I Choose You: A Secret Billionaire Romance

by Krista Lakes

  Nicole came back and asked why I was so mopey. I couldn't tell her. I couldn't tell anyone. I couldn't even text Tessa and tell her all about it. Everything had changed, and nothing had changed.

  The rest of Wednesday passed in a blur. I was still sore on Thursday, but I managed to get myself out of bed and to my classes. I had my phone on silent, but when I got out of class, I noticed that James had emailed me a couple of times. He had some nerve. Here I was, trying to forget he even existed, when he kept reminding me about him. I deleted them without even reading them.

  That evening, I went to do laundry. I dug around in my jeans pocket to get everything out of them, when out popped the flyer listing the coffee house band schedule. I thought of Anne, maybe looking for me to be in the audience. I really wished I could have been there, but I'd probably never set foot in Boston again.

  Still, as I did my laundry down at the laundromat, I found myself wondering what kind of music played. I remembered the small music studio in James' place, and I wondered what kind of music he played as well.

  Stop it, I thought. James is dead to you.

  On Friday, I caught up on my homework. My phone kept chirping emails at me, and every time I saw it was James, I tossed it in the trash without even thinking about it. I was almost starting to feel good again. Nicole must have noticed. “Glad you're over whatever boy dumped you,” she said, oblivious to my actual feelings as usual. “Want to go clubbing?”

  I laughed. “Are you single now?”

  “Uh, yeah, I'm always single,” she said, her valley girl persona shining through for a moment.

  “What about the guy you hooked up with on Tuesday night?” I asked.

  She scoffed for a moment. “He was into some weird stuff, I wasn't interested. He didn't get that some girls just want to have fun.”

  I giggled a little. That was Nicole, always into fun. I didn't always agree with her brand of fun, but I needed to get out of here a little bit. “Yeah, let's go clubbing.”

  “Yay! Let's go check out that new place on 5th street!” She was practically jumping up and down with excitement. “I can be ready to go in two hours.”

  Typical, I thought. I'd take thirty minutes to get ready and have to wait on her for ninety minutes. “Great!” I said, forcing cheerfulness out with the word. “You take first shower.”

  “Way ahead of you,” she said, pulling her shirt over her head and heading into the bathroom. It was really nice having a bathroom in our dorm room, even if we shared it with the room next door.

  Nicole took her typical thirty minute shower and came out wrapped in a towel. She quickly blow dried her hair and I rinsed off. When I came out of the shower, she was sitting in bed, typing at her computer with curlers in her hair. When she would take them down, she would have the most beautiful hair I had ever seen. Mine never looked half as good as hers did. I was definitely envious of those curls.

  I knew that it took a long time to curl her hair, but I started to get dressed anyway. I put on my favorite top, a gold shiny shirt that tied around my neck and lower back and left my entire back exposed. A simple black skirt would look fantastic with it tonight. Hopefully, I'd find a guy to help me forget James.

  As soon as I was dressed, there was a knock at the door. Nicole didn't even look up from her computer, leaving me to do it. I laughed to myself as I went to the door to open it up.

  When I opened the door, I felt my heart began to race.

  “James, what are you doing here?”

  He didn't answer. He simply advanced on me, coming into my room with the same lust in his eyes that I had seen the other day...

  Chapter 18

  I never expected to find myself in this situation.

  I never expected that I'd travel hundreds of miles to meet with my stepbrother, to tell him exactly how he felt about me.

  I never expected that he'd feel the same way about me, that he had wanted me as badly as I wanted him.

  I never expected that, when we finally gave into our lust, it would make me want him even more.

  I never expected that he'd tell me to leave.

  And finally, I never expected that when he sent me back to New York, I'd be answering my door and finding him there.

  I didn't have time to tell him any of that, though. All I had time to do was show how surprised I was. “James, what are you doing here?” Already, my heart rate was increasing, my panties getting wet, my breath getting shorter.

  James didn't answer. He took one look at me in my sexy gold top and began advancing on me. It was clear from the look on his face what he wanted to do to me. I had no doubt that I would have given in- that is, if I hadn't heard a scream behind me.

  “Don't just barge into my room, I'm naked!” My roommate Nicole was busy wrapping her towel even tighter around her body. “It's rude!”

  I was still too much in shock to respond, but James wasn't. He looked at the buxom blonde with curlers in her hair and, for a moment, I saw a flash of cockiness in his eyes. He was about to say something that would probably make Nicole flip out.

  When he opened his mouth, I started to push on him. “She's right, it is rude. I'll talk to you out in the hall.” I wasn't strong enough to actually push my muscular stepbrother out the door, but in a moment he gave up fighting it, walking out on his own.

  As soon as the door was closed, I turned and looked up at him. “What are you doing here? How did you even get in here?”

  “You weren't answering your phone or reading your emails. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't doing something that you'd regret later,” he said. The worry was legitimate in his eyes, but I could tell that he wanted more than to check up on me.

  I crossed my arms. “How do you know I wasn't reading your emails?”

  He shrugged. “I'm a billionaire tech expert and you have to ask that?”

  I laughed to myself, though I kept my angry face on. Who knows what tricks he could have employed, from a harmless virus in the email to a one pixel image that loaded and told him that it had been read? I knew he had a lot of resources at his disposal. “Fine, then. I wasn't reading your emails. Why should I? You sent me away.”

  His expression softened. “You're right.” He looked around, seeing that there were a few other people there. “Look, can we talk about this somewhere else?”

  I flicked my hair back. “I don't have time to go anywhere with you. I'm going clubbing with Nicole tonight.”

  His face lit up and a confident grin I wasn't too sure about filled his face. “Great! Which club are you going to?”

  “You are not going out with us,” I said, turning to go back in my room.

  If I had managed to get the door open and back into my room, I might have been able to forget he was out there. However, as he gripped my arm and roughly turned me back toward him, I knew I didn't stand a chance. “Come on, Allie. We need to talk about this.”

  His green eyes looked at me with a piercing intensity that made my insides turn to jelly. I felt like he was looking directly into my soul. As my knees turned weak, I knew that I wanted him. Wanted him bad. Even though he had broken my heart just two days ago, I knew that he had me wrapped around his little finger. And by looking into my eyes, he knew just how badly I wanted him. He was in control again.

  “Okay,” I managed to squeak out.

  “Great, where do you want to go?”

  My mind was still swimming. I wanted to skip the club, to just let him have me right there in my dorm room, but I knew that that would be a mistake. “I'm still going out dancing with Nicole.”

  He smiled, then let go of my arm and smoothed the sleeve on his suit jacket. “I can handle that. Where are you guys going out tonight?”

  I tried to think of the name of the club, but couldn't. I didn't even remember if Nicole had told me or not. “I don't know. Nicole said it was on 5th street?”

  James' face scrunched up a little bit as he thought about it. He sighed. “That's not really specific enough. Nicole is your
roommate?”

  I nodded, and before I could say anything else, James reached past me and opened the door. I laughed when I thought of the reaction that Nicole would have when she saw him coming in for the second time. However, he just stood by the door. “Hey, Nicole?” he called in there.

  “Yeah?” I heard her say. I couldn't see her, her bed was blocked by the closet door being open.

  “Do you want bottle service tonight?”

  I saw her poke her head out from behind the closet door. The curlers had been removed, and now her golden locks were looking bouncy and beautiful. “Hell yeah I do!” she said with a megawatt smile.

  “Great, what's the name of the club you're going to?”

  “It's new, on 5th street. It's called Root 25.”

  “Root 25, got it. Thanks!” He closed the door, then turned to me. “I'll be waiting for you out in the lobby. Promise you won't try and sneak out without me?”

  I sighed and let out a brief smile. “I doubt Nicole will let me at this point.”

  “I doubt she will, either. See you soon.” With that, he walked away. He was already typing something out on his smart phone, probably finding out about the club and arranging things for tonight.

  I took a deep breath and stepped back inside my room. Nicole was still wrapped in her towel, fixing her hair and spraying hair spray into it. She raised her eyebrow at me in the mirror. “So...” she started.

  “So, what?” I plopped down on my bed, watching her tease her hair into perfection.

  “So, who is that guy?” she asked. She bit her lip and I could already tell what she was thinking. It was what every girl thought the moment they met James.

  I sighed. “James is...” I didn't want to let her know that he was my stepbrother, because I had no idea what was going to happen between us tonight. However, thanks to myFace, I knew that Nicole already knew that I had a rich brother. I knew that if he was going out with us, he'd probably be buying all the drinks, spending money like crazy. There would be no hiding it. “James is my stepbrother.”

  Her expression quickly turned to one of joy. “That's him? That's the guy that owns the tech company?”

  I laughed. “That's him.”

  Nicole giggled and looked back toward the door. “For a minute I thought it was the guy that made you so mopey this week. So, why is he here?”

  I shrugged. “He just came to say hi, I guess.”

  She bit her lip again. “So, you wouldn't mind if I tried to hook up with him tonight?”

  I had already figured that she was going to try, but my skin crawled at the very thought of James rubbing up against her. Nicole was hot, like, supermodel hot. Her tits were much nicer than mine and her body was incredible. Men loved her hair, and she loved getting her hair pulled by them.

  I knew she was on birth control, but if James belonged to anyone, he belonged to me. I didn't want her anywhere near him.

  I smiled sweetly. “Of course! I have to warn you, though. He's a bit of a playboy.”

  She shrugged as she looked back at the mirror. “I'm not looking to marry him, I just want to fuck him.”

  I was glad that she had looked away because I was sure that my anger was written all over my face. That was not the reaction that I wanted or expected. Still, nothing I could do about it right now.

  I did put a little extra make-up on, though.

  Naturally, Nicole chose a little black dress that put my outfit to shame. Her cleavage practically bulged out of the front of it and her heels made her ass look fantastic. I couldn't change without admitting to her that I was competing with her, but I figured I had already lost the battle.

  Maybe this is for the better, I thought. Maybe this is the easiest way to forget James forever. Foist him off on Nicole, have him go past the point of no return, and that will be that.

  I felt my belly once more, convinced that, no matter what, I had something of his that would never let me forget him.

  As soon as we got to the dorm lobby, I saw James waiting for us. He was sitting awkwardly in one of the warn, gray chairs that no one ever actually sat in. He stood up as soon as he saw us. Nicole had taken another hour to get ready, so it was no surprise that he looked a little nervous by this point. He might have even thought that we had sneaked by him.

  Immediately, his eyes went to Nicole. He gave her a once-over that there was no mistaking. Yep, I thought. After tonight, I won't have to worry about him anymore. I couldn't decide if it was relief or horror that was flopping around inside of me.

  He smiled and gestured us over to him. “The limo is waiting outside,” he said.

  “Oooh, a limo,” Nicole said. I rolled my eyes. She was definitely the type of girl who was wowed by money.

  I looked at James. The once-over of Nicole had been unmistakable, but now his eyes were on me. The same hungry look that was on his face was on there now. I immediately felt myself start to melt under his gaze.

  Nicole kept looking at him, and she could follow his gaze as well as I could. I knew that, to her, it would be a competition, one she was sure she was going to win. He was my stepbrother after all. It just meant that she would be willing to press the boundaries because she thought she was a shoe-in. I was just someone to show off her skills. I looked away from James' beautiful eyes and toward the limo. Despite how I felt about James, in this arena, I wasn't allowed to compete. Not really. Nicole was going to throw out all the stops while I had to play the dutiful sister. Even if I didn't have feelings for James, watching her throw herself at him would be difficult. Throw in my mixed up emotions, and it was torture.

  This was going to be hard.

  Chapter 19

  James helped the two of us up into the limo, then crawled in after us. The inside was spacious, definitely meant for a party more than twice our size.

  Nicole and I settled in next to each other. James opened a drawer under a bar and pulled out a bottle of champagne.

  “A little Dom Perignon before we get to the club?” he asked.

  For a moment, my hand went to my belly. I hadn't felt any different over the past few days, but I knew that didn't matter. Women's intuition told me all I needed to know. James had gotten me pregnant that first time we had sex, in his office in Boston. It already seemed like a lifetime ago, but it had only been Tuesday afternoon, three days ago.

  I knew that I shouldn't drink while I was pregnant. However, even though I knew Tessa would make fun of me for being baby crazy, I also had spent some time on some pre-natal care websites. Doctors said that a glass of wine per day wasn't bad for the baby and also good for the heart. And a glass of champagne was pretty much a glass of wine, right? I'd only have a sip.

  Nicole answered before me. “I've never had Dom. Of course I'll take some.”

  James grinned and pulled out two glasses. He pulled out a third and gestured to me. I had one last moment of hesitation before I bit my lip and smiled. “I'll take one for a toast.”

  He smiled and set the three glasses down, then poured each one of them to the brim with the bubbly liquid, spilling very little even as the car started to move. As he reached out to hand me the glass, I brushed my hand up against his. The feeling of his skin made my heart start to race immediately, and I knew he could tell what effect he had on me.

  He raised his glass and so did Nicole. “To a night of drinking and dancing,” Nicole said before either of us had a chance to say anything. I was still holding my glass close to myself, but James reached out and clinked glasses with me before doing so with Nicole.

  Nicole raised the glass to her lips and took a quick sip, all while looking at James. “Delicious,” she said.

  I took a sip as well. I was never very good at telling champagnes apart, but this one tasted the same to me as all the others did. I remained silent as James continued to watch me.

  Suddenly, he broke from looking at me. “Nicole, how much did Allie tell you about me?” I was sure he was fishing for whether I had told her that we were stepbrother and stepsi
ster.

  Nicole stole a quick glance at me and then smiled. “Nothing, really, but I have seen a few of the status updates that Allie has liked on myFace.”

  At least we were all on the same page, now. “Is that right?”

  Nicole nodded. “Though, I don't see you liking too many of her status updates. You should know that we're going out to cheer her up, she's been mopey all week.”

  James cocked an eyebrow. “Mopey, huh?”

  I was glad the limo wasn't well lit, because I was blushing hard core. I didn't want him to know I had been mopey. But now it was out. Nothing I could do about it now. It was hard not to chug the champagne sitting in my hand, but I knew I couldn't. I tucked it into a cup holder so I wouldn't be tempted.

  Nicole nodded. “That's right. Some boy broke her heart a few days ago. I think your sister gets attached too easily. Me?” I swore that she pressed her cleavage out even further and fluttered her eyelashes. “I don't have that problem.”

  James' eyes went right to her chest. Hell, my eyes went straight to her chest, so I couldn't blame him. Is this how she always acts? I thought to myself. I only had myself to blame, of course. I could have put the kibosh on this evening before it even started. Now, watching her throw herself at him, I wanted nothing more than to start making out with him right in front of her, to show her who James really belonged to. She would freak out, but at the same time it would be soooo nice.

  “Is that right?” he asked again, same tone as last time. He took another sip of his champagne. I could tell that he wasn't nearly as interested in Nicole as she thought he was. That was a relief. I could tell that all he wanted to do was talk to me, but with Nicole there, we wouldn't be able to talk about what we really wanted to talk about. I knew that I'd have to keep an eye on the situation.

  Or just let him go completely, I thought sadly. I was such a mess of contradictions, even in my own head. Did I want him, or did I just want him to stop torturing me with wanting him?