by Ford, Hannah
But then I realized if he was going to leave, then that was his problem. Too bad for him.
I turned to go back into the building, to force him to make a little bit of effort, when a slick silver Audi pulled up to the curb.
The windows were tinted, the rims so shiny I could see my apartment building reflected in them.
I waited for him to step out of the car or even just to honk the horn and let me know it was him. But he didn’t.
I hesitated, not knowing what to do.
Should I approach the car? How was I supposed to know if he was even in there?
A second later, the passenger window rolled down.
I bent down and peered inside.
Callum was sitting in the driver’s seat, and he motioned for me to get into the car.
I walked across the sidewalk, opened the door, and got in. He was on the phone, or at least, I thought he was. He was talking to someone – he must have had a Bluetooth in or something.
Did anyone even wear a Bluetooth anymore? He must have been talking about something private that he didn’t want me to hear. Otherwise, why wouldn’t he just put it through the speakers of his car?
A few minutes later, we pulled up in front of a restaurant in MidTown. The city was alive with the energy of the middle of the day as business people rushed to get their lunches before they had to be back at the office.
“You ready?” Callum asked, ending his call as he pulled his car up to the valet.
“Um, yes,” I swallowed, not sure how I felt about the fact that he’d been on his phone the whole drive over.
My trepidation grew as soon as we walked into the restaurant. I was completely out of place in the short yellow sundress dress I’d chosen to wear. I’d thought I was being clever – choosing something yellow after Callum had sent me those lemons and yellow wildflowers.
But the crowd here was decidedly business casual, all of them decked out in shades of black, grey, tan and grey.
I flushed, instantly self-conscious. I was wearing open-toed sandals for God’s sake!
`The maitre’d seated us in the middle of the restaurant at a square table for two.
Callum immediately pushed the menu aside and regarded me over the table. “What’s wrong?”
“What?”
“You seem displeased.” He tapped his finger on the table expectantly. He was even sexier today than he’d been last night, wearing a light grey suit that set off his blue eyes. His hair wasn’t mussed like it had been last night, and was instead perfectly styled. He was freshly shaven, his skin smooth and perfect. He radiated self-assurance, and every time he talked I couldn’t help but think about how he’d ordered me around last night, telling me not to look at him, to use my hand while I sucked him off.
“No, I’m not displeased.” I ran my eyes down the menu, trying to hide my disappointment. Stop! I scolded myself. You have no one to blame for this but yourself. Where did you think he was going to take you? Some fancy romantic restaurant where he would feed your dessert and order for you? That’s a fantasy.
“You’re disappointed in the restaurant,” Callum said.
“Nope.”
The waiter returned to take our drink order. Screw this. If I was going to be stuck on this date, then at least I was going to get a good meal out of it.
“I’ll have a glass of sparkling wine,” I said to the waiter. “You pick your favorite.” I gave him a big smile, knowing if I told him to pick his favorite, he would inevitably come back with whatever was the most expensive. “And an appetizer,” I said, scanning the list. “Actually, can I try the caviar canapés and the smoke salmon cakes?” I glanced over at Callum. “Would you like an appetizer? I’m pretty hungry, so I won’t be sharing.”
“Just seltzer with lemon, please,” he said.
When the waiter was gone, I continued to scan the menu. “I think I’ll have filet mignon,” I said thoughtfully. “Medium rare. With some of those fingerling potatoes everyone’s always raving about.”
“You have quite the appetite, Ms. O’Connor,” Callum said, his deep blue eyes sparkling with amusement.
“Yeah, well, I skipped breakfast.” It wasn’t a lie.
The waiter returned with my wine, set it down in front of me. I took a sip. “Delicious!” I declared. “Thank you so much.”
The waiter nodded. “Would you like to order now?”
“I’m ready,” I chirped.
“Give us a second,” Callum said, and the waiter scampered off.
Callum sat there for a moment, not saying anything. His eyes narrowed the tiniest bit, like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve. His silence was disconcerting, and for the first time, I realized maybe I was out of my element. I shouldn’t have messed with him like I’d had, ordering enough food for three people.
I will be punishing you.
I felt myself starting to blush, and I averted my eyes from his, looking around the restaurant. No one was on a date, that much was clear. The restaurant was filled with businesspeople, their cell phones sitting on the table as they passed file folders full of documents back and forth. No one was laughing, no one was having a spirited conversation. They were all serious.
“Adriana, it’s obvious you’re upset,” Callum said, sounding disappointed. He was watching my face for some kind of reaction.
“I’m not upset.”
“Why are you upset?”
“I just…” I twisted my napkin in my lap. “It’s just a strange place for a lunch date, that’s all.”
He sighed and sat up straighter in his chair. “I don’t go on dates.”
I laughed out loud. Of course he didn’t. “So this isn’t a date?” I saw our waiter passing by and I motioned him over. “I’m going to need to see a dessert menu with our entrees,” I said. “And any kind of after lunch drinks you might have, some ridiculously expensive espresso maybe, that you fly in right from Italy? Yeah, I’m going to want that, too.”The waiter gave me an indulgent smile, then turned and walked away.
I turned back to Callum and readjusted my napkin on my lap. I took a big sip of my wine. “Yum,” I said. “Definitely going to need another of those.”
Amusement danced in his blue eyes. “You do realize I’m a billionaire, right?”
“What, you want some kind of medal?” It was a bitchy thing to say, and I regretted it as soon as I said it. But Callum didn’t seem to take offense.
“No, I just mean that there is nothing you could order in this restaurant that would even come close to impacting me financially.”
I shrugged. “A billion dollars isn’t what it used to be.” It was an insane thing to say. A billion dollars was a billion dollars. But I’d read something in Forbes magazine about a million dollars not being what is used to be, so I figured I’d throw it out there.
Of course, even at the time I’d read that story I’d thought it was completely ridiculous. How could a million dollars not be a lot of money? And now here I was, telling Callum his billions of dollars meant nothing.
“Is that so?” Callum asked, pretending like he was seriously considering it.
“Yup,” I said, “read it in Forbes.”
“Good magazine.”
“Very.”
Silence fell over the table, and then, finally, quietly, I looked at him. “So if this isn’t a date,” I said, “then what is it?”
“A business meeting.”
“A business meeting?” I frowned. “You want to give me a job? No offense, Callum, but I’m not sure after what we did last night it would be appropriate for me to work for you.”
I couldn’t believe what a jackass he was being. What part of him thought it was okay to ask me to come and work for him after I’d given him a blow job at a BDSM club? I mustered up all the indignation I could, and yet, somehow, I felt like he wasn’t all that bad.
There was a depth to him I could sense lurking under the surface, a kindness. Which actually made everything about him worse. If he was a total jerk,
I could have written him off. But the fact that I sensed something redeeming in him only made it harder to resist the pull he had on me.
“No, I don’t want to hire you,” he said.
The waiter returned then, and took our order – filet mignon for both us.
“So then what is this about?” I asked Callum once the waiter was gone.
“I want to be very clear with you,” he said carefully. “I would like to see you again. This weekend, actually.”
I shook my head. “I thought…I thought you said you don’t date.”
“I don’t. This wouldn’t be a date, it would be…an arrangement.”
“What kind of arrangement?”
“The kind of arrangement that lasts for one night only.”
I frowned. “One night only?”
“Yes.”
“What does that mean?”
“This weekend I will be traveling to Florida for business. I’m going to be checking out a basketball team that I may be interested in investing in. I would like you to accompany me.”
“Okay.” My palms were slick with sweat, and I wiped them against the napkin on my lap.
“Okay, you will accompany me?”
“No, I meant okay I understand.” And I did. He was basically telling me that he wanted me to come to Florida with him so he could fuck me any way he liked, probably use whips and chains and all the other crazy BDSM contraptions I’d read about – butt plugs, hand cuffs, vibrators with remotes. “You want me to be a prostitute.”
“What?” he said, almost choking. “No, I don’t want you to be a prostitute.”
“But you just said one night only.”
“Adriana, to be a prostitute, one must take money for sexual services.”
“So you weren’t going to pay me?”
“No.”
“Then what do I get out of it?”
He reached under the table and grabbed my leg, his mouth slipping into a teasing grin. “Pleasure.” His touch was searing, his voice a low sexy growl. I felt my body responding to his touch the same way it had done last night, and I cursed it for betraying me. His hands rubbed my knee, and heat flooded between my legs.
Why oh why had I worn a dress?
Because you thought it was a date.
“For only one night?”
“Yes.” He sat back up, pulling his hands off of me.
“But why only one night? What if you like it?”
He shook his head. “Adriana, it’s very important to me that you know exactly what it is I’m offering. I need you to know that no matter how much fun we have, no matter how mind-blowing the sex – and it will be mind-blowing – there will not be another night together.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not interested in that.”
“You’re not interested in being with the same woman twice?”
“No. And if there is any part of you that is thinking you might be able to change my mind, I will tell you that there isn’t. It is not going to change.”
“Okay.” The thing was, I didn’t think I could change his mind. I was sure he’d been with gorgeous women, beautiful women, models, actresses, socialites. Why would someone like me be able to change his mind?
“Can I… can I have until the end of the meal to think about it?” I asked as the waiter set our steaks down in front of us.
“Of course,” Callum said.
The food was exquisite, the meat tender and perfectly seasoned, the flavor exploding in my mouth with each bite. We talked about stupid, inconsequential things – TV shows, books, the weather, different neighborhoods in New York. Whenever I asked him anything about his life, his business, his family, he immediately changed the subject. He didn’t ask me any personal questions.
He was gorgeous, and I could tell from our conversations that he was intelligent. But I couldn’t pretend that I didn’t want more. I had never been the kind of girl who could just “hook up.” My heart had to be involved. Which is why I’d gotten so freaked out last night by what I done with him. I’d never felt that kind of attraction to anyone, ever.
The physical attraction still crackled between us, just as strong as ever.
But the thing was, I wanted to fall in love. I wanted to be with someone who wanted to be with me. I wasn’t saying there was anything wrong with random, consensual sex. It was just that the more time I spent talking to Callum, the more I realized he was the kind of man I could fall in love with.
And one night with him would never be enough.
“So,” Callum said once the waiter had cleared our plates. “It’s the end of the meal.”
“That it is.”
“Do you have a decision for me, Ms. O’Connor?”
“I’m sor – ” I started before I remembered he’d told me never to apologize. “I can’t go with you this weekend, Callum.” I shook my head. “I just don’t think that kind of arrangement would work for me.”
He opened his mouth, and for one quick, wonderful second I was sure he was going to try to convince me. But then he nodded. “Very well, Ms. O’Connor. It was wonderful to meet you.”
“It was wonderful to meet you, too.” My heart constricted a tiny bit, and a lump rose in my throat at the thought of never seeing him again. And yet…if I went with him for the weekend, the pain would just be that much worse.
The waiter had just set the bill down when it happened.
A woman approached out table, so close that for a moment, I thought she was part of the wait staff.
But when I looked at up at her, it was obvious she didn’t work there. Her long blonde hair hung in lank chunks around her face, her mascara was smeared. She was wearing boot cut jeans that hung on her slim hips, and a red t-shirt that hugged her ample chest.
“Callum,” she said. Her lips were cracked, and her voice sounded scratchy, like she’d just woken up.
I looked over at Callum and watched as his eyes widened and his face turned white. “What are you doing here, Rose?” he demanded. He was already rising from his chair, putting his hand on her elbow.
“I tried calling you a million times,” she said. “But you won’t take my calls, you won’t call me back.”
“You need to leave.”
She shook her head. “No. Not until you talk to me, Callum. Not until you admit what you did.” She turned to look at me. “Don’t think he’s a good guy,” she said. “Because he’s not. Whatever he’s telling you, it’s a lie. It’s all a lie, he’s – ”
“Rose!” Callum said. “Enough!” The rest of what she was saying was cut off as Callum steered her toward the front of the restaurant.
A couple of other diners had turned to see what the commotion was about, but now that the girl was gone, they turned back to their food, disinterested.
I turned back to the table, my heart racing.
What the hell had that been about? Was she one of the women Callum had spent one night with? I took another long sip of my wine.
If that was what happened to you after one night with Callum Wilder, well, then I’d made the right decision.
Suddenly, I was anxious to get out of there, anxious to get home. I felt the urge to run blooming in my chest and settling in my stomach. My legs twitched under the table.
The waiter returned with Callum’s credit card and set it down on the table.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “but can you… I have to leave, can you bring the check back when my, um,… friend gets back to the table?”
“Of course, miss. I will hold his card at the front.”
“Thank you so much.”
When I got to the front of the restaurant, I could see Callum through the huge plate glass windows. He was sitting on the curb, his head in his hands, looking more like a lost little boy than a demanding billionaire.
My heart clenched. Who had that woman been, Rose? She seemed like she had upset him just as much as he’d upset her. Why else would he be sitting on a curb in the middle of New York City?
/> He stood up and saw me looking at him.
I walked outside, and he crossed the sidewalk to me.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Home.”
“No.” He shook his head.
“No?”
“Come with me. To Florida.” He reached out and cupped my face with his hand, his fingers skating over my cheekbone.
I felt my resolve weakening, but I gathered my strength. “No.” I shook my head. “Callum, I can’t.”
He nodded, accepting, but a second later he pushed me up against the outside of the restaurant and kissed me. Electricity zinged up my spine and my stomach back flipped as his tongue tangled with mine.
“Please, Adriana,” he whispered huskily. “Please..I…” He was looking me in the eye, and he shook his head softly. The man from the restaurant, the bossy man from last night was gone, replaced by someone who was looking at me like if he didn’t have me, he might die. “I need to lose myself in you,” he breathed and then he kissed me again, really kissed me, the kind of kiss that made the earth shake and your head dizzy. The kind of kiss that could make you lose your mind.
When he pulled back, my legs felt like two strands of spaghetti. I was afraid if he let me go I would fall to the ground.
But he didn’t let me go. He moved his hands down to my lower back, holding me tight.
“Please,” he said. “I need to own you.”
His words sent shivers of fear and excitement up my spine. I knew it was a mistake. I knew I should have said no.
But I was powerless.
“Okay,” I breathed, setting up a fortress around my heart. “Okay.”
It could only lead to heartbreak. I knew that. But I was helpless, so under his spell that I couldn’t resist him. I saw pain reflected in his eyes, and I wanted to take it away.
And if that meant letting him own my body for one night only, then that’s what I would let him do…
End of Because He Owns Me Book One – Click Here For Book Two, BECAUSE HE TAKES ME, available now!
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