The Billionaire's Sextape: An Adult Billionaire Romance

by Cj Howard

  “Hey what’s wrong?” James asked. Delilah hadn’t said a word and was sitting on the couch, examining a thread on the blanket. A million thoughts were rushing through her head. “Wasn’t it good for you?”

  “Oh, James – it was wonderful. It was so wonderful. But… we’re not a couple. And this is just too weird. I mean, you’re paying for me to help you out. So if we’re sleeping together, then it just feels like I’m a prostitute or something. I don’t know. I know it sounds crazy considering I used to strip for men for a living.

  But I’ve never felt comfortable with that lifestyle. And I can’t even tell you how good it feels for me to have finally left that life behind. I’m so sorry, James. This was amazing. But it can’t happen again.”

  “That’s okay, Lilah. It won’t.”

  Chapter7

  For the first time in many years, James didn’t feel like going out to the clubs. Not only that, but he had no desire to look at what the media was saying about him. His normal morning routine was to rummage through magazines and newspapers, followed by at least an hour of scrolling through his Facebook and Twitter pages.

  Often, he’d even just type his name in to see what came up. He couldn’t help himself. He wanted to know what people were saying about him. He hated it when people said anything negative – even though he said it didn’t matter – but what he hated even more was when people didn’t say anything about him at all.

  He was always torn between making his father proud and still being in the limelight – which often proved quite tricky. The only thing he was thankful for was that his father didn’t seem to ever really know what was being said about him.

  He was not the type of guy to go searching through the internet like James was – and he never read the gossip magazines. Martha, on the other hand, pretended as if she knew nothing, but he knew that she did.

  He had caught her reading a few, good, trashy magazines over the years, and she had often said things to him that made him think that she, too, looked him up. She was kind enough not to say anything to his father. But today, James simply did not care, and he had no idea why.

  He didn’t even go to the gym, but instead went for a long run around the area – something he had not done in a long time -- and then came back to a hot shower and a big breakfast. Martha would’ve been pleased to have seen him in the kitchen – cooking a bacon and an egg as if he did it every day.

  He could just picture her smiling at him and telling him that she knew he always had it in him. The breakfast was good. So good that he surprised himself. Perhaps Martha had been right all along. Perhaps he really had always just been too lazy. He decided that one of these days he’d even try his hand at a lasagna – now that would surprise her.

  The phone rang.

  “Hello?” he said into the receiver.

  “James, it’s Marco.”

  “Hey man. Flip, it’s been a while. Sorry I’ve been so quiet – there’s just been a lot going on.”

  “Tell me about it. I had to read all about it from the papers. But I hear there’s a lovely lady we have to meet now? She sure is sexy. You’ve been keeping this one in the dark, haven’t you?”

  James hadn’t quite decided whether or not he was going to tell Marco and Tom about Lilah yet. So far, only Elton knew the full story. He felt bad keeping secrets from them, but he’d promised Lilah that he wouldn’t tell anyone else. And while he fully trusted the guys, he still wasn’t quite ready to admit what had happened. “Yeah, sorry about that. But I really like this girl.”

  “Good. It’s about time you found a girl that you actually liked.”

  “What do you mean? I’ve been with plenty of girls.”

  “Yeah, but how many of them have you actually liked as people? Do you know how many girls you’ve gone out with that I can see you don’t even like? It’s a terrible habit of yours.”

  “Are you talking about Tammy?”

  “Well, Tammy is definitely one of them. Anyway, Martha just called me.”

  “Martha called you? Why?”

  “She’s invited us all for dinner tomorrow night. She said she couldn’t get hold of you, so she asked me to call you.”

  “Ah, I missed a call earlier. I didn’t realize it was from her. I was out running.”

  “Running? Wow, you are a changed man. Anyway, I’m going and so are Elton and Tom. Apparently, Elton is bringing that Ashley girl with him, so it sounds like things are going well. Are you in?”

  “Of course I’m in! You can’t have a big family dinner without me. Otherwise I’ll be sitting at home with some sad takeout while the rest of you dine on Martha’s food.”

  “And will you bring Lilah with you so we can meet her?”

  James laughed, “I will.” He wondered if she’d even say yes. It was obvious that she had not enjoyed the big event the night before.

  “Good. Oh, and Martha asked if you could please buy a dessert. She’s making a big dinner and said she won’t have time to make dessert, too.”

  “Yeah, no problem. I’ll get a cake or something.”

  “Cool. See you tomorrow.”

  James immediately sent Delilah a message asking if she wanted to join him for dinner at his father’s house the next day.

  Of course. I’d love that.

  Well, he’d been wrong. The reply surprised him. Last night they had made a decision to continue going out for another two weeks, maximum. Then they would pretend to have a fight and break it off. It was the strangest situation he had ever been in.

  He couldn’t help but think about what had happened after the party the night before. How good it had felt. How good she had felt. But he had to put that behind him. She’d been adamant that it couldn’t happen again. He had just two more weeks to get through, and after that he’d be free to find another girl to sleep with. That was a good thing. Wasn’t it?

  ***

  James had a full day to get through before the dinner at his father’s that night. And, in a moment of complete insanity, he decided that he was going to make a dessert rather than buy one. He wasn’t sure what was going on with him. Perhaps not going out to party and drink had turned him into someone else. Was he bored or inspired?

  He couldn’t quite figure that out. He spent some timing looking up a dessert online and finally settled on a chocolate ganache cake. He marked down everything he needed and then rushed off to the shop. He put a hoodie on and lifted it over his head in the hope that nobody would recognize him.

  He somehow managed to get home without a single person asking for his autograph. For once, he was happy about that. He still had quite a few hours, so he set out to make the cake, taking careful note of every single step. He even had to buy things to make the cake with, such as a mixing bowl and a cake dish. No wonder nobody asked for his autograph – they probably assumed that it couldn’t possibly be him.

  James put on some music and started making the cake. When he had finally gotten all the ingredients together and into the cake tin, he popped it into the oven and set the timer. Then he started on the ganache icing, which involved placing pieces of chocolate into a saucepan of hot cream.

  James had created three thin cake layers, and when they were ready, he sandwiched them together with the icing and then smoothed some icing onto the top. Then he grated chunks of chocolate onto the top. He stood back to admire what he had created and burst out laughing.

  Had he really just created this? It was beautiful, and it smelled delicious. He had no idea how it tasted, but it truly looked like something that he would’ve bought at some fancy bakery. Also, the time had gone so fast without him once getting bored.

  James wasn’t used to that feeling. If he wasn’t out with his friends, drinking too much, or sleeping with girls, he would always get an overwhelming sense of boredom. He hated being alone with his thoughts because it always made him think about how little he was doing with his life.

  But today he’d actually done something productive, and he had to admit that it
felt good. He realized he didn’t have much time to get ready, so he quickly showered, got changed, and then made his way to fetch Delilah. He placed the cake on the passenger seat of the car and drove like an old lady until he arrived at her house.

  Delilah was wearing blue jeans, a loose shirt, and some ankle-length boots. She had a wonderful way of making casual still look elegant. He kissed her hello and walked her to the car.

  “Uh… I need to ask you a favor. I have a cake in the front seat. Do you mind keeping it on your lap and guarding it with your life? I don’t want it falling over. You won’t believe how slowly I had to drive here to make sure it didn’t fall. I have never had so many people honk at me during one drive before.”

  “Of course,” she said and placed it firmly on her lap. It had a clear plastic lid on top. “Oh wow, it’s beautiful. And it smells amazing. I will definitely hold onto this for dear life – unless I eat it, of course. They wouldn’t mind if I take a bite, surely? Is this from La Provence down the road? I walk past that place all the time, and I always stop and look in the window.

  Man, this must’ve cost you a fortune. Those things do not sell cheap.” Then she laughed. “Oh, I forgot that money is not an issue for you. What a life you lead! Imagine – going to all the best cake shops. You lucky man.”

  James was still driving slowly, just in case. He grinned. Was she being serious? Did she really think that his cake was from such a fancy cake shop? “Nope, it’s not from La Provence. Although I have been there before, and you’re right – their cakes are amazing. Keep guessing.”

  “You make it sound like I know all the fancy cake places in town. Which I obviously don’t. Oh wait! I know another one. Westerford’s? I think that’s the name? Is it from there? Yes! I think that’s the one. They’re not as well-known as La Provence, but they’re just as fancy.”

  James laughed again. “No. It was actually made in a home kitchen. But I do love your enthusiasm for the cake world.”

  “Home kitchen? Oh, now you’ve confused me. Mama Bakery? That’s the only famous home kitchen that I know. No way! She doesn’t make cakes like this. I mean, I’ve actually had one of her cakes before, and it was delicious. But it doesn’t look like this. Wow, she must really like you. She pulled out all the stops here. She should get herself a job at La Provence with skills like this.”

  “Nope. Not Mama Bakery either.” James was hugely enjoying the game.

  “Okay, I give up. Where is it from? And why do you keep smiling?”

  “From my kitchen!”

  “Okay, but who made it?”

  “Some handsome guy.”

  “Oh, really? A handsome guy? Who? I’m so confused. Should I know what you are talking about?”

  James laughed. “How many handsome men do you know that use my kitchen?”

  “Well, I don’t know. You could have tons of handsome friends. In fact, you probably do. Or you hired some famous baker or something. Is that it? Ooh, is it someone from one of those cooking shows? I’ve watched lots of those shows, so I probably know who you are talking about. Okay, tell me a bit more about him. Like, what does he look like?”

  “He looks like me!”

  “Like you? I don’t know any famous chefs that look like you. Well, not that I can think of.”

  James couldn’t take it anymore. He had to tell her. “Okay, he doesn’t just look like me. He IS me.”

  “What?”

  “It’s me. And don’t look so surprised.”

  “Are you telling me that YOU made this cake? No way!”

  “Uh… yes way. And I’m highly offended right now that you don’t believe me.”

  “Okay, wait. I’m being serious now. But are you being serious? Did you really make this? I’m sorry for acting so surprised, but I just don’t see you as the type of guy who would spend his afternoon making a cake. Especially one that looks like this. Your hands are too big for work this fine.”

  “I really did. And leave my big hands alone. First cake I’ve ever made. Hence why I’m driving so slowly. I have the messy kitchen to prove it.”

  For a while, Delilah didn’t say anything. When he glanced over at her, he saw that she was staring at the cake. “Seriously? But James… this is amazing. Who taught you to bake like this?”

  “Nobody. Honestly, I’ve never baked a cake in my life. I looked up the recipe and it looked super easy. And, as it turns out, it was. I feel slightly ill, though – I may have eaten way too much of the batter before putting it in the oven. I’m sure I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Yeah… okay… so even if you made the cake and it tastes great and all that… well, it still takes real skill to get it to look like this. I mean – maybe if I practiced every day and night for a year I could attempt it. But you did it the first time. I’m shocked. You should totally try this again. Oh, and I’d happily be your taste tester. What about cooking? Do you cook?”

  James couldn’t believe how surprised she was. And how serious she sounded. “Well, I’ve never tried. I mean I made a big fry up yesterday – bacon, eggs, and all of that. And it came out well.”

  “You made bacon and eggs for the first time only yesterday?”

  “Okay, that sounds embarrassing. But yeah. I normally just make toast and slather on some peanut butter. Or I eat out. I eat out a lot. Like, all the time. Although I always try to get home-cooked kind of food to at least emulate the idea of cooking at home. It’s not the same, but it is quick and easy.”

  “So, what spurred on this one? Like, what made you suddenly say to yourself ‘you know what, I’m going to cook today’?”

  “My great cooking and baking adventure? I actually have no idea. Martha asked me to bring a dessert, and for some reason I just decided to make one.”

  “Martha?” Delilah asked, and James realized that she actually knew very little about his family.

  “Oh, Martha is like my second mom. She was my caregiver when I was younger. My mom died and Martha looked after me. She was the cleaner back then, but she was so good at caring for me that she became my nanny. Then we discovered that she was incredible in the kitchen, so she became our cook too.

  My dad hired a new cleaner. And, I don’t know, I guess she’s just so much a part of the family now that even though I’m not there, she has still stayed on. She makes the best food in the world and is one of the best people I know.

  She’s going to freak out when she sees I made a cake. My dad kind of just thinks I can do no wrong and is totally oblivious to the fact that I’m using all of his money on parties. But Martha is not blind – she knows what I’m doing. It’s hard to hide anything from her.”

  “Which means she’ll know all about me.” The concern in Delilah’s voice was obvious.

  “Yeah, she will. But so does my dad. And they don’t care. As long as I’m happy.”

  “She sounds lovely, James.”

  “She is.”

  When they arrived, James held onto the cake as if it were his baby while Delilah rang the doorbell. This was the first time that he was ever bringing home a girl. He’d been with far too many girls to count, but none of them had been for long periods, and none of them had seemed the type that he could bring home. He felt slightly unsettled that the first time he bought a girl home, she wasn’t even his girlfriend.

  Martha opened the door and ushered them in. She oohed and aahed over Delilah before she even looked at James.

  “Oh, aren’t you a pretty young thing. I’ve heard all about you. And don’t you worry about a thing. We are not here to judge. Life can be cruel at times. I’m sorry to hear about your parents and all the hardships that you went through. I’m so glad that you met James and that you’re making him so happy.”

  James could see that Delilah had already fallen in love with Martha. It was hard not to. He loved the fact that Martha had just come straight out and spoken the truth to Delilah. Most people would rather spend all night pretending as if they didn’t know a thing. But this was so much better. Now
Delilah knew where she stood, and he could see that she had visibly relaxed.

  Martha turned to him. “Ah, you bought dessert. Thanks, my darling. Let me take it from you. Oh, wow! This is fancy! You didn’t have to bring anything so fancy, James. You know you don’t have to prove anything to this family. Just a regular chocolate cake would’ve been fine. But it is lovely. Thank you.”

  “No problem,” James said and beamed at her.

  “He made it himself!” Delilah blurted out. Then she looked at James, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout that out. But I’m just so impressed by you right now, I feel like telling everyone. In fact, I’m surprised you are not telling everyone. If I made this, I don’t think I would be able to shut up about it.”

  Martha laughed, “Oh, my dear. This boy is telling you fibs. He didn’t make this cake. Are you crazy? This boy can’t even boil an egg. Trust me – he got this from some fancy shop, and he’s trying to pretend like he spent all day slaving over it. I know him well enough to know when he’s tricking us. But he can’t fool me.”

  “I thought so, too. I mean, look at him, he’s too pretty to know how to make cakes.” Delilah laughed at her own joke and Martha joined in. James stood between his fake mother and his fake girlfriend and found himself blushing. “But Martha, I actually believe him. Seriously – I believe him. If he didn’t make it, then he’s a damn good liar.”

  Martha squinted her eyes at James. “Okay, then – tell me everything. Tell me how you made it. I still don’t believe a word of this tale, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. But I’m only doing this for the lovely Lilah, so you better have your story straight.”

  James launched into the whole story about how he had to run to the shops to get his ingredients, as well as all the bakeware, to how he had made the cake. He ran through the ingredients and the baking instructions and surprised himself by how much he remembered. He remembered it so well that he could probably remake the whole thing right there if he had the ingredients on hand. Suddenly, he realized that both women were staring at him.