In the Billionaires Club

by Burroughs, Anne

  chapter fifteen

  The text was short: “Absolutely. See you at 7.” She had finally texted Rob and asked if he would want to meet her at the Billionaires Club. She spent the day worrying over what to wear. She knew that Rob was infamous for his sexual appetite, so part of her was tempted to just go for it—wear a tight top and a miniskirt with no underwear. Maybe flash him her ass at some point.

  Another part of her, however, thought of him as an old school type, who had his affairs but was actually looking for the woman who could understand him. He would salivate over the girls showing off their bodies, but he would be attracted to Gin.

  In the end Gin chose the Jules outfit she wore on the Saturday in Venice. It was classy and sexy, exactly the vibe she was going for. And if Phillip saw her in the outfit that he paid for while with another man? She hoped he did, the asshole.

  It was like coming home as she entered the club an hour early. Dave was working the door and had a huge smile on his face. Rich was behind the bar, and Vin was in his spot at the end, crouched over a glass of bourbon. Gin looked around but Rob wasn’t there, so she walked over and slid into the chair next to Vin.

  “Hey!” Vin’s eyes went wide, and he smiled broadly. “What have you been up to?”

  “Matchmaking mostly.”

  “Nice. So Billy and Lisa are into each other?”

  Rich walked over and slid a rum and Coke in front of Gin without her even having to ask. She loved that she was now a regular. “If you listen to Lisa they’re on the verge of getting married.” Vin nodded. “In fact, she is over his place right now. Knowing Lisa, they are probably already past the blowjob stage.”

  “Lucky bastard. I can’t even get to the kissing stage.”

  Gin stared at him. Vin was absolutely gorgeous, and he had a kind of loner bad boy vibe even though she knew he was actually a nice guy. “Vin. Seriously. I can’t believe you said that. If you just picked your ass up off that chair and walked around every so often you’d find out pretty fast that every single woman in this bar would be practically begging not only to give you a kiss but also a blowjob.”

  “Every single one, hunh?”

  “Yep. But that won’t ever happen if you just sit there and drink bourbon all night. Martin said you are constantly working. Why don’t you drag yourself out and do something fun during the day?”

  “Got it. You met the old fart Martin, and he says I work too hard, and you think I need to socialize a bit more to attract blowjobs.” Vin shook his head. “Not sure that’s who I am.”

  “Jesus, Vin. You are like super hot. Who the fuck else do you need to be?” Vin stared at Gin for a bit and then turned back to his bourbon, finishing off the glass. “Look at what happened to me yesterday. First of all—yes, I met Martin. I thought you were working yesterday, so I stopped by to say hi.”

  Vin looked at Gin quizzically. She raised her hand. “Hey, I had no idea you wouldn’t be there. It was an easy mistake to make. You never told me about your work schedule. Anyway, so I’m sitting there and Rob Greene walks over and introduces himself to me.”

  Vin spun around. His face was intense. “Wait, Rob Greene hit on you?”

  Gin frowned. “Why? Is it hard to believe he’d hit on me?”

  “No. It’s entirely believable that he’d hit on you. The guy is trying to fuck every woman in Northern California.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “Good point. He’s trying to fuck every woman in the world.”

  “Look. You’re kind of missing my point, which is that Rob saw me sitting here, and he made the effort to come over and introduce himself.” Gin looked around the room. “See that woman over there? She’s very pretty and looks nice. Why don’t you go over and introduce yourself and start talking to her?”

  “Do you think I’ll get a blowjob out of it?”

  “Don’t be an asshole. I’m trying to help.”

  Vin tapped his empty glass on the bar but didn’t harass Rich. Instead he turned to Gin, a serious look on his face. “I appreciate that, Gin. I really do. What I’m doing a poor job of is telling you that I don’t want to talk to other women nor do I need you to be a matchmaker. I’m happy right here talking to you.” He smiled, but it looked a little forced.

  Gin rolled her eyes and then shook her head. “I can’t figure you out, Vin. You are this lonely guy who wistfully talks about not even getting a kiss, and then you’re happy just talking to me.” She sighed. “Maybe some day you’ll share with me your inner demons.”

  “Maybe I will.” Vin took a full glass from Rich and took a long drink. “So tell me how you told off the asshole.”

  “Which asshole?”

  “Greene. The guy’s idea of a classy date is asking the woman to sleep with him in a hotel room instead of an alley behind the restaurant.”

  Gin stared at Vin for a second and then finished off her drink. She didn’t like how Vin was talking. She didn’t know if it was jealousy or some other reason, but it was ugly. “I like him, Vin. He’s had a rough life, and sure he’s not settled down with anyone yet, but he is very clear with the women he dates as to where they stand and what their intentions are.”

  “Holy shit. You’re actually going to go out with him, aren’t you?”

  “I’m seeing him at seven, actually.” Vin wouldn’t look at her. He just stared at his drink. “He’s meeting me here, and then maybe we’ll go out for dinner.”

  “Jesus, Gin. Have some self-respect. The guy’s going to fill you full of wine and then take you to his place to fuck. Wait, he’ll probably pick up some other chick at the restaurant, and then he’ll ask her to join you and him in a threesome.”

  Gin gritted her teeth. Vin was so far out-of-line she didn’t know where to start. “I don’t like your tone, Vin, and I don’t appreciate you implying that I’ll be some kind of Rob sex conquest.” Gin’s anger rose the more she spoke. “And furthermore, I don’t think any of this is your business. I know it is really easy for you to sit on your stool, drink yourself numb every night, and then wax judgmental on everyone around you, but now that I’m the subject of it, I think it’s ugly, and I don’t like you very much right now.”

  Gin went to stand up when Vin grabbed her arm and stared into her eyes. He looked devastated. “I’m sorry, Gin. I just worry about you. I warned you about Phillip, and now you’re going to make the same mistake with Rob.”

  “Fuck you, Vin. Friends don’t say ‘I told you so.’”

  She went to tug her arm away, but Vin held tight. “Gin. He’s not a good guy. Trust me on that. All he wants to do is fuck you and move on.”

  “Did it ever cross your alcohol-muddled mind that maybe all I want to do is fuck him and move on? Maybe I’ll pick up a waitress at the restaurant and we’ll have a threesome with him. Turn the tables and all that. Actually, I really like that idea. I haven’t licked a pussy since college.”

  Vin’s jaw dropped open as Gin tugged her arm away and moved to the other end of the bar. Rich brought her drink to her and thankfully didn’t say anything.

  She was upset with herself for lying to Vin. She didn’t see Rob as a one night stand, and she definitely wasn’t interested in a threesome. But all she wanted to do was shut Vin up or even hurt him somehow. He was so judgmental. She just couldn’t understand why he was so cynical about everyone. She had to snap him out of it somehow, and that’s why she dropped the casual sex bomb on him.

  Thinking over Vin’s words, she wasn’t even sure why she was so upset with him. Of course, there was his patronizing tone. What she normally saw as cute and irreverent was something entirely different when aimed at her. Part of it was also him dismissing her assessment of Rob's character. Did he not think that she knew how to handle herself?

  But, ultimately, what made her the maddest was that Vin was acting like her father or even a jealous boyfriend. He was a fucking bartender, and there he was acting like her dad, telling her don’t do this and don’t do that and if she god forbid made a mistake
? Then he was all too happy to say, “I told you so.”

  Of course, the angrier she got the sadder she felt. She really liked Vin, and this was their first major falling out. As she downed her rum and Coke, she glanced down to see how he was taking things. He wasn’t on his stool. She looked around, but he was nowhere to be found.

  Before Gin could think too much about it, a hand squeezed her shoulder. “Gin!” It was Rob, a huge smile on his face. Gin wiped her eyes and returned his smile.

  chapter sixteen

  Gin was still upset over her little blowup with Vin, so it was hard to focus on the sudden appearance of Rob. She knew that wasn’t fair to him, so she did her best to put Vin behind her. Thankfully, the more they made small talk, the better she felt.

  She laughed at a joke he told, and that seemed to part the clouds. Rob must have felt it, as he asked, “So have you eaten?”

  “Not really.”

  “Then let’s take a walk and get some dinner. Do you like sushi?

  “Sushi would be great,” she replied.

  “Excellent. There’s a place two blocks away.”

  Rob made small talk during the walk, discussing things like the weather and the gentrification of some neighborhood near where he lived. Gin nodded politely and asked all the right questions. She found him interesting, but there wasn’t much room for conversation. Rob was sharing, not discussing.

  Of course, it was easy to enjoy him. He truly was interesting, and, well, he was handsome. Rob was wearing a casual business outfit: Pressed jeans and a cotton dress shirt, with a black belt and loafers. Gin keep thinking back to Lisa’s comment about him looking like Robert Redford. He really did.

  It wasn’t until they were seated that Gin started to ask difficult questions, questions she had been waiting to ask ever since she had first read about his reputation as a womanizer. He claimed to be transparent and open about his life. Gin was prepared to see just how transparent he would be.

  What made it difficult was just how damn nice Rob was. He opened the door for her. He pushed her seat in as she sat down. He not only had a old school look, he had an old-fashioned sense of chivalry. Everything he did made her feel special.

  Gin finally worked up the courage as they looked over the menu. “So do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”

  Rob looked up. She swore his eyes sparkled. “Not at all.”

  “So we’re having dinner.”

  “Yes, we are.”

  “Yesterday you had dinner with a different girl. I’m guessing you’re booked for tomorrow with someone else.”

  He nodded but didn’t reply. When Gin didn’t say anything Rob folded his hands and focused on her eyes. “You still haven’t asked a question. Personal or otherwise.”

  “Why haven’t you settled down?”

  “I’m not even sure I know what that means.” The waiter came over, but Rob politely waved him off. His attention was wholly on Gin.

  “You date a lot of women. I’m just wondering if you ever plan on committing to one.”

  Rob sat back and tapped his chin with his forefinger. After a lengthy pause, he answered, “I don’t know. I am not planning on any specific outcome.”

  “Aren’t you sad when women get fed up waiting and leave?” Gin had decided to keep asking questions until she pushed Rob a bit too far, but so far he seemed happy to answer any and every question.

  “Yes. It seems that my commitment to the women in my life is greater than theirs to me. That is sometimes difficult to deal with.”

  Gin furrowed her brows. “Commitment? You sleep with a different woman every night.”

  Gin thought her comment would get Rob mad, but he just smiled in an almost sad way. “So you equate monogamy with commitment?”

  Gin had some polyamorous friends, so she paused, thinking about how to respond, as she truly didn’t quite believe that everyone required monogamy. “No. I guess I don’t.”

  “So I don’t understand your line of questioning. Certainly some of the women I’ve dated turned out to be a bad match. Those partings are common. But many of the women I’ve dated I’ve hoped to continue to have part of my life.” Rob took a drink of his water. “But they moved on.”

  Gin was going to say something but Rob held up his finger. “I see it this way. My commitment is strong and enduring, but most of the women that I date don’t share that with me.”

  “And me?”

  “We shall see.” Rob called the waiter over. “Perhaps you won’t enjoy my company. Perhaps I won’t enjoy yours. Perhaps we’ll want to spend a lot more time together.”

  The waiter arrived and Rob proceeded to order for both of them. As she watched his quiet confidence with the waiter, Gin considered how Rob responded to her questioning. He wasn’t defensive. He was open and unapologetic. In fact, he seemed to think that if there was any apologizing to do it should be from the women who weren’t able to commit to Rob’s open relationship type of dating.

  Gin wasn’t sure she could deal with it and thought hard over whether she should commit much energy to the date, let alone the relationship, when Rob handed his menu to the waiter and spoke up. “May I ask you some personal questions?”

  Taking a deep breath, Gin nodded her head. She had no idea what to expect. “It’s only fair. You were kind enough to answer mine.”

  “How upset would you be if I went out tomorrow night with a different woman.”

  “I’m kind of assuming you’ll be doing that.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question.”

  “Honestly, I don’t think it would bother me. I already know about your love life. It wouldn’t exactly be a surprise.”

  Rob nodded. “What if we slept together and the next night I said I couldn’t meet you because I was going out with someone else?”

  The question made Gin’s chest tighten. She hated the possibility, and she hated the question. If she slept with him? Of course she’d be jealous. “I don’t think I would like that.”

  Rather than attack Gin’s position, Rob asked another question, one Gin didn’t expect. “Why do you think that would bother you?”

  “I don’t know actually. I would be jealous that after sharing something as special as sex you wouldn’t want to be with me.”

  “What if we just fucked?”

  “Excuse me?” Gin looked around. They were in a nice restaurant, and Rob was not whispering or making any attempt to avoid anyone from eavesdropping.

  “What if our expectations were just for a good time? No commitment. Just you and I naked and fucking. Would you still bring an emotional element to it?”

  Gin was starting to hate Rob’s questions. They were difficult to answer and questioned her fundamental understanding of relationships. “I’m afraid that I do think that if we had sex I would probably feel that there was an emotional element to it.”

  “That’s good. I’d be disappointed if you had said something else.”

  Gin stared at Rob’s face. Damn, the closer she looked at him, the handsomer he became. “That surprises me. I was expecting you to say that you wanted a date who could compartmentalize the physical from the emotional.”

  “Actually, I think that’s near impossible, but you miss my point. I’m looking for someone who embraces both. The difference is that I don’t think those things necessarily need to be limited to a single person.”

  There it was. She had pretty much assumed that Rob was never going to settle down, but here he was basically saying it outright: His life was going to be filled with multiple lovers and friends who were lovers. Still, Gin had a nagging suspicion, one that she felt wasn’t just hope, that Rob was open to the idea of finding the right person to spend the rest of his life with.

  “Can you see yourself eventually falling in love with one person and spending the rest of your life with them?”

  “Just them?”

  “Yes.”

  Rob looked off in the distance, as if he were thinking hard. Eventually he looked at Gin. �
��I don’t know. I doubt it, but if the right person came along I guess I could see myself falling in love with them and only them.”

  A shudder went through Gin’s whole body. She couldn’t explain it, but Rob’s last comment shook her to her core. On one level she instinctively knew that she would be the one to win him over. She just knew it. On another level she realized that she was extremely attracted to Rob. It wasn’t just his bad boy bachelor reputation, nor was it the rumor of his big cock. Nor was it his old school Hollywood good looks. It was all of those things and more. He was just really sexy.

  The final thing that made Gin attracted to Rob was that he was so open and transparent that he made her feel confident and able to say what she wanted without any judgment. The waiter brought their food, and as he set the food across the table, Rob asked, “Any other questions?”

  “Did you order sake?”

  Laughing, Rob replied, “I did not!” He then went on to order a full carafe of sake.

  As the night wore on, dinner conversation turned to interesting things that Gin was shocked Rob would like. They discussed British comedies, Game of Thrones, even some politics.

  Gin realized that she was getting really drunk on sake when Rob asked her about college, and her first reply was, “I don’t remember much. College to me was drinking, fucking, and cramming.” Before Rob could say anything, Gin quickly added, “I can’t believe I just said that.”

  Laughing, Rob replied, “Oh, I’m curious now. Did you do more drinking or fucking?”

  The mischievous look in Rob’s eye just begged her to shock him. “Probably fucking.” She grinned. “I really like fucking.” She stopped herself from taking another drink of sake. “Oh my God, I shouldn’t be saying this. I’m way too drunk.”

  “No, it’s fine. It’s a turn on, actually.” He looked at her over the cup of sake in his hand. He took a sip and then said, “Tell me about your wildest sexual experience.”

  Gin looked at Rob. He’s getting turned on by this conversation. She thought of him getting hard under the table. That made her think of his large cock, and as she thought of his large cock, she started to get wet and turned on herself.