Best Friend Billionaire

by Lexi Banks

  With a little twinkle in her eye, Charlotte pushed herself into a standing position, and she stood semi-patiently while I covered the bill. Once outside, she leaned in close to me and whispered into my ear in a way the I presume she wanted to be seductive, but because she had drunk too much and she’d spent the whole evening acting obnoxious, it didn’t play off in that way at all. “You know, I live close to here.”

  “Oh, good.” I purposely misread the message she was giving me. “Then I can walk you back.”

  She leaned into me, pressing her body into mine and she gave me a smirk. “I can show you inside if you like.”

  I slid my eyes closed and internally prayed for something to help me out of this situation. Couldn’t Charlotte tell that this had gone horribly? Didn’t her senses let her know that I wasn’t interested? I wouldn’t ever have sex with anyone that I didn’t at least have some sort of connection with anyway. Maybe I hadn’t ever made things last, but I wasn’t so much a one-night stand person either. Especially not tonight.

  “I can’t see your apartment tonight,” I told her quietly, trying to maintain some semblance of positivity between us. “I have a lot on in the morning. I’m very sorry about that, but it has been a wonderful evening.”

  “You don’t want to come back?” She sounded genuinely shocked by this. “But... you do know what I mean when I ask you to come inside with me, don’t you? I’ve heard that you’re a big player... good in bed.”

  A small part of me, my ego I suppose, wanted to ask her where she had heard that from but I didn’t push because I knew that it would only aggravate an already pretty bad situation.

  “I’m sorry, Charlotte,” I told her diplomatically. I wanted to be clear so there weren’t any issues later on down the line. I needed to cut this dead tonight. “I just don’t think that this can work.”

  “It’s about her, isn’t it,” she sneered back. “The girl in the ugly blue dress, the other one who was bidding. I thought that there had to be a reason why she wouldn’t just damn well give it up.”

  I parted my lips, all ready to shoot her down like I always did everyone when it came to Maddie, but for some reason, today I couldn’t quite find the words to disagree with her, because maybe she was right...

  Chapter 8 – Madison

  Sunday

  This is a nightmare, I thought sadly to myself as I shook my head. Why the hell am I here?

  “Yeah, so that’s when I was invited backstage to the MTV awards show; as you can see I met all kinds of celebrities,” Zac droned on, again name dropping as he had been doing all evening long. “It was a wicked night where I had to turn down...” He smirked to himself as if this would impress me. “Well, I better not say her name.”

  I rolled my eyes discretely, wondering again why I decided to bid on this guy. That weird, inexplicable bolt of jealousy that raced through my system made me act in a way that I wouldn’t normally, and now I was having to pay for that. What an idiot. As Zac droned on, I wondered how Parker got on with his date. He seemed to leave pretty sharpish last night, so I assumed that he went straight out with Charlotte. Either he couldn’t wait or she couldn’t. I wanted to message him to find out what was happening, but at the same time, because things were so odd between us, because I had no real idea how I felt about him, it felt too forward to do so.

  I sighed loudly, possibly making it obvious how I was really feeling, but Zac was so arrogant that he didn’t even notice. He simply continued to scroll through the images on his phone until he found some of a very naked woman, who didn’t have her face on show but had a very slim, tight body. Perhaps that was supposed to make me jealous, judging by the smirk on his face it often worked, but I honestly didn’t care at all.

  “Ooh, oops, sorry about that.” He made a big show of switching his cell phone off. “My mistake.”

  At that moment, the waiter came over with a dessert menu, making my blood run icy cold. Dinner was agonizing enough, especially when I knew from moment one that I didn’t want to know, so the last thing I wanted to was prolong that agony any longer. I shook my head frantically at him, indicating for him to take it away.

  “No, you’re right.” Zac sent me an exaggerated wink, running his tongue along his lips as he did. “I don’t think we should stay here for dessert either. Not when you can come back to mine and have all you can eat.”

  It took everything that I had not to vomit at that remark. He was so damn disgusting. Did things like that actually work? What sort of women were sleeping with this asshole? I couldn’t help recalling Parker’s message that he sent to me the moment I won. He was right; this certainly wasn’t a winner... not that I was here looking for love. I didn’t even notice Zac before I bid on him. Emotions for him had nothing to do with it...

  “Oh no, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I shook my head determinedly. “I have work in the morning...”

  I stopped, almost leaping out of my seat as I felt the unmistakable brush of Zac’s foot against my leg. It was as if he couldn’t sense my body language at all. Or maybe he knew that all my barriers were held high and he saw it as some sort of challenge to break them down. I felt sick to my stomach at the idea.

  He raked his fingers through his slick, strawberry-blond hair, almost sneering at me. There was a desire behind his eyes, but it was a very bland passion, like it could have been meant for anyone but me. It sure as hell didn’t make me feel special, I could tell that he didn’t care about me one bit. I didn’t want this.

  “Come on, let’s go.” I pushed myself into a standing position, putting an end to his talk. “I want to see if there are any cabs outside.” As his eyes lit up, I knew that I had to explain myself properly. This was a man that needed full clarification while being shut down. “Because I need to go home, to my place, by myself.”

  Still, I could tell this wasn’t quite enough, so I did the only thing that I had left. I grabbed my cell phone out of my pocket and typed the word ‘Octopus Socks’ to Parker. It was our safe word, an indication that we needed a fake emergency created by the other person to get us out of any situation. It had been useful for dates as bad as this one, bad work meetings, and even just sticky conversations. I didn’t one hundred percent feel comfortable using it right now, but I couldn’t see any other way out. When my phone rang, I felt nothing but relief.

  “Hello?” I answered innocently, holding up one finger to Zac to let him know that I wouldn’t be long.

  “Oh, Maddie, thank goodness it’s you.” Parker’s panicked voice was awesome. “Something has happened, my home has been broken into, and the police have asked me to find somewhere to stay.”

  “Oh no, that’s horrible!” I found it really hard not to smirk. “Well tell the officer you can come to mine.”

  “Great, thank you. They will be happy to hear it. I’ll see you in about fifteen minutes?”

  There was a genuine question in his tone, so I wondered if he would actually turn up. “Sure.”

  Once I hung up the phone, Zac gave me a confused look “What was that about? The police?”

  “Oh yeah, my friend has an emergency, and I’m really needed to help so I better rush off to get a cab.” I wasn’t sure how well I was pulling off the fake emergency, but I kept it up anyway. “Thanks for the night though.”

  As I raced from the building, towards the fresh air, I breathed out all of that relief. Luckily, there was a cab right outside for me to dive right into before Zac could come out and confront me about my lie. I reeled off my address at the speed of light prompting some bad joke from the driver about a terrible date that hit far too close to the truth. As we sped off, I rested my aching head against the cool of the glass, thanking the universe for Parker once more. I kinda hoped that he was outside my apartment visiting. I really wanted to see him.

  I SUCKED IN A DEEP breath as I saw Parker standing in front of my apartment door like a knight in shining armor. My initial instinct was to throw my arms around him and embrace him. That was what I’d
usually do, but I felt too weird to do that. I remained stuck where I was with my hands strapped to my sides and an inane grin.

  “Hey.” Parker furrowed his eyebrows at me. “What was all of that about? I hope it’s okay that I’m here.”

  “Yeah, it’s fine.” I pulled my keys out of my handbag and unlocked the door. “Just my date, it was awful.”

  I thought I caught a little glimpse of a smirk on his face, which made my pulse flutter. I tried to ignore it knowing that it wasn’t the best idea to allow my brain to go down that road, and I unlocked the door. Me and Parker crashed through the front door, and I made my way into the kitchen to pour us both a strong drink.

  “So, what happened on your date?” Parker asked as he took a seat. “Zac his usual charming self?”

  “Urgh.” I rolled my eyes dramatically. “What an ass.” I poured myself a very heavy portion of liquid. “All he did was name drop. Then he had this assumption that I was just going to sleep with him. I get that he must find it much easier usually. I don’t know, not with me though.”

  Parker did that weird smile to himself again. “Yeah, I actually had a similar problem with Charlotte.”

  My fingers automatically curled around the glass much too tight. The idea of Charlotte, the perfect looking successful woman, throwing herself at Parker made me mad. He had slept with people before, I knew all about that, so why was this different? Why did I feel like I couldn’t handle it? I breathed in deep, trying to regain control of myself, but I felt like I was burning up. My temper was getting the better of me, I felt like I could explode.

  “She would not take no for an answer.” He shook his head, looking bemused. “It took me about an hour to get rid of her. I thought I was going to have to call the emergency services or something; it was nuts.”

  “So, you didn’t sleep with her?” It was important that I confirmed that. “That’s... wild.”

  As he explained how he finally managed to peel Charlotte off of him, my mind churned and raced over and over. All I could concentrate on was how he had my body lit up like a damn Christmas tree. Me and Parker were alone together all the time, this was totally normal, but today it felt intense and overly powerful.

  What is wrong with you? I cursed myself. This is Parker... Parker, your friend, nothing more.

  The feeling that I had right now was how I would expect to feel on a first date. All jittery and excitable, nervous, but with an intense anticipation. Almost as if I was waiting for something to happen.

  “So, no more auction dates,” I joked, trying to lighten up the atmosphere as I shuffled on my seat. Discomfort coursed through my veins, the intensity was just too much. “I think that should be a new rule of ours.”

  “Oh, definitely.” He nodded enthusiastically. “I don’t ever want to do that again.”

  He nudged me, moving closer to me before he threw his arm over my shoulder. It was an action that he did all the time, but today it felt different. I couldn’t take it in the same way as I used to, I felt all weird. My heart pounded like a jackhammer; my mind darted over all kinds of crazy thoughts; there was a constant shiver racing up and down my spine. I felt like I liked him in a way that I shouldn’t.

  “Yeah, so, erm...” I wanted to find some ways to ease this tension, but I couldn’t seem to do it. To make it worse, Parker seemed completely at ease as if he wasn’t experiencing any trauma at all. “That’s erm... yeah.”

  I turned my head to look at him, to try and gauge how he was feeling too, but that was instantly a big mistake. I could almost taste the moisture on his lips. If I leaned in just a little bit, I could be kissing him. As I considered that, I felt my body take on a dream-like quality which almost drew me in even more...

  Something is happening here, I thought desperately to myself. What am I going to do about it?

  “Erm... I think it might be best if... if...” I skated backward, panic setting in. This was too much, too quick. I couldn’t jump into this without being sure because it was utterly monumental. It would change my life irrevocably; I couldn’t just do it on a whim. “If I go to bed. I have work in the morning, and I...”

  Parker looked about as hurt as I felt, but we couldn’t really do this. I ran my eyes over his face once more, at least this time safe from a distance, and I pulled backward more.

  “I’ll see you in the week, okay?”

  “Oh, right sure.” He couldn’t fathom my behavior, and I couldn’t either. “Yep, see you then.”

  Chapter 9 – Parker

  Monday

  “What is with you?” Buster asked with a deep chuckle. “You’re really off your game today.”

  I swung the golf club over my shoulder and gave him a look. Admittedly, he was right, I wasn’t playing anywhere near like my best, I usually kicked his ass with ease, but today I couldn’t do anything right. My mind wasn’t on the course though. I had a million and one other things to consider today, none of them easy.

  “Yeah, yeah, I suck.” I was happy to give him that much. “I don’t need it rubbed in, thank you very much.”

  “So, you haven’t yet told me how the whole event thing went.” I slid my eyes closed as he hopped onto the one subject I had hoped that we would manage to avoid because I didn’t know how much I wanted to discuss it. I should have known though. He would probably only get worse now that he had a girlfriend. Knowing Buster, he would want to live vicariously through me which was dumb because all in all, I was pretty dull. “How did it go? Did that beautiful red-haired friend bid on you in the end, or did she leave you high and dry?”

  He chuckled, and I tried my hardest to join in, but I couldn’t quite match his mirth. “She did, but Maddie wasn’t the one who won me in the end. It was Charlotte Lawson from High-tech, you know the one?”

  “Oh, God.” Buster’s eyebrows almost shot up into his forehead. I guessed from that alone he knew exactly who I was talking about. “Yeah, I know Charlotte. She might be a crazy bitch, but she’s awesome in the sack.”

  “You have not?” Why was I surprised? Buster had connections with a lot of women. “Oh God, really?”

  Buster smirked but didn’t confirm or deny anything. “So, how did the date go? Have you had it yet?”

  I nodded and rolled my eyes, before taking my next swing. Still, I wasn’t doing anything good with the ball, but it hardly mattered. My brain was all consumed with him. “Yeah, I had it. It was as bad as to be expected.”

  Buster took his shot and cheered as he got it so much closer to the hole than I did, boasting as he kicked my ass. “I can imagine. Did you end up in bed with her? I’ve heard that she can be very persistent if she likes someone, and if she paid for you, then I’m sure she must have had her eyes on you. Her claws too, probably.”

  “She was persuasive, but I just about managed to escape.” That was putting mildly. “There was no way in hell I was going to let that happen. I just don’t see her in that way at all. I never would.”

  Buster smirked, almost to himself. “No, I suppose her hair isn’t red enough for you, is it?”

  I chose to ignore that, even if it bristled over me everywhere. “Nothing like that at all.”

  “Oh, right sure. So, you’re trying to tell me that you wouldn’t have been happier if Madison had won?”

  “Of course, I would have liked that more!” There wasn’t any point in denying that. “Because I could have had a good time with her. We always have a laugh, and I wouldn’t have had that awkwardness at the end.”

  “And that’s it?” Buster demanded. “That’s the only reason you wanted her to win?”

  I pressed my lips tightly together, unable to answer that really. My feelings for Maddie were a confusing vortex right now. There was no denying that they were changing, growing, transforming into something new. That was a sensation right out of my control; I couldn’t do anything about it which was hard work. I didn’t want to feel that way about my friend; it made everything different. I didn’t want it all to change.

  �
�I don’t know what you’re trying to say,” I said nonchalantly. “Maddie is my friend, nothing more.”

  “Right, of course.” Buster didn’t say anything for a while. We simply continued to play golf for a while, but I could tell that he had something to say to me. I didn’t want to pry it out of him because I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to like whatever he had to say at all. “So, did Maddie bid on anyone else in the end?”

  “Yeah, Zac Marx.” We both snickered at the mention of that horrible man. “It was a disaster, as you can guess. She called me over to her house afterward and we talked about what an idiot he was.”

  “She called you? You were the first person that she turned to after her bad date?” I nodded, unsure of where he was going with this. “Don’t you think that’s a little crazy? She has other friends, right?”

  I offered him a one-shouldered shrug. “We’ve had this code word for years, anything to get us out of emergency situation. There’s nothing weird about it at all; I’m her oldest friend. This is just what we do.”

  “Hmmm... I have to say; I don’t have any female friends that I treat like that.”

  “No, but that’s because you don’t have any female friends at all, so of course you don’t get it.”

  Buster snorted at me as if I was the one who didn’t get something. I shook my head and rolled my eyes at him, trying my hardest not to let him get under my skin again. The last time I did, I ended up on a date with Charlotte, thinking about Maddie in ways that I hadn’t ever experienced before. Quite frankly, I was a mess.

  “So, what happened when you went to Maddie’s then? How did she tell you about the date?”

  I felt all weird and uncomfortable about that, I wasn’t really ready to discuss it, but at the same time, I really wanted to get it off my chest. I needed the opinion of an outsider, even if that person was Buster.

  “She just basically sat at her kitchen counter and told me about what a pig he was. I was next to her, and we both had a drink, and there was this...” How did I describe it? I couldn’t quite seem to find the words. “Moment.”