Teacher's Bet: A Billionaire and Virgin Romantic Comedy

by Ruby Steele

  That doesn’t mean I’m not smiling a little as I make my way back to my seat.

  “What’s that about?” Annabeth asks, narrowing her eyes at me. Well, shit. The little witch was watching the whole interaction.

  I put on my best innocent face. “What are you talking about?”

  She purses her lips and studies my face, then grunts and puts her head down on her desk, apparently more interested in sleeping. But I release a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I almost slipped up there. I can’t make that mistake again. All the more reason I have to stick to my guns and make sure that Aiden and I maintain a purely professional relationship.

  I just hope I can keep that resolve when I’m alone with him after class.

  10

  Aiden

  I’m barely able to make it through the lecture I’m so preoccupied with keeping an eye on Olivia and that smarmy bastard Brody. I hate myself for thinking of him that way—he’s one of my students, I’ve had him other classes, and he’s really not a bad guy. But the way he’s looking at Olivia makes my blood boil.

  They’re looking over their quizzes, comparing answers, and I swear he’s so close he could practically kiss her if she only turned her head slightly. I rap my pointing stick on my desk, feeling like some ancient, sex-deprived schoolmarm as they jump and turn their attention back to the board.

  What the fuck? I’m crazy. Certifiable. I never did make it over to the Psych Department, but I’m starting to think it might actually be a good idea. I’m losing it over the fact that Olivia has basically ignored me for an entire week. Does she not feel the same intense draw to me like I do to her? Because I sure as hell feel like an addict in withdrawals.

  After I finally make it through the lecture, which is basically a review of the concepts people struggled with on the quiz, there are only five minutes left in class. I’m so done. Giving the class a smile, I dismiss them early.

  I watch as Olivia slowly gathers her things, pointedly not looking my way. Only when the last student has disappeared from the classroom does she raise her eyes to mine and walk slowly toward my desk. It’s like being shocked with high-voltage electricity. I feel it all the way to my toes.

  She gives me a taunting smile. “So, Professor Hawthorne,” she says, stopping on the other side of the desk, her words going straight to my dick. “You wanted to see me after class?”

  The way she says it, all innocent with those big green eyes wide open, makes me chuckle. It’s like the beginning of a very bad porno. I know I said I’ve never had any student-teacher fantasies. But lately, I can’t seem to stop thinking about bending her over my desk, swatting her ass with that pointing stick, then giving it to her hard, just like she said she wanted it that night in Vegas.

  She must see it in my face, because she bites her lip and shakes her head. “I’m sorry. I told myself I wouldn’t do that.”

  “Do what?”

  She spreads her hands out in a general encompassing gesture. “This. Everything. You and me. I’ve tried really hard to keep my distance. To do the right think. And here I go flirting with you.”

  I glance at the door, glad that it’s shut and latched. “I don’t want you to keep your distance, Olivia. In fact, distance is the very last thing I want between us. I want to be near you, be close to you, get to know you.”

  Her face is a picture of surprise, almost comically so. “Aiden,” she begins. “It’s not a good idea. It’s not safe. I don’t trust myself around you. When I’m near you, all these brain cells seem to stop functioning. Synapses misfire. I make all kinds of bad decisions.”

  “Like betting me your virginity?” I say.

  Her face becomes guarded. I didn’t mean to say it, but there is now, so we might as well address it.

  “You knew?” she asks, shock and confusion on her face, followed swiftly by a blush.

  I shake my head. “No. Not at first. Not until the last, actually. After I finished eating that pussy.”

  She reddens further at my frank words. Her hands fly to her face, covering her eyes. “How did you know? Was I that obvious? That terrible?”

  I immediately rush around the desk, taking her hands in mine and pulling them from her eyes. “No, baby. Don’t think for a second that you weren’t good enough. You fucking blew my mind. You still do, every time I remember what you look like when you come.”

  “Aiden,” she whispers, glancing at the door. “Stop.”

  “No. I want you to know you how amazing you were. How I was desperate to be inside you. How desperate I am now to know what that tight little pussy will feel like wrapped around my cock.”

  Her brow creases. “Wait. What? That’s the second time you’ve said something like that. The first time was when you said I still owe you. Owe you what?”

  Now it’s my turn to be surprised. “Hang on. Let me get this straight. You think we had sex that night?” I chuckle. “Let me just go on record saying that if I fucked you, you’d know it. That wouldn’t be something you could forget.”

  Am I a cocky bastard? Looks like it. But fuck, she thought she gave me her virginity and doesn’t even remember.

  “How much do you remember?” I ask cautiously.

  She swallows, licking her lips nervously. Then she takes a breath and lifts her chin, no shame in her voice as she says, “Up until you made me see stars with that magic tongue of yours.”

  Hello. See? I have a reason to be cocky. Fucking stars. I grip her hips with my fingers and pull her closer to me, needing her to feel how hard she makes me.

  “That’s where it ended, baby doll. You asked me to go easy on you because it was your first time.” I drop my forehead to hers, but she jerks away from me.

  “So what? You couldn’t bear to do it then? Poor, pathetic virgin, betting away her v-card status.” Her eyes are glistening, and I’m not sure I understand what’s going on.

  “No,” I say slowly. “You passed out. You think I wouldn’t want you because you’re a virgin?”

  She nods, looking at the floor.

  I grip her chin and tilt her head up so she has to look at me. “Baby, I won’t lie. The idea of being your first is really fucking hot. But I was ready to fuck you that night. And when I say fuck, I mean hard and fast. That’s not how it needs to be your first time.”

  Her breath is coming faster now, and I can see her nipples straining against the thin fabric of her shirt. “What if that’s how I want it?”

  Aw hell. I grin impishly. “Well, you do own me full night. There’s plenty of time for hard and fast.”

  She nods quickly, and I feel some of my tension drain away. At least she’s not telling me no again.

  Until she does. She catches herself and stops nodding. “You know we can’t.” Her voice is almost desperate.

  “No one has to know, Olivia. It can be our secret.”

  She bites her lip. “I’ll have to think about it.”

  Stuffing down the sigh that wants to escape, I smile. “Okay. I can handle that for now. If—”

  She quirks a brow at me. “If?”

  “If you let me take you dinner tonight. I still owe you a meal.”

  11

  Olivia

  “Where are you going?” Becca squeals into my ear.

  I hold the phone away and blink. She’s more excited about my dinner with Aiden than I am. Almost.

  “I don’t know. He didn’t say.” I look at the door of the coffee shop, watching anxiously for him to arrive. I decided it was best if we met somewhere far from campus. I don’t want to take any chances. Just then, the door swings open, and there he is. My heart hammers in my chest, the breath escaping my lungs in a gasp as I realize all over again just how sexy this man is.

  He’s wearing jeans and a t-shirt this evening, designer sunglasses hiding his steel-gray eyes. The shirt is stretched taut across his broad shoulders, and I desperately want to know what he looks like without it. Somehow, we’ve never made it that part.

  He catches sight of m
e, and a panty-melting grin spreads across his chiseled face. I swallow hard. He’s got that sexy scruff that I remember from Vegas—he’s been clean shaven in class so far. I like this casual look on him. A lot.

  “Becca, I’ve gotta go,” I say, hanging up without waiting for her response.

  As if I’m drawn to him by a magnetic force, I rise from where I’m sitting and walk toward him. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” he replies, his voice low and rumbling. I feel it all the way in my core. Even though his eyes are veiled by his glasses, I can feel him drinking in my body. I wore the short skirt and tall boots on purpose, and it’s having its desired effect. “You ready?”

  I nod, and he takes my hand and leads me back outside and toward a black sports car that looks suspiciously like a—yep, it’s a Ferrari, I realize in disbelief as I catch sight of the yellow shield with a prancing horse.

  “This is your car?”

  He chuckles at the shock in my voice. “Sure is,” he says, leading me to the passenger side and opening the door for me.

  When he goes around and climbs in, I turn to him. “How?”

  He arches a brow, giving me a lopsided grin so devastating, so sexy with those sunglasses, that I almost forget what I was going to ask.

  I shake my head to clear it of the sudden onslaught of sexual fantasies. Dinner only, Liv. Remember. I’m not going to give in to him tonight. I promised myself. “This car. That penthouse. Your insane bets. I know Stanford is a great university, but there’s no way in hell they pay you that well.”

  He revs the car’s powerful engine and gives me a wink as I jump at the rumbling vibration that I can feel through the seat. “I teach for fun,” he says simply, as if that explains everything.

  I want to ask more, but then he’s flying out of the parking lot and racing down the road at a speed so crazy I can’t help gripping the seat and hanging on for dear life.

  “Relax,” he says with a laugh.

  “Really? You want me to relax when you’re driving lie a maniac? Your driving is as insane as your gambling.”

  Aiden gives me a devilish smirk. “Yeah, and look how that worked out for me. I got you in my bed, didn’t I?”

  I flush, still having a hard time coming to terms with the vixen Aiden has managed to bring out in me. “Are you a race car driver on the side?”

  “Not quite. This is just a perk of the family business.”

  That’s all he says. Okay, so he’s being mysterious. Whatever. I tell myself it doesn’t matter, but curiosity gets the best of me. “Family business?”

  He keeps his eyes on the road as he maneuvers the Ferrari onto the highway. With a shrug that makes me think he’s uncomfortable talking about it, he says, “I’m not the only one in my family that takes an interest in numbers, though many of them focus on the binary sort.”

  “Binary. As in computers,” I say, knowing there’s more to it. I think back to his penthouse, the way he made huge bets as if it were nothing, then consider the fact that we are in Silicon Valley. “Wait, are you part of some internet mogul family.”

  Aiden’s jaw clenches. “Does it matter?”

  “No,” I say honestly, biting my lip. I feel like I’ve pissed him off. “I’m just curious, I guess. Maybe I want to get to know the guy to whom I bet my virginity.”

  He laughs then, and I can physically feel the mood in the car lighten. “So you’re going to hold up your end of the bargain after all?”

  I feel my nipples tighten at his words, a warm and now familiar need pulsing low and deep. I’ve thought about it long and hard. I can’t say I wasn’t shocked to find out we hadn’t actually done the deed. But I was also immensely relieved. And not because I was having second thoughts. But because I wanted to remember every single glorious second of the moment Aiden finally cashes in my v-card.

  Yeah, I’ve decided to pay up. If I’m being honest, there was never any doubt. The minute he walked into that classroom sealed my fate. There is no way I could have the knowledge that the man who stars in my fantasies every single night is within my reach and walk away from it.

  I just haven’t figured out how to reconcile that with the fact that he’s my professor.

  He’s watching me from the corner of his eye as he drives us closer toward the San Francisco Bay.

  “Maybe.” The lie must be clear in my voice because his grin widens. God, I want this man so badly. Everything about him sucks me in. It’s not just that he’s the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. It’s his mind, his passion, his charisma. And there’s something more I’m starting to see under the surface. I’ve watched him in class. He may talk dirty and make bets for sex, but I can tell he’s also a good guy. Kind and caring. I think again about how much I really want to get to know him.

  “What will it take to convince you completely, other than teasing you mercilessly about not being able to pay up?” he jokes, resting a hand on my bare thigh. The warmth of his touch is electric, sending a shiver through me, causing the pressure between my legs to hit an all-time high.

  “A little more of that wouldn’t hurt,” I hear myself saying. Holy hell, when did I become so shameless, so wanton?

  “Happy to oblige,” he says, running his hand up my leg and dipping it between the apex of my thighs.

  I smile when I hear him suck in a sharp breath. “Go commando often, Miss Morrow?”

  I shrug. “Well, you did destroy my favorite pair of panties.”

  “Best move I ever made then,” he growls, his finger sliding easily into my soaking wet folds.

  It’s like he owns my body. He already knows exactly what I like, just how to move to send me soaring. And the rest of the drive is a series of orgasms that makes me want to rip my clothes off and beg him to take me the minute we pull into the circle drive of a huge, three-story, bayfront home—no, I take that back. It’s a mansion.

  “Is this your house?” I ask, dumbfounded as he opens my door and extends a hand to help me from the car. He nods. “I thought we were going to dinner.”

  “Actually, I owe you breakfast,” he reminds me with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

  I want to argue with him that I can’t stay over, that I won’t do this tonight, but after what he just did to me during the car ride, I’m finding it really hard not to just give in.

  “Come on,” he says, grabbing my hand and interlacing our fingers. “Let me give you the grand tour.”

  I smile at how it feels so intimate, so natural, for him to lead me through his home, our hands twined together, almost as if we’re a couple. I could get used to this. But as soon as the thought hits, warning bells go off in my head. I can’t think like that. I don’t know what the hell this is. A bet? A fling? A naughty fantasy he’s trying to fulfill?

  I’m not sure. The only thing I know is that I need to tread carefully or I could find myself falling for this man. It would be all too easy.

  He leads me up the stairs to the glass and steel structure that exudes modern industrial design. When he types a code into a keypad, then leans forward and sticks his free hand into some box, simultaneously opening his eyes and staring into some scanner, my jaw drops.

  “You’re kidding, right? You do realize this is more James Bond than internet mogul.” I can’t help laughing at the fact that he has a retinal scanner and fingerprint identifier to gain access to his home. “Haven’t you heard of keys?”

  He smiles disarmingly. “Where’s the fun in that. Maybe I like playing James Bond.”

  Thinking back to the night I first saw him at the casino in a designer suit, whiskey in hand as he gambled, I realize he definitely fits the bill. But a bit more rugged and dangerous. Two things that I didn’t realize I liked until him.

  We enter the house, and if I was impressed by the penthouse in Vegas, I’m bowled over by what I see here. It’s gorgeous, white walls and wood floors, glass and steel, an architectural masterpiece that even I can appreciate. He leads me through the house, showing me the kitchen, library, gym, home office, a
nd just about every other type of room a person could ever need.

  When we get to the third floor, he stops and turns toward me, taking our interlocked hands and wrapping them behind my back while he traces my lips with his other hand. “Thank you for agreeing to spend the evening with me.”

  I nod wordlessly, not sure I could speak if I wanted to. He lowers his mouth to mine in a soft kiss, not like any of our prior hungry, desperate kisses. He’s so gentle I can’t help the sigh that escapes my lips when he pulls away, and I know I must be glassy-eyed.

  Then he turns and pulls me through a doorway. “This is my bedroom.”

  It takes up the entire third floor, along with an en suite bathroom. Glass walls all around, providing a gorgeous view of the bay and the surrounding neighborhood. But my eyes are focused on the bed. Where I want to be. With him.

  I stop, thinking I need to gather my nerve. But I don’t. I suddenly feel completely sure of what I want. What I need. At the moment, I don’t care who he is. If his some insanely rich tycoon, or if he’s my professor. All I care about is that he’s Aiden. The man I can’t go a minute longer without.

  12

  Aiden

  “Olivia?” I question, turning to see her standing stock-still in the middle of my bedroom. Her eyes are locked on mine, a look of determination on her gorgeous face.

  In that moment, I know. She’s made up her mind. I walk toward her, slowly, my gaze not leaving hers. When I reach her, I move behind her, lifting her hair and placing a soft kiss where her neck meets her shoulder. She shudders, leaning back against me.

  I wrap an arm around her and pull her hips back. I’m already rock-hard and ready to go. I always am when it comes to her. But I’m going to do this right. I’m going to make this a night she’ll never forget. And hope that she gives me a chance to make it the first of many.