“Let me get this straight,” she said, looking him in the eyes, “I do what you say, let you pick out my clothes, work for you alone and you do all this nice stuff for me. What are you getting out of it?”
Miguel laughed loudly. “That is not exactly what I was thinking,” he said still laughing as he talked, “I thought I would be able to get to know you, to show you all the good things in life and maybe see where things go.”
Alissa could tell that she was starting to make him uncomfortable, but she needed whatever was going on between the two of them to be defined. She needed answers. A huge smile formed on her face as Miguel spoke to her. She loved how he was so commanding of every situation, but struggled with telling her that he actually had a crush on her.
Miguel stood and walked over to Alissa, taking her hand, he pulled her up to him. Alissa wrapped her arms around his neck and he looked down at her. “Unless you think I’m too old that is,” he grinned slyly at her.
Alissa shook her head and Miguel lowered his head pressing his lips against hers he kissed her gently. He pulled her close against his body, she could feel all of his muscles, even hear his heart beating. She tried her best to steady her breathing. It was her first kiss ever and she wanted to remember it forever, but she also did not want to let Miguel know that she had never been kissed before.
She was sure that he was far more experienced than she was and she was slightly embarrassed to tell him that she had no idea what she was doing even though she was sure it showed in the way she kissed him. Miguel sighed as he pulled his lips away from hers and looked into her eyes. “All you have to do is be a good girl and I can give you the world,” he said quietly.
“You’re the boss,” Alissa said with a smile.
Miguel’s expression changed as she spoke, “This has to be kept between the two of us,” he said sternly.
Alissa looked up at him a little shocked. “Okay,” she said reluctantly, “I just thought you wanted to see where things went between the two of us.”
“I do,” Miguel said still in his stern voice, “If things progress you won’t be working here and it won’t matter.” His voice trailed off and he looked to the corner of the room. Alissa turned to see that there was nothing there. “What is it?” she asked.
“I already know about your family,” he said still staring off into space. Alissa froze. Fear took control of her body and she knew that once again her parents were going to ruin everything for her. She had decided that she could deal with Miguel wanting to be in control of everything. He was offering her the world and she was willing to do whatever it took to make him happy, but the one thing that she could not control was her past.
Alissa looked up at Miguel with fear in her eyes, “I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.
“I just want you to understand that I do not want any issues with them,” he said finally looking down at her, “keep them out of our business.”
Alissa nodded her head. Miguel gave her another gentle kiss before releasing her. He handed her his credit card and she left the office to go prepare for the evening. She thought about what a future with Miguel would be like. Yes, he was controlling and yes, he liked to have things his way, but he was also a wonderful man. She knew that somewhere deep down inside of him there was a gentle sweet man.
That evening Miguel picked her up at her house, her hair was perfect as was her makeup and nails. She had chosen a small black dress that showed off her curves and her perky breasts. She was ready to do what it took to ensure she did not lose Miguel’s attention.
Miguel kept his eyes on her the entire night, he introduced her to all of his associates and to their wives and girlfriends. He kept his arm around her waist leading her around the dining hall and whispering in her ear how beautiful she looked. She loved that he could not keep his hands off of her and whenever he could, he would push her into a corner and give her a passionate kiss.
That evening when he took her home, they walked into her house and Miguel closed the door behind him. He grabbed Alissa by the waist and turned her around to face him. He wrapped his arms around her then turned her so that her back was against the door. He slid his hands up her waist, then back down her arms until his hands were on her wrists. Miguel grabbed her wrists and raised her hands high above her head. He held them there with one hand and let his other hand fall down to her shoulder.
Alissa focused on what he was doing and wondered exactly what he was planning. He moved his hand to her chin and turned her head so that she was facing him before he planted a hard kiss on her lips. Miguel pressed his body against her, causing her breasts to push into his chest with each breath that she took.
Alissa let out a small moan as Miguel allowed his hand to slide down her body and brush over her breast. She had never been so attracted to a man in her life and she was completely comfortable with the way he was touching her. Miguel placed his hand on the small of her back and pulled her even closer to him. She was sure that air could not even get between their bodies. Her stomach was filled with butterflies and every part of her body was tingling. She wanted all of him right then.
Miguel pulled his lips away from hers and looked deep into her eyes. “Tonight is not the night,” he said. Alissa sighed and he could see the disappointment in her eyes. “Soon my beauty,” he whispered as he released her hands.
Alissa let her arms fall down to her sides and she tried her best to catch her breath. She had only imagined that men like Miguel existed and she was beyond happy with this new life she had found. Miguel kissed her goodnight and told her he would see her in the morning before he walked out of her front door. Alissa watched as he walked to his car and as he pulled out of her driveway. She let out a sigh of relief knowing that no matter what happened between the two of them, she was making the right decision and her life was going to be changed forever.
Each evening Alissa and Miguel spend time together after work, getting to know each other and building their relationship. When Miguel was out of town Alissa would come home with boxes of clothes sitting on her doorstep or other amazing gifts from him. They never went a single day without talking and Alissa felt as if she were in a fairy tale.
Alissa and Miguel were deeply in love and knew that they would spend their lives together. Alissa also began to forgive her parents and she began to understand that they had done the best they could in their given situation. She had sent surprise food baskets to the house, paid their electric bill on occasion without them, but knowing she still refused to go back to that trailer. There were too many bad memories and it seemed as if it was a distant memory. Alissa wanted to see her parents to tell them that she forgave them, but she knew that what she had to say did not matter to them. She knew that she had to focus on her future and her life as it was now and not how it was in the past.
It was not long before Miguel proposed to Alissa and she was able to quit her job. On her last day of work she cleaned out her desk and with her big ring on her finger was able to inform the secretaries that Miguel had not been “slumming it” as they put it. They had spread rumors about Alissa for months and as she walked out of the office with a huge smile on her face and their mouths gaping open she knew what pride felt like.
Miguel and Alissa had decided that they would use Alissa’s rental house to help another girl like her. One that had grown up poor and had not had the chances in life to be successful. Alissa was going to spend her time focusing on helping children in the same situation that she grew up in and decided to go to school to become a social worker. Alissa knew that she would make a difference in the world and she knew that no matter what she owed it all to her parents. She knew what it was like to be poor and unloved and thanks to Miguel she knew what it was like to have everything she had dreamed of and what unconditional love really was. Alissa truly was happy with her new life.
THE END
Score
Bryan woke slowly. His eyes like lead weights were pure effort to open. His mouth was thick with
the aftertaste of a night spent partying. Running his tongue along the roof of his mouth, he tried to swallow and grimaced at the taste. His body felt heavy, his joints aching. A cool breeze coming from the hotel room’s AC blew across his body.
He lifted his head from the pillow and looked around him at the three women draped around him and the bed. One had found her way to the floor of the bedroom at one point, it would seem. Stupid bitch. Bryan grunted as he pushed himself to a sitting position and cradled his head in his hand as a headache woke itself up in his skull.
“All right,” he shouted and clapped his hands twice. “Everyone up. Get out.”
Two of the girls startled awake, looking around them confused and alarmed. The one on the floor didn’t stir. The need to urinate made itself known in a big way, so he pushed himself to his feet. Whistling he twirled his finger.
“C’mon, move it.”
As he passed the one on the floor he gave her hip a nudge with his foot. A nudge that, any harder, may have been classified as a kick, but it wasn’t quite there yet. “Hey, move.”
“Would you calm down?” one of the girls asked as she dressed herself. “We’re leaving, all right?”
Bryan waved a hand at them on his way to the toilet. “Not fast enough. You shouldn’t even have been here when I woke up.”
“Ass,” one of the girls said.
The third one was finally moving by the time he made it to the toilet. As he relieved himself he took a whiff at his armpits and made a face. He needed to shower for sure before meeting his publicist. He lingered in the bathroom, brushing his teeth and taking his time while the girls got their stuff together and left. One of them knocked on the door to use the bathroom.
“They have one in the lobby,” he called back.
He heard her scoff but didn’t bother responding. They weren’t worth responding to. When he heard the hotel room door close, he finally took a breath.
All this money and girls stuff used to be cool when it first started. When he first signed on with his team and became an official NBA player, he couldn’t have been happier. He’d finally made it. Life was going to be good from there on out. Everyone bowed to his every whim as long as he kicked ass every night. And he did. The other players didn’t have shit on him. Game after game, night after night, it was drinking, and girls, and then more b-ball the next day.
Thing was, it all started to blend together. Now he just saw another hotel room. More girls to sleep with and to then kick out. It just wasn’t worth anything, he realized. People weren’t worth anything. There was him, and then the rest of the world. Sighing to himself, he showered, dressed, and caught a limo to go meet his publicist for lunch.
When he arrived at the restaurant, hungover and groggy he was surprised to not see his publicist sitting at the table. Instead, it was a young, curvy woman. She was beautiful in her uniqueness with striking eyes, wavy flowing hair, and incredible features. He was instantly intrigued by her.
When she looked up and saw him approaching she put on a smile and stood from her seat. “Hello,” she said holding out a hand to him.
“Where’s Rachel?” he asked, shaking the new woman’s hand.
“She was unable to attend and sent me in her place. I’m Maggie, her assistant. We’re just meeting to give you a quick rundown on what we’ve been working on, and I’m very familiar with your profile so I’ll be going over it with you.”
“Well, I can tell I’m in good hands,” he said, bringing her hand up to his mouth and kissing the back of her hand sweetly. The unimpressed smile she gave him said she was a professional, but not dense like the chicks that left his hotel room this morning.
The pleasantries out of the way, they sat at the table and ordered drinks and lunch. She did just as she promised and gave him the quick readouts of the publicity campaigns they currently had going as well as a couple of sponsorship deals in play they were going to take up with his agent.
As she went through each piece he did his best to put on his charm, flashing his watches casually so she could see. If she did see, she gave no indication at all. Didn’t she get how rich he was? It was like she wasn’t interested at all, which was impossible. They always were, especially chicks in her position.
After they were done, he leaned back in his chair and sipped at his water, wishing it was some liquor. “You’re really giving me the brush off right now, aren’t you?”
She put on that plastic smile again as she put the papers away in her briefcase. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
“Oh,” he said with a laugh, “I’m pretty sure you do. You don’t like me?”
“You’re our client. I like you as much as I need to in order to get my job done.”
“What if I was to ask you out to dinner?”
“I’d have to decline.”
“Why’s that?” he asked, tilting his head.
She gave him a genuine smile this time and folded her hands on the table. “Because I don’t like you.”
Bryan burst out laughing and slapped the table. Others seated around them looked over, but he ignored them. Let them look. It’s not like they didn’t know who was sitting next to them. They were welcome.
“Well I like you. If you don’t come to dinner, come to one of my games, huh? Like a thank you. Bring a friend. I’ll get you a couple tickets.”
“Sure,” she said. “I have a friend that would like that.”
A friend. Bryan chuckled and sipped his drink. Oh yeah, this one was going to be fun to crack. A challenge. He’d have her by tomorrow.
“You’re lying!” Maggie’s friend Stacy nearly shouted the words at her. “You actually met him? Like met him met him? You talked, and he talked back and everything?”
Maggie waggled her brows mischievously and took a sip of her coffee. They sat in Stacy’s kitchen, nearly huddled over their coffee cups as they chatted about their day. “Get this,” Maggie said, knowing she had Stacy on the hook, “he was actually flirting with me.”
Stacy slapped her hand on the counter. “Get out! No! Are you serious right now? Bryan Stappler hit on you?”
“Right?” Maggie said, warming her hands around the cup. “That’s weird, right?”
Stacy tilted her head and stopped herself from sipping her coffee to ask, “Why would that be weird?”
“Well I mean, c’mon.” Maggie waved a hand down her side as if she was on display on some gameshow. “This? He could have anyone. No one chooses this when they could have anyone.”
Stacy leaned in conspiratorially. “Maybe that’s why he wants it?”
Maggie looked at her as though she couldn’t have been more bored with the conversation. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Hey, you tell me. You said he was flirting with you. Guys love a challenge.”
Suddenly Stacy gasped. “Did you give in? Did you have sex with him?”
“Stacy, no, would you get ahold of yourself? When would we have slept together? We had lunch. For work. At a restaurant. There were people around.”
“And a tablecloth?”
Maggie laughed and had to set down her coffee cup lest she spill it all over herself. “We did not have sex under the tablecloth.”
When Stacy opened her mouth to say something else, Maggie cut it off with a raise of her hand. “No! We didn’t have sex at all, anywhere. And I’m not going to. You know his reputation just as well as I do.”
Stacy gave a thoughtful frown and shrugged a shoulder. “Sure, but still. Could be fun.”
“You sleep with him then.”
Stacy laughed. “Right, when would I get the chance?”
Maggie had been waiting the whole conversation to spring it on her. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out the two tickets to Bryan’s next game. “How about two nights from now?”
“Shut up!” Stacy screamed and grabbed the tickets. “Oh, shut up! These are floor seats, are you kidding me right now? Are we going? Are we really going?”
“Hey, I
may not sleep with the guy, but there’s nothing wrong with getting some free tickets, right?” Maggie said, not a little proud of herself. She ran her tongue over her front teeth and sipped her coffee. It tasted like self-satisfaction. It was delicious.
“Maggie,” Stacy said, holding the tickets to her chest.
“Yes?”
“I want to be you when I grow up.”
Maggie laughed again and once more had to set her coffee cup down.
The next two days went by quickly, yet somehow slowly at the same time. Maggie was swamped with work, but she kept finding herself thinking about Bryan. At first she was confused about why he would flirt with her. Stacy had a point about guys liking a challenge, but why would she be a challenge for him? She wasn’t anything, especially not compared to the girls she’d seen him with on TV or in the tabloids.
The man loved his women. Never stuck with one for more than a week. It was an ongoing joke in the office about his most long-term relationship was a model he saw twice in two weeks before breaking it off. It was ridiculous. He was a playboy that didn’t respect anyone, not even himself.
After that, she even doubted whether he had been flirting with her at all. By the time the game came around, she had convinced herself he hadn’t flirted with her at all. She’d somehow made it all up. She had the tickets because he was being nice, and she’d read too much into it.
Stacy was there in her team jersey, giddy like a little girl on Christmas. They found their seats, and Maggie couldn’t stop from feeling excited. She’d been to a few games before. Perks of the job. Nothing like this though.
It was surreal to be sitting there, level with the court. It was one of those things that was just never meant to be seen like that, like when she was stopped in traffic on the freeway. The pavement of the freeway was always seen passing as a blur. Whenever she could look out of her car window and see the freeway in all of its detail, it gave her this odd feeling of being out of place. Of not belonging where she was. Looking behind the curtain.
ROMANCE: Sleeping With The Sheikh (Billionaire Alpha Male Sheikh Romance) (New Adult Forbidden Series Short Stories) Page 19