Bossy Billionaire

by Deborah Garland

  “For now?” He leaned down and gave her a smile that made her panties wet. “What do you really want to drink?”

  Good lord, where does she start? A love potion or an elixir to forget who she was. “What are you drinking?”

  “Glenlivet.”

  She whistled. “Not my jam. Can I have a white wine?”

  “You, my little pink-haired law student, can have whatever you want.” He reached past her, his chest leaning against her shoulder. The feel of him made her buzz better than any white wine. His spicy musk warmed her in all the right places. Squinting at the wine list, he said, “Sauvignon blanc?”

  “My favorite. How did you know?” She poked her school bag on the floor with her foot, ready to reach for her wallet. Just in case he was a go-Dutch kind of lawyer.

  “You look like a sauvignon blanc girl.” He winked and caught a tuft of her hair. “A blush wine would have worked, too.”

  “I prefer the lighter wines when it’s warm out. In the winter, I drink red.” Like his lips, the color of her favorite wine and perfect. “Pinot noir.”

  He stretched out a heart-stopping smile. “You look like a girl who dances in the light and the dark.”

  “You should know we have to balance the light and the dark in our profession.”

  “I like how you say that.” With a throaty purr, he said, “Our profession.”

  The bartender showed up since her handsome decked-out stranger looked like he could pay for a drink. “Can I get you anything?”

  Glancing back at the list, he said, “I’ll take a bottle of Inglenook sauvignon blanc.”

  “I don’t need a bottle.” She scoffed, fearing how one sip would make her empty stomach do somersaults. She also couldn’t afford an entire bottle.

  “I’d like a taste,” he said, winking at her.

  What was happening here? The flirting kicked up after she said law student. Made sense, he’d been where she is. Well not kicked out, but he had to understand the struggles. And she liked that.

  The server returned with the bottle and two glasses. Her handsome new companion downed his scotch and choked on his sip. “Oh shit, I never introduced myself. Luke.”

  She shook his hand, the heat of his palm made it hard to remember her full and proper name. “Lexi.” She also didn’t bother with her last name since he didn’t offer up his.

  Not that it mattered. She’d never see him again after this bottle. Why would a seasoned lawyer want a student?

  “Here you go, Lexi.” He handed her the glass, half filled. “We got an alliterative thing going on. Luke and Lexi.”

  “I like it. Thank you.” She took a sip and the oaky vanilla taste exploded on her tongue.

  Her eyes scanned the bar for more pretzels. The apple and string cheese snack she ate seven hours ago had long burned off. One sip of the wine would go to her head. A lawyer wasn’t taking home a drunk student.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked, his glass hovering below his full lips.

  “I’m hanging out here because the trains are delayed.” Her shoulders slumped, dropping the sex kitten pretense. Her stomach was meowing instead. “I...didn’t have dinner.”

  He put his glass down and gave her the saddest look she’d ever seen. “Oh sweetheart, I’m sorry. What do you want? I’ll order you something to eat.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him, a fog hazing over from the hunger. “Why?”

  “Why what?” he asked sharply.

  She put her glass down, too, and the urge to bolt came on strong, run off to hide her shameful secret about getting kicked out of school. That’s all this day meant to her. “What is this?”

  After a long stare, his eyes hit the glossy plank floor, the light over the stool catching a glint of his long golden lashes. “This is me familiarizing myself with how to do this.” He sounded sincere enough, but people said things to get what they wanted. Did he want her?

  “Do what?” she asked, swallowing hard.

  “Talk to a beautiful woman. My life has been a little crazy, lately. I let crap go to my head. I need to get back to earth.” He leaned into her, the wide-open space at the bar suddenly felt cramped and intimate. “You make me feel very comfortable.”

  She liked his honesty, but did she want a guy comfortable after five minutes? Boring contentment should happen after ten years. She wanted a man living on the edge for her. Going off the rails for her. Strung out over her.

  The lust in his eyes had turned polite and soothing.

  “You’ve been very nice to talk to, as well. But I should get going.” She pushed her glass further away. “I’m sorry about the wine. It was amazing. Let me pay for it.”

  “Not happening.” He sounded like he often got what he wanted. “Please let me buy you dinner. My mother will smack me if I let a woman walk away hungry.”

  “Are you Italian or something?” She stared at him, curiosity burning through her about a man who’d bring up his mother to help him score with a woman.

  “No.” He snickered and slid her glass back toward her. “Come on, have a sip and let me put food in your stomach. I remember how busy law school was. Being too harried to eat regularly. I’ve been there.”

  Yeah, that was it. She was too busy. Was now the time to spill her money problems? “Do they serve cheeseburgers?” she asked instead, putting her priorities in order.

  He leaned into her, his breath warm and sweet. “Honey, I’ll go buy a cow myself if they don’t.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Luke

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman eat a cheeseburger that fast.” And it turned him the hell on. Watching her mouth open and take the thick burger past her full red lips.

  At a table back in the dining room, Lexi ate heartily, but chewed like a proper lady who didn’t talk with her mouth full. When she wasn’t chewing, she was drinking the wine, holding her glass elegantly. Under the whacky color hair and heavy makeup, she was one of the most mature, well-spoken, genuine women he’d met in a long time. She was some odd combination he didn’t know existed in a woman. Kooky and smart.

  Christ, didn’t that make him hard as a rock?

  While watching her eat, he talked. With every question he asked about her law classes, he missed practicing more and more. Never had he been lost in conversation about civil liberties. And never had he fed a woman fries discussing his favorite Supreme Court decisions. He’d never look at the jurists the same way again and not remember the fantastic hard-on this woman gave him.

  Her mind was sharp, sharper than his. She would make an amazing attorney. The last lawyerly thing he’d done was to help his client, Mik Leitner, get his billion-dollar inheritance. Money he took reluctantly because the heir had to be married. He’d been lucky enough to have the perfect woman fall in his lap at the right moment. Jolie had turned out to be the love of Mik’s life.

  Luke had helped make their dream come true. Who was he ‘helping’ running his hotel? Soaking up Lexi, he wanted more of that legal thrill. She sparked something in him, a fire he didn’t realize still burned inside him. The fight, the drive, the desire to win. He’d been a damn fine lawyer.

  Shit. He couldn’t make any life-altering changes while the hotel was in renovation mode because Tristan managed that project. Luke had blown off his CEO responsibilities for long enough and made his COO brother run the place by himself. Now, it was Luke’s turn to step up.

  He exhaled, letting his little dream die.

  “Oh shoot.” Lexi’s breath hitched looking at her phone.

  “What is it?”

  “They just canceled the last train to my... I have to, um, figure out a way to get home.” She gulped the last of her wine. “Hitchhiking is still illegal, right?”

  Seriously? This temptation just fell in his lap? He had a bed. Three hundred of them. He could be the ultimate nice-guy hero.

  “Where’s home?” he asked, signaling for the check.

  “Jersey Shore.” She stood and smoothed the skirt of he
r short dress. Those shapely legs looked better up-close.

  “Oh.” He sipped his wine, wondering how long it would take his limo to get down there. Oh right, he’d told Tristan to let Tom, their driver, go for the night. Shit. Pulling her back down into the wooden chair, he said, “Are you aware of the oath lawyers take when they get sworn in?”

  “I have it memorized,” she said, smiling, but then frowned.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. What were you going to say?”

  “You know you can trust me. I can’t break the law. I’d lose my license.” He managed to stay anchored in reality, although he had a feeling this woman could make him do some crazy shit.

  Her deep brown eyes settled on him, a warmth spreading through his chest. “What are you suggesting?”

  “Come home with me,” eased from his lips in a seductive drawl.

  She stared him down, a twitch flickering on her slim cute nose.

  “Or... I can put you up in a hotel.” Either way she’d be under his roof. Safe.

  Or would she?

  “Where do you live?” she asked, rubbing her arms, her discomfort showing.

  He took solace she wasn’t a woman who’d just run off with any man who could afford a twelve-dollar cheeseburger. “A few blocks from here.” If he included the lengthy east-west streets.

  “That’s convenient.” She drummed unpainted fingernails on the tablecloth. Her eyes looked like chocolate kisses he wanted to melt in his mouth. After a stilted breath taking in his stare, she asked, “Why are you helping me like this?”

  Beyond the edgy lust thrumming through his veins, he said, “You’re a very nice woman and you’re in a jam. I’m a nice guy, you know. Even though I’m a lawyer.”

  That got a smile. She gave a hard swallow, considering his offer. Glancing down at her phone, she said, “I need to make a call. My, um, mother. I live with her. I wasn’t able to afford campus housing. I’m paying the tuition myself. I mean, my mom is.”

  He processed each sentence and the complications she just laid out had him fighting the urge to call Tom to drive her home. “I think that’s sweet you don’t want her to worry.”

  Her jaw dipped open like she had more to say. Instead, she shook her head. “I’ll meet you outside.”

  Luke happily paid the check, swelling with that same pride his brother enjoyed hours earlier. Making it rain in a nightclub wasn’t nearly as satisfying as feeding this one beautiful woman who wanted nothing from him except conversation. He suddenly felt like a dope for spending thousands of dollars on bottles of Dom P.

  Lexi had even offered to pay. That was a first.

  The cool air hit him hard outside the bar, the heavy door closing behind him. Lexi finished her call and strode up to him, her eyes right on him. Damn he wanted to kiss her full red lips.

  He hadn’t decided yet where he was taking her. Oh, they were going to his hotel. But up to his penthouse apartment or should he just deposit her in a room?

  She was smart to be cautious about going home with him, even if he liked the challenge of convincing her to sleep with him. He’d had enough easy lays. God, he hated that version of himself. This guy, the guy waiting to get kissed by a woman who probably wanted nothing from him, that’s who he really was. The guy he’d been dying to be again.

  On the sidewalk, he stood over Lexi. God, she was beautiful. His little damsel in distress. He could be a hero or a dick and take advantage of her. “So, Miss NYU, where are we going? My place?” He held her chin and waited to see if she’d let him kiss her. Words could be lies. “I already told you I’m an Eagle Scout. You can trust me.”

  To his surprise, she leaned in and kissed him first. A bolt of fire rushed through his body. The soft innocent kiss with wet lips rocked him. Where did this angel come from? The electricity humming beneath his skin kicked up when his tongue found hers. He grew harder with each sexy moan of hers. The kiss felt strikingly familiar and shiny new at the same time. With every flick of her tongue he tasted hints of her salty fries and the traces of vanilla from her wine.

  He’d not been able to get enough of a woman’s mouth in a very long time. His hands wanted to roam her body, prove to his brain she was real. This wasn’t one of those horrific dreams he couldn’t wake from. The nightmares had been torturous lately.

  He broke the kiss, catching his breath. “Let me hail us a cab.” He pecked her forehead and stepped off the curb, grateful he didn’t have to battle green-faced drunkards wandering down the sidewalk.

  A taxi swung off the conveyor belt of cars rushing by and he reached his hand out for Lexi to join him. She glided his way full of grace. Like he’d hailed a chariot for her. Screw a chariot, he could land a plane in Central Park for her if he paid the right crazy pilot.

  “6th Avenue and 47th Street,” he told the driver after he slid in next to Lexi.

  “Wow, that must be some crib.” She leaned against him.

  “You can judge for yourself.” He hoped the understanding this was one night was clear. He didn’t have time for a relationship, not with the hotel needing so much attention now. “Or would you rather stay in a hotel room? I’ll take care of that for you.”

  Maybe if they got busy between here and the hotel, that would speed up her decision process. He wanted her to want him. Crave him.

  She turned her eyes down and picked at the hem of her dress. “Maybe. Can I think about it?”

  He checked where they were, traffic was moving well along 34th Street. “You have about two minutes.”

  She laughed. “That’s our business, right? Thinking quick on our feet.”

  “I think quick.” His husky voice took over. “I don’t do everything quick.”

  “Oh my, that will weigh into my decision” She smelled like cinnamon. His favorite candy flavor. He could almost taste red hots and fireballs just being near her.

  It’d been a few months since he had a woman in his bed, but his stamina had never failed him.

  He watched as the back of his hotel got bigger in the cab’s windshield. All the lights in the rooms set the night sky on fire. A devious plan came to mind. Not that he didn’t trust her, but he didn’t want to overwhelm her with who he was. He worried his reputation might disgust her. A sour taste settled in his throat, although an NYU law student with her head buried in books probably didn’t read Page Six.

  He paid the driver and helped Lexi out. The way she clutched her book bag smacked him in the head with reality. Lexi was still a student. Young. Naïve. An adorable twenty-something compared to his thirty-five solid years. Those extra years of his, living with money and power, put him in a league unfamiliar to her. What the hell was he doing?

  A room. She was getting a room to herself. He and Tristan kept a master key that opened offline rooms for special guests.

  “Luke? What’s wrong?” In such a scant amount of time, she could read him. Or was that an instinct that would serve her well as a lawyer? “I don’t have to stay with you. I can call a friend from school and sleep on her couch.”

  Let her go. She’s not right for you. You’ll eat her alive.

  “I had a really great time with you.” He let his worries show through. “I know school is a pain in the ass and I don’t want to make your life complicated.”

  “Complicated how?” When he didn’t answer, she stepped back. “This is just for tonight, right?”

  “You’re better off, kid,” he said low and gruff, letting his demons shatter his confidence.

  “I’m twenty-six years old. I’m not a kid.”

  “Twenty-six? I figured twenty-four.” Not that two years changed anything. Student. Young. Not for him.

  “I had to take a semester off here and there. Money issues. I’m not rich and you know law school is expensive.”

  “I wish I could help you. But I suspect you wouldn’t let me.”

  “Nope.” She sauntered up to him. “Can I tell you a secret?”

  His heart pounded, wondering what the hell this wo
man was keeping as a secret.

  Lexi

  LEXI HAD GIVEN LUKE every out possible. Since dinner, and the taxi ride over, she couldn’t stop thinking about where the evening was headed. She wanted to lose herself to mindless pleasure. And with a man whose beauty was like his height, a fact. Even if it was for only one night. She lived down at the Jersey Shore, seventy miles away, a long-distance relationship to men in Gotham. Plus, she’d be back in school, one way or another. A relationship with the most gorgeous man she’d ever met, who kissed her like no other, wasn’t in the cards. How cruel.

  “Luke, I had a shitty week. And I haven’t had sex...” Since Damon. That was last year. Their two-year-long relationship had ended in one blinding flash when he’d told Lexi he was going back to his wife. “In a really long time.”

  “You don’t say.” He stepped closer. “Depending on your definition of a long time, me too.”

  Sex had taken on a whole new meaning after what Damon had done to her. Euphoria followed by expecting every shoe in her closet to drop. Or in her case, an anvil on her head. If she set up the parameters ahead of time, she could relax. If she knew the outcome before, she could take what she needed and walk away unscathed. This man looked like he might rock her world. Bring her to a place she’s never been, but always wanted to go. Utter bliss.

  “Hold up your right hand,” she said.

  “Okay.” He yanked it out of his trouser pocket.

  Not seeing a ring on his finger other than a bulky blue-stoned class ring, she let her wanton side take over. “I, Luke... What’s your last name?”

  “No last names.” His voice turned dark with the promise of a sinful night ahead.

  “I like that.” Her core tightened, adding the forbidden stranger element. “I, Luke No Last Name.”

  “I, Luke No Last Name.” He narrowed his eyes at her, playing her game.

  “Do promise.” She let her flirting voice come through. When he just stared at her and didn’t repeat, she asked, “What?”

  “Finish, please.” His voice turned gruff. “I can’t promise something I don’t hear first.”