“What do think when you hear the word sex?”
He didn’t answer immediately, and she opened her mouth to remind him not to overthink the response. Before she got a word out, he surged forward and captured her lips in a kiss. She froze for a few seconds in surprise, but it didn’t take her long to get with the program. Their lips melded together, and she reached up, entwining her hands in his hair. After a long moment, she pulled away from the kiss, her breathing heavy.
“What was that?”
“My answer.”
Kerry searched his gorgeous bedroom eyes and the contours of his soft lips that shaped into a sly smirk.
“I don’t have a word that comes to mind. When I think of sex, I think of, well, you. It’s all I can think about lately. Your taste, your body…” His voice trailed off as his he trailed a hand up her thigh until he reached the hem of her black pencil skirt. He stopped there and caressed her skin lightly.
Kerry gave in to the need coursing through her body and brought their lips together. Dorran wasted no time slipping his tongue into her mouth. She pulled him closer, moaning as he massaged her tongue with his own. The next thing she knew, he had repositioned them so that she was lying flat across the chaise lounge with Dorran hovering over her. He settled between her legs, his erection pressing against her core.
Her blood was on fire as Dorran trailed kisses across her cheek, then down her neck. She let her hands explore him freely, enjoying the feel of his chiseled body beneath his thin tailored shirt. He ground against her, causing Kerry to arch her back while he suckled at the junction of her neck and shoulder. This was going fast, but she didn’t have any desire to stop. It was too good, and she was lost to the sensations coursing through her.
“Dorran,” she whimpered his name as he trailed a hand up her side and cupped her breast. Her nipple hardened as he rubbed his thumb over it, the bud so sensitive that it reacted to his touch even through the fabric of her dress and satin bra.
“I want you,” she said breathlessly.
To her shock, he stilled, pulling his face away from her neck and looking into her eyes. She was usually an expert at reading a person’s expression, it was part of the job, but as he gazed down at her, she had no idea what he was thinking. His expression was too closed off. But something about the way his body tensed made her stomach drop.
“I…” Dorran went silent, which was definitely out of character for him. Dorran Knight always had something to say and wasn’t one to hold back.
Kerry looked at him. “What’s wrong?”
Instead of responding, he lifted himself off her, returning to a seated position beside her. He rubbed his hands roughly down his face as Kerry straightened out her clothing and sat up. Her spine stiffened, and she schooled her expression, hating the vulnerable feeling in her chest. Why was this party boy, who was known to have bedded many women, putting on the brakes now?
“I’m sorry,” he finally said, not looking at her. It was taking all his willpower to keep himself from going back to their previous position and taking her in the way he was aching to. He couldn’t think of anything hotter than having sex right here in her office. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Kerry wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever been with. She was special, and sleeping with her would mean more to him. He couldn’t do it until he took care of his baggage. There was something in his past that no one else knew about and his real feelings for Kerry complicated things. He hadn’t expected this.
“I think it’s too soon for us to take that step,” he said. When she didn’t reply, he looked into her face, hating the remote expression he saw there. Just a moment ago, she’d been so hot and ready for him, and now she was cold as ice.
That was his fault.
He reached out and took her hand. She let him grasp it but didn’t turn her palm over or entwine their fingers as she usually did.
Damn.
“I better go,” he said, easily sensing that she didn’t want him there. He wanted to tell her that this wasn’t a rejection, but he couldn’t find the words. He wasn’t going to pull the whole “it’s not you, it’s me” thing, even though that was the truth.
“I’ll call you.” He leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek before he left the office.
He pulled out his cell phone before he was even out of the building. It took no time at all to arrange for his jet to fly him to Las Vegas in less than an hour. Dorran wanted to get his problem taken care of as soon as possible, and he’d already put it off for far too long. He had his work cut out for him, but he wasn’t coming back until he’d tracked down Gia.
It was time to find his wife and demand an annulment.
Chapter Seven
The flight to Las Vegas took almost two hours, and McCarran International Airport was busy when he arrived. The nature of the area meant that things got even more hectic when the sun went down.
He climbed into a sedan limousine waiting for him at the curb and gave the driver an address. It was a strip club and the last place he had known his wife to work.
His wife.
Just thinking about Gia that way felt weird. He barely knew the woman. It was the reason he’d given Kerry the word “mistake” in response to marriage in her word game. The last time he was in Vegas was about six months ago, for a buddy’s bachelor party. They had gone wild, and it was one of the most epic nights of his life. At least, that’s what he assumed. He barely remembered it, but the pictures on everyone’s phones the next day had been hilarious. That was, until they came across pictures of Dorran marrying a woman he didn’t even know.
At a tacky chapel on the Las Vegas strip.
In a ceremony conducted by an Elvis impersonator.
He was a damned cliché.
She’d still been asleep in the bed in his hotel suite when he’d made this discovery. Sure enough, they were both wearing cheap wedding rings.
But they were both fully dressed, so he could only assume that they didn’t consummate the marriage. Which, frankly, was a relief. She was pretty enough, young with red hair and perky tits, but he had no interest in being married to anyone. Sex would have just given her the wrong idea even more than he already had. What the hell was his drunk ass thinking?
He had no idea, but he was stuck cleaning up the mess.
Things had been awkward when Gia woke up, but he got lucky that she didn’t get emotional or even upset when he told her that he was leaving to go home to San Francisco. This wasn’t her happily ever after and he had a home to get back to. Alone.
And he had. Dorran attended his friend’s wedding and returned to his real life, telling himself that he’d get around to dealing with the marriage someday. It wasn’t a priority.
Until now.
He couldn’t let his relationship with Kerry go any further until he dissolved the marriage to Gia. It wasn’t about his company or his family’s expectations, it was about her. Kerry wasn’t a casual hookup. She mattered to him so much that he was purposely avoiding examining his feelings for her too closely because it was all so unfamiliar to him and a little scary.
Doran’s phone rang during the drive from the strip club, and he answered it as soon as he saw who it was.
“Hey, Grandma.”
“Hello, dear. What are you up to?”
No way in hell could he tell her that. His family had no idea that he’d had a drunken wedding and he didn’t even want to think about their reactions. But he couldn’t help it. His grandma would be completely disappointed in him while Stan judged him more harshly than ever.
“Just running an errand,” he said vaguely. “And you?”
“I’ve just been talking to Stan. He tells me that you’ve really hit it off with this woman he set you up with. What’s her name, Kiera?”
“Kerry.”
“Ah, so you actually know this one’s name. I suppose that’s a good sign.” There was a teasing quality to her voice that made Dorran smile. “So, is it true?”
>
“What?”
“That you care about this Kerry. Is it true?”
“I’m still getting to know her,” he said.
He wasn’t sure why he was being evasive. The answer was yes. He cared about her. It was why he was here. It just didn’t feel right to tell his grandma that before he even told Kerry what he was feeling for her. Hell, he had to get real with himself first.
Easier said than done.
“Well, I wouldn’t mind meeting her myself. Let’s arrange a weekend at the country home soon. You can bring her along.”
“Yeah, sure.”
That seemed like a big step, inviting a girl home to meet the family. What freaked him out about it was that he wasn’t actually freaked out by the idea. He was quickly becoming a man he didn’t even recognize, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad one.
“Don’t you patronize me, young man. You just give me a date, and I’ll make the rest happen.
“Okay, I’ll ask her about it. I’ll get back to you on that as soon as possible.”
One problem at a time.
“Are you okay?” She asked suddenly. “You sound a little off.”
“Peachy,” he lied. He shouldn’t have answered the phone. She knew him too well. “But I’ve got to go to, Grandma. I’ll call you later.”
With that, he ended the call, hoping that she didn’t somehow pick up on what he was up to, even though he knew that was illogical. She couldn’t possibly even know that he was in Vegas, much less about Gia. It was just that his grandma knew him so well, it could get eerie. He often got the feeling that she could read his mind or something.
The car pulled up in front of a building with a huge sign proclaiming it to be The Emerald Gentlemen’s Club. It wasn’t the gaudiest location on the strip, by any means, but it was very clear from the outside what the place was, a strip club. As Dorran stepped from the car, he told the driver to wait at the curb. He wouldn’t be long. It was just a quick stop to see if Gia was working tonight. He had no interest in enjoying a show.
Music blared inside the club, some song with a driving beat that would be easy to dance to. Dorran imagined all the songs the DJ played were like that, for the strippers. The inside of the club was dimly lit, with the only light coming from the stage, and those were filtered red, blue, or yellow. There was a main stage on the far side of the room, as well as much smaller platforms with poles around the room. There were women at every pole, dancing. Some wore nothing while others were in lingerie or skimpy outfits. He looked around, not paying much attention to what the women were doing. He was just hoping to spot a familiar head of red hair. When he didn’t, he headed to the bar.
“What can I get you?” The bartender asked, leaning forward as he placed the palms of his hands flat on the bar.
“I’m looking for a girl.”
The bartender flashed him his pearly whites and gestured to the stage, where three women were dressed as schoolgirls and spanking each other with thin rulers. “We got plenty of that around here, bro.”
“I actually have a specific one in mind, thanks.”
“A drink, then?”
“Sure, I’ll take your best whiskey, neat.”
Once that was in front of him, Dorran got down to business. “You know Gia?”
The bartender nodded. “Yeah. She’s already in one of the backrooms we use for private dances, so if that’s what you want, you’ll have to wait.”
Dorran took a long sip of his drink, which burned deliciously going down, and watched the entrance to the backrooms, hoping to see her come out soon.
It was only ten minutes later that she appeared, trailing a man in a cheap suit. Her hair was shorter now, chopped off at her shoulders, but she looked the same otherwise. Most of her pale skin was on display, as she was wearing thin strips of white fabric that he supposed might be classified as lingerie.
He stood from the barstool, drawing her attention to him. Gia’s eyes widened, and her steps faltered. She looked confused, and he couldn’t blame her. They hadn’t even been in contact since the morning after their wedding. He got lucky that she was still working here. Otherwise, he would have had to hire a private investigator.
When she spotted him, Gia tilted her head to the side in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you, too,” he said lightly. But he knew the situation was weird—and awkward. To his surprise, she smiled.
“Yeah. All right. You want a lap dance or something? I’m sure I could give you a spouse discount.” She gave him a flirty wink.
Dorran smiled in spite of himself. Marriage to a stranger was crazy, but he had to admit that Gia wasn’t so bad. She was hot and funny. She just wasn’t the girl for him.
“Actually, I was hoping we could talk. Can you slip away for a while?”
She shrugged, then turned to the bartender. “Tell Jimmy I’m taking a break.”
“Come on, we’ll talk in my limo.”
She strode confidently toward the door, uncaring about her attire. Dorran stayed at her side but was careful to keep a foot of distance between them. When they stepped outside, Dorran felt out of sorts. This was Vegas, nirvana to a guy like him that lived for a good party. He’d visited this city, engaging in some outright debauchery many times and always had a fantastic time. But now, he was eager to wrap up his business with Gia and get gone.
It was Kerry. He hated the way they had left things and the budding relationship they had, already so fragile because of their differences, was in danger of fizzling out altogether. He needed to get back to San Francisco and continue what they’d started on the couch in her office. Just the thought of it made his cock feel heavy. He hoped Gia didn’t notice.
He pushed those thoughts aside, focusing in on the woman beside him. He was vaguely aware of a camera flash coming from further down the sidewalk, but he paid it no mind. Tourists were always taking pictures on the strip.
Pulling open the back door of the car, Dorran waited until Gia had climbed inside before following and taking a seat across from her. Once they were enclosed in the small space together, he cracked open the divider between them and the driver.
“Can you just drive around for a bit?”
The man just nodded in response and put the car in drive. Once they were heading down the street, he turned back to Gia.
“You want a piece?” She asked, holding out a pack of cinnamon-flavored gum to him. He had no idea where she’d been hiding it.
“No, thanks.”
She pulled out a stick and popped it into her mouth. “So, what’s going on? I didn’t expect to see you for a while.”
“I need to annul the marriage.”
Gia didn’t look particularly surprised by this, but she also didn’t agree immediately, as he had expected.
“Why now?”
“What? What difference does that make?”
She shrugged, but it didn’t seem nonchalant. “I suppose you’re right. It doesn’t make a difference. I’m not doing it.”
Dorran leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees. “I must have misheard you. It sounded like you said no.”
“Do you think I don’t have the internet, Dorran? That I have no clue that my husband is a freaking billionaire? I’m not just going to walk away from this with nothing.”
Dorran let out a heavy sigh. This was such a pain in the ass. Why did the stupid Chapel-O-Love let them get married in the first place? He had been fall-down drunk at the time.
It was such bullshit.
“How much do you want?” He asked.
“I think we should start the negotiations at one million.”
“Fuck negotiating. You can have it. Just cooperate with the annulment.”
Dorran knew that he could probably get the marriage annulled without Gia, but he would have to prove that he wasn’t in the right state of mind to consent to enter into a marriage in the first place. That would take time and effort. Getting this over with quickly
was worth the money. He didn’t want this messy situation to hold him back from Kerry any longer than necessary.
Gia shot him a calculating look. “Seriously, what’s with the urgency?”
Dorran hesitated but decided that it couldn’t hurt to tell her the truth. “My family is insisting that I settled down, find a good woman, or I’ll lose my company.”
“But you’re already married.”
“They don’t know that. Besides, they wouldn’t consider a drunken wedding to a stranger legit enough to settle me down.”
He left out that her profession was also a problem. There was no need to offend her before she agreed to the annulment. But he internally cringed at the thought of Stan’s reaction if he ever found out that Dorran was married to a Vegas stripper. Gia chomped on her gum and looked out the window. He stayed quiet while she considered his offer. A million dollars wasn’t a big deal to him, but it could change her whole life.
“I don’t have to be a stranger, you know,” she finally said after a moment, turning her green eyes on him. “We could make this marriage real, get your family off your back, and get to know each other.”
“Sorry.” He shook his head. “I’ve already found a woman that I want to get serious about.”
Disappointment flashed in Gia’s eyes, but she nodded.
“Okay, fine, it’s a deal. One million dollars and I’ll give you the annulment.”
She held out her hand and Dorran shook it. A weight seemed to lift off his shoulders. They had an agreement. It would be like this never happened. No one ever needed to know.
* * *
Kerry was in her office, enjoying an espresso while she waited for her first patient to arrive. It was almost nine in the morning, and she stifled a yawn. She hadn’t slept well last night, plagued by self-doubt. She wasn’t the type of woman to dwell on the negative, preferring to make a plan and take responsibility for her own happiness. It was what she had done when she decided to turn Dorran into husband material.
Making Out with the Billionaire Page 7
