Billionaire Flawed: A Bad Boy Billionaire Baby Romance

by Tia Siren

  ''Maybe,'' Dan said as he looked around the diner. When he saw a picture of a tin of Budweiser, he was sorely tempted, but he remembered all to well, what Dr. Needham had told him would happen if he had another drink. '' I don't know whether she's having an affair, but I want her checked out before I settle down and marry her. She won't touch me anymore, and she spends two or three nights a week at a girlfriends house. She's just behaving really weird.''

  Keke sighed and looked at her watch. She was anxious not to miss her two o'clock appointment with Mr. Sanderson. He could be really important for her struggling practice, she thought. If Dan were asking her on a date, she'd say yes, without hesitation. But asking her to investigate his woman just because her behavior had suddenly changed, was a much less interesting proposition. ''Dan, you'll have to excuse me. I have an appointment soon, and I need to go. It was nice to meet you.'' Keke nodded to the waitress who brought the check. When she put it on the table, she smiled at Dan and gave him a wink.

  ''I'm Jessie,'' she said, hopefully.

  Dan stood up as Keke left the table and watched her walk towards the door. He'd always been a sucker for a woman in a business suit and black stockings, especially one with such a beautiful behind as hers, he thought. ''My Dad's Ernie Stephenson,'' he shouted after her.

  Keke stopped and turned around. ''Ernie Stephenson from ESM, the largest mining company in the world?'' she asked, trying to hide the sudden surge of interest within her.

  Dan looked at her and noticed how her breasts fought against the softness of her blouse. ''Er..yes. That's my father.'' Dropping his father's name worked every time, he thought, as Keke began to walk back to him.

  ''I'm sorry I was a little abrupt,'' she said. ''I really do have an appointment at two, but can you hang on until it's finished? It shouldn't take too long.''

  ''Okay, then let me give you a ride,'' Dan said.

  ''I usually walk, it's good for me, but I've never been in a Ferrari so why not.''

  When Keke got into the low seat, her skirt rode up, revealing her soft thighs, a fact that didn't escape him.

  *****

  Dan pulled up outside the office and took a good look at it. The peeling paintwork around the windows and the weeds growing through the surface of the small parking lot led Dan to one conclusion. Keke's business was not flourishing. When she opened the door, he was already round at the passenger side, helping her up. Chivalrous as well as hot, she thought.

  ''Come with me. It's not much of an office I'm afraid. I've only just started the business. The office needs some renovation work doing.'' Inside it was a scruffy as outside, which surprised Dan because Keke was obviously the kind of person who took great care in her personal appearance. Perhaps it was a lack of money, not a lack of will, he thought.

  A man in his middle sixties stood up and shook Keke's hand. ''Dan would you mind sitting here for a while?'' Keke picked up some old magazines from the arm chair and put them on the glass coffee table. Why the hell do I employ a secretary, if I have to do everything myself, she thought.

  ''Janice, make Mr. Stephenson some tea, please.'' Keke left Dan to the mercy of her secretary and disappeared into the back office with Mr. Sanderson.

  ''How do you like it?'' Janice asked referring to the tea.

  ''Milk, no sugar.'' He watched Janice as she got up and skilfully navigated her ample rear end through the gap between her desk and the wall. She walked past him to the kitchenette. The office was a small wooden construction, with white painted paneled wood walls and a V-shaped roof supported by iron trusses. It needed a coat of paint and the linoleum on the floor needed replacing. There was a picture of a tall ship in a storm hanging on the wall behind Janice's desk. The picture reminded him of his life. He was just like a ship in a storm, perhaps a rudderless ship.

  Janice brought his tea and almost spilled it on him as she reached over to put it on the glass table. ''Thanks,'' he said. ''How long have you guys been operating?''

  Janice put a finger to her lips and rolled her eyes to the ceiling as she tried to remember the exact date they opened. ''I think we started in April two years ago.''

  ''And is there much work for private detectives in Dallas?''

  Janice put her head to one side and started to play with her red hair. Stop looking at his bulge, she told herself. ''Most of it is working for men who think their wives are cheating on them. Easy stuff really. Follow her, take a few pictures and send an invoice.''

  ''And how do you actually become a PD? I mean it's not exactly a mainstream kind of job?''

  ''I'm just a secretary, but Keke studied criminology at Harvard. She's a bright lady.''

  ''Does she have a male friend?'' He mentally crossed his fingers and waited for her reply.

  'No, she's single.'' Janice felt disappointed. It was she who'd first helped him and sent him to look for Keke. Why was he asking about Keke? What was wrong with her? She tried to look nice everyday, she really did, and it wasn't her fault she'd inherited her grandmother’s pear shaped figure.

  When the old man left the office, Keke appeared and showed Dan into her office. It was tiny. There was a laptop on an old dining table and two chairs. In the corner was an aluminum case that he assumed was her photography equipment. There was a picture of a black woman that he'd seen before, but couldn't quite place.

  ''Madame Tinubu. She was a slave trader who realized the error of her ways and became a scathing opponent of slavery,'' Keke said when she saw him looking at the picture.

  ''Yes, I remember now. She was Nigerian, and they called her the queen of the ladies. So why exactly do you have her on your wall?''

  ''Because she's a symbol that you can start life on the wrong foot, but still change your ways and do good. Sorry for the wait. Now where did we get to?'' She sad down and crossed her legs. Dan waited for her as he stared at her them. ''Yes, you want me to check out your fiancee. But you don't know why.''

  ''Now I've had time, I can explain more fully. It was all a bit of a rush to get here, and then I had to go to the diner so I guess I got thrown off course.'' What he really wanted to say was, when he'd gone into the diner and seen Keke her stunning looks had totally thrown him. ''I am engaged and have been for three months. The wedding is planned in ten weeks.'' Still no further Keke thought as she waited impatiently. ''She is the daughter of my father's chief accountant. You may not find this a plausible reason for you to start an investigation, but I want her checked out because I will have to live with her for the rest of my life and at the moment she is behaving very strangely indeed.''

  ''Okay, I understand.'' Mr. Sanderson had decided not to invest in Keke's business, and she was now quite desperate for work. Lucky break him coming along she thought, now make the most of it and stop looking at his bulge. ''Then I'll check her out for you.''

  ''Why the sudden change of heart?''

  Keke refrained from saying: because your father is loaded and a potential business partner has turned me down. ''I was a little hasty before, and you obviously need my help, so I will do so.''

  ''Great. Then tell me what you need to know,'' Dan said relieved.

  ''Here fill this out.'' Keke handed him a client information sheet that covered just about everything she needed to know. ''Can we discuss fees?'' He nodded. ''Two thousand a day plus expenses,'' Keke said emboldened in the knowledge that his father was one of the richest men in American and that Dan was in all likelihood his heir. He nodded again. Keke smiled and shouted for Janice to come. She appeared and listened. ''When Mr. Stephenson has filled out this form, please draw up a contract for him to sign. The fee is two thousand a day plus expenses.'' Janice looked and was about to say 'how much?' She managed to stop herself when she saw Keke look at her in a 'don't say anything,' kind of way.

  *****

  Dan put his foot to the floor and felt himself being pressed back in the driver's seat. He loved his Ferrari. Not because it was an eye catcher, and woman after woman wanted to talk to
him, but because it was his only chance to let off steam. His way of dealing with stress was flooring it and driving at a speed that made his heart race and his hands cling to the steering wheel in fear.

  As he hurtled down the freeway towards his office, he thought about Keke. What the hell was he doing, getting married to Britney when he could have someone like Keke? She was a real woman. She had her own business and was fighting for herself in the big wide world. All Britney had ever done was sponge off him and moan that she was bored. Now she even refused to sleep with him. It had been three weeks since he'd had sex and he was bursting. Was that why he'd found Keke so darn attractive, he wondered. Or, was it simply that she was smoking hot? He realized it was the latter.

  He pulled into the parking space marked Mr. Dan Stephenson and looked up. What a difference between this office and Keke's, he thought. Sixty floors of pure glass luxury versus an old hut in need of paint. As he was about to open the door and climb out of the car, it enveloped him. That feeling. Oh no, you're kidding me, he thought.

  ''Dan, I've been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been?'' His father was sitting at his desk in his office. Dan put his hand over his eyes to protect himself from the stream of sunlight flooding in through the floor to ceiling glass wall and peered at him.

  ''Dad, sorry, I had a couple of jobs to do. I'm back now. What's happening?''

  Ernie Stephenson was sixty-three years old and very tall. He had a full head of gray hair and a tan that showed off his smile. If only he knew how proud of him I am, he thought as he looked at Dan. ''Your mother has been on the phone, non-stop. She must have called twenty times. Something about the wedding. Apparently Britney has been to see her, and they have been looking at seating arrangements. They seem to want your input.''

  ''Jesus, what the hell does it matter who sits next to who? Throw a list of names into the air and see how they land.''

  ''I know how you feel son. Weddings are a nightmare. But just bite your tongue. Women love weddings, and you'll get yourself into a lot of hot water if you don't cooperate. Take it from an old hand.''

  Ernie found it hard to understand how a man of Dan's age, twenty-six, could have so much business acumen. He himself had done okay, but he'd inherited the business from his father and expanded it gradually. However in the two years since Dan had left college, his suggestions had increased profitability by an amount Ernie had never thought possible. Born to it, he thought. All he had to do now was marry the daughter of his long time friend Jeff, and everything would be perfect. ''Are you alright?'' he asked his son.

  ''Yer. Just sick of all the wedding stuff. Britney just hasn't been the same since we got engaged. I haven't got a clue where her head is. I can't seem to get through to her.''

  ''Nerves. She's very young, give her time. We are all very much looking forward to the wedding. She's a great girl. You couldn't have found a more beautiful woman, and she'll make a fantastic wife and mother. Just be patient and don't go around upsetting her. She'll be a great asset to the family.''

  What sort of asset? Dan asked himself as he walked to his office. Isn't an asset supposed to be of value and enhance your life? All Britney was doing was driving him away from her. Do you really love her an ugly voice asked him? You don't really do you, admit it, the voice continued. He plonked himself down in the leather chair behind his desk and took a deep breath. He shook his head and blocked all further thoughts of Britney. As soon as he had done so, Keke came into his mind, and the feeling he'd had in the car came back again. ''Oh no, please leave me alone,'' he said.

  *****

  Not again, Dan thought. He'd know for a long time that worker relations weren't good at the mine in Johannesburg, but they'd had a pay increase, and he'd implemented their suggestions for fair distribution of overtime. Now they were playing with his good nature, and he didn't like that. He'd had enough.

  ''Listen, George, we employ you to keep the mine profitable, and it is far from that, in fact, it's leaking money like I've never seen before. So here's the deal. I've been more than fair with everyone. You tell them to get back to work by six am tomorrow morning, or I'm closing the mine, and they can all starve. Got it?'' He slammed the phone down and looked out of the window. There it was again. The same feeling he'd had yesterday, twice. Give in to it, a voice said.

  Time for rational thought, he told himself. You're engaged to Britney, and if you don't marry her, you will disappoint everyone and probably hurt her beyond repair. So much is clear, he decided. ''Now the hard part,'' he muttered to himself as he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. Why, when you think of the private detective Keke, do you get this incredibly strong feeling you want to rip her clothes off, bed her and live happily ever after with her? Dan opened his eyes and looked at the clouds that weren't far above his office. Two birds flew passed and it came to him.

  *****

  Keke sat down in the diner and ordered her usual from Jessie. ''Take the sugar away Jessie, it's too tempting.'' As Jessie took the sugar pot away, she shook her head. ''You're crazy. Nobody's got a body like yours, allow yourself, at least, some pleasures in life.''

  Keke's cell phone rang. It was Dan. Now there's a pleasure I could really get hooked on, she thought.

  ''Keke? I would like to talk to you.''

  ''I'm listening.''

  ''No, face to face.''

  ''I'm at the diner if you want to come round.''

  ''Okay wait for me.''

  Keke's fists closed in a little show of triumph. She knew he wasn't coming to discuss business; it was too soon after their initial meeting for him to expect any results from her investigations. After forty minutes Keke saw his car pull up outside the diner. He was wearing jeans and T-shirt, not his suit. Her eyes followed him to the door and up to her table.

  Do it, he commanded himself. Don't deny your feelings, to hell with Britney and the rest of them, it's your turn to be happy now. ''Keke get up and follow me.'' Keke wasn't used to being ordered around, but she didn't mind now. ''Come on, what are you waiting for?'' She followed him, trying to keep up, as he walked out of the diner. Once they were clear of the door, he took her hand and led her down the side of the building. He pushed her against the wall and kissed her, hard. He was relieved when she didn't knee him or scratch him. He didn't want her rejection; he wanted her love.

  ''Kiss me more, I want to feel your lips on mine. Give me more,'' Keke whispered when she thought he was going to pull away. He didn't disappoint her. Dan couldn't remember when he had last been so hard. We can't do it here, he thought. ''Get in my car, we're going for a ride.''

  Keke complied without saying a word. She closed her eyes as he drove faster than she liked out of the parking lot and onto the highway. Put your hand on her knee, keep up the momentum, make her really want you, a voice said to him. When he did, Keke put her hand onto his and pulled it from her knee up onto her thigh. Where the hell are you going, he thought. He'd been in such a hurry to get her into his car that he hadn't given much thought to where he was taking her.

  When he pulled into the driveway, Keke noticed a white post and rail fence on both sides. Beyond, there were fields filled with horses. Again she closed her eyes as they hit a bump and took off. When the car ground to halt, it scattered tiny stones all over the yard. Keke opened her eyes and saw that hey were at a ranch. Dan had pulled up in the middle of the stable block. Surely our first time isn't going to be in a smelly old stable. She noticed some of the stables were occupied and some not. The horses looked as confused as she was.

  ''Who does this place belong to?'' she asked.

  ''It's mine, but I don't live here. Horses are a hobby. The ranch manager lives here. Can you ride a horse?''

  ''Er....it's been a long time,'' Keke remembered all those Saturday mornings when her mother had forced her to go to the local riding school. Endless circles on bored horses, with a horny riding instructor staring at her backside as it rose and fell.

  ''Hi Mike. Sad
dle Domino and Pudsy would you,'' Dan asked his ranch hand. Keke didn't like the sound of Pudsy. It sounded like an obstinate beast that would buck and kick and eventually bolt with her clinging mercifully to its mane.

  ''Let's get you into some riding things.'' Twenty minutes later Keke emerged from the tack room, dressed in a pair of jeans with leather chaps.''Here, no cowgirl is complete without a hat.'' When she put it on, she laughed, and her face lit up. She's marvelous, he thought.

  Pudsy turned out to be Dan's horse. He was a magnificent quarter horse stallion. If your master has muscles like you, I'm in for a treat Keke thought as they lead their horses out of the yard.

  ''Never mount in the yard. The yard is for grooming, feeding and stabling, not riding.'' Why he was telling her this, she didn't know. ''Let's mount here.'' They'd reached a mounting block with two steps. ''Let me hold Domino while you get on.'' Keke stood on the mounting block and put her leg over her. She half expected the white mare to buckle under the weight, but the trusty steed remained rock solid. When Keke's buttocks touched the saddle, it all came back to her. The endless circles.

  ''You're good,'' he said trying to encourage her to relax. Keke was already out of breath, and they had only walked two hundred meters. ''Breathe. You're hyperventilating. In....out.'' Keke began to relax. ''Domino is our best horse, you could trust her with your savings.'' Except I haven't got any, Keke thought. They walked for half an hour, and Keke began to really enjoy herself. It was warm and sitting on a horse had given her a sense of freedom and power. The meadows they rode over were filled with wild flowers and the air smelled far better than the choking fumes back in Dallas.

  ''We're here. Let's dismount and tie them to that tree,'' Dan said. They had stopped next to a beautiful lake. When the horses were gratefully munching the lushest grass they had seen for a long time, Dan took hold of Keke and kissed her. ''I want you, and I have wanted you since we met. You're amazing.''