 5
You’d better be coming out tonight
I hadn’t seen my friends since the evening of the date rape drug at the nightclub. They’d been so supportive of me after the mess I was in when the sex photo of Jay and me became all the rage on the internet and I found out Jay Mickle was actually James McAllister, the billionaire owner of the company I worked at.
I would not have made it through those weeks without their support. I owed them so much. Especially Marla, who worked all her headhunting contacts to find me another job. And Jenny and Sam for being with me, day and night, keeping me sane.
Of course!!!
Jay had stayed at my place every night. Every area of my little condo had now been christened with our relationship. He worked a lot. Usually he didn’t show up until eight or nine and was gone before my alarm went off in the morning. Going out with the girls would only mean two or so extra hours without him. I hope I could cope. And that he wouldn’t mind.
Sorry, have to go out with girls tonight
I waited anxiously for his response. It would be the first evening we’d chosen to spend apart since the night club. I wasn’t sure how he would react to the news. Except it was normal for people in a relationship to do different things. But I didn’t know, with him everything seemed much more intense.
Be careful. Watch your drink. I will come pick you up and walk you home. J
I let out a sigh of relief. It would be great to see Jenny and Sam, but I couldn’t wait to get home and see him.
* * *
Sam and Jenny were already at our usual Friday after-work bar.
“Hey stranger,” Sam said, jumping up to hug me.
“I’ve missed you,” Jenny said, squeezing me tight.
“How’s it going at CQ Francis?” Sam asked.
“It’s good, so far. No one has let on they’ve seen the photo anyway, which was my biggest worry.”
“Well that counts for something,” Jenny said.
“It’s the best I could h
ope for.”
“Who cares? You looked hot in the photo, and man are you one lucky girl to have a guy like him. He is ripped,” Sam said.
I blushed. Didn’t I know it. Somehow he looked even better naked than he did fully dressed, which seemed like an impossibility.
“I’ll get us drinks,” Jenny said.
“No! I’m getting them. I owe you both a whole lot of drinks to thank you for all you did for me.”
“Don’t be silly,” Jenny said.
“I mean it. I am getting the drinks. Is Marla coming?”
“She couldn’t make it. I think she’s found a new man too,” Jenny said.
“Lucky her. Everyone is getting some but me,” Sam said.
“Jenny’s not…” I started to say.
“Oh yes she is! See what happens when you hole up with a man for two weeks?”
“No! Who?” I asked. Jenny was my best friend. How did I not know she was seeing someone? Although she ran through men like water, so it was not all that surprising.
Jenny blushed.
“Collin,” Sam blurted.
“Of course. Let me guess, you hooked up the night of the club.”
“Maybe,” Jenny said, “Or maybe it was a few weeks before and that’s why he comped it all.”
“A few weeks before? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because you’d fallen apart after the email. How could I have told you then? ‘Hey, I know your boyfriend turned out to be a liar but guess what, I have a great new one.’” She was right. She couldn’t have said anything, I was a basket case for those weeks between the email and the night club.
“There’s more,” Sam said.
My eyes flared at Jenny.
“It’s Collin.”
“What do you mean Collin? Oh my God, do you mean Collin Collin?”
Jenny nodded.
“Okay, I need to hear this story. I’m getting all the drinks tonight,” I said and walked to the bar.
I opted for margaritas. Normally we reserved them for special occasions, because the cocktails were overpriced in this bar, and every bar. But tonight I wanted to pay them back for their support.
Billionaire's Secret: The Complete Series Page 19