“What do you want out of this?” Aurora asked as she sat back against the hot cedar boards. Her question caught Lance off guard. For the first time all day, Aurora looked like the relaxed one. She tried to play it cool, but she couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face.
It wasn’t easy to throw Lance Macauley off of his game, but Aurora had stunned him. “I..uh”, it was all the rich man could muster.
“I know you’re married, and we can’t…” Aurora felt a finger on her lips. She followed the arm up to meet a pair of tender eyes. She wasn’t able to read the face that greeted her. Lance looked like he was trying to be sincere.
“I don’t want you to think like that”, Lance seemed to be searching for the right words as he spoke. “I understand it, but I don’t think of this as a passing thing…an affair…”
“Well it’s an affair”, Aurora wasn’t about to let Lance off the hook. She was okay with what he was saying until he tried to claim that it wasn’t an affair. Aurora was trying to be a realist. She was giving herself to Lance, and getting caught up in the emotion, and passion. Aurora knew that it would be so easy to just let him lie to her.
“Yes, it is”, Lance smiled. His confidence seemed to find itself in this moment. “But, and I know you feel this too, it is so much more than that”.
Aurora had to turn her head away. She couldn’t let Lance see the impact his words had on her. Her heart was swooning. Aurora was in the clouds as they moved onto the facials, and the rest of their pampering.
That night as they got back to their rooms to change for dinner, Aurora was still drunk on the energy that they shared. It was the ring of her phone that brought her back to reality. She dug through her dirty laundry, following the vibration and the faint tinkling.
“Hello”, Aurora hadn’t really looked at the caller ID.
“How is it?” Sheila’s voice cut right through Aurora. She felt like she was betraying her friend somehow by enjoying her time with Lance. “Are you writing everything down?”
“I’m trying to remember every minute”, Aurora sighed as she looked around for a notepad. It was an odd impulse, but she wanted to take a few notes. She just wanted to be able to face Sheila when she got back Monday. Sheila had a way of seeing through Aurora’s bull.
“I used to be the young pretty girl”, Sheila would always say.
“I don’t think that anything malicious is going on here”, Aurora explained as she found a pad and started jotting down a few notes about the weekend.
“Oh, God”, Sheila’s voice was heavy laden with judgement. Aurora felt a wave of shame crawl over her. “You’re sleeping with him. Is it at least good?”
“Yes”, Aurora said, even though she couldn’t believe what she was saying. She had just admitted to the affair. She felt bad as she realized what this could mean for Lance.
“Well, then hopefully I can get you out of the country”, Sheila sighed. “You’re going to need a trip when this prick throws you to the curb”. Aurora tried to protest, she tried to say that that wasn’t going to happen, but she knew that the older woman wasn’t going to believe her no matter how what she said.
“I know what you think of me…”
“No, you don’t”, Sheila’s voice sounded comforting. “I get it. I know why this is happening. I would sleep with you if you took me to the Swiss Alps, and I hate rug munching”. The girls laughed at Sheila’s joke.
“I think this is leading to something”, Aurora said the words, and she believed them. She knew what was going to come from the other end of the phone, but she said them anyway.
“I hope so”, Sheila was trying hard to sound sincere. She told Aurora to be safe, and then hung up.
Aurora finished her short note, and then she packed her bags. After dinner, they were boarding a plane and heading back to New York. They were leaving the fairy tale behind and heading deep into the heart of reality. Aurora felt good about their relationship, but she knew things always changed when they were exposed to this harsh light.
“Are you ready?” Lance asked as he popped his head through the door. Aurora nodded and got to her feet. Everything felt right with the world.
Chapter 8
“So, you guys are a thing, an item?” Carly asked. Aurora cocked her head in response. “Sorry, I don’t know if people say that anymore”.
“I think they do”, sighed Aurora as she processed the question. “I’m just not sure how to answer”. Aurora thought about their dates since returning to New York. Lance was taking her out almost every night, but they were heading to private dinners in the buildings that he owned. “Can you be a secret item?”
“No”, Carly’s point-blank delivery caught Aurora off guard and they both started to laugh. “Sorry, that was not judgement. I mean you know why I’m here, so how can I judge anyone. I’m married, and I go to see a masseuse for sexual release”.
“I…um, we’ve never talked about it, but I don’t judge you”, Aurora tried to keep all of the redness out of her face, but the more she fought it, the hotter her face felt. She took a deep breath and looked at the ground. It was weird to think about all the things that she had talked to Carly about, but never the most obvious thing.
“Well, I judge me enough for the both of us”, Carly laughed. “This is not how I saw my life going”.
“What happened?” Aurora asked, she still couldn’t quite look Carly in the eyes. “I mean, if you don’t mind me asking”.
“Ahhhh!” The moans coming from Lydia’s room were starting to get louder. It was an odd backdrop to any conversation, but it was the back drop to almost every conversation that Carly and Aurora had ever had.
“I am married to a man that doesn’t trust me”. Carly looked down at the ring on her left hand. She always wore it. Aurora had never thought much about it. “I slept with his brother. It’s not something either one of us was proud of, but it happened. My husband stayed with me, but he didn’t love me anymore. Our families were in business together and he thought it was important for us to stay together for appearances”.
Aurora watched the pain moving across Carly’s face. Aurora could see the regret, and the hurt. Carly wiped a tear from her eye. She looked over at the closed door, and seemed to long for the comfort she was about to receive.
“The worst part was that once my husband lost interest, his brother didn’t want me either”, Carly said.
Lydia’s door opened and a very flushed looking man walked out of the room. His shirt was buttoned wrong and untucked. What remained of his hair was disheveled. He didn’t even attempt to put on his shoes, the stocky, old man picked up his shoes and stumbled out of the apartment.
Lydia floated out of the room and draped herself over Carly. They kissed as Lydia brought both her hands to Carly’s face, and stroked lovingly along her face and cheek bones. It felt so intimate, that Aurora could feel her cheeks getting red all over again.
Excusing herself, Aurora moved to her bedroom and thought about the story that Carly had told her. She couldn’t believe how long it had taken them to talk about the most obvious subject. Aurora was never one to pry, but she definitely felt comfortable with Carly.
“Are you ready?” The text from Lance shocked Aurora for a minute. Had been holding the phone in her hand, and the slight vibration had made her jump. Aurora grabbed her purse. She wasn’t dressed up, but it wasn’t like they were going out anywhere. Lance’s next message was the address. “Head to the 20th floor”, read the last message.
“Pajamas?” Lance asked as Aurora walked off the elevator. The whole floor was empty, except for a table and two chairs. There were boxes of Chinese takeout on the table.
“They’re sweats, not pajamas and did I need to get dressed up for anything?” Aurora didn’t hide the snippiness in her voice. She made it very obvious.
“No, nothing like that”, Lance laughed. “I just…I mean next time tell me and we’ll make it a pajama party”. Lance could tell that he was tap dancing in a mine field.
Aurora was not in the mood for judgement. “What’s going on?”
“What are we?” Aurora asked. “I thought I was okay with this, but I don’t know. I mean, I’m crazy about you, and if you tell me that we’re just friends with benefits you’re still likely getting to have sex tonight…”
“Good to know”, Lance cut in.
“Knock it off, this is serious right now”, Aurora could feel herself getting angry. She wasn’t sure she had a right to be angry. She knew what she was getting into, but at the same time she had the right to clarity. “What are we?”
“Two people…”
“A little more specific please!” Aurora stormed past Lance to the Chinese food. She attacked the cardboard packaging. She wasn’t even hungry, she just needed to be doing something to counteract the awkward feeling she was wrestling with.
“You didn’t let me finish”, Lance said as he moved across the room and sat on the other side of the table. “We’re two people who care a great deal about each other…” Lance stopped talking as Aurora stood up and charged toward the elevator. “We’re going out, we’re at the beginning of a very complicated relationship”.
Aurora didn’t speak, she just kept pushing the down button. The elevator wasn’t coming fast enough. She could hear Lance, he was still explaining things. Everything he said was completely rational, and it all made a lot of sense. If she was being fair, Aurora would have to admit that Lance was making some very good points.
Emotions are not rational, and as the elevator doors opened she got on, and moved right to the back of the car. She folded her arms and turned back to see Lance staring at her with a wounded puppy dog face. Technically, she had promised to sleep with him.
Aurora went home to lay in bed and stare at the ceiling. She wouldn’t sleep at all that night. She was having so many emotions run through her head. The worst part was that she knew she was not done with Lance, not by a long shot.
Aurora walked to work the next day fighting to stay awake. Sheila texted the coffee orders without being asked. Aurora was already late, and she didn’t care how it looked to Max. She wanted him to confront her about it today. She was ready to take him on, after her coffee.
“Thank you”, Sheila cooed as she cradled her coffee in both hands. “I have been dying all morning”.
“Me too”, Aurora sighed. “Where’s Max?”
“He’s in the lunch room”, Sheila’s wicked smile betrayed the fact that there was more information behind those words. Aurora gave Sheila an inquisitive look. “Just go look for yourself”.
“Aurora, my favorite intern!” Max jumped out of his seat like there were electrodes on his balls. He ran over and hugged Aurora, and then jumped back looking mortified. “Sorry, personal space, right. I just like the work you do so much”.
Aurora saw Lance sitting at the table and knew exactly why Max was acting like a mental patient. She started to feel agitated again, but more at Max than at Lance. He wasn’t mad at her, because he thought she was sleeping with Lance for the benefit of the charity. Best case scenario Max thought the intern was sleeping with Lance and it was a benefit to the charity. Either way it was awful.
“I was late today”, Aurora sneered. “Would you like to reprimand me? How many strikes is this for me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about”, Max said. He stood up and left the room with a little wink to Lance.
Aurora spun on Lance and he almost jumped back. His hands came up in defense. “I didn’t wink, he winked”.
Aurora tried to keep her mad face on, but it was impossible. The second she hesitated to yell Lance smiled and it was all over. Aurora sat on his lap and kissed him. Lance pulled back to look her in the eyes.
“Are you sure?”
“Not in any way”, Aurora laughed. “I have no idea what to tell you, or how to help you. But I think I promised you sex last night”. Aurora used her foot to close the door to the lunch room.
Lance waited in the lunch room after they finished. He said he needed to wait for a minute for appearances, but Aurora knew he wasn’t ready to walk yet. She smiled slyly as she closed the door behind her.
“I eat lunch on that table”, Sheila moaned as she listened to the tale of the lunch room meeting. “So, now Max is setting up a brothel in the office”.
“I am not a prostitute!”
“That’s not what I’m saying”, Sheila tried to defend her statement. “I just mean, Max doesn’t care that you’re using company time to romance clients. It isn’t right”.
“Okay, first of all, don’t pluralize client”, Aurora snapped playfully. “This is one man. A man I happen to be crazy about. A man that I care about”.
“A man that you fucked into temporary paralysis in our lunch room”, Sheila teased. “And a man who gives this organization a lot of money. There is a conflict of interest here, and Max is going to need to explain this to the board. I mean he is at least in some way responsible for what just happened”.
Aurora was about to deny that, when she remembered how annoyed she was with Max. Doing something to piss him off had factored heavily in the decision to have lunch room sex. Now Sheila was taking that satisfaction away from her. Max was likely happy about it.
“You just ruined that memory for me”, Aurora said as she looked out of Sheila’s window. She could see Lance leaving the building and getting into a limo. Sheila was still talking about holding Max’s balls to the flames. Aurora could barely focus. She was worried that Sheila was going to do something to ruin her relationship with Lance.
“Can you just make sure that it stays out of the papers?” Aurora’s words cut right through Sheila’s tirade. She stopped and looked at the intern, the older woman was speechless for the first time that day.
“Yeah, I mean, I think…” Sheila said the words, but she wasn’t looking at Aurora. “I mean I have no idea what the board would do with the information. I mean…I don’t think that you get it. Whether you like it or not, you’re being used”.
“No, I do get that it looks that way, but that’s not how it feels”, Aurora sighed as she turned back to the window and tried to find the limo as it moved through the streets. It had already taken off, but she knew it hadn’t gone too far.
“I know you won’t even hear this right now, and that’s fine”, Sheila said as she put her arm around Aurora. “He is using you, for sex, for love, and for youth. I have been right where you are. These old rich men, they’re like vampires. They make these big promises of a better life, but in the end, they take everything you have and just suck you dry. They leave you a dried up wrinkled sack of sorrow, and I don’t want to see that happen to you”.
Aurora didn’t like the picture that Sheila was painting. It came from a place of love, and that was the important thing. Aurora wrapped her arms around the older woman and kissed the top of her head.
“Stop worrying about me”, Aurora said. “I’m a big girl”.
“I hear a lot of chatter in here. Come on ladies get to wor…” Max said as opened the door and looked into the room. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize…uh, carry on Aurora”.
The door closed and both women stared at it dumbfounded for a second. They turned to each other and then burst out laughing. Aurora had to hold her stomach she was laughing so hard. “Maybe we should let this play out for a while”, Sheila laughed.
Chapter 9
“He got you tickets to the opera, but he isn’t going?” Sheila asked as they climbed into the limo.
“He might be here, but he can’t go with me”, Aurora explained. She hated how it all sounded, and how it made her feel. Sheila was trying to look reassuring, but it was only making Aurora feel worse. She wanted to be able to be seen in public with her man.
Aurora rolled the partition down. She heard Anthony sigh as he realized he was going to have to talk. Aurora rolled her eyes at him. She knew that he was not her biggest fan. Aurora was going to speak, but then she thought it would be more fun to make Anthony talk.<
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“How can I help you?” Anthony grumbled.
“Is your employer going to be at the opera tonight?” Aurora tried to keep the tone as formal as possible. She knew that it would bother Anthony more that way. She was enjoying making him talk to her. Aurora looked over at Sheila to see that the older woman was just drinking in Anthony’s resentful tone.
“He’s away on business this weekend”, Anthony smirked as he saw the expression on Aurora’s face change. She wasn’t expecting that response. The partition went up as Aurora couldn’t take Anthony’s face for another second.
“Why wouldn’t he tell me?” Aurora put her hand up before Sheila could answer.
“I’m not going to say anything”, Sheila said.
“That’s saying a lot”, Aurora joked. Sheila shot an angry look across the back seat, but then she smiled.
“I just want you to be happy”, Sheila said as she moved closer to Aurora. “And I worry that you’re not going to be happy until you move on”. Sheila put an arm around her friend.
“No pity”, said Aurora as she moved to the mini-fridge. Aurora pulled out a bottle of champagne and two glasses. She poured the glasses and Sheila started tossing the drinks back. Aurora tried to keep up, but she ended up just getting mad.
She stewed all the way through the opera. It was a terrific show and Sheila really enjoyed it, but Aurora barely heard a note, not really heard anyway. The whole time she sat there wondering what Lance would say if she confronted him about this. Anthony hadn’t said anything about a girl going with him, but that didn’t mean anything. Aurora knew that the limo driver would lie for his boss.
The worst part was that he was just keeping her busy again. It was fussing about notes all over again. Lance needed her out of the way, and this opera was his way of keeping her distracted until he got back.
“What are you doing?” Sheila said as she saw Aurora looking through her purse.
“I need to text him and find out what he says”, Aurora groaned the words. She didn’t want to sound like a crazy person, but she needed to know what was going on. She needed to ask Lance where he was, and she needed to know what he was going to say. Aurora wasn’t going to be able to get on with her life until she knew.
Serving the Billionaire Boss: A Secret Baby Billionaire Romance Page 5