The sparse streetlights of the marina allowed the stars to shine brightly from the pitch black sky like a million pieces of broken crystal. Lia took a deep breath. Salty air filled her lungs. “This was a wonderful evening, Thank you.” she said.
Travis wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear, “You’re welcome to spend the night.”
Lia looked over her shoulder at him thoughtfully before looking away. “I don’t know if that’s such a great idea. This date is for the auction.”
Travis kissed the top of her head and gently said, “It’s OK. You don’t have to. We can save it for another time.”
Lia wanted to stay. Her body ached with desire for him. But she thought better of it and nodded, “Thank you for understanding. Tonight was really incredible, but I should really go now.”
Travis caressed her shoulders and said softly, “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. I’m already thinking of our next date.” He took her hand in his and led her down the steel plank onto the dock. It was strange to be back on firm ground. Lia found her body was still swaying to the rhythm of the sea.
Travis opened the passenger door to his car and helped Lia inside. She leaned back in her seat and allowed her eyes to close for a moment. Travis glanced at her. A strange warmth enveloped his heart; he felt happy just sitting next to Lia and watching her. He didn’t want the moment to end.
When they arrived at her apartment building, Travis got out of the car and opened the passenger door for her, offering his hand for support. “Thank you for the beautiful evening,” she said to him. Their eyes met as he helped her out of the car.
“It was my pleasure.” He said as he drew her into him for a kiss. She felt the desire well up inside of her again. “Will I get the chance to return you the favor?” she murmured softly, grinding against his stiff erection in his pants deliberately.
“You bet.” Travis gave her a wolfish smile and lifted her chin with his hand. “But it’ll have to be another time.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Dring dring dring! Lia woke to the incessant ringing of her phone. “What the hell,” she murmured, raising her head from the pillow. She tapped around on her night stand until she found her phone. Lia turned off the alarm and sank back into her pillow.
“God,” she groaned. It’d been ages since she actually needed an alarm to wake her up. Usually, she woke on her own, a good thirty minutes before the alarm even had a chance to go off. “Wonderful,” she said. “I slept in.”
She stretched lazily and got out of bed. She pulled the curtains aside and opened the window. The sky was heavily overcast and a light drizzle was falling, creating a delicious smell of wet air. Lia inhaled deeply, clearing her lungs and her mind.
She padded to the kitchen and scratched her head. Her hair was still slightly curly from last-night’s updo. The red evening dress was laid out on the couch. A mixture of feelings hit Lia upon seeing it—embarrassment, excitement, and a tiny bit of arousal. She smirked. “Hm. Apparently, I’m not immune to the charms of billionaires after all.”
Though if she was to be honest with herself, it wasn’t the money and the shameless display of wealth that got her hot and bothered. It was Travis himself. He seemed to be so much more than the carefree playboy he pretended to be for the world. Last night, Lia felt like she got a peek into his mind and soul. She believed she sensed a much deeper personality than his public image seemed to suggest. She was intrigued by him. She was actually excited that she’d get to see him again. Twice.
Lia made coffee and took a quick shower. She selected a light blue shirt and a pair of jeans from her closet to wear for work. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and grabbed her coat on the way out. She returned a few minutes later rolling her eyes as she fetched her umbrella.
Despite the drizzle, she decided to walk to work to give herself some time to mull things over. Last night didn’t turn out the way she expected. She wanted time to regroup and collect her thoughts before she had to face the countless questions she knew she’d be bombarded with when she arrived. She knew she’d be expected to fully recount the date in detail.
She entered Pages through the stage door and walked to the office. The door was open, low music and laughter rolling onto the floor. The radio was on, and one of the morning show hosts was recounting her experience about trying to cook an entire meal blindfolded.
Maggie swiveled around in her chair as soon as Lia entered the office. “Look who’s just rolling in today!” she announced. “Did you have a late night?”
“And a good morning to you, too,” Lia said. She hung her coat slowly and deliberately and placed her wet umbrella next to the coat rack to dry.
“Take your time to get settled. No worries, it’s not like I’m dying to know what happened last night!” Maggie said pointedly.
Lia gave her friend a sheepish grin. “Sorry.” She walked to her desk and sat down. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything! From the moment he arrived.”
“Fine.” Lia sighed. “Well, he picked me up in his car, drove me to his yacht. His butler served us dinner that was cooked by a Michelin star chef. And then he drove me home. That good?”
Maggie looked like she could strangle her friend any minute. “Fantastic. Now tell it to me again. This time like a normal woman would if she went on a date with a billionaire.”
Lia frowned innocently. “What’s that like?”
“Details, honey!” Maggie was almost shouting. “Like, what did he wear? What did he say when he saw you? What kind of car did he drive? What did you talk about? What does his yacht look like? How was the food? Then what did you talk about? And most important--Did he kiss you?” Maggie counted her questions on her finger.
Lia smiled. “I should have installed a hidden camera for you.”
Maggie grinned. “Not a bad idea, we’ll think about that next time. But right now, talk to me!”
Lia held up her hands. “OK, OK.” She was happy for an excuse to talk about Travis. She proceeded to tell her friend about the date in detail, but started blushing and clammed up when she got to the dessert. “Then we finished eating and went outside to look at the stars and…”
“Whoa, let me stop you right there,” Maggie interrupted, glaring at Lia suspiciously. “I sense an omission. What did you have for dessert?”
“Some sort of apple cake that was Chef Etienne’s secret recipe,” Lia said. She lowered her eyes and tugged at her necklace nervously. She exchanged the red ruby pendant to the tiny golden heart that she usually wore.
Maggie regarded her friend through narrowed eyes. “Why are you blushing?”
“I’m not,” Lia protested, blushing even more.
“He kissed you, didn’t he?” Maggie said triumphantly.
“Erm… yes,” Lia admitted. “After dessert, he asked me to dance and we kissed. That was it.”
“Hm. Was it just that?” Maggie wasn’t convinced. “I don’t see the confident Lia Malcolm blushing just because a man kissed her while dancing.” She looked at Lia closely, the wheels turning in her head.
“All right, all right,” Lia conceded. “He came over to sit next to me and fed me cake. Then he kissed me. And then… he put his hand up my dress… and he stroked me… everywhere.” She looked at her friend pleadingly, wishing Maggie would spare her from spelling out what happened.
“Everywhere?” Maggie raised an eyebrow. “I get it, I think. And did you like it?”
“Um. What do you think? Of course I liked it as much as humanly possible, who wouldn’t?” Lia mumbled, inspecting her fingernails.
Maggie grinned broadly and put her hands to her cheeks. “Wow! Wow, and double wow! Well done, Mr. Paulson! I have to tell you, I had high hopes for the evening, but this even exceeds my wildest expectations!” She leaned forward. “And tell me, did you return the favor?”
“I didn’t get a chance.” Lia smirked. “Not yet, at least!”
“Awesome!” Maggie clapped her hands. “Now, do
n’t tell me you haven’t changed your opinion about him.”
Lia thought about this for a moment and looked away again. “Not really.” Maggie saw right through her deception and gaped at her. “What? Don’t expect me to believe that you’d let a man you absolutely hate kiss you and fondle you while eating dessert. He made you come, didn’t he? Tell me he did!”
“I don’t hate him, I never did,” Lia protested. “But I know he’s a playboy and that he has tons of women throwing themselves at his feet.”
“You said he wanted to be an architect but his father didn’t let him and that he’s loyal to his family,” Maggie interjected.
“And what is he like two years old? He’s a grown man, for God’s sake. He should just tell his father where to shove it and go off to make it on his own. That’s what I would do.” Lia crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at Maggie defiantly, ignoring the tiny voice in her head that said she was being unfair. Upbeat music bounced from the radio.
“Not everybody has your morals, honey,” Maggie said quietly. “And besides, you wouldn’t know what you’d really do, if you were in his shoes. I mean, it’s his family after all.”
Lia scoffed. It felt so comfortable to return to her old ideas about Travis. “Nobody’s asking him to move to a third-world country or turn his back on his family. They’ve just got to get used to letting him live his life as he wants to.
Maggie sighed. “You have a point, of course, but still, I don’t think you should judge him. It sounds complicated.”
“No. But I have the right to not take him seriously.”
Maggie held up her hands. “Whatever. It’s your choice. But still, may I point out that on some level, you must be attracted to him. Otherwise…” She gave Lia a meaningful glare.
“You’re right,” Lia conceded. “He intrigues me. And…” she trailed off, looking for words.
“And what?”
“It’s hard to explain. He somehow emanates power.” Lia drew a circle with her hands to illustrate her point. “I felt helpless. I was just sitting there, watching him walk toward me. All my nerve endings were screaming ‘danger’, but it was like I was unable to escape his control. And… I loved every second of it.”
“Wow,” Maggie said, astonished at her confession. “I don’t know a lot of people who could do that to you. I mean, no offense, but you’re quite the control freak.”
Lia nodded. “I know. But somehow, it felt good to let him take control for a while. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy. It was definitely a strange sensation.”
A small smile appeared on Maggie’s lips.
“What?” Lia asked, frowning.
“Well, my friend, you may have met your match.”
Lia shook her head energetically. “No way. This doesn’t mean a thing. I told you, I can’t imagine going out with a man I don’t respect for his own achievements and who isn’t living life on his terms.”
“You respect how he makes you feel,” Maggie pointed out.
“That’s completely different. It’s just physical, nothing else.
Maggie gave her a mysterious grin. “We’ll see. Anyway, when’s the next date?’
“I don’t know.” Lia turned toward her computer and powered it up. “He said he’d be in touch. He didn’t say when.”
Maggie laughed. “Well, seeing that you owe him an orgasm, I don’t think he’ll wait too long.” With that, she turned back to her desk.
Lia chuckled. Even though she’d never admit it to Maggie, she found herself looking forward to their next date. She was curious about what Travis would come up with to top the dinner on the yacht date. And she couldn’t shake the memory of his hands on her body. It stirred desire deep in her core. She remembered his erection pressing into her abdomen and she found herself aching to feel him inside her. Just the thought of it got her wet again. She really hoped he’d call soon about their next date.
Maggie started clicking away on her keyboard and the sound was almost a reprimand to Lia. I really need to get some work done, she reminded herself. With incredible willpower, she pushed Travis out of her mind and pulled up the document on Goggles, Pages’ next show. Opening night was only a few weeks away and there was still a lot of work to be done.
There was a knock on the office door. “Come in,” Maggie said.
The door opened a little. Christina, the female lead actor stuck her head through the crack. “Hey, Lia.”
Lia turned towards her. “Hi. What’s up?”
Christina grinned excitedly at Lia. “I hear you had your big date yesterday.”
Lia gave a polite smile. “Yeah, the big fundraiser date. It was all right.”
Christina rolled her eyes. “All right? I can’t imagine it was only ‘all right’. I want to hear all about it!”
Lia checked her watch. “Gee, I’m kind of busy right now.”
“That’s OK. I’m here all day. Just come look for me when you’re done.”
“Sure, I’ll do that.”
“Just don’t make me wait too long, OK? I might burst from excitement!” Christina gave a little squeal before leaving the office.
“You’d think I went out with some kind of royal prince or something,” Lia murmured, rolling her eyes.
“But didn’t you?” Maggie blinked.
“Whatever.”
Lia was so focused on her work that she almost didn’t hear the sound of her cell phone ringing. In fact, she managed to completely block it out and only noticed when Maggie’s voice broke through her concentration.
“Hey! Earth to Lia! Isn’t that your phone?”
Lia looked up from her work, slightly bewildered. “What? Oh, yeah, sure.” She fumbled for her bag that was placed neatly at the edge of her desk, where it usually was. She rummaged around inside it for a while until she located the still ringing phone.
“He’s pretty insistent,” Maggie remarked, grinning.
“How do you know it’s him?” Lia asked a little breathlessly, checking the phone’s screen. There was no caller ID, so there was one way to find out. “Hello?”
“You made me wait quite a while to pick up,” Travis said in a cheerful voice.
“Hi. Sorry, I couldn’t find my phone,” Lia replied, her heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice. “What’s up?”
“I’m calling to arrange our next date.”
Straight to the point. A small smile appeared on Lia’s lips. She liked his no-nonsense approach.
“OK. What do you have in mind?”
“Well, I was thinking, I’ve shown you my world, or at least a small part of it. So how about next time I get a glimpse into yours?”
Lia frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t have a yacht. Or a boat. Not even a kayak or canoe.”
Travis laughed. “No, but you have a theater. So what if I took you to a show at your theater? Or would that be too much like working? Just tell me and we can go watch any one of your competitors.”
Lia felt a spark of excitement. “That’s very considerate of you,” she said gratefully. “I’d love to have you come to one of our performances.”
“Excellent,” Travis replied. “What about tomorrow night? Let’s see what you have on offer…” he trailed off and Lia could hear a keyboard clicking on the other end of the line. Travis was apparently surfing their web site. She quickly pulled it up on her computer.
“We’re doing a remake of Othello,” Lia said.
“That sounds intriguing. The Bard meets Pages. I wonder what you make of such a classic. Shall I go ahead and buy the tickets?”
Lia chuckled. “You know, if you’re nice to her, the art director might be willing to comp you a couple of few tickets. Perks of the job.”
“Nah,” Travis said. “I don’t want privileged treatment. I want to pay like everybody else.”
Lia laughed at the irony. Travis not wanting privileged treatment? But it would hardly kill him to pay for two tickets at Pages. “Well, in that case, thank you.”
“Hm. I see a few of the VIP boxes are still available. Let me book one for us, all right?”
Lia felt gratitude swell up in her. The VIP boxes were rarely sold, as their core audience came from art students and other low-income groups of the population. “Thanks. You’ll love the show.”
“I’m sure I will. Especially from the privacy of a VIP box. As far as I remember, they’re pretty sheltered from view, right?” his voice became husky and a sudden image appeared in Lia’s head about what they could do in a VIP box. Excitement bubbled up in her belly.
“Yes, they are,” she replied, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“That’s perfect,” Travis replied. “So, I’ll pick you up tomorrow at seven. And Lia?”
“Yes?”
“I loved your dress yesterday, you were drop dead gorgeous. But maybe tomorrow, could you wear something a little shorter?”
Lia gave a throaty laugh. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Excellent,” Travis chuckled. “See you tomorrow!”
“See you.” Lia hung up and stared at her screen for a moment still a little breathlessly, trying to collect herself. She was suddenly very aware of Maggie’s presence in the office.
And yes, Maggie gave a small cough. “I guessed right? That that was him, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.” Lia let the excitement creep into her voice. “And you know where he’s taking me? To our own show! And, he just bought one of the VIP boxes for us!”
“That’s awesome.” Maggie grinned. “This guy just keeps surprising you, doesn’t he? And you thought he was just an airhead billionaire, but it turns out he’s actually deep and sensitive and into art!”
Yeah, as well as into all of the deliciously naughty things that could be done in the cozy half-light of the VIP box, Lia thought to herself but didn’t voice her opinion out loud. She had to agree with Maggie though, Travis was full of surprises.
“Though I guess this means you won’t need any help with your outfit tomorrow,” Maggie said, somewhat disappointed.
Lia smiled. “No, I’m sorry. I think I can handle a night at the theater by myself. But thank you for the offer.”
The Auction: The Billionaire Wins a Date Page 7