The Billionaire Affair

by Parker, Ali

  The fitted bodice was also bound to have me going out of my mind, but I would suppress my urge to rip it off her. Probably. The personal shopper assured me it would fit her like a glove and make her feel gorgeous, another reason why I chose it—so it wasn’t all selfish.

  I dressed in the tuxedo after my shower, only bothering to check I was all buttoned up before leaving the bathroom. When I got to Stephanie’s office, she was ready and standing in her dress.

  “You look...” I breathed, pausing in the doorway. Speechless for the first time I could remember. “Stunning.”

  Now there was the understatement of the century. She treated me to a dreamy smile, holding her arms out to her side to spin around. “I feel like a princess.”

  “You look like a princess.” I wasn’t even over-exaggerating. She looked breathtaking, fit for any royal event. And I’d actually been to a few. “You’re beautiful, Steph.”

  Her smile was radiant when she stopped spinning, then her gaze settled on me and the smile disappeared. Eyes raking up and down my body like I did to her less than a minute ago, she swallowed and got a slightly dazed look in her eye before she blinked.

  If I was wondering, she was definitely still attracted to me. I’d been told on a few occasions I cleaned up well. It was nice to know she agreed. When she found her voice, she cleared her throat primly. “Thanks, you don’t look too bad yourself.”

  “High praise,” I said, striding across her office to open the door. I needed to get out of this building. The air in here had been choking me since before noon. “You ready to go?”

  “More than ready,” she said, already coming up behind me. I was about to open the door when I felt her small hand lightly come to rest on my bicep. When I turned to face her, I found her standing less than a foot away from me. Eyes wide and excited, she smiled shyly. “Before we leave, I just wanted to thank you. This is all… I don’t even know what to say. It’s too much, but it’s so beautiful.”

  I returned her smile, feeling the same strange catch in my heartbeat I felt earlier this week. I really had to remember to call Dr. Adams if this didn’t stop soon. “It’s not too much. It’s the perfect amount. You deserve to be spoiled. And if I get to see you in it, then it’s just so much better.”

  Pink tinged her cheeks, and her eyes dropped to my lips for a moment before she pulled her lower lip into her mouth. I couldn’t remember ever having wanted anything so bad as I wanted to tug it free. With my teeth. “What if I wanted to go home and just pretend to be a princess all night?”

  “I would let you go do it, but you’re going to feel more like a princess when we get to where we’re going.” I was hoping the pretentious jerks that usually attended these functions would behave themselves tonight. I didn’t want Stephanie to regret saying yes to coming with me.

  She leaned her head to the side, not letting go of my arm. “Where were we going again?”

  “You’ll see when we get there.” I grinned, stepping away from the door so she could precede me. “Now come on, before we’re late.”

  She rolled her eyes good-naturedly, sweeping past me in the dress that was already making me regret choosing it if I wasn’t going to be the one taking it off. “Can’t be late to an event you don’t know about.”

  “Nice try woman, but I’m still not ruining the surprise.” I followed her to the elevator. This time on a Friday, the office was mostly deserted. The few people who saw Steph and I leaving together all dressed up weren’t usually responsible for feeding the rumor mill, but I was beyond caring about it anyway.

  I decided earlier in the week I didn’t really give a fuck who saw us together or what they thought. Most of what they thought was probably true anyway. My father was the only one who could reprimand me, and he already knew we “carpooled.” He’d given me more than one earful about it this week.

  The fundraiser was being held behind one of the most closely guarded doors of all the closely guarded doors in a city where there were more of those than any tourist would ever imagine. This particular set of doors hid behind them the exclusive Blackstone Club.

  Housed in a nondescript building, membership carried an initiation fee of over fifty thousand dollars—excluding the annual membership fees.

  How Dad’s investor arranged for an event of this nature to be hosted here was a complete mystery to me. Jack and I became members pretty much the day we attained the age of majority, a membership requirement. But most people didn’t even know the place existed. You didn’t only have to be super wealthy to become a member, but you had to meet a strict set of criteria and be invited from the inside.

  Stephanie gave me a strange look when we arrived outside the club’s doors, which didn’t have a secret knock to gain access but might as well have for the rigorous process of gaining access I knew was happening behind the scenes.

  Understanding dawned on her features when we got inside. I placed my palm at the base of her spine and led her inside, greeting the hostess with a cursory nod.

  Stephanie turned her head to look at me over her shoulder. “What is this place?”

  “It’s the Blackstone Club. We’re here for a fundraiser for a charity that works in combating human trafficking from developing countries.”

  She raised her brows but didn’t say anything. Taking in our opulent surroundings, I tried to see the place through Steph’s eyes. Rich wood paneling and real crystal chandeliers, plush red carpeting and wide, arched doorways. It didn’t impress me anymore, but her eyes grew wider until it looked like they might pop out.

  “Is that…?” She trailed off, pointing discretely at a hotel tycoon’s socialite daughter.

  I nodded, amused by her reaction to a girl I’d known all my life and could personally attest to not being very impressed by. “There will be a lot of people like that here. They smell events like this like blood in the water. Ten bucks says most of them don’t even know what they’re here for.”

  “They?” She raised a brow at me.

  I chuckled, hooking my arm around her waist. “They. Just because I’m a member here doesn’t mean I’m the same as them.”

  “Yeah, you actually know what you’re here for tonight,” she teased, her eyes sparkling as brilliantly as any of the crystals in the chandeliers.

  I tapped my nose before snagging two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter. “Exactly. See, I told you. Not like them at all.”

  “Absolutely nothing alike.” She smiled, accepting her glass as she followed me into the wolf’s den. People descended on us as soon as we stepped into the main room. Most of them wanted to talk business with me, which I avoided by saying I’d get in touch on Monday. I introduced Stephanie as a friend and kept her close by my side all evening.

  I’d been worried it would all become too much for her. The fake small talk, the schmoozing, the catty glares and the leery men. But she navigated it like a pro. She smiled politely, shook hands, made small talk of her own and charmed the pants off just about everyone. Myself included.

  My worries had been for nothing. Stephanie beamed her way through the entire evening. While I was committed to coming to this event on my father’s behalf, I really didn’t want to come, but having Stephanie here made it all worthwhile.

  Having her so close to my side for hours on end put me on edge. She looked like a dream, acted like she was the one born into this life and fit beside me like a damn puzzle piece falling into its rightful place. Add the faint scent of her perfume and my view of the very top of her cleavage, and I was tempted to drag her to a storeroom I knew at the back of the pretentious club and claim her in every way I could think of. It should only take about eight months.

  Dinner was served in a dining room with high ceilings and large round tables with elaborate centerpieces. After we ate, we were subjected to speeches from the organizers and the organization the fundraiser was for. I ignored the boasting of the people who organized the event only to be able to say they had. But I paid attention to what the organization
’s representatives had to say and vowed to make a generous donation to their cause before my attention redirected to Steph.

  It was pushing midnight by the time I excused myself from the conversation I landed in the middle of about reliable investment. Biting back a yawn, I turned to my gorgeous date. “Are you ready to go home?”

  Despite the long evening, she looked as beautiful as she had when we arrived. She smiled as she leaned toward me, looking up at me from beneath her lashes. “I’m ready to go, but we don’t have to go to my house.”

  Searching her eyes, I felt like someone had launched me into a parallel universe. One where she was the one suggesting we take this back to my place. Barely contained lust flooded my body. I took her hand, pulling her flush against me.

  Her lips parted, her breathing hastened. Pupils dilated, she seemed to be waiting for my answer. All traces of feeling tired melted away in an instant. My lips pulled up into a crooked smirk. “How would you like to see my house then?”

  Chapter 38

  STEPHANIE

  Jeremiah’s penthouse was stunning, and the view was insane. Everything was super modern, yet super masculine. Black furniture with white walls and tiles. A stone fireplace in one corner and one of the biggest TVs I’d ever seen mounted on the wall.

  The place was impossibly spacious with large rooms and larger windows. The whole city lay at his feet from up here, literally. I could spend hours studying the view, and yet all I could focus on was the fact that I’d invited myself back to Jeremiah Williams’ penthouse. My freaking boss’s house.

  I couldn’t believe I’d done that. How could you have done that?

  The only answer I had was temporary insanity. Driven crazy by how badly I wanted him combined with his nearness all night—how right it felt being there with him like that.

  And, well… Tux. A good-looking man in a well-tailored suit was never an ugly sight to behold. Jeremiah Williams in a tux was something altogether on a different level.

  I didn’t stand a single chance against a man like him dressed in a suit like that. I nearly fainted as soon as I saw him in it, and that was before I spent the night with his warmth seeping into me from my side and his spicy scent permeating the air around me.

  “I have red and white,” Jeremiah said, looking up at me from a fridge specifically for wine behind his granite bar counter. “Your choice, unless you want me to surprise you.”

  “Surprise me,” I said immediately, trying not to stare at him. He’d taken off his jacket and bowtie as soon as we got to his place, loosened his top few buttons on his shirt and was working on liberating his cufflinks from his sleeves, rolling them up.

  If I thought I didn’t stand a chance against Jeremiah in a tux, halfway out of one, it wouldn’t have surprised me if my feet acted on their own and walked me over to him to launch myself into his arms. Swallowing to try to get some moisture back in my mouth when it kept fleeing to my center, I tore my gaze away from him and said, “You can’t go wrong with either. I’m not a wine snob. If it used to be a grape, I’ll drink it.”

  “Good to know, then I don’t have to bother buying the expensive stuff in the future.”

  I heard a cork pop from a bottle, the soft clink of glasses on the counter and the wine being poured, but I didn’t dare look back at him. In the future? What is happening?

  I needed a minute to process, but I didn’t get one. His footfalls were soft as he crossed the room and said, “Here you go.”

  Damn. Too soon. I turned, hoping I was successful in appearing unaffected as I took my wine from him. When I faced him though, I wasn’t looking at a man who was unaffected. I’d seen the look he was wearing once before, in his office right before he kissed me.

  “You have a breathtaking view,” I said, grabbing onto the first thought I could to diffuse the tension between us. Really, that’s what you’re going with?

  “Yes,” he said, his eyes traveling lazily down the length of my body and leaving a path of fire in their wake like each of my nerve endings were being called to attention for his eyes only. “Yes, I do.”

  I felt my face flush when my sex-addled brain realized that he wasn’t talking about the view from his penthouse. “Have you lived here long?”

  “Long enough.” His eyes burned into mine, shooting off heated sparks that hit me in the chest and ran right down south. “Is this why you wanted to come here, Steph? For more small talk?”

  “I… uh.” I cleared my throat, trying to think through the haze. No. It isn’t why I wanted to come here.

  Reaching down deep for any hint of boldness I could muster, I set my wine glass down and took a step closer to him. “No. I wasn’t ready to go home yet.”

  “You wanted to stay with me a little longer?” He closed the space between us, setting his wine down to hook an arm around my waist.

  I melted against him, looking up into his eyes as I nodded. “I had a good time tonight, I didn’t want it to end.”

  “I’m glad you had a good time.” He was standing so close to me now I could feel his breath heat my skin. “But I need to understand. I don’t want to make assumptions about what you want, but I want to kiss you now. If that’s not what you want, tell me now.”

  Kiss me! Kiss me! I chanted internally, sweeping my tongue across my lips. I didn’t answer him. I couldn’t form the words. Plus, I wasn’t used to guys being so completely in control of the situation with no hesitation. No shyness, no stammering, no groping.

  Direct, yet respectful in giving me the opportunity to say no before forcing his lips onto mine. I appreciated that. In response, I leaned forward on my sky-high heels and offered him my mouth.

  His free hand came up to weave its way into my hair beneath my twisted bun and then, with as much confidence and certainty as he seemed to approach everything in his life, he kissed me.

  Like waves against a cliff in the turmoil before a storm, his lips crashed down onto mine. I reached up and slid my hands onto his chest. His heart was beating just as fast as mine. Every part of me responded to his kiss.

  No one had ever kissed me like this before, not even Jeremiah when we kissed in his office. This kiss had a hot, hungry intensity to it that made me dizzy. I sagged against him, and he held me tighter with the arm around my waist.

  His lips glided over mine in a rhythmic frenzy. The pleasure of his insistent kiss, the feel of his hard muscles under my hands and the sound of his labored breathing flooded through me. My hair came undone as he ran his hand through it, holding me to him.

  Each touch ignited sparks, devouring me and making my body shudder from all the pent-up frustration of waiting for this moment. We were like two fires merging, growing hotter and raging into one.

  He released my mouth, moving his lips to start nipping and pressing hot kisses against my neck. Digging my fingers into his shoulders, I tried to pull him even closer. His harsh whisper against my skin raised goosebumps.

  “Steph, I’m going to take you to bed now.”

  A bolt of desire shot through me. I knew what he wanted, and I knew there would be no going back after, but I was ready to march through that door and lock it for good. No backsies necessary. “Yes.”

  With a low growl of need, he swept me into his arms and kissed me as we made our way to the bedroom. Things crashed to the floor, but I didn’t know and didn’t care what they were. He didn’t seem to either. His hands were on my zipper, and he tugged my dress off and let it fall to the floor as I pushed his shirt off his shoulders and left it in our wake.

  Our want made us frenzied, surrendering to primal need. I knew we must’ve reached his bedroom because the backs of my knees hit something soft and he lay me down on the mattress. Already, we were both naked.

  He crawled onto the bed after me, and I tried looping my arms around his neck, but he captured my wrists and brought them above my head using only one hand. Eyes smoldering on mine, his voice was rough and raw. “Keep them there.”

  I didn’t know how long I would be
able to keep from touching him, but I wanted to obey his carnal command. Sitting back on his heels between my legs, he ran his fingers down my sides. His gaze followed, his eyes dark and hooded.

  There were no lights on in the room, but there was enough ambient lighting that I could make out the perfect planes of his body. Broad shoulders that led to his chest, a light smattering of hair above hard nipples. His abs looked like they’d been carved of steel and tempered in fire.

  And there, curving up to his belly button was what I wanted. I had the urge to sit up, to take him into my mouth, but I remembered his edict and stayed put, my mouth watering as I examined him the same as he was doing to me.

  Then his wet mouth closed around my nipple, and I lost track of what I was thinking. Pure sensation took over, and I tumbled into it. Low moans escaped my lips, and I didn’t even try to hold them back.

  “Fuck, I love the sounds you make,” he murmured against my chest, planting both hands on my hips. “Let’s see how much louder I can make them go.”

  Before I could make sense of his words, he was kissing and nipping his way down my belly. He parted my thighs to expose me to him, but I didn’t feel as vulnerable as I expected to. Taking me in for a second, he groaned. “So fucking beautiful. Just like I knew you would be.”

  No one ever complimented my pussy before, and I was surprised to find it made me even hotter, needier. I buried my hands in his hair, nearly whimpering when he stopped to look up at me. “Keep them where I put them.”

  I squirmed, my hips bucking, but he didn’t budge until my arms were above my head again. “There’s my good girl.”

  His good girl? I started questioning but lost my train of thought again when his tongue darted out and licked me from top to bottom and back again. I cried out, falling back into a place where all I could focus on was the pleasure.