“Hold on,” he said.
I grabbed his waist and clenched as the boat took off. We jostled around a bit over the waves, the cool water licking me, and I held tightly onto Lionel’s naked skin as to not fall off. I didn’t want to be the one plummeting into the water.
The banana boats took us to a motorboat that would pull our parachutes above the ocean. We got strapped in, Lionel next to me, one of his friends next to him, and waited. Lionel never once let go of my hand.
“Are you ready, Maggie? You’re going to have fun.”
I looked to my side and saw as his remaining three friends were secured and ready in another boat, and they waved at me.
I looked back over at Lionel and smiled. “Yes,” I said.
The boat lurched forward and we began lifting above the water, my feet dangling in the air. The ocean below us and the beach to our side, it was a beautiful view, and yet I couldn’t stop myself from looking over at Lionel.
He held my hand and smiled and laughed. I still couldn’t believe this was the same man who almost fired me.
As our parachute slowly began to drift back down to earth, he pulled my hand to his mouth to kiss it, and we gently splashed back into the ocean.
We rode the boats back to shore and I continued to insist how much fun it was and kissed Lionel’s cheek and tickled his side all for show.
With every sign of affection provided, I made sure to find reassurance by looking at each of his friends one by one. I wanted to make sure they were watching. I needed to know I was doing my job.
“I think we’re going to go get brunch,” one of them said.
“Care to join us?”
Lionel and I looked at each other, and I shrugged. I was just the pawn in his game.
“No, thank you,” said Lionel. “I think I want to take her somewhere special. But have fun.”
His friends departed the opposite way, and I dried off with my sunny towel.
“Nicely done,” Lionel said as he smacked my rear end gently.
“I think we had them convinced.”
“I thought the whole point was to convince Marla, but she’s not even here,” I said.
Lionel ran his towel over his wet hair.
“That red-headed guy we were with? Yeah, that’s Marla’s brother. It’s all a big part of the game, Maggie. It’s fun to mess with people.”
I didn’t fully understand. I never had the motivation to play with people’s minds. But there was a bit of humanness to his plan.
For someone as cocky as Lionel Warner, I sensed some insecurity. He still felt the need to prove himself to others from time to time, despite his money and ego. Maybe he wasn’t as evil as I’d thought after all.
Chapter 4
The whole “fake girlfriend” mask was getting quite a bit easier as the days progressed. I found myself genuinely giggling at his comments; they were no longer forced. His kisses were frequent and welcomed, and not one person was onto us.
I was, in my own mind, starting to forget the whole thing was fraudulent, and would have to shake the reality back into focus.
Marla and her husband-to-be wanted a candlelit night reception on the beach after their ceremony. Lionel and I shared sangrias in our room as we cleaned up for the event.
I was never much of a drinker, and the alcohol hit me hard and fast. My hair curled, lipstick applied, and my consciousness glazed, we left our room for the reception with my arm wrapped around Lionel’s elbow.
“Thank you again for coming with me,” he said.
“I really think we got under Marla’s skin. Nice job.”
Job. I almost kept forgetting it was just a job. And when I’d return home, I’d return to my secretarial job. Lionel was my boss, not my boyfriend.
He’d return to his atrocious ways of treating employees. Firing workers, whistling at female colleagues. The fantasy would be over in a few days. The sangria prevented me from collecting my thoughts enough to say anything.
The reception was full of expensive foods my mouth had never before experienced and imported wines and drinks. I decided to try a new wine, but it tasted strange to my unseasoned lips.
I stood by a table with my wine in my hand acting as an accessory, watching Lionel dance and enjoy his evening. I wanted to frame that moment.
At one point, he ran over and without a word, dragged me into the dance floor. I have never been much of a dancer, as my weight always caused me to be too self-conscious as the center of attention. But all that vanished, I spun and twirled with Lionel, following his feet and letting him lead the way.
He pulled me in for a passionate grab, his lips pressed deep into mine, and my head spun. I realized the absolute truth that could not be undone; I was truly falling quickly for Lionel.
He unexpectedly told me he wanted to leave. He was done for the evening as he was tired and wanted to sleep. We walked back to our room and he went and sat down on the bed with a glass of water, sipping it quietly and staring at the wall with a contemplative look.
“Thank you for a nice evening,” he finally said.
“Come sit down with me?”
I cautiously hesitated but eventually sat down on the bed next to Lionel. We’d been sharing the bed for days, but it always felt divided. We did not touch or communicate until each morning when we’d wake up to continue with our game.
This time on the bed felt different, we were sitting upright together, but I felt a fire. Something was about to happen.
“Maggie,” he said. “I have to say, you’ve surprised me this week.”
“How so?”
He continued. “I guess I just never really looked twice at you. I’m sorry for how I’ve always treated you at work. Maggie… I really enjoy your company. I like you.”
My jaw dropped. Lionel Warner really did have a heart. I wasn’t sure what to say. My thoughts clouded into a tornado as I tried to spit out my true feelings. But it was difficult, I was afraid this was still just a game to him, that perhaps he was lonely or playing with me.
I just sat there in silence, he reached over and touched my cheek, and I kissed him. It was the first kiss behind closed doors. We were not acting. It progressed into luminosity.
He picked up my hand and pulled it to his member, rubbing my palm against it. I’d never felt a man before.
He unzipped my dress and gently pushed me down to the pillows. This was it. I knew what was coming, and I wanted it so very badly, but I was scared.
He tried to kiss me again, and I pressed my palm against his chest.
“I’ve never done this before,” I whispered. I was so fearful I could hear my own heart beating.
“Don’t worry,” he said. He began unbuttoning his shirt.
“We will start slow. Is this okay?”
I knew how badly I wanted it, how badly I wanted him.
“Yes.”
He pulled his pants down and shifted my panties to the side. I was tense as he pushed inside me, it was so tight and I was wincing in the initial pain. He was slow and gentle, asking me if it hurt.
I shook my head as I wanted to pull through, and suddenly everything was okay. He was fully inside, and my body loosened as indulgence surrounded me.
“You feel amazing,” he said as he was thrusting on top of me. I felt my breathing progress, the muscles in his stomach and arms flexing and hardening, and I grabbed onto his back as we moved together.
We were one solid motion, his hands traveling around my breasts and neck, until I released with a cry and grabbed the light hairs in his chest as electricity left me. He slowed his movement as I calmed.
“Did you feel good, Maggie?” he asked.
“I want you to feel good.”
“Yes,” I said. “Please don’t stop.”
I was wet and free, letting all my inhibitions go. I could feel he was getting harder and pushed deeper as he was preparing to rupture. His tongue met mine and he lightly bit my lip as he built up his release. I could hear as he held back a primiti
ve yell.
“Here it comes, Maggie.”
He finished with a relaxed face, and he breathed out and kissed me and asked if I was still okay. I nodded. I had given my purity to Lionel.
He pulled out and lay down next to me, holding my face in his hands. We stared at each other, and I somehow felt calm.
I remained in his arms the entire night until I fell asleep against his body, the first night we’d spent together not on opposite sides of the bed.
Chapter 5
The morning brought the same sense of panic that the day I overslept had. I sat up quickly, sweating, and looked over at the still-sleeping Lionel, his chest rising and falling with slumbered breaths.
“What have I done?”
I thought to myself. I’d given this man my innocence. My virginity. It was something I could never, ever get back, and I feared I’d thrown it away to this playboy boss who would soon go back to treating me like I was nothing at the office. I began to cry.
Lionel stirred at the sound of my sobs, and adjusted his squinting eyes to wakefulness.
“Maggie,” he said sitting up and pulling me into his arms. “What’s wrong?”
I tried to control my tears as I cried into his bare shoulder. “I feel like I made a mistake.”
“Please don’t think that,” he said softly as he rubbed my hair.
“But you have a reputation… and I’m not like that.”
Lionel stopped and looked me dead in the eyes, his emerald irises penetrating me.
“Maggie, I know the kind of person I have been in the past. But that is no more. You’re the type of woman my inner man has always craved… and I think I could love you.”
I was not sure what to say or think in that moment. I felt I could love him, but I was holding back. I didn’t want to end up hurt.
“Maggie, if I’m being honest with you, I really see you as someone I could be with forever. You are kind and beautiful, and I haven’t smiled this much in years. I’ve loved this week with you.”
My cries began to fade away.
“I really loved this week, too. I was afraid though that I was falling too fast. My feelings for you are getting to be way too strong.”
Lionel stood up and began to slowly pace the room.
“There’s just one thing… one reason I don’t know for sure if I could be with you forever…”
I waited for him to finish, but he was done talking. He wouldn’t tell me why. I watched as he slipped out the door and I was left in the room alone. I sat on the bed for an hour, confused and silent.
What did I do wrong?
It took me much longer to get off the bed and go look for him. I couldn’t find him in the lobby, the poolroom, the outside courtyards, or the gym. H was nowhere.
I finally asked the lady behind the front desk if she’d seen a tall brunette man walking around.
“Yes. He checked out,” she informed me. “Are you Maggie Sanders by any chance?”
“I am,” I replied.
“Here. He left this for you.”
The lady handed me an envelope. I opened it up and found a folded letter inside, handwritten and short:
“Maggie, I am sorry, but I took my jet back home. Here is some money. I booked you a plane ticket for you to get home commercially tomorrow afternoon. Again, I am sorry.”
I couldn’t believe it. I kindly thanked the lady and sulked back to the room. I wasn’t sure whether I needed to be angry or sad, but I was too emotionally exhausted to cry again. Instead, I fell back asleep, and didn’t wake up until the next day.
Chapter 6
I walked like a zombie through the airport when it came time to leave the next day. I did not speak to one person, I just stared out the window of the airplane the whole way, wondering what I’d done wrong to make Lionel leave without a single warning.
I tried to call him a few times when the flight landed, and each time it went straight to his voicemail.
I was back to my normal duties as Lionel Warner’s secretary on Monday. Checking the mail. Taking messages for the staff. Sending generic replies to email inquiries. It strangely felt different, however. Lionel was not yelling at me. In fact, he was not speaking to me at all.
The office was absurdly quiet. A few staff members came up to my desk throughout the day asking how the week went. I’d simply shrug and say it was fine.
“Well, Lionel is pretty solitary today,” they’d tell me.
“And he hasn’t screamed at anyone yet.”
Indeed, Lionel stayed cooped up in his office until four o’ clock when he slipped out, locked the door, and departed the building without saying goodbye to anyone.
I patiently waited each day for Lionel to speak to me. I’d come in to the office, do my job quietly, and leave, each day hoping something would change and he’d acknowledge my presence. It never happened that way.
I sent a bagel and some coffee to his room Friday morning, hoping to receive even a thank you. Nothing.
I dragged my feet out of the office Friday afternoon. He’d already departed, and I peeked in at his empty desk, my eyes beginning to swell.
I was slowly beginning to accept that this would just be how things were going to be moving forward. I prepared to move on, but one thing was holding me back.
As I was walking out of the building, I decided to try calling him one last time. I dug my phone out of my purse and dialed the familiar number. It rang twice and he finally answered.
“Hello?” I heard his voice say quietly into the phone.
I was silent, stumbling over the words in my head.
“Hello? Maggie? Is that you?”
“Yes, Lionel, it’s me.” I cleared my throat. “I really just wanted to talk to you… you know, you’ve been ignoring me all week.”
I could hear Lionel sighing into the phone forlornly. “I know. For that, I am sorry. Maggie… are you able to come over to my place tonight?”
“Why? You already did what you wanted with me. You can’t do it again.”
He grew more concerned.
“No, no. That’s not what I meant. Come over and talk. I can make us some tea. Just please consider it.”
I realized at that point that I had absolutely nothing to lose. It was worth getting my answers so I could fully move on from him.
“Alright. Give me your address.”
I showed up at Lionel’s beautiful mansion, it was like a home from an old Hollywood film. He greeted me at the door with a hug, and I could smell his familiar cologne. I tried to not let it weaken me.
“It’s nice to see you,” he said.
I pulled away from his hug and we stepped inside his house.
“You could have seen me all week if you wanted to.”
We entered his living room and he poked at a log in his fireplace, hoping to grow the flames.
“I did want to. I wanted to talk in private though.”
I sat down on his couch, staring at him, unsure if it was anger or just normal confusion I was feeling.
“Then why did I have to call you?”
Lionel came and joined me on the couch, taking both of my hands into his. His eyes were tired and pensive.
“Maggie. I’m sorry. I don’t want you to think last week was a lie. Yes, you were my fake girlfriend, but at some point, it all started to feel real to me. I haven’t felt that good since my early twenties. It’s like you freed me in a way.”
“Then you need to tell me right now why you don’t think you can be with me. That’s what you told me before fleeing the hotel without even a goodbye.”
A teakettle screamed from the kitchen. Lionel disappeared and returned with two cups of tea. I sipped it and the spices calmed me. Lionel was fidgeting with his cup, too anxious to drink any.
“I felt guilty,” he said.
“I have never taken anyone’s virginity before. It made me feel horrible that you were so pure and I’ve slept with so many women. I don’t want to be like that anymore, yet I don’t deserve
someone like you. But, Maggie, I do think I love you.”
Lionel brought his head to my chest, and I began stroking it delicately as if I was soothing a child who just had a nightmare. He was a puddle in my hands.
“Lionel. I love you, too. I really think I do. Please remember that I was responsible for it that night as well. I wanted it.”
Romance: Bad Boss: Billionaire Romance Boxed Set Page 2