I Choose You: A Secret Billionaire Romance

by Krista Lakes

  Anne bit her lip. “Maybe you were just thinking of Ryan from last night and it made you retch.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, that could be it. I don't know, though.”

  Anne kept biting her lip. “I hate to ask, but-”

  “No, I don't know who the father is,” I cut her off with a lie. I had been with Danny before Christmas Break, about six weeks ago, but he had always insisted on wearing a condom. No, I knew exactly who the father was. And, now that I was saying all this out loud, it occurred to me how real it all was.

  Anne must have seen my anguish building, because she held out her arms in a hug. Without hesitation I buried myself in her shoulder, feeling the tears start immediately. She stroked my hair gently and said nothing, just letting me cry.

  I hadn't cried like this since James had told me that he wanted me out of his life, and now it turned out that he might be in my life forever. Still, the stress of everything was building up. Between the possible pregnancy, having to keep my stories straight for all my friends, my roommate sending naked pictures to James, and my fight with James this morning, I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.

  And when I thought of all that on top of my classes and upcoming midterms, I really began to sob. Added to the fact that I'd have to drop out at least temporarily due to this, and it was enough to make anyone cry.

  I don't know how long I sat there on Anne's couch, crying my eyes out and wracking my body with sobs. However, Anne just sat there, letting me ruin her Saturday plans with my emotions. Speaking of her Saturday plans...

  I slowly sat back up. She had real concern in her eyes. “Feel better?” she asked.

  I nodded while I was still unable to speak. She handed me a tissue box and I blew my nose a couple times. “You know what would really cheer me up?”

  “I'd really like to know,” she said.

  Just the answer perked me up. “I'd love it if I could just listen to you play the guitar for a little while.”

  Anne smiled. “Gladly.”

  And so Anne got out an acoustic guitar. I closed my eyes and smiled as I listened to her play next to me. She sang softly, her voice emotional as she sang about love. It wasn't really her voice I was hearing, though.

  It was James.

  Chapter 37

  I left her house in much better spirits. I was ready to talk to James about Nicole. I was ready to talk to him about Ryan. I was ready to talk to him about playing the guitar, if he wanted.

  I wasn't sure I was ready to talk to him about the pitter patter of little feet.

  I thought about Anne's ex-girlfriend and how she accused her of making a lie of omission. I didn't think it was fair in her case, but I hadn't exactly been up front with James. In fact, I remembered what I had said when he had asked me, point blank, if I was on the pill.

  “What do you think?” A wink and a smile as I laid across his desk, legs spread and already filled with his seed.

  Yeah, I'd say that was a pretty big lie of omission. Still, it had been too late at that point anyway. Well, not too late for Plan B or something similar, but I never would have used those anyway. Still, he probably wouldn't have made love to me another five times if I had told him right then. Or he would have worn a condom? Or he would have watched me take the pill? I didn't know.

  I sighed, thinking about what a mess I had gotten myself into. The cry with Anne had felt good, but it had hardly gotten rid of my problems.

  I started to walk back to James' apartment, hoping he'd be there. As soon as I pulled out my phone to text him and make sure he hadn't gone into the office, it began to ring.

  Tessa.

  I sighed. One more problem that I hadn't even thought about. What was I going to tell her?

  The truth, I decided. I had just told Anne, and I might as well tell Tessa as well. Except that I knew that she would ask if James was the father, and I wouldn't be able to lie my way out of that. She might judge me, but it was just something that I'd have to deal with.

  I answered the phone. “Hey.”

  “Hey, girlfriend. How was the concert?”

  “Oh.” It wasn't the question that I had expected her to ask first. “It was okay.”

  “Did Lover Boy sing to you?” Yeah, ha ha, this was more like it. Her mocking tone showed me that the first question had just been a setup for the second one.

  “Har har. Actually, he didn't sing at all.”

  “So. Tell me!” I was about to spill it all out. I still hesitated, but I knew I had to tell her. She was my best friend, and she deserved to know. I opened my mouth but before I could get any words out, she jumped in again. “He knocked Audrey up, didn't he?”

  What? That's all she cared about? I thought.

  “No,” I said softly. “No, that's not what happened.” I kind of didn't know where to start.

  “So he straight up told you he didn't sleep with her,” she stated.

  “Tessa, I- Let me start from the beginning.” I wasn't sure whether to start with Ryan getting handsy with me last night or the concert that Audrey got pregnant at.

  Unfortunately, I must have hesitated too long. “So now you're going to defend him too?”

  “Tessa!” I yelled into the phone, annoyed.

  She must have known that I meant business at this point. “I'm listening.”

  I inhaled sharply. “James admitted to me last night that he did sleep with Audrey while she was still with her boyfriend, but it was over a year ago. His band mate Ryan-”

  “Oh, so he's just going to throw his buddy under the bus, and you're going to believe him immediately.”

  I paused, unsure of what to say. “Tessa, you seem to be taking this awfully personally.”

  “Well, he has a long history of manipulating women. And if you could ignore your schoolgirl crush on him for one minute, you might see that he's pulling the wool over your eyes, too. I've got better things to do than to hear another story about Billionaire James the saint. I'll chat you up later.”

  I couldn't believe what I was hearing. “Okay. Bye.” The line was already dead.

  I looked down at my phone, not sure I could understand or believe what just happened. Had my best friend just hung up on me over this? I thought about my pregnancy test, how I hadn't had a chance to tell her about it. I hadn't had a chance to tell her anything, really. It was unsettling to say the least. I wondered what happened to her.

  I didn't have a lot of time to think about that. I was already almost back to James' apartment.

  Chapter 38

  The doorman let me in with no problems. I was worried that that might be an issue, but apparently I wasn't barred from the premises. I walked in and went to the elevator, trying to think of what I would say when I saw him. Would I say that I was sorry? Would I tell him right away that I was pregnant, and that was why I was emotional? I wouldn't know until I saw him.

  He had left the door to his apartment unlocked. I heard music faintly, but as soon as the door opened I heard the sound of him wailing on the guitar. It was chaotic, with no rhyme or reason to it. Every few seconds I recognized a chord or something that sounded like it was from a song I knew, but just as soon as I did, it would be gone.

  I kicked off my shoes by the door and walked toward the sound, my fingers on my ears for the last few feet before I appeared in the doorway. James had put nothing on but pajama pants since I last saw him. As soon as he saw me, he stopped playing. The electric guitar twanged silent but the reverb on the amp lasted just a few seconds longer.

  I stood there for a moment, still unsure of what to say. I didn't know if he read something in my face or what, but suddenly he broke out into that cocky grin of his. “I forgive you.”

  I couldn't help but break into a smile but I looked away as I did so. “I can't stay mad at you, either.”

  He released his grip on his guitar. “I haven't done it yet, because I wanted you to think about how it would look, but I'll tell Nicole that I have no interest in her if it makes you happy.
”

  I thought about it. It would definitely be one less source of stress in my life. I hated the thought of going back to my dorm and looking over at her, knowing that she was trying to chat up James and seduce him. Still, he was right that it would look weird for him to break it off with her.

  “Let's not talk about that right now. What did you have planned for today?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Nothing. I took the entire day off to be with you.”

  I laughed. “I'm impressed. Your time must be worth a lot.”

  “'A lot' doesn't even begin to cover it,” he said. “But, I guess I can give you the 'friends and family' rate. A mere ten thousand dollars an hour.”

  I laughed at that, but considering that he made something like a billion dollars in the last three years, that might be close to the truth. A hundred hours a week, a hundred fifty weeks... I wasn't very good at math but even I could see that his time was a lot more valuable than my temper tantrum.

  “I didn't bring much cash, can we come to some kind of an arrangement?” I asked, batting my eyelashes in an over-the-top fashion.

  I watched his eyes do a once-over on my body. He started walking toward me, then stopped himself when he realized his guitar was still attached to his body and he was still hooked up to the amp. He stopped, then beckoned to me. “Come here,” he said. I walked up as he pulled the guitar strap from over his neck. “Have you ever played the guitar before?”

  I shook my head. He smiled and help up the guitar strap, gesturing for me to stand where he had been. As I stood there, he slipped the strap over my head, adjusting it to fit me better.

  “There's been a few things bothering me recently. Did you know that I had to throw the lead singer of my band out of my home yesterday?”

  How could I forget? I thought.

  “Then, on top of that, a girl that I'm falling hard for thinks I'm cheating on her.”

  My heart skipped a beat. He's falling hard for me, I thought with a little big of an inner squeeeee.

  “Do you know how that makes me feel, Allie?” he asked, looking into my eyes.

  I shook my head. “No.”

  He grabbed my hand and moved it to the neck of the guitar. I watched as he put my fingers on two of the strings, and with his other hand, he violently strummed the guitar for a few notes. The sound was discordant and harsh. “It makes me feel like that.” Then, he turned and grabbed the microphone from its stand and sang, “It sucks.”

  I laughed. He turned to me with a smile. “How about you? Is anything bothering you?”

  I thought about Nicole. I thought about Tessa. I thought about what our parents would think if they found out we slept together. I thought about my grades at school in New York. I thought about how I could keep James. But most of all, I thought about the baby that was, as we stood here messing around in his studio, growing inside of me.

  Yeah, a whole hell of a lot was bothering me.

  James spoke up before I had a chance to say anything. “I can tell you've got a lot on your mind. Play how it feels.”

  I laughed, then tried to put my fingers on the same strings that he had. Then, I tried to play it as he had, with his fingers. Barely any sound came out, even through the amp. He laughed and grabbed a pick from a box. “Here, use this.”

  I did a few strokes, pretty gentle at first. James shook his head. “Come on, Allie. Tell me how you really feel.”

  I didn't need to be berated by him. I began playing it at random, moving my fingers on the fret and violently strumming. Soon, I was actually making different sounds. Even though they were just random, I seemed to feel better with every note I played. When I realized he was still looking at me, I stopped.

  He did a slow clap. “That's the kind of raw emotion we need when we play.” He crossed the distance to me in a moment.

  “Just when you play guitar, or everything?” I asked. “You seem to put all of yourself into everything you do.”

  I stared into his eyes, losing myself to them for the moment. There was so much in those eyes that I loved, and yet so much that had me apprehensive. I knew so little about the man that was my brother. But, apparently he was falling hard for me.

  “It's kind of just how I am,” he said quietly. “All or nothing.”

  I moved forward and pressed my lips to him. I loved the way he tasted, the way he felt under my lips. His chin bore a light stubble that scratched me, but if anything, it only heightened my awareness of him. I wanted to touch every inch of him. To taste every inch of him.

  His hand moved to my hair and he pulled hard, forcing me to fall further into him as he took control of the kiss. I snaked my own fingers up his chest, up his neck, to his hair and grabbed as well, pulling just as hard.

  His free hand went up the back of my sweater, touching bare skin. His fingers splayed out as if he wanted to touch as much of my skin as possible. I loved the way his hand felt on my back, pushing me into him. As much as I tried to fight it, I loved having him in control in the bedroom.

  “You drive me crazy,” he whispered, his words melting into my mouth. “I don't know how you do it, but you do.”

  His tongue stroked mine, confident and sure. I moaned slightly, wanting to press my body into his, but there was a guitar in the way. I was surprised we had even been kissing this long with the beautiful instrument between us.

  “Help me get this off,” I said, pulling the strap over my head, and fighting with my own limbs in my haste.

  “Oh, I'll get you off,” he teased, gently taking the instrument from me. He managed to hold onto it like it wasn't an awkward shape or size. With practiced care, he set it down next to the amp and looked up at me. His eyes were dark and heated and his hair messy from my fingers. Just looking at him like that was foreplay for me.

  Without the guitar in the way, he kissed me again. Slower this time, more controlled. I bit at his lower lip, but he easily took the lead of the kiss again, guiding me to where he wanted. I arched into him, my body easily contouring to his.

  He reached down, lips still on mine, and undid the button to my jeans. The zipper was next and with a little help, I was soon shimmying out of my jeans. I arched my hips into him, feeling his erection press against my thin panties.

  Together, we melted to the floor, still locked together in a slow and sensual kiss. As I slid downward, his hand caught my sweater and pulled up, leaving me with only my bra and panties. James licked his lips like I was the most delicious thing he had ever seen.

  Lowering his head, he kissed the tops of my breasts. My head dropped back, loving the way his slight stubble tickled the sensitive skin. I wanted to be marked by his kisses. I put my hands in his hair, loving the silky feeling running through my fingers.

  “Here,” he said after a moment, handing me the guitar. “I'm going to teach you how to play.”

  “You're going to teach me how to play the guitar now?” I asked. He chuckled, putting me between his legs on the floor and positioning the guitar in my lap. “Now?” I asked again, wiggling my ass against the erection firmly pressed into my backside.

  “Shush,” he said firmly, putting his hands over mine and placing them in the correct positions on the guitar. I let him do it, happy to be wrapped up in his arms and legs. I loved how he was warm and hard in all the right places.

  “This is a C-Major chord,” he whispered in my ear, pressing my fingers down on the frets and strumming the strings with my hand. The sound came out clear and clean when he helped me. “This one is A-major...”

  I strummed this time, shivering with delight. His whisper was hot on my neck and every inch of our skin was touching down the length of my spine. I could feel his excitement pressing hard, seeking entrance.

  “Strum from the wrist, not the elbow,” he chastised gently, mimicking a wrist-only motion.

  “Looks like something else to me,” I teased, making a circle with my fingers and stroking an imaginary erection using my wrist and not my elbow.

  “Shh, we're le
arning guitar,” he replied, but he pressed his hard length into me at the same time. “Now, for a song. You strum and I'll work the frets.”

  He moved his hands under mine so that he was now playing while my hands followed his. He played a simple melody, one I didn't recognize and was far to complex for me to play by myself, but it sounded sexy as hell.

  As he worked the strings, I could help but to imagine him working my body the same way. It was difficult to wiggle and search for release as he worked his magic. I could understand why guitarists seemed to always get the girls. This trick would work every time on me.

  “Did you write that?” I asked as his fingers slowed. I felt him nod and press a kiss to my bare shoulder. “It was beautiful.”

  “I'm glad you liked it,” he said, planting another kiss.

  “How do you do this all the time?” I asked, pulling my fingers from the guitar. The pads of my fingers were already turning red just from our short lesson. I wished I had used a guitar pick now.

  “Practice,” he said softly, bringing the offended hand up to his mouth and kissing the abused pad of each finger. When he finished kissing, he put my finger in his mouth and sucked, letting his tongue show me the magic his mouth could work.

  I turned, taking my hand from him and replacing it with my lips. He tasted sweet and perfect as he teased my lower lip with his tongue.

  His hand glided away from the guitar, leaving me to hold it as he slid his hand underneath it and up against my stomach. Emotions rolled through me at the tender touch. Growing right below his unknowing fingers was our child. His child. I still wasn't sure how to tell him, but right now was definitely not the right time.

  I carefully set the guitar to the side so I could kiss him better, twisting as I did so. His hand went to my neck and he let out a happy sigh.

  “Lay back,” he commanded, his voice gentle but firm. It was easy to lay back as his strong arms guided me down to the floor. I lay on the floor wearing only my bra and soaked with lust panties. My breasts heaved in the bra cups as I lay panting, waiting for more.