by Ruby Forrest
Ashlyn waited and waited. Part of her hoped that Brandon would come after her. She wanted him to comfort her and ask her what had gone wrong. But the longer she waited, the more tired she felt. It was time to stop waiting. She wanted Brandon, and she was willing to make a sacrifice to be with him. The least she could do would be to start the conversation and see if he would carry it on.
Ashlyn walked back to the beach house and found Brandon sitting on the back porch. She smiled when she saw his form, and she knew it was him even though the light didn’t show him well.
“I was hoping you hadn’t been carried away by the ocean,” Brandon said.
“I’m here,” Ashlyn announced, “alive.”
“That’s the first step to a happy life you know,” Brandon replied. He stood up and offered the seat to Ashlyn. She refused it, not wanting to sit while he stood. They finally ended up sitting on the edge of the tall deck.
“The storm did a lot of damage,” Brandon said, pointing out a fence that went floating by.
“It’s not nearly as bad as some storms that I’ve seen on the news.”
“Did you see the roof? Whoever is sleeping on the top floor has their bed filled with water.”
Ashlyn smiled. This talk was diverting her from her mission. She needed to explain what Brandon had heard. “Let me tell you about Mark,” Ashlyn said.
“Yeah, he sounds like a fun one to have around,” Brandon replied.
Ashlyn nodded and swallowed. She looked at Brandon out of the side of her eyes. What was she being shy about? She had just made love to this man this afternoon! Ashlyn picked up Brandon’s hand and placed it in her lap, playing with his fingers.
“The thing is that back when we were staying in the mountains, Mark and I kind of became friends. I actually, well, I trusted him. He seemed really considerate and gentlemanly, the opposite of everything that he seems now. And, we had this party. I got super drunk at the party. I have never gotten that drunk before, and something happened. I have a pretty good guess what. The thing that was never clear between us was whether or not I consented to what happened.” Ashlyn bit her lower lip, feeling those pesky tears rising again.
“So, after that, it made things pretty awkward between us. Because I only saw him as a friend. I never thought him super attractive or anything. I know that people do stupid things when they’re drunk, but I just don’t think I would have agreed to having Mark and me, well. . .do anything serious.”
“So now, Mark doesn’t get why you have moved on when he clearly hasn’t,” Brandon summarized.
“Yup, and apparently, Katy has a big mouth. Why else would he have decided at that moment to attack me?”
“We all make stupid decisions,” Brandon summarized. “Look, I wasn’t there. I didn’t see you two before that happened, but let me just tell you this. Don’t blame him or make him into the bad guy just to make yourself better. Take responsibility as well.”
Ashlyn hadn’t expected Brandon to stick up for Mark. Then she realized that Brandon wasn’t sticking up for Mark so much as teaching Ashlyn how to deal with life. Ashlyn nodded and kept quiet. She didn’t know how to transition from. “Sorry about my crazy ex-boyfriend” to “I want to stay with you.”
Brandon made the transition for her. “When are you leaving?”
“Are you ready for me to go already?” Ashlyn teased. “You sleep with me, and then you’re done?”
Brandon smiled and shook his head. “Oh, I am not done with you, baby.”
Ashlyn leaned forward, and the two shared a quick kiss. She realized that now was the time to explain. “Brandon, I think that I’m going to stay behind when my crew goes. I want to stay with you.”
Brandon was silent. He squeezed Ashlyn’s hand gently and waited for her to look at him.
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”
Ashlyn nodded. “I love filming, and I will find some way to do it here. I haven’t figured it out exactly, but I know there will be a way. But I just realized, before today even, that what we have together is unique. I can’t just come across a guy like you everywhere I go, even though I have searched, diligently.”
Brandon leaned forward and gave Ashlyn a long kiss. They kissed and kissed. Ashlyn was contented to let the desire build up in her as she tasted his lips again and again. “I’m so glad that you said something,” Brandon finally spoke as he stared off at the angry ocean. “I didn’t want to say anything. I thought that if I said something you might feel obligated to stay just for me, even if you didn’t want to. I mean, we can do long distance.”
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” Ashlyn smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “No, I’m not doing long distance. I want to be with you and enjoy every day of your crazy life. I don’t have a lot of money saved up, but I’ll find something to do around here, at least while you’re here.”
“Ashlyn,” Brandon was shaking his head, and Ashlyn wasn’t sure if he was refusing her or what. “You are one crazy woman. Imagine, if you hadn’t hurried out into the sea to save a man you thought was drowning, we might never have met.”
“I’d rather not imagine that,” Ashlyn responded. “I prefer to imagine the future, with us together.”
“With us together,” Brandon echoed. He smiled at Ashlyn and lifted one of his eyebrows. “I’m imagining what it will be like to take you back to my place when you’re finally done filming here.”
Ashlyn giggled and kissed Brandon again. This was what Ashlyn had always wanted for her future, the carefree, open love that she had with Brandon.
THE END
Blissful Billionaire - Sample
Chapter One
Selena looked at herself one more time in the mirror. She wasn’t particularly happy with her white mini skirt. It just made her feel so exposed but she liked how it showed off her long legs. It also paired well with the large looped earrings May bought for her birthday. The only problem was that her skin was already quite pale and her crimson hair seemed to blend in with what she wore.
“This isn’t going to work,” she told herself and went back to her closet. In the end she traded her clothes for a black laced mini skirt and a backless black sleeveless top. All the black further accented her red lipstick, pale skin and red hair. She never really liked wearing black but this was better than looking like a pastel painting.
Her phone buzzed and she checked to find several messages from her friends. They were already at the party. She didn’t bother replying as she left, grabbing her purse and car keys on the way out of her apartment.
Getting from her place to the venue took longer than she expected. It was a private party, in some rich guy’s house, but her friends knew a guy that knew the guy so they were able to get invitations. She didn’t really care. All she wanted was a chance to drink, dance and forget about work for a while.
As she drove, Selena tried to clear her thoughts. She had been working as an interior designer for the past six years but the company recently got into financial issues and she was one of the many that were laid off. She needed a job, any job.
To drown out her thoughts she played a few songs as loudly as she could, trying to pass the time in traffic as peacefully as possible. It was after a while that she realized she had been playing songs from Roxette, Bruce Springsteen and White Snake and it made her feel old.
“Good luck getting a job,” she told herself as she took a left turn. “I’m probably older than my boss.”
In truth she was only twenty-seven but companies these days were constantly looking for the impossible. Often she’d find an advertisement looking to hire a single female, with no children, aged twenty-one to twenty-three. Somehow they also expected to hire someone with at least a year or two of experience. With each hiring post she found she discovered they were looking for someone young and single.
“What’s with these requirements,” she once asked. “Are they hiring a designer or a model they can seduce and fuck?�
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Just a few minutes after sorting her thoughts she took the last turn and found herself in a very fancy neighborhood. All the houses on this street were big enough to swallow her entire apartment building and more. Just a few more houses down and she found a corner with a lot of cars parked in front of what she could only describe as a genuine mansion.
It took her a while to park her car but when she did she found her friends, Ayesha and May, were already outside waiting for her.
“Took you forever,” Ayesha said as she took Selena by the hand.
“Sorry, I couldn’t find something to wear,” Selena answered.
May rolled her eyes at that and said, “You couldn’t find something to wear that wasn’t black but still pretty to look at.”
The girls giggled and Selena acknowledged May was right.
“So what’s going on,” she then asked.
Ayesha led them through the front garden, where there were already a lot of people drinking and chatting away, “Well, we saw Gilbert flirting with Mylene. They were over in the basement playing beer pong with a few people.”
“Gilbert’s such a man-whore,” Selena responded as she waved at a few familiar faces on their way into the house. “Can’t believe I actually dated that idiot.”
“I can’t believe you slept with him,” May stated. “He’s probably got more diseases that a flea bag hooker.”
Selena’s jaw dropped and she nudged May with her elbow, “Fuck you.”
“You know it’s true, though,” May told her. She then opened the front door and they walked into a large reception area where couches had been moved in and a lot of people were randomly talking, standing, dancing and drinking. They quickly identified a few people they knew – the party constants such as themselves.
Selena also identified the big guns, the real people that belonged in this kind of occasion. She could tell a person was upper class just by the way they dressed or walked around. Unlike her and her friends, the genuinely rich people wore everyday clothes. They didn’t need to dress rich or make an effort to look elegant and refined because they already were.
“Is that Nicole?” she then asked Ayesha and May when she spotted a girl sitting atop a guy’s lap.
Ayesha nodded, “Yeah. The guy she’s flirting with is Garett Owelheim, by the way. He owns that big car dealership down Cicero.”
“Damn,” May responded. “No wonder she’s doing her best to keep him glued to her. I’d drop my panties too if it got his attention.”
“You’re such a bitch,” Selena said playfully and picked up a glass of champagne from a nearby table. She took a sip and said, “You know, we are here to have fun.”
May and Ayesha both looked at each other with a devious smile on both their faces.
“What?” Selena had to ask. She knew they were up to something.
“Well,” May started, “we already booked you for something.”
“Huh?”
Ayesha took a glass herself and sipped before explaining, “We met someone just before you got here. We told him about you and he wants to meet you.”
“You sold me out,” Selena said dryly. “Great, now I’m a whore. Did he pay you well?”
Both May and Ayesha laughed at her sarcastic – but somewhat true – remarks. Ayesha continued, “Well, let’s go talk to him. He’s not going to wait forever, you know.”
“Did you even ask for his name?” Selena prodded for more information before she set her glass down. “Is he cute?”
They didn’t bother to answer her and led her through several hallways. Selena’s eyes grew wide when she saw just how many rooms the house owner had built. She passed by a gaming room, two dining halls, two bedrooms and even a large playroom, which was where most of the guests were socializing in.
Eventually they reached the third floor of the house and she was brought into what appeared to be a large solar. There was a fireplace and a large rug in the center. It looked like there must have been shelves of books and an office space judging by the size and shape of the room but they have been replaced with couches, tables and an open space for people to party in. She also saw a large door leading to a wide veranda that overlooked the backyard, where she could hear people partying by the pool.
Few people were in here though, no more than a dozen or so. Seated in one large recliner was a man in a grey shirt and jeans. He was well built, with sleek muscles that rippled across his arms but he wasn’t grossly large like a body-builder. He also had short, trimmed black hair and she surmised he may have been in the military. He was drinking a bottle of beer and his gaze was glued to his phone.
Oddly enough, it was this man that Ayesha and May led her to.
“Hey, Tom,” Ayesha said to the man as he looked up from his drink and phone. “Here’s the girl I was talking about, Selena.”
Tom reached out for Selena’s hand and gave it a firm shake, “Hi, hope you’re enjoying the party. I’m Tom Sellick. Come, have a seat.”
The girls sat on the couch. May and Ayesha pushed Selena to the side closest to Tom.
“Well,” Selena replied. “I just got here but it looks like everyone’s having fun. I’ve never been to a house this big before though.”
“But you have been to other parties in the neighborhood?” Tom asked.
Selena nodded, “I’m not a gold digger, if you’re worried about me hanging around well-to-do guys.”
“Oh, I never implied that,” Tom said apologetically. “I was just curious about your own sense of wonder. I do apologize for the house. I often host parties here to fill up the rooms. It’s quite dreadful when I’m all alone here.”
Selena went blank for a second. She wasn’t just talking to some rich guy or someone pretending to be fancy. She was talking to the actual owner of this gigantic mansion and host of the party. Selena looked back at Ayesha and May and silently mouthed “How the fuck?”
Chapter Two
Selena stared back at her reflection as Ayesha and May retouched their lipstick. Fortunately, the powder room was large enough for all of them to squeeze inside. Over the last thirty minutes Tom conversed with all of them but Selena felt his gaze glued solely on her.
“He was staring at your boobs the whole fucking time,” May said as she puckered her lips.
“He was not,” Selena replied. “I caught him a few times. He was looking at my face.”
Ayesha laughed, shook her head and said “No, girl, he was staring at your body. I think I even saw him lick his lips.”
Selena’s eyes grew wide and she shook her head, “No, no, no he was not.”
“What’s wrong if he’s checking you out?” May asked. “It means he digs you.”
“I’m not meat for sale,” Selena answered.
May raised an eyebrow, “You single?”
“Yep.”
“You looking for a hookup?”
“Yep.”
“Then you’re on the market, girl,” May concluded. “It may not sound right to your ears but you got to admit it, you’re on sale and he wants to buy.”
Selena prodded her friend on the shoulder, “Fuck you.”
“Yeah? When and where, honey, I’d spread for you,” May replied jokingly.
Ayesha chuckled and started getting ready to hop out of the powder room and back to the party, “You guys are fucking stupid. Let’s go. They’re waiting out there. I think that guy David was checking me out. I don’t know about you, Sel, but I’m on the market and if he’s going to pick me up tonight I’m all set to check out.”
Selena and May both laughed and headed out of the powder room. Outside, in the hallway, there were still a lot of people going about the house drinking and dancing. It seemed like there were even more people than when they first arrived.
When they got back to the solar Tom was out on the balcony drinking alone. His friends, David and James, were seated back inside with a few other guys that the girls hadn’t met yet. Selen
a tried to get them all together but Ayesha pushed her out towards Tom.
Ayesha and May settled back in with David and the others, leaving Selena on the balcony and she quickly approached Tom.
“Hey,” she said as she walked up to his side.
“Hey,” he said back and smiled. He took a step to the side, nudging himself a bit closer to her. “Your friends seem to have abandoned you.”
Selena chuckled and looked over her shoulder to spy her friends, “They said it’d be good for me to spend some time with you.”
Tom looked back at her with a grin, “I don’t really understand.”
“It’s nothing, really, just some stupid shit girls say when drunk,” she replied.
“You don’t look drunk,” he said. “Want another glass of wine or something?”
Selena shook her head, “I’m not like your other guests. I didn’t grow up drinking fancy bottles of wine or vintage liquor. Give me a can of beer and I’ll be a whole lot happier.”
Tom laughed and gave her a look of approval, “All right, all right, I can appreciate that. I like it when a person’s real. To be honest, a lot of the people partying here right now are just fucking hypocrites. They think they’re fancy and above everyone else when really they’re just hoping others will think that way about them, not realizing that everyone else is also a pretender.”
“That’s deep,” Selena told him. “I’m not drunk enough for talk like that.”
“Come on, follow me,” he beckoned. “I got a stash of beer in the attic.”
“The attic?” Selena repeated in doubt. “Why up in the attic?”
Tom waved his hands in a frantic manner, “Oh, it’s not like a dusty, cramped space filled with boxes and stuff. I’m not going to stab you then keep your body up there or anything like that. Just trust me on this one.”
“All right Freddy Krueger,” Selena relented and took a hold of his hand. She followed as he led her out of the solar. Selena gave Ayesha and May a quick glance and a smile before she and Tom walked out of the room. Ayesha gave a wink before she turned back to the tall guy she was talking to.