Taming the Bad Boy Billionaire Bundle

by Sierra Rose

  But for the most part, both father and son seemed content to leave the past in the past. It was for the best, too. Aside from a towering height and proclivity for beautiful women and lots of money—the two had been virtual strangers from the start. It was an uneasy truce, but one that had served as the fundamental basis of their relationship for years.

  Mitchell lived his life, while Nick was free to live his own. It wasn’t until recently that things had begun to overlap, and despite having worked for the family for a little over two years, I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen them together.

  That being said, there was still something a little scary about Mitchell—no matter how far removed he might be. Perhaps it was that, even so far away, he was still the only person in the world who could make Nick make that face.

  He saw me looking, and quickly smoothed it clear.

  “The thing about my dad is...he can always manage to ruin a good day. So let’s not talk about him anymore.” He pushed to his feet, rendering the conversation closed. At first, I thought he was upset—but then he reached down his hand with a tender smile. “And I had a really good day, Abby.”

  I beamed back, and let him help me to my feet. According to the clock on the wall, it was already coming up on two in the morning. Had we really been talking that long?

  “Me too.”

  It wasn’t flattery or exaggeration. Truth be told, it was the best day I could remember having in a long, long time.

  “Same thing tomorrow?” I asked, tilting my head with a teasing smile.

  Without seeming to think about it, he reached out and stroked a long finger all the way down the length of my face. I froze beneath his hand, shivering as he lingered near my jaw.

  Then, as quickly as he’d touched me, he pulled away.

  “Actually...how would you feel about something a little different tomorrow?”

  “Different?” I repeated, well aware that in Nick’s world, ‘different’ wasn’t exactly limited to this side of the Atlantic. “What did you have in mind?”

  He let me hang for only a second, before flashing me a sparkling smile.

  “Let me take you out tomorrow...on a date.”

  My eyebrows shot up into my hair. We had been on dates before. The other night at the boxing exhibition was technically a date. But dates were for public viewing. They weren’t a random thing the two of us would decide to do. So...was that supposed to be my cue?

  “Okay...um...” I pushed back my hair, trying my very best to snap back into business mode. “Where did you want to go? If it’s still within the city limits, I could tip off the press—”

  “No press.” He pushed my hands away, and pulled me a step closer. There was just an inch or two of space between us now. I could see every fleck of green in those blue eyes. “No cameras or other people. Just you and me. A date.”

  I shook my head blankly, still trying to understand.

  “Like...a date, date?”

  He grinned, but held back a laugh at my grade-school terminology.

  “Yeah, Abby. Like a date, date.”

  A date. Go out on a date with Nicholas Hunter.

  He watched as I considered, waiting patiently as I turned the phrase over in my mind. No matter which way I looked at it, something didn’t add up.

  “You don’t date.”

  It was true. Nick went out with girls—but not ever with any sort of romantic designs. He went out because he liked to be out. Liked to see shows, go to clubs, eat fancy dinners. They weren’t designed to impress, they weren’t designed to create any added amount of intimacy. To be honest, he knew he didn’t have to. No matter what happened, by the end of the night, they always ended up sleeping with him anyway.

  Hence my confusion.

  He hesitated for a second, acknowledging the awkward truth. But when he looked down into my eyes, there was an honesty and a vulnerability there I had never seen before.

  “I would date you.”

  My heartbeat quickened, as my lips fell open just a hair. It was the very last thing I ever expected him to say. And while I might not exactly understand his reasons, I couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed by the whole thing.

  “Come on,” he coaxed, dipping his head to catch my eye. “I won’t even bring Max.”

  I let out a laugh, before gazing back up into his eyes.

  Was he actually serious? Could this actually be happening?

  “Do you even know how to date?” I stalled, leaning back with a coy grin. “What exactly might this date consist of?”

  “Easy,” he said without missing a beat, “dinner and a movie.”

  I laughed again. No doubt he had googled ‘normal person date’ right before asking, and was thoroughly pleased with himself. Then my smile faded, as I looked up at him once more.

  A date with Nicholas Hunter?

  Yeah...I could do that.

  “Pick me up at seven?”

  His eyes twinkled.

  “Seven it is.”

  And with those words, our normal day came to a close.

  The two of us bid each other a hasty goodnight, and disappeared to separate corners of the house. Our heads spinning from the last twelve hours. Our bodies bracing for the next twelve.

  The room I’d selected to be my own, had been a longtime favorite of mine. The adjoining bathroom featured one of those walk-in showers I adored, and a tub as big as the entire living room at my old apartment. An enormous bay window opened out onto a balcony with a beautiful view of the park, and everything from the canopy bed to the high silk curtains made me feel like I was playing the part of a princess for the night.

  It was also right down the hall from Nick.

  This was a fact that I tried my best to keep from dwelling on as I brushed my teeth, combed out my hair, and quickly went through the rest of my nighttime routine. Although all my new clothes and toiletries wouldn’t arrive until late tomorrow, the room was already stocked with anything and everything I might need. Much nicer stuff than what I’d bought, actually.

  I found a sapphire silk bathrobe in the closet, and slipped it over my shoulders as I headed out onto the balcony. The sounds of the city swirled up around me, like a comforting cloud—a home that carried with you no matter what side of the bridge you were on. But unlike my old apartment, we were high enough up that instead of coming at you from all sides, it was reduced to a pleasant background noise. A gentle hum, providing a context and meditative ambiance to your thoughts.

  I closed my eyes and leaned over as far as I could, dangling down my long hair as I wrapped my hands firmly around the rail. We were so high! High enough to look out over the entire city. I could easily see how someone could get used to this. If I actually did live here full time, I think I might spend a portion of every night doing this exact same thing.

  Then a sudden movement caught my eye, and I ducked behind the granite wall.

  It seems I’m not the only one who needs to clear my head...

  Just a stone’s throw away, Nick had wandered out onto his own balcony. It was a nicer day, about sixty four degrees. We didn’t get many nice days like these too often at this time of season. And there he was... Tall, handsome, and topless—wearing only a pair of low hanging pants. As his eyes roved out over the cityscape, he leaned forward to rest his chin on his hands—lost in thought.

  A melancholy prince, alone in his castle.

  For a moment, I couldn’t help but stare. He hadn’t seen me yet, and given my position behind the wall, I was completely hidden from sight. I could stare to my heart’s content, soaking in all the intoxicating details without judgement or shame.

  There was a reason why Nick was one of the most desirable men in the world. There was a reason that everyone from pop stars to eastern European royalty would stop what they were doing at the drop of a hat, and fly out to meet him at a single call.

  The man was beautiful. There simply wasn’t another way to put it.

  He had one of those
faces you saw on the cover of books growing up as a child. The face of the hero or the adventurer. The poet or the pirate. The guy who always beat the bad guy, got the girl, and was still always looking out toward the horizon.

  It was the eyes. You could see entire worlds in those eyes.

  Everything else was just icing on the cake.

  The glowing skin. The sculpted body. The golden hair and careless grin. Twice, he had been made a six-figure offer for the movie rights to his life. Twice, he had turned it down.

  Everyone wanted him. Everyone wanted to be him.

  And yet...what struck me most tonight was the look on his face.

  There was a faint crease running down the center of his forehead, and a protective tension to the way he was holding his hands. Like he was trying to literally hold himself together. To self-soothe. His lips, always on the constant verge of smiling, had thinned to a thoughtful line, and as the wind danced his hair across his forehead, I could have sworn I heard him sigh.

  With a stab of concern, I leaned an inch or two forward. I was on the verge of calling out to him. On the verge of running from my room to his, just to find out what was wrong.

  But the next second, he straightened suddenly and walked back inside. The lights turned off in his room just a second after that, then all was quiet.

  ...what was that about?

  Chapter 15

  AN HOUR LATER, I HAD yet to fall asleep. I had gone inside not long after Nick—my pensive city mood vanished abruptly upon seeing that sad look on his face. Instead, I tossed and turned in my brand new bed. Staring up at the draping canopy. Wondering, after our seemingly perfect day, what the hell had gone wrong?

  Then the sound of splashing water caught my ear.

  ...what the fuck?

  I sat bolt upright in bed, cupping a hand over my ear as I craned my neck toward the doorway. It was soft, but I was certain. It was water alright. And from the sounds of it, it was coming from the middle of the house.

  For a split second, I was completely baffled. Then I suddenly remembered my client’s latest winter purchase, and instantly understood.

  I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t get to sleep...

  Quiet as a mouse, I padded down the stairs and into the living room. Sure enough, Nick was back in the hot tub. Leaning back. Eyes closed. Wet hair dripping down his neck. As a precaution, he was wearing some sort of black swim trunks, but at this point, it hardly made a difference. The man looked like sex. Nothing he could do about that now.

  “Back in the hot tub, then?”

  His eyes shot open, and he gazed up at me with a steamy smile.

  “I’ve grown ridiculously attached to it. I’m thinking of getting one for every room.”

  I giggled and shook my head. That sounded like Nick.

  “You could start a trend...”

  His grin faded slightly as he looked me up and down.

  “I didn’t wake you, did I? Sorry—I tried to be really quiet.”

  “No, no—I was up,” I reassured him, perching on the edge. “I have no idea why. That is hands down the greatest bed I’ve ever slept in...I just can’t turn off my brain.”

  He glanced up at me, as if he was well familiar with the problem, then cocked his head invitingly toward the water. “Care to join me? It’ll help you relax.”

  Somehow, I sincerely doubted that. I stared for a second at the gorgeous, dripping man in front of me, then glanced down self-consciously.

  “I don’t have a bathing suit...”

  He reached down beneath the waves, and the next second, his dripping black swim trunks were in a puddle on the floor. “There. Neither do I.”

  My breath caught in my chest, and I said a silent prayer of thanks that he’d turned on the foaming jets before I’d come down. Otherwise, there would be no way I could string together a coherent thought. Let alone force it into a sentence.

  I opened my mouth to automatically refuse, prepared to go back upstairs and plant myself firmly on the right side of the line the two of us kept blurring. So it was as much of a surprise to me as to anyone when I heard myself saying, “Okay.”

  Well aware that his eyes were watching every move, I slipped the silk bathrobe off my shoulders. Then the tiny nightgown beneath. Without a single stitch of clothing on my body, I slowly reached up and let loose my hair. It tumbled in dark waves down my shoulders as I stepped into the tub. At once, my face steamed up and I flashed him a grin.

  “It’s hotter than I thought.”

  He nodded slowly, but didn’t respond. His eyes had dilated almost completely black during my little strip tease, and he seemed no more capable of speech now, than I was when I’d first come down and seen him.

  Finally, when he could manage, he patted the seat beside him with a little smile. I waded slowly into the water, but took a seat on the far side instead. Somewhere just slightly out of the man’s reach. Somewhere that I could look at him to my heart’s content.

  He followed every movement, tracing my hair’s spiraling journey down my chest before looking back up with a twinkle in his eye.

  “So...what’s the verdict?”

  “We’ll buy ten of them in the morning,” I announced. “Then another for the plane.”

  He chuckled softly, and nodded his head.

  “Yes ma’am.”

  The chuckle made me smile. Then I remembered that look on his face.

  “Nick?” I asked softly.

  He looked up swiftly, picking up on the change in my tone.

  “Yeah?”

  “Is everything...” I paused, wondering how to phrase it. It’s not like I could admit that I’d been spying on him from the balcony. “Are you...upset about something?”

  “Upset?” he repeated in surprise. It was an admirable performance. If I hadn’t been there for the first one, I might have believed it myself. “No—why would I be upset?”

  I shrugged, dropping my eyes to the foamy waves. “I just thought...I don’t know. I just thought you looked like something was bothering you when we went upstairs for the night.”

  Only someone who knew him well could have caught it. The way the muscles in his face froze—betraying just the slightest hint of guilt. The way his eyes tightened ever so slightly. The involuntary twitch of his hand.

  For a second, it looked like he was going to deny it all anyway, then he bowed his head with an almost imperceptible sigh.

  “Sometimes I forget.”

  I shook my head, trying to follow along.

  “Forget what?”

  He glanced up with a wry grin.

  “That you’re you.”

  I blinked quickly, and looked back down at the water. It was a rather strange way to start a discussion, but on the other hand, I didn’t think there was any greater compliment he could have given me.

  I didn’t know what to say. Instead, I simply looked up—waiting for him to begin.

  “When you asked about the press,” he began uncertainly, “when you asked if I’d like you to leak it to the press about our date...”

  He trailed off, then lifted his eyes slowly to meet mine.

  “This is never going to be real to you, is it?”

  A cool chill washed down my spine, despite the hot water. So this was it then. We were laying all our cards down on the table. And as usual, Nick had made the first move.

  Just as intently as I’d been staring at him, he stared at me now. Watching me flounder as I tried to sort through my thoughts. Interpret my feelings. Find a single moment of clarity amidst the fucking catastrophe that had become this ‘fake’ relationship.

  Don’t think, Abby. Just talk. You know what to say.

  And somehow...I did.

  “Do you remember that night in the bar, when you asked me why I picked Ella?” He nodded silently, and I took a deep breath. “I picked her not because I knew you wouldn’t like her...but because I didn’t want you to.”

  His lips parted as a cloud of steam wafted up between us, hiding my blu
shing cheeks and sticking my wet hair to my shoulders. By the time it cleared, he was standing right in front of me.

  “Nick—”

  “Enough.” He pressed a soft finger over my lips, then tilted my face up toward his. “I don’t want to talk anymore, Abby. We’ve talked enough.”

  Without another word—I was in his arms.

  My legs wrapped around his waist, and our lips came together like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like we’d been designed specifically for each other—cut from that same magical cloth. Nick was right. We were finally alone, with all our cards out on the table. And we’d waited long enough.

  While one hand wound through my hair—anchoring my face to his—the other wrapped around my legs and carried me out of the tub and up to his bedroom. At least, I think that’s where we were headed. I couldn’t stop kissing him long enough to open my eyes.

  He navigated his way blindly through the door, and kicked it shut behind him. A second later, he was laying me down on the bed.

  My skin was alive and ready. A trail of little chills followed his hand it ran slowly down the contours of my stomach before vanishing between my legs. My body twitched and writhed beneath him, but before I could even catch my breath, that same hand forced my legs apart.

  The next second, he was slamming into me.

  “Fuck,” I gasped, dropping my head back against the mattress.

  It was almost too much. Very close to too much.

  It was fucking perfect.

  “Sorry,” he whispered, dropping his lips down to my ear, “are you okay? I could—”

  My eyes snapped shut, and my back arched up to meet him.

  “Don’t you dare fucking stop.”

  A breathless grin spread up the side of his face, and he picked up the speed. Soon, the air was filled with the sound of frantic gasps and moans as the two of us clung to each other with all our might. His hands balled into fists on the pillow beside me, as my fingernails raked long streaks down his back. He let out a sharp cry, then hitched my legs up even higher, thrusting his hips with an impossible force and speed.

  I have no idea how long we went at it. I was trapped in one of those ‘floating above your own body’ moments where time ceased to matter.