The Money Talks (Adult BWWM Billionaire Romance Book 1)

by Cherry Kay

  “It’s definitely a new experience for me.” Tiffany took her hair out of her ponytail, smoothed it back over her head to fix the mess the helmet had made, and then wrapped the elastic back over it with a few quick twists and a final snap. “I’ve seen this kind of thing on TV before, but I would never in a million years have thought I’d ever do it.”

  “Well, now you can check it off the list.” Luke handed his gear over to the instructor and motioned back inside. “Feel like trying the tramp?”

  “Excuse me, what?” asked Tiffany, unsure if she’d heard correctly.

  “The trampoline.” Luke grinned and shook his head. “They’ve got full sized Olympic trampolines and a whole trapeze rig in there. We can do whatever you prefer.”

  “Tell me you didn’t just say trapeze. Like in the circus? That can’t be legal.”

  “Come on, I’ll show you.”

  Luke held the door open for her and she couldn’t help but catch the musky odor of his sweat mixed with the spicy scent of his deodorant. The combined effect was a heady aphrodisiac after the adrenaline high she’d experienced from the rappelling, and for the first time since signing up for an account on Matchr, she considered breaking her no sex on the first date rule.

  The trapeze setup proved to be a lot safer than Tiffany had imagined it might be. Once she was wired into yet another safety harness, she learned how to swing back and forth, and then to hang from her legs before trying a somersault that resulted in her missing the next bar. She came to a soft landing being lowered down to the large net below. Unhooking herself from the safety lines, she crawled to the edge of the net where Luke waited with outstretched hand.

  “I feel dizzy,” she said, taking his hand and allowing him to help her onto the platform. She noticed that he’d used his other hand to guide her hip and that this same hand had shifted to the small of her back where it now rested comfortably.

  “You looked like a pro up there.”

  Tiffany shot him an unimpressed look and he laughed in response.

  “Okay,” he said, raising his hands in mock surrender. “You looked like a pro until you spun out of control and came crashing down.”

  “That’s better.” Tiffany wiped sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. “It is crazy hot in here.”

  “Why don’t we grab a shower together and then go grab a drink?”

  Tiffany smiled and raised an eyebrow. “I’m not saying that I’m ready to shower with you just yet, but if that were the case, it wouldn’t be happening for the first time in a place like this.”

  “I meant shower and then grab a drink together.” Luke’s face flushed red at the realization of how he’d mixed up his words. “Honestly, I don’t even think there are co-ed showers here, and it’s not exactly my idea of a romantic adventure either.”

  “I’ll meet you out front in twenty minutes, then. That is, if I can figure out how to get out of this harness.” She tugged at one of the straps and tried to find the buckle holding it in place. “It’s completely different from the last one you had me put on.”

  “Here, let me help.”

  Luke gently turned her away from him and proceeded to work apart the various buckles and straps of her harness, his fingers moving deftly and delicately to avoid jerking her around as he pulled the stiff material through the self-locking metal plates. Tiffany’s athletic top had pulled up a little, exposing a sliver of bare skin above the waist of her shorts, and she felt a blush of heat reach her own cheeks when his fingers brushed against her several times. She couldn’t be sure if he was intentionally delaying the removal of the harness, or if it was just that complicated, but she decided that she really didn’t care to rush away from the subtle contact.

  “You’re free to go.” said Luke, pulling the harness away from her.

  They descended from the platform and split off into their respective changing rooms. Tiffany felt tight and sore from the activities that had forced her to use muscles that she hadn’t known she had. On top of that, the air inside the facility was hot and stale from all the gymnast chalk used by the climbers and trapeze artists, and she could feel the sweat beading off her neck roll down her back. Hurrying past the mirrors to avoid seeing how terrible she probably looked in such a state, Tiffany grabbed a towel from the guest pile and slipped into an unoccupied shower stall.

  The hot water felt blissfully relaxing when it hit her skin, and she lathered herself up with a generous portion of soap from the dispenser after checking that it wasn’t the nasty smelling generic stuff often found in bathrooms.

  Whoever ran this place had clearly paid attention to the small details, and Tiffany said a silent thanks for the fruity and invigorating body wash and shampoo that had been supplied in each of the shower stalls. Rubbing the soapy froth all over her body in an effort to strip away every last bit of sweat and grime, she let her fingers linger over her nipples, feeling their stiffness and the current of inner warmth that spread through her body when she touched them.

  Masturbating in a public shower wasn’t the kind of thing that Tiffany usually did. In fact, she couldn’t remember ever having done it in public at all, but she was too excited from the adrenaline coursing through her body and the thought of Luke’s strong and sweaty body pressing up against hers to resist the urge to slip a soapy finger down between her legs.

  Rubbing in soft slow circles at first, Tiffany closed her eyes and imagined Luke turning her around as he had on the trapeze platform, only this time he was there in the shower with her and he was eager to slip his erection deep inside of her.

  Biting her lower lip to keep from making any noise in case anyone else should come into the shower area, she increased the pressure on her clit and was soon shuddering in ecstasy as a toe-curling orgasm shot through her. Tiffany grabbed the soap dispenser so hard she almost ripped it out of the wall, before finally easing out of her climax and pulling her other hand away from her sex.

  “That should do it.” She muttered to herself.

  Determined not to sleep with Luke that night, she now felt she had the strength to resist whatever temptation she might have otherwise carried through from the excitement of the trapeze and hundred foot rappel. Although orgasms were like a sinful dessert that she could eat more and more of once she got started, a little snack before dinner helped hold the appetite at bay, and she hoped that she’d be able to keep her resolve as firm as she wanted to.

  So far, the date was going better than any she’d had in years, and unless Luke did something terribly moronic before the end of the night, she decided that she’d give in to her desires, if he asked out on a second date.

  “You look radiant.” said Luke when Tiffany met him in the lobby of the adventure center. “Is your adrenaline still pumping from that trapeze?”

  “From that, and the rappel, and the climbing—”

  “And the great company?” He cut in.

  Luke flashed a handsome grin that produced a genuine laugh from Tiffany.

  “Okay, maybe a little from the company.” She hoisted her tote with her workout clothes over her shoulder. “Didn’t you say something about a drink?”

  “Yeah, it’s just a couple of blocks away.”

  Luke opened the door for her, and directed her towards a large brick building that looked like it had once been a factory of some sort. Now it had a large open-air patio with several hip-looking bikes locked out front, and a subtle sign and logo stenciled on the door identified the place as a brewery.

  “Do you like beer?” asked Luke as he opened the door for her.

  “Yeah, I guess I like a beer now and then.” She took in the large metal tanks and copper kettles that occupied a closed off area behind the long bar counter that took up the entire back half of the room. Long tables designed for communal seating filled the rest of the brewery, and there were already several people seated here and there with beer glasses in several different states of emptiness.

  Tiffany looked at the long list of beers scrawled on a
blackboard above the bar.

  “Although I’m not sure I like beer as much as you do.” She said.

  “Don’t worry, it’s impossible to be snobby about beer.” He set his bag down by an unoccupied chair and gestured for her to sit. “I’ll grab us a couple of flights so you can try a few things.”

  Although she had no idea what he was talking about, Tiffany smiled and sat down to wait for her date. He’d changed into pair of slim fit chinos and a plain yet crisp black t-shirt that made him seem both classy and comfortably casual at the same time. He was fun to be around, and not at all difficult to look at, but Tiffany began to worry that everything Luke did had to be some extreme version of what normal people did.

  “There you go,” said Luke, sliding a wooden tray with four tiny glasses of beer nestled into four little grooves. “One tasting flight of the best this place has to offer.”

  “Cheers.” said Tiffany, raising the first glass and tapping it against his before drinking the pale yellow beer within. “Whoa.” she said with a wince at the tart sourness of lemon and who knew what else.

  “Sorry, I should have warned you that the Hefeweizen is pretty intense here. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s really refreshing on a sunny day like this.”

  Tiffany tried another sip and tried to appreciate the subtlety of flavor, but it was hardly what she associated with the kind of beer her friends drank. The next one in the line looked more like what she thought a normal beer might be, but this one hit her with such a strong flavor of pine needles that she thought maybe it had gone off.

  “That IPA has won them several gold medals.” explained Luke. “It’s probably the best thing they make here.”

  “You’re really into this stuff, huh?” asked Tiffany.

  “Yeah, I guess you could say I kind of go all out with everything I do.” Luke drank the last of his Hefeweizen and set the glass back in its spot on the tray. “What about you, what kind of stuff are you into?”

  “I like to read a lot and I paint once in a while.” Tiffany swirled the beer around her glass, watching the thin layer of foam slosh right up to the edge of the glass. “Honestly, I work way more than I probably should, and that keeps me from really doing much of anything else.”

  Luke sipped at his next beer and nodded in sympathy. “That sounds like me a few years ago. I used to focus on work to the exclusion of all else, and I woke up one morning to realize that I wasn’t even remotely happy.”

  “And that’s when you started rock climbing and drinking fancy beer?” She asked with a hint of gentle ribbing.

  “And mountain biking, and running, and white-water rafting.”

  “White-water rafting? Where do you even do that around here?”

  “I go upstate with some buddies a few times a year. At first, we went on guided trips, but last year we all pooled our money and bought one of our own. There’s really no feeling like being out on the river for a few days and then camping under the stars each night.”

  “Huh.” Not sure of what else to say in response. Tiffany tried the third beer in her tasting flight. This one, a rich amber hue like rich artisanal honey, she found it much more to her liking. It was considerably better than any beer she’d ever tasted, and for the first time since entering the brewery, she came around to the thought that Luke’s penchant for having to do everything bigger and bolder than everyone else might lead to some pretty cool discoveries.

  “You like that one?” asked Luke. “It’s a Belgian tripel. Watch out though, it’s eleven percent alcohol.”

  “Is that a lot?” asked Tiffany.

  “Not in a little glass like that, but it can take you by surprise if you drink a few pints. A regular domestic beer you’d pick up at the corner store, is only like, five percent.”

  “So you’re saying I should watch myself so I don’t lose my resolve to not sleep with you on the first date?”

  Tiffany felt a little flushed, and she wasn’t sure if it was from the heat, the exercise, the beer, or the comment she’d just made. All she knew was that she was having a good time even though a voice in the back of her head was telling her that she had nothing in common with this guy. Still, he was nice and cute, and didn’t that count for something?

  Luke smiled and blushed a little himself. “Why don’t I go get us some menus? You look like maybe you could use something to eat after all that exercise.”

  “That would probably be a good idea.” Tiffany sniffed at the dark black beer that sat in the last glass of her flight and wrinkled her nose. It smelled of salty licorice and she didn’t even have to taste it to know that she probably wasn’t ready for it.

  “Oh, and Luke?” she called after him and held up her empty tripel glass. “Can I get pint of this Belgian one?”

  Luke laughed and went to the bar to place her order.

  *

  Tiffany checked her phone to see if she’d received any messages on her Matchr app. It had been over a week since her one and only date with Luke, and she still hadn’t heard from him, despite a long dinner of talking and more drinks. It ended with a steamy kiss on her doorstep before he pulled himself away in a very gentlemanly manner. She’d thought for sure that they’d made a connection of some sort, but one day turned into two, and then two into three, and now eight days had passed without word from him.

  She was conscious of the fact that she was working with a looming deadline and knew it wouldn’t be great for her manager to walk by and see her using a dating app on her phone. She should be focusing on the artwork for a pitch that would hopefully land the firm one of their biggest clients yet. The work was fun and challenging, and normally Tiffany threw herself into it with reckless abandon. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d done something terribly wrong to throw Luke off like she apparently had.

  It wasn’t that Tiffany considered herself below average in any way. She knew she was pretty enough for most men to be at least passably attracted to her. Although she didn’t work out, she ate healthy and was still young enough that her metabolism took care of whatever her laziness might have tried to do to her body. She dressed cleanly and with what she considered to be a fashionably feminine style, and she was cultured and knowledgeable when it came to things like art and food.

  Well, except for craft beer, she thought. She remembered drinking enough to put a little slur in her words and she was pretty sure Luke had to grab her to keep her from falling after she tripped on an uneven bit of sidewalk. But had she been drunk enough to give him a bad impression? He’d seemed more than willing to kiss her for several minutes in the lobby of her apartment. At the time, she thought that she’d felt the bulge of his excitement pressing against her before he pulled away and bid her a good night. There’d been a goofy smile on his face like he’d wanted to do more but that he knew the smart play was to walk away, and she’d been prepared to take it to the next level when he called again.

  So what happened to put him off?

  “Can I see the proofs for the pitch artwork?” asked Carrie, her direct manager and the art director for the firm.

  “They’re not quite done yet.” Tiffany had already put her phone away but she’d been caught staring at her monitor without actually doing any work. “I can have them for you in an hour?”

  “We’re already behind schedule on this, Tiff.” Carrie checked her watch. “Can you make it thirty minutes?”

  “Yeah, I’ll do my best.”

  Tiffany gritted her teeth and wanted to blame the woman who was now walking away to check on some other project status but it was nobody’s fault but her own that she was under this pressure to beat the clock. She’d been drifting down unproductive mental roads that led only to frustration and disappointment, and it was best to forget about Luke and to get back to living her regular life.

  The minutes ticked by like seconds, and after barely making her thirty-minute deadline, Tiffany exported the proof and uploaded it to the folder she shared with her manager. It wasn’t perfect, but
it was only a first concept proof and there would be time to iron out the small details later. The worst of it was that it wasn’t up to par with Tiffany’s usual work, and she knew that Carrie would notice and it would probably come up at her next review. Work was the one place where Tiffany felt most secure and in control, and she hated the idea of letting her manager and team down in even the smallest of ways.

  Deciding that she needed a break, and that she had time to cut out for her usual afternoon visit to the café around the corner, Tiffany sent of a few quick emails and shoved her phone into her purse before heading out and down the three flights of stairs that took her to a side street exit. The café was blessedly quiet for the time of day, and she ordered a twelve-ounce latte that she took to an available table by the window. Sunlight streamed in and made the seat a little too warm, but the light felt so refreshing that she settled in and pulled out her phone to scroll through her latest matches.

  As she scrolled through the various men who’d been suggested to her or who had taken the time to send her a private message, she wondered if maybe she wasn’t becoming too obsessed with trying to meet someone. She’d only logged into the site once every few days before her date with Luke. Since then, she’d been checking it regularly to see if he’d written her. She’d become a little addicted to the idea of being able to browse so many profiles whenever she wanted. Downloading the app to her phone had probably been a bad idea because it meant she could check her matches wherever she was.