The CEO’s Fake Fiancee: (A Virgin & Billionaire Romance)

by Amber Burns

  “I got a roof over my head, food to eat, and a bike to ride,” I gestured for a hand up and with a little effort was hefted to my feet by the both of them. “That’s all a guy needs.”

  “Plus a little pussy never hurts,” Jimmy gave my arm a punch. “When you’re done with that girl lemme know. I’d like to give her a ride.”

  “Fuck off, Chair force,” I shook out my numb leg and looked at Anthony. “It’ll run now. You just need to clean the rest of that shit up. You’re probably going to need a whole new gas tank, though. You’re gonna want to get that before you try taking it for a ride.”

  “I buy one and bring it here you’ll put it on for me?”

  I nod, “Tomorrow I’ll be out though so you’ll have to wait.”

  “Thanks,” he offered me his hand, and I shook it. Then he pulled into one of those one-armed hugs that were always awkward from strangers. “If you change your mind about the other stuff Jimmy has my number. I’ll remember to cut you a deal.”

  I nodded but didn’t comment. There were red flags here. I watched as Jimmy and Anthony loaded up the piece of shit bike into a trailer before he pulled out. When it was just Jimmy and me, I felt the need to reach out to the guy.

  “You getting into trouble here?”

  “Fuck no,” he didn’t wait for me as he walked back to the bar. “I’m just making extra money. Not all of us can live off the government.”

  I stayed outside, my pills in one hand and the bottle of water in the other. I didn’t think Teddy and Wilson would be keen on Jimmy making extra money depending on what he was dealing in. A shit storm was brewing, and I hoped to God that guy wasn’t going to bring the cops running in here. The club had it’s front as a way for helping vets, I was proof of that. But to make money, they also trafficked pot and CBD oil to people that could use it, people that needed it for treatment. Hell, I was fairly certain Cindy probably made the eatables. And while all of it would get them long prison sentences, they felt like they were helping people out. Plus, they did all they could to keep me out of it.

  I had to think about what to do about my hunch, whether to let it be or bring it up to Teddy. I distracted myself with cleaning up the lot, there was a lot to think about, and it would weigh on me the rest of the day.

  6

  I got to Madi’s place by ten, mostly because I didn’t want to be an ass and be too early. I was happy to find out she lived in a quiet neighborhood in a little house that seemed appropriate for her. At first, I found myself kind of worried that she lived with her parents. However, I only saw her car, and there was no garage. No old man came barging out of the house when I pulled up, my bike announcing my presence. I got up, leaving my bike close to her car, because I had tools in the saddle bags, and went to knock on her door. I hoped I wasn’t too early. What if she went out the night before? She didn’t look like the partying type, but I could always be wrong.

  My nerves got settled when she opened the door and smile at me. She was wearing a simple t-shirt and a pair of what I thought were yoga pants.

  “Good morning,” she said, she had a cup of coffee in hand. “Do you want some breakfast? Or coffee?”

  “I’m good thanks,” I nodded towards her driveway. “You got the things I asked you to get?”

  “I did,” she stepped aside, leaving her door open, and went to fetch a bag that she had left on a small blue couch. The inside of her house looked quaint, cozy; it was apparent quickly that she lived alone. It was clean, but she looked like she catered only to herself. She came back to me with the bag and her keys in hand, “You could’ve come inside.”

  I lingered in the doorway, “I will later. But I like to get work done first.”

  I took the bag and her keys from her and stepped off the small porch. She followed me at a length as I went to her car.

  “Do you need help?”

  “Nah,” I unlocked it then popped the hood. “You’re more than welcome to keep me company, though.”

  She seemed to decide just that, taking the time to help me by getting tools that I asked for and asking questions about what I was doing. We built a good banter, and the more we spoke, the more she seemed to relax. I had just finished putting the oil filter, and I was starting to put the fresh oil in when I felt her slim arms come around me from behind.

  “Thank you,” she said lightly. “Usually my dad did this stuff, but since I moved out, I’ve been determined to be an adult and do things on my own.”

  There was something to having her arms around me. I looked at her over a shoulder and didn’t make a move about pulling away.

  “I don’t mind doing man things for you, it’s a benefit of getting a boyfriend,” I leaned back against her when she didn’t let me go. “We don’t know that I fixed it until we crank her up. It may need something else. I just figured this was the place to start.”

  Her nose was against my shoulder, and she looked at me through her glasses, “I just wanted to hug you. See if I would get the same reaction that I did when you kissed me the other day.”

  That was curious honesty. “Did you get your reaction?”

  She looked away from me at some pinpoint on my hole filled shirt. She waited a beat before she nodded which caused her to nuzzle me. I closed my eyes for a second and just enjoyed the feel of her pressed along my back and her arms around my waist.

  “What happens now?” she asked softly.

  “Well,” I didn’t move, relaxing against her. There was a pleasantness to this that just warmed right through me. “I intend to get you to take me for a short ride. Maybe we can get some sandwiches for lunch and come back. What do you think?”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” she hesitated for a second before she let me go. “Do you want to drive?”

  I considered it for a second before shaking my head in agreement.

  “You take the wheel, I’ll focus on the sound this is making,” I gestured to the engine in front of me before closing the hood.

  She took us for a short ride, both of us listening closely to the engine. It sounded marginally better, and there didn’t seem to be any grinding noises as she shifted gears. I looked into her glove box, looking for her owner’s manual. She cleared her throat and after I found what I was looking for I got caught a look from her.

  “Not snooping,” I waved the thick book at her. “I was looking to see if you had this and the first place to look is the glove box.”

  She smirked slightly, but didn’t say a word. We rode around an hour, pausing to pick up lunch, before I directed her to take us back to her place. My back had slowly begun to cramp, and I couldn’t sit in the car much longer. We got out, and I stretched with a grimace. It was a whole lot easier to ride around on a motorcycle than it was to sit in a little car.

  “Might do some other little things to it, regular maintenance stuff, to see if that helps and maybe add to its general performance. So it's a little bit better gas mileage and all that.”

  “You only have to do what’s necessary, so it doesn’t die on me,” she said as she got out, reaching back in for her lunch bag.

  “Well,” I closed my door and used the excuse of leaning against her car as a means to stretch out the cramps. “Regular maintenance stuff keeps you from having to go to a mechanic.”

  “Are you trying to give me an excuse to not see you?” She batted her green eyes at me, and I was struck.

  I think I might have given her a look she’d been giving me when we first met. I shook my head as I shook off the shock, “No, no. You already agreed to be the girlfriend. So, if anything that there is a reason for me to see you more often.”

  “Can it wait?”

  “Probably for a week or two,” I eyed her. “Why?”

  “Maybe instead of being a mechanic when you hang out with me,” she blushed but didn’t look away from me. “You can be a boyfriend?”

  That warmth I felt in my chest when she hugged me before was back, and it seemed to radiate out to my fingertips.

 
; “I can do that,” I smiled at her. “I’d actually like to do that. Let’s see about going inside and eating lunch. Then we can do some couples shit, right?”

  I came to join her around the car, and we walked up onto the porch, her blush still clinging to her cheeks.

  “Yea, but not sex yet,” she gave me a hard look. “I just met you.”

  “I didn’t ask for it,” I leaned against the door frame as I looked down at her. “Nowhere did I say sex. I said couples shit. That could be taking up mutual interests like starting a book club, taking cooking classes, taking long rides on a motorcycle. That kind of shit.”

  “Not going to let go of the motorcycle part?”

  “Nope,” a spasm stopped me, and I straighten as she unlocked the door. “I’ll be right in in a sec,” I assure her as I started hobbling out to my bike.

  “Everything okay?”

  I nodded, “I figured since we’re talking couples shit and stuff I’d go about the property and mark my territory.”

  It was a joke, and I waited to see if she would take me seriously.

  “Do not piss on trees please,” she put her hands on her hips. “It’s bad enough I’m going to have the neighbors gossiping about the tattooed guy on a motorcycle. They don’t need to add the part about him peeing on everything.”

  I laughed a little and continued out to my bike.

  “I got something in my saddle bag I need,” I explained. “I promise to keep it in my pants unless I gotta go to the bathroom.”

  I got my pills from my bag and shoved the oversized bottles into a pocket, I looked up to see her watching me with a worried look on her face. I guessed it was a good idea to throw on the shit on the table on a first date.

  “Let’s eat, and I’ll tell ya bout ‘em.”

  She nodded, and we both went into her house. She directed us to a small dinette set that sat in her homey little kitchen. Everything was simply decorated, and it seemed to be the way she rolled. It made me like her more. That was a deciding factor as she laid out our lunch on the table. I pulled out the two bottles and set them next to my food.

  “So I told you I was in the Army,” I sat down and watched her do the same. She nodded for me to continue. “I served two tours in Iraq. First one wasn’t much to write home about, but the last one caused me to have to be discharged medically. I suffered injuries that damn near paralyzed me. These,” I nod towards the bottles. “Keep me walking and functional.”

  “So,” she said lightly. “You’re not a pill pusher or selling drugs for your motorcycle gang?”

  “Club,” I corrected. “And no. If I did illegal shit, I’d be in serious trouble. I live off of disability, doing anything illegal could take that away.”

  “Your injury was that bad?” She paused then, her eyebrows coming together, “When you climbed over the metal fence the other day you didn’t hurt yourself? It aggravated the injury you already have? Why did you do it?”

  “I dunno.. if you notice, guys do stupid shit to get girls’ attention all the time. I realized immediately it was stupid, but it was too late to abort mission. I bet it didn’t impress you at all,” I huffed and picked up the sandwich to take a bite. “You’re just letting me hang to fix your car.”

  She snorted out a laugh then, an actual snort. “Oh it was impressive, colored me impressed,” she followed my lead to unwrap her own sandwich. “I was surprised that you didn’t fall, you had this extreme look of pain on your face. It was impressive that you managed to get to the table and sit down.” She sobered then watching me as I ate, “How’d you manage that?”

  “I’ve lived with this for four years, going on five,” I swallowed hard. “You get used to the throbbing pain, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt less. Like if I didn’t take this shit,” I pointed at the two pill bottles, “I’d be a useless pile on the floor.”

  “Four years?” She looked at me hard then, “How old are you?”

  “Do I look old?” I put my sandwich down to drag my fingers through my beard, getting crumbs out as I did. “I’m thirty. How about you?”

  “Quid pro quo?” She asked, her eyes twinkling now. “I’m twenty-six.”

  “That’s from a movie,” she was a little younger than I thought. That’s okay, the age difference didn’t bother me. “That the kind of movies you’re into?”

  We went back to eating, our small talk giving some insight into our tastes in movies and literature.

  “I don’t really read a whole lot,” I admitted as an answer to a question. “I try not to spend too much time in my head. Books usually cause you to do a lot of introspective stuff, don’t they?”

  “Some can,” she was cleaning up the mess we made for lunch, and I got up to help. “But there’s reading for entertainment. You’re in your head envisioning the story, like a movie but you’re the director.”

  “Huh,” I picked up a sponge at the sink and went to wipe down the table. “That’s an idea I didn’t consider. You got a book you could recommend for me?” I finished up and dusted off my hands and looked at her.

  Madi had an intent look on her face as if she was trying to figure out what to suggest then she ended up shrugging.

  “You’d have to do that on your own. I’ll read just about anything. But you, you need to figure out what you would be into. Fantasy, science fiction? Horror or suspense?” She suddenly grinned at me, “Romance?”

  “I guess I’ll have to find a bookstore then,” I went to her. “Just not today.”

  “It takes an effort to keep me out of the bookstore,” she admitted. “Why not today? I could go with you!”

  She actually looked excited at the prospect, it was endearing. But, I had other things I wanted to do. Reading wasn’t one of them.

  “Not today. There’s this pretty girl that I want. And I want her undivided attention like she’s got mine,” I drifted close to her, breathing in her clean scent and wanting to wrap her up. She seemed to get where I was going, backing up as I got closer and pressing against the wall. “I have had a very good time today.”

  “You said I should cook you dinner for working on my car,” she started to argue. “You’re not going to leave now, are you?”

  Butterflies kicked up in my stomach, she wanted me to stay.

  “Nope. Not going anywhere,” I leaned down a little, hovering over her. “I just had something I wanted to do.”

  “What?” her eyes were shifting between mine and my mouth.

  That was open invitation enough, right? I used one hand to tip her head back, and I closed the distance between us to give her a slow, gentle kiss. It had to be slow, I wanted her to grow on me. If I kissed her like I was desperate to get into her pants, I wouldn’t get anywhere. She wasn’t ready for that shit, yet. When she started kissing me like that, then I’d be able to throw restraint aside. Now, though, I had to be careful because this was new. I didn’t want this to go anywhere, I wanted her to trust the fact that I wasn’t going to hurt her or her feelings.

  I gave her slow, open-mouthed kisses; pulling her bottom lip between mine and sucking lightly before tracing it with my tongue. I didn’t prompt her to open for me, she did so on her own. Her hands found my waist, and she held on as she reached out to taste me. Her little tongue tip passed my lips and she took control of the kiss quicker than I was prepared for. I tangled my hand into her ponytail, holding onto the back of her head to keep her close. It was a trade in dominance, I didn’t want to overpower her, and there was something about just letting her explore. Give and take, if you will. Like I was showing her the way, and she enjoyed it enough that she took over when she wanted.

  She pulled me closer, tugging me so that the length of me was pressed against her. She’d feel my erection. I’d spent more time with a hard on around this girl than I had in the past four years. Reason enough to be intrigued. I pulled back for a breath and felt her panting against me.

  “Didn’t expect it to go like that,” I had to admit.

  She shook her head, “Why
’d you stop?”

  That had me snickering, and I opened my eyes to meet her gaze, “We gotta breathe at some point, baby. If you want more all you gotta do is say so.”

  “I want more,” she breathed, and she was arching up onto her tiptoes to kiss me again.

  The Kisses were becoming more heated, and she seemed to have this desire to touch and explore me, her hands tracing up my chest and toying with my beard. Throbbing of an unpleasant variety began, I think because of the angle I was standing at. I needed relief. I needed to sit down. I pulled away, and she made a soft noise of protest, I didn’t give her time to over think it. I tugged her into the living room and found the couch. I sat on it heavily and pulled her down to me. I pulled her against my side and caught her mouth. The pain hadn’t taken away that growing hunger I had for her. She kissed me with equal fever, her hands going back to my chest and mapping it out through my shirt. I could only imagine what would happen when she really got going.