ROAD TRIP (BILLIONAIRE BAD BOY ROMANCE Book 1)

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ROAD TRIP (BILLIONAIRE BAD BOY ROMANCE Book 1) Page 14

by Linzi Basset


  “As always, every dollar is appreciated. You’ll have to excuse us—”

  “Come now, Cole darling. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your …”? Her lips curled in a derisive snub as she looked Sage up and down, indicating she’d been judged and found wanting. “How shall I word it … companion?”

  “No.” There was no hesitation on his part as he turned away and led Sage toward the patio where they joined the rest of the Sawyer Academy group. Along the way, they were stopped numerous times by guests who were regulars at the charity galas that Cole hosted all over the States. He had no qualm introducing Sage to any of his business associates. It managed to soothe her bruised ego quite substantially but the meeting with the woman from his past managed to spoil the evening that had started so beautifully.

  “Who was that woman?” Talia whispered in an aside as the men chatted about Formula One racing.

  “From hints she made, I’d say an ex-lover.”

  Talia glanced at Cole. “Are you saying he didn’t introduce you?”

  “No. He was definitely not happy to see her, that much I know.”

  “She looks familiar, doesn’t she?” Talia stared at the woman who had just walked out onto the patio surrounded by a flurry of avid admirers.

  “She does. He called her Samantha, but I don’t—”

  “That’s it! Samantha Brady. Glamor lady and heiress. The only heir to her family’s vast estate. Remember? She was all over the tabloids a couple of years ago for losing a large chunk of her fortune on a bad investment.” Talia tapped her foot as she searched her memory. “I do recall an article that she’s on the brink of being destitute. How anyone can squander a billion dollars in less than ten years is beyond me.”

  Sage felt the future she’d been envisioning with Cole start to slip away. She’d been a fool to think he’d been serious about them. He moved in the same circles as Samantha Brady, as all of those mingling, laughing, and writing checks to the value of millions like it was an everyday pastime. She didn’t fit in that world. She never had and she never would.

  “God, now I know what it feels like to be Cinderella,” she muttered as she glanced at her dress. She had felt like a million dollars in an outfit that had cost as much as the rent of her apartment.

  “Sage, don’t let her get to you.” Talia squeezed her arm.

  “I’ve been a fool, Talia. I can’t compete with someone like her.”

  “He hasn’t glanced at her once, no matter how hard she’s trying to draw his attention. You, on the other hand, he’s watching like a hawk.”

  “Don’t you see, Talia? If it’s not her, it would be someone else, just as rich or famous and gorgeous.” She shook her head. “I never stood a chance.”

  “You are being ridiculous. Snap out of it. You are beautiful and intelligent. If Cole didn’t want you in his life, he wouldn’t have bothered with an agreement tying you to him. He would’ve just seduced you and dumped you when he was done. Don’t doubt yourself or the bond that already exists between you.” Her voice lowered. “Most of all, don’t doubt your love and the power it has.”

  Sage listened intently and allowed the words to sink in. She had struggled with insecurities her entire life. Over the past four weeks with Cole by her side, she had become confident. Not just in herself as a person but as a woman, in her own sensuality, her needs and desires.

  “You’re right. He taught me so many things during this trip. I do love him, Talia, and for once in my life, I’m not going to allow anyone to walk over me. I’m going to fight for what is mine.”

  “There’s my girl!”

  “You two are very serious.” Cole’s deep voice rippled over Sage’s mind.

  “Only because you men have been boring us with all your talk about racing cars,” Talia snipped.

  “It seems I have to pay recompense then. Shall we dance, love?”

  He hooked her hand through his arm and led her back inside to the dance floor. Sage relaxed in his arms as he expertly guided her through the couples with such lightness and grace, she could only follow his lead.

  “You’re a very good dancer.”

  Cole looked at her with a quirky smile. “I’ve been involved in charity events for twenty years. Dancing is a prerequisite and my mother ensured my brother and I learned every style by the time I was sixteen.”

  “Do you visit your parents often?”

  His expression turned impassive as he swung her into a series of turns, leaving her breathless and laughing exuberantly. It was only when they joined the rest of the group again that she realized he’d never answered her question.

  “I need to go and powder my nose.” Sage picked up the small silver clutch bag.

  “I’ll walk you.”

  “I’m a big girl, Cole. I don’t need you to walk me to the ladies’ room.”

  “Nevertheless, I insist.”

  Sage shook her head but dutifully took his arm. It took much longer with him by her side since guests once again kept stopping them. She didn’t mind though, it made her feel accepted. Not just by him but by all his peers.

  “I’m going to get us some drinks. Meet you back on the patio?” He kissed her on the nose and headed off as she disappeared down the short hallway leading to the restrooms.

  “Finally, I get you alone.”

  Cole ignored the sugary lilt of Samantha behind him as he walked down a side hallway toward the bar on the far end of the ballroom to avoid the crowd.

  “Come on, Cole, all I want is to talk. You owe me that much at least.”

  He turned around so fast, she walked into him. She immediately latched onto the opportunity and wrapped her arms around his neck. He didn’t move. He refused to give her the satisfaction to try and wrestle her loose.

  “What do you want, Samantha?”

  “You left me without an explanation, darling. I was completely shattered. It took me two years to get over you.” She glided her body seductively against his. “Only, the moment I saw you, I realized that I never did. I still love you and I desire you now more than ever.”

  “You seem to have a very selective memory.”

  “Why can’t we let bygones be bygones, hmm? We were good together, explosive actually. We can be again.” She pressed her lips against his and licked them sensually.

  His eyes narrowed dangerously. “I value honesty and trust very highly in a relationship but infidelity is the one thing I will never abide. You fucked around every time I went on a business trip. You belittled what I believed to be your complete submission. You put the final nail in the coffin when you fucked my brother. So, no Samantha, we will never be again.”

  “I know you still lust after me, Cole. You always did and I can feel it in the tenseness of your body that you want to fuck me.”

  She gasped as he wrapped his hand around her throat and pressed her against the wall with his hips wedged between her legs. She used the opportunity to wrap one leg around his waist and canted her hips against his.

  “Feel that, darling. My heat … your hard cock. You want this.”

  Cole’s eyes darkened as his gaze roamed over her beautiful face and heaving chest. He cupped one breast and squeezed, smirking as she gasped and rubbed herself against his hardening cock. He slipped the spaghetti strap off her shoulder to bare her breast. His gaze didn’t leave hers as he caressed her nipple, teasing and pinching until she moaned and banged her hips against his.

  “Yes, oh fuck yes. Fuck me, Cole. Right here.”

  He caught her hair in his fist and yanked her head back. “It seems you’ve become even more of a slut than before,” he growled against her lips before he kissed her brutally and with so much lust, Samantha unraveled and lost all sense of decorum as she clawed at him, desperate for more. She was breathing hard and haggardly when he lifted his head to regard her with a dark smile.

  “Fuck you? Thank you, Samantha but I’m not interested. You don’t excite me … you haven’t for a very long time.”

  Samantha g
lanced to the side as she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. She smirked with satisfaction.

  “Do you think she would believe you after what she just witnessed?”

  Cole’s head snapped sideways, just in time to notice Sage run away and disappear around the corner. His hand tightened around Samantha’s throat as she laughed.

  "My work is done. She might be your sub, Cole darling, but she's an innocent. She'll never forgive you for this."

  "There's nothing to forgive. This was nothing and you know it."

  “Who are you trying to fool? You want to fuck me." She reached between them and grabbed hold of his throbbing cock. "I dare you to deny it."

  The smirk on his face caused the smile to slip from hers.

  "As sophisticated as you are, I didn't believe you to be stupid. This was the only way to show you exactly what I think of you. I'm a man. We get stimulated by any sexual act but that doesn't mean we wish to fuck the first woman we come across. Believe me, you are the last woman I would ever dip my cock into again. You are nothing but a bitch, and now it seems a sex puppet to the Sawyer riches."

  Cole’s expression didn’t change as her hand connected viciously against his cheek.

  The sound of the slap echoed through the empty hallway. She struggled as his fingers tightened around her throat.

  “You bastard,” she railed as she frantically puffed in oxygen.

  “Tell my mother and brother they just made a colossal mistake. They overstepped the boundaries again and I will not let it slide like I did before.”

  “You’re an asshole! They’re your family. We only want what is best for you. Cole Sawyer! Damn you, don’t you walk away from me!”

  Cole closed his mind against her wrath and stomped off. He had to find Sage to clear the air before she turned back inside herself. He searched the entire ballroom and the gardens but there was no sign of her. With a heavy heart, he headed to their room.

  Fear settled in a low throb in his chest. Sage had only started to learn to deal with her insecurities. Witnessing what he had no doubt appeared to be a lustful and mutually enjoyed encounter was enough for her to believe the worst. Not that he could blame her. His actions had been deliberately sexual and raw to prove a point. One that backfired in the worst way.

  “Fuck! Why the hell did they have to interfere in my life again? Now of all times,” he raged as he stood in the middle of their room.

  It was empty and devoid of her presence … that essence he always felt when she was near … so pure and unique to her.

  To Sage Porter, the woman he’d come to love.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Two months later. The first day of the new school term …

  “Advances in technology and increasing globalization have changed ideas about the best ways to do business, and the idea of a business ecosystem is thought to help companies understand how to thrive in this rapidly changing environment.”

  Sage looked around the room. The students were listening with animated expressions. She loved teaching the senior students. They were involved in the subject matter as they were keen to finish their studies and embark upon the world with the capacious knowledge in their minds.

  “Let’s see who read the workpiece you were given to study over the holidays. Who can tell me how business strategist James Moore defined the business ecosystem?”

  Sage was impressed that the majority of hands lifted into the air.

  “Ms. Porter, I need to discuss an urgent matter with you.”

  Sage sighed as she glanced at Talia who burst through the door without knocking. She’d deliberately arrived late that morning to avoid going to the administration building. She should’ve known her friend wouldn’t let her off that easily.

  “The class just started, Ms. Scott. Can’t it wait until break?”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  Talia planted her fists on her waist and stared at her stubbornly. It was a look that warned Sage she wasn’t going to budge. She picked up a stack of papers and handed it to Barry, who sat in the front row.

  “Please hand this out. While I’m away, please start with the assignment. This shouldn’t take long.”

  She followed Talia outside to a wood bench under a tree a couple of yards from her classroom. “What is so important that it couldn’t wait until break?”

  “What is so important she asks?! For heaven’s sake, Sage, you disappeared into thin air in Dallas without a word. Not one word to anyone … not even me, your best friend! Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?” She took Sage’s hands in hers. “You look like death warmed over and you’ve lost weight. Where were you?”

  “Home.”

  “Home? No, you weren’t. I have a key, remember, and I went looking for you. Every damn day.”

  “Not my apartment, Talia. Home as in Hodge in Louisiana.”

  “Why? I don’t understand. Why would you go back there of all places? There’s nothing there for you.”

  “You’re wrong. There are memories. Memories of a time where I was loved and wanted … for who and what I was.”

  Talia squeezed her hands. “You are loved here too, Sage. By me, by all your students and most of all, by Cole.”

  Her lips thinned as she blinked and looked out over the sports fields.

  “No, he doesn’t. You don’t know what happened but he made it abundantly clear that he didn’t feel the same about me as I did him.”

  “You’re wrong about him … and about what you saw.”

  Sage looked at her warily. “You know?”

  “Yes, he told me, mainly because I was ready to blow his brains out when we couldn’t find you the day after the charity event. He had the entire police force out searching for you, Sage. He had lookouts at every airport, bus and train station. He’s been at your apartment every day and he has yet to stop phoning me to find out if I’ve heard from you.”

  “Strange, seeing as the phone calls to me stopped two weeks ago.”

  “He phoned early this morning to find out if you’re here.”

  “What do you mean he phoned? Isn’t he here?”

  “No, he’s in California.”

  “I see.” Her shoulders slumped. “Samantha Brady lives in Los Angeles.”

  “It doesn’t mean that’s why he’s there. You know he has business all over the States.”

  “Enough. I’m not interested. I knew Cole Sawyer wasn’t for me. To him … I was clearly no more than a summer fling. A handy fuck buddy on the road trip.”

  “That’s utter bullshit and you know it.” Talia leaned closer. “What you saw … it’s not what it looked like.”

  “Then what was it? I’m not an idiot, Talia. I know what I saw and the raw lust and sexuality with which Cole …” She heaved in a breath, desperate to ban the vision that had been haunting her mind for two months. “Forget it. I don’t want to know.”

  “You need to know, my friend. You know that as well as I do but it’s not for me to do the telling. You have to give Cole a chance to explain. Whether or not you believe it, you and he belong together. We all saw it. You felt it … and now you need to believe it again.”

  “I have to get back to my class.”

  Talia didn’t stop her as she jumped up and rushed back inside.

  Sage was on tenterhooks the rest of the day, expecting Cole to phone. For the first time since she’d run out of the lodge with only her backpack and purse to jump into a cab, she didn’t know if she’d have the strength not to answer the call. Irrespective of what had happened, she missed him terribly. She’d been torturing herself listening to the myriad of messages he’d left just to hear his deep soothing voice.

  She avoided going to the administrative block the rest of the day. By now the entire staff would know she and Cole had been in a relationship and that something had gone awry. The last thing she needed was sympathy … or reproach for all she knew. No doubt Ally’s smug looks would just push her over the edge and she might end up in jail for a
ssault.

  “He didn’t call.”

  Her husky voice echoed through the dark room as she huddled under the duvet late that night. She’d been prepared to talk with him … now it seemed he wasn’t interested anymore.

  “Why would he be? He’s probably all warm and cozy in Samantha Brady’s arms.”

  Pain had been her companion for the first month after she’d seen them in that hallway. Since then, she’d struggled to overcome the confusing emotions and thoughts that played havoc with her mind.

  For one thing, she shouldn’t have run away. She should have confronted both of them. There and then. Spit out her anger and disgust. Maybe then, she’d feel better about herself.

  “Stop it, Sage. You're not the one who did something wrong. You are still the same woman you were … a stronger woman because at least now you know better than to ever fall in love again.”

  If only it was that easy. She might never fall in love again but how did she forget the magical nights they shared or the dominance of the man who had brought out the true woman inside her … as his submissive?

  “Heaven help me, how do I fall out of love with him?”

  “Who called this board meeting, Carson?” Deborah Sawyer stomped through the door and grunted a curt greeting to the board members already seated around the massive oak table. She was the matriarch of the Sawyer family as well as the Chairman of the Board of Sawyer Industries & Distributors. Sawyer was a global trade name for the manufacturing and supply of a variety of household products and appliances.

  “I thought you did, Mother.” Carson dutifully rose and waited until she was seated before he sat down.

  “The board meeting dates are scheduled in December every year for twelve months, why would I change it?” She crossed her hands in front of her and looked around the table. “Well? Why are we here?”

  The four men and two women stared blankly at her. “I’m afraid we don’t know either, Mrs. Sawyer. We received an email late last night instructing us to be here at ten,” said David Muller, the Financial Director who had been with the company for over thirty years. He had been one of Benjamin Sawyer’s best friends. His death almost ten years earlier had been a devastating blow, but David had remained loyal to Benjamin’s wife, who had taken over the running of the company.

 

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