by Claire Adams
Andrew held up a hand to halt my babbling defense. “That's fine,” he said, turning to the waiter as he approached the table and shooting off our order in rapid French. “What?” Andrew asked self-consciously as the waiter walked off and he noticed me staring at him.
I shook my head. “That was impressive, is all. I feel like I should applaud.”
He laughed. “For most people, I guess their high school French classes never really come in handy, but Orinoco has acquired a couple French companies over the past couple years. So I've gotten a lot of practice recently. Of course, they all speak English, but it always impresses them when I can talk about the nuances of trade with them in their native language.”
“I can imagine,” I said.
“So, what about you?” Andrew asked, leaning back and studying me.
I frowned at him. “Clearly, I don't speak French or else I'd have been able to read the menu,” I said, causing him to chuckle again.
“Not what I meant, although I suppose I wasn't clear. What I was asking is, you know my entire life's story. All that I know about you is your name and that you're an insurance analyst for Albright.” He paused. “No, wait, let me guess about you, and you tell me what I've got right and what I've got wrong. You're a numbers person. You're not really into languages. You're probably a bit of an introvert, and the last time you were on a date was a while ago.”
“Hey!” I protested, even though it was true.
Andrew looked amused and continued. “You're probably really close with your parents, and you don't plan on living here in the city for the rest of your life, but you need a job because you just graduated college not too long ago, and you need to pay off your student loans.”
I laughed. “Wrong on all of that,” I said. “Not the part about being close to my parents, I guess. Just my mom, though. My dad isn't in the picture. And I did graduate college not that long ago. But I grew up here in the city, and I got scholarships for most of my college tuition. My mom's an artist, so it's not like she was able to contribute all that much, and my school recognized that.”
“Your mother is an artist?” Andrew asked, sounding truly interested, for the first time that night. “She must have been upset to hear that you were going to study whatever numbers stuff you studied in order to become an insurance analyst.”
“Statistics,” I said. “That's what I studied.” I shrugged. “I never really knew what I wanted to do. I've dabbled in a lot of different types of art, but I think the statistics stuff is really interesting, too, and I figured it would make a good fallback plan if the art stuff never panned out for me.”
“That is smart,” Andrew agreed, nodding sagely. “I was never all that interested in art, to be honest, but I've taken more of an interest in it in recent years.” He smiled as the waiter poured us each a glass of wine. “Art and wine, my two biggest hobbies at the moment.”
I snorted. “Purely because they show off your billionaire status?”
He looked taken aback by that. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, are you actually interested in art and wine, or are you just interested in showing off your wealth?”
Andrew was silent for a moment, seeming to consider this. “Does it matter?” he finally asked. “Even if I'm faking it, I'm still supporting culture. I contribute funds towards the arts, and I promote sophistication and class. Isn't that a good thing, regardless of what my motives are?”
“Maybe,” I agreed, mulling it over as well. “What kinds of art are you interested in, anyway?”
“At the moment, black and white photography,” Andrew said. “There's a really interesting gallery that just opened on Thirteenth Street, Téchni. It's a phonetic spelling of the Greek word for art. Anyway, the gallery is really cool. It's all these black and white film photographs that have had various distortions applied to them, things like light leaks, but also some that have had their corners burnt or holes cut in them or things like that. I could spend hours there.”
“I'll have to check it out,” I said, making a mental note.
“If I'd known you were interested in art, we could have gone out on Sunday evening instead, to the Member Nights at the Seattle Art Museum.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “We could still do that,” I pointed out.
Andrew coughed lightly. “Lexi, this is fun, and you're a nice enough girl, but let's just see where the evening takes us, all right?”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, feeling stupid for having even suggested it.
He probably wasn't even considering going on a second date with me. I doubted he was really the type of guy to date women. He was probably just hoping to end up in bed with me by the end of the night. And even though that wasn't really the type of girl that I was, at the same time, I couldn't deny that I was having fun.
“So, what do you do when you're not crunching numbers and looking at art?” Andrew asked.
I shrugged. “I guess just the usual,” I said. “I studied at UW, so I have a lot of friends who still live in the area, and we hang out regularly. And to be honest, even though I grew up here, I have a soft spot for the kitschiness of Pike's Place. I do a lot of hiking in the summer, too.”
“You and I have a lot in common, it sounds like,” Andrew said, smiling over at me. Our food arrived just then, and Andrew rubbed his hands together, looking excited. “This is one thing that I forgot to mention before,” he said. “My two main interests are art and wine, but I'm also a pretty avid foodie. Looks like we're in for a real treat, too.”
We continued to chat as we sampled the incredible food, and by the time we got to dessert, the conversation was easy between us. So, when Andrew asked me back to his place, just like I'd suspected he would, I found myself agreeing.
Andrew looked just as surprised at my words as I was. “Are you sure?” he asked, giving me an easy out.
“Yeah,” I said, meeting his gaze, even though I was honestly pretty nervous about the idea of going back to his place.
I definitely wasn't a virgin, but I didn't have one-night stands all that often, and I was becoming increasingly sure that this was just another in a string of flings for the young, handsome billionaire.
I wondered for a moment if I had agreed to go home with him because I thought he was charming, in the way he opened my door and smiled at me, or if I was merely wowed by those billions, just like all the other girls before me. But then, I pushed that thought out of my mind, deciding that it didn't matter.
I'd had a fun evening with him, and I could use a good lay, if I was being honest. And I was kind of curious about this house of his. So, I followed him back out to his car and let him take me to his home.
Chapter Four
Andrew
I wanted to pin Lexi back against the door and ravish her the moment I got her inside, but my brain insisted that I wait. I was still surprised that she had even agreed to come home with me. She didn't seem like the kind of girl who was used to one-night stands, yet I'd been giving her every signal that I could to make sure that she knew this really was just a meaningless fling.
I actually kind of liked her, especially the way she was able to surprise me, but I didn't have the time or the energy to have a relationship. I was too busy with work.
“Did you have to pay off the city to make sure no one could build anything to block your view of Lake Washington?” Lexi asked snarkily, as she stared out the glass door leading to the back deck.
I snorted and joined her, wrapping my arms around her waist. “Well, the great thing about being up on a hill is that as long as I have a backyard, unless someone builds something really tall, they're not going to block my view. And Seattle is very good about restricting how high buildings can be in certain areas to ensure that no one's view is spoiled.”
I began to kiss her neck, smiling as I heard her soft gasp.
“Is that true?” she asked, her voice slightly more breathless than before. “I thought that was the uproar about the new skyscraper that they'
re building. It blocks off all the views that those offices in the old buildings used to have.”
“Do you really want to talk about skyscrapers right now?” I asked, nipping at her neck.
She moaned softly. “Not really,” she admitted, turning around to face me.
I smiled down at her and pressed my lips to hers. Her lips were pliant beneath mine, moving slowly and sensuously. She opened her mouth with only the slightest hesitation, and my tongue glided alongside hers, sending sparks of pleasure shooting through me.
But she was still unsure about this. I could feel her heartbeat pounding beneath my fingertips.
I pulled away, smiling down at her. “I'm still impressed by the view, and I see it every day,” I told her.
She snickered. “Probably not every day though, right? With the way the weather is in Seattle, you're probably lucky if you see it a couple times a week.”
I rolled my eyes and grinned at her. “It's not that bad here,” I told her. I cocked my head to the side, tracing patterns along her hips. “Shall I open another bottle of wine? I don't think we were finished talking about whether or not graffiti is really considered art.”
She giggled. “You know I only started that line of conversation because you seem to think art appreciation is all about showing off how rich you are.” But she paused. “Wine might be nice, though.”
I smiled at her and gestured towards the couch. “Why don't you make yourself comfortable? I'll be right back.”
I went down into the cellar and selected a bottle of one of my favorite merlots. I brought it up into the kitchen, where I poured us each a glass, then brought them back out into the living room. Lexi hurriedly put her phone away as I came back into the room.
“It's okay if you want to take pictures,” I told her. “As I said, I know the view is incredible.”
“How do you manage this place anyway?” she asked. “Based on the outside, this place is huge, but I haven't seen any staff.”
I handed her a glass of wine and folded myself easily onto the couch next to her, bringing a hand up to stroke her neck and playing with her hair a little. “The staff is only here during the day,” I told her, amused by the question. “I don't have much in the way of staff, anyway. Just a maid, and then a grounds crew that comes by a couple times a week. I'm not here that often, really only to sleep. I hardly even eat meals here.”
“You must be busy at work,” Lexi said.
I nodded. “Running Orinoco isn't an easy task,” I admitted. “As I mentioned, I was groomed from a young age to run the company, but I didn't really expect to take over the entire company just out of business school. I thought I would ease into things. Not that I'm complaining. I like the work, and I have a lifestyle that anyone would envy. But it's busy.”
Lexi grinned. “So, you've essentially paid millions of dollars for a house that you barely use?”
I shrugged. “That's one way to look at it, I suppose. I view it more as contributing to the local economy.”
“Aren't you worried about security?” she asked.
I laughed. “Not really,” I told her. “There's no reason to be. My billions are in the bank or in the company itself. I don't have stacks of cash just sitting around the house. And in terms of things that I own, those things would raise huge red flags if a thief were to take them and try to sell them, I'm not the sort of target that they're looking for.”
“What about, I don't know, assassins? Someone who wants to kill you and take your position?”
“That kind of stuff only happens in Hollywood movies,” I told her, amused by the very thought of it.
“Oh,” Lexi said, looking embarrassed.
I brushed some of her hair back from her face, deciding it was time to get this evening back on track. “You're really beautiful,” I told her.
“You're really handsome,” she responded, but from the way she blushed and ducked her head, I could tell that she was pleased by my words.
“No, really,” I insisted. “I've met a lot of the girls in this city. I've met a lot of girls around the world. And I have to say, there are very few women who are as beautiful as you are.” I paused, again, sensing her uncertainty. “It's your eyes,” I told her, lightly stroking my thumb against her collarbone. “They're hazel, I guess, but I swear that in the right light, they are the most bewitching shade of green. And you have the cutest freckles scattered across your nose and cheeks. And those legs. God has never given a woman a better pair of legs.”
She laughed a little at that, pushing me away. “Are you drunk or something?” she asked.
“I'm complimenting you!” I protested, taking a sip of my wine to hide my answering smile. “You must have guys complimenting you left and right, though, Ms. Jordan.”
She rolled her eyes. “Is this a line? Are you just trying to get me in bed with you? Because you don't have to keep talking about how pretty I am.”
“Oh, really?” I asked.
“Really,” she said, a breathless note to her voice.
I blinked at her for a moment, wondering if it was really that simple, but from the guileless look in her eyes, I had to conclude that it was.
I smiled at her and plucked her wine glass from her hand, carefully setting it down on the coffee table. Then, I took her into my arms and kissed her again. “Let's move this to the bedroom,” I whispered against the shell of her ear.
She shivered and nodded in agreement, letting me lead the way.
In the master suite, I pushed her up against the wall and kissed her thoroughly, feeling my cock rapidly harden in my slacks. I sucked at her lower lip, and I bit gently at her tender skin, then kissed an apology into the pain. She moaned, and her mouth fell open. I took that as an invitation to explore the softness, playing my tongue against hers.
I tugged her dress up, running my fingertips across the smooth skin of her hips and dragging them higher. I had almost reached her breasts when she jerked and pulled away from me, her eyes wide.
I pulled away, too, and let her dress fall back down into place. It pained me to do so, but I wouldn’t push her to do something she didn’t want to.
“If you want to stop, that's okay,” I told her. I cleared my throat. “That is, if you don't want this to go any further than it already has, then as much as I'd like to lay you out and ravish you, I'll respect your wishes.”
I hated saying those words, and I really hoped that she wasn't going to ask me to stop. I was aroused. I was excited for this in a way that I hadn't been in a long time. Sex had become mostly routine by this point. Not that the women I brought home never thrilled me. They did. But I almost never felt this raw, carnal desire for a woman. It felt as though if I didn't take her, I wouldn't be able to satisfy the burning need inside of me.
But I couldn't bring myself to do anything that she was uncomfortable with.
After a moment, though, Lexi exhaled noisily and shook her head. She reached down and caught the hem of her dress, pulling it up and over her head. “Let's just take it slow,” she said softly. “Please.”
“Okay,” I agreed, already fumbling with the buttons of my shirt. “Okay, we'll take it slow.”
Chapter Five
Lexi
Andrew laid me back on his bed, and his fingers gently stroked over my lacy bra and skin. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. I didn't know why I felt so nervous and out of my depth, despite the desire zinging through me as his fingers ghosted over my curves.
I guess the truth of it was that this entire night had been so overwhelming. Going out to one of the newest, fanciest restaurants in town and eating my way through dishes that I couldn't even pronounce. Being here, with a billionaire, in his home that must have cost millions of dollars. Having his full attention on me, his fingers reverently touching my skin as his dark eyes eyed me hungrily. It was nothing that I could have expected when I stepped foot in Orinoco's office building the previous day.
And yet, it felt so deliciously perfect at the same time. I was
under no illusions, of course. Andrew Goldwright wasn't the kind of guy to keep girls around. This was just a one-time thing. But I knew it was going to be a night to remember. It already was, and we hadn't even gotten on to the main attraction yet.
“We can just kiss,” Andrew told me, proceeding to do just that.
The kiss started out slow and gentle, and I could tell that he was trying to set me at ease. But it wasn't long before the kiss developed into something filthy and heated. Our mouths worked one another's, sending surges of lust shooting to my very core. He teased me, giving me time to adjust. He was carelessly winding me up with no end in sight.
My needy body betrayed me. I couldn't help rocking up against him, trying to get his hands to do something other than bracket my face or lightly touch my hips. He raised an eyebrow at me, but this time when his fingers slipped along my skin, I didn't stop him. I arched towards him, and he grinned, reaching behind me to unclasp my bra.
His fingers played against my dusky areolas. The pads of his thumbs dragged across my nipples and made pleasure swirl inside of me. He brushed his knuckles against my curves, leaving a line of goosebumps along my skin. He chased that line of goosebumps with his mouth.
Despite my nerves, I felt curiously comfortable with him. He made no pretenses and no apologies. He was exactly who I expected him to be.
I only wished I could calm down a little more, to fully enjoy what he was doing to me.
“Are you all right?” Andrew murmured, his lips tickling my side as he moved lower on my body.
I giggled and tried to escape the feeling. He grinned, nuzzling me for a moment, taking that as answer enough. He paused as he reached my panties, looking quizzically up at me, and I nodded, holding my breath as he pulled the thin material off from me, revealing the soft, pink skin between my legs.
Andrew hummed quietly and began to play his fingers across the delicate skin, skimming lightly over the bundle of nerves there. I gasped and shifted against the sheets, my legs falling open in an attempt to give him better access to me. He smiled and began to touch me with more obvious intent.