Just like Grey (Series ONE Complete Set): Billionaire Romance

by Jessie Cooke

  As Reese Hamilton pointed his car back towards Dallas to slowly begin the drive back, he thought to himself: But Bella is.

  Nicky fingered the embroidered fabric Bella had picked out for the throw pillows.

  “I love this color,” she commented. “I love this pattern. Hell, I love everything you’ve got planned.” Nicky looked around, taking in her surroundings. “But—and don’t take this the wrong way— but why in the world would anyone want to redecorate this place? It’s gorgeous?”

  “I know,” Bella agreed as she put the finishing touches on her list for the next day’s shopping. “I guess some people have money to burn.” She turned to her friend. “You ought to get accustomed to the lifestyle. The rate you’re going with Reece, you’ll be one of those trophy wives with nothing but money and time on her hands. You’ll be living this life, redecorating your holiday home simply because you can.”

  Nicky threw herself on the plush sofa amidst the abundance of throw pillows.

  “Wouldn’t that be great?” she asked. “I can see myself living the life of luxury. I think it would suit me fine.”

  “Hey, didn’t you say Reece had a house on the island?”

  “Yeah. I’ve never seen it, though. It’s funny—he’s getting his house redone too. Said he felt like it was all outdated and needed a fresh touch.”

  Bella nodded. “A lot of holiday houses get that kind of treatment. People don’t go as often as they think, or it becomes a cast-off for their main residences. This one, however . . . primo. Doesn’t scream ‘yesterday’s cast-offs’ at all.”

  “I’m just glad you brought me. It’s good to see how the other half live!” Nicky put her feet up on an oversized shabby-chic coffee table.

  “Well, you may need the practice, ya know. Just doing my duty as a friend to help prepare you for life in the big leagues.”

  “It was super-nice of you, Bella. I feel bad—you’re trading in your first class for two economy class tickets. I know we haven’t spent much time together, and I just want you to know that it meant a lot for you to bring me out here. Two weekends on the Gulf—I consider myself quite the lucky girl!”

  They chatted the rest of the night. Her client had instructed her to use the house and be his guest. It would save him a little money and her a little time, and there was no reason for Bella to book another hotel. He’d told her to make herself at home; indulge herself while she was there, and do whatever she liked. And while she had been tempted when she saw the extensive wine cellar, Bella insisted in getting their own wine. Seeing the way the evening was going to go and the catching up she was going to do with her friend, she felt better about springing for a few cheap bottles on her own.

  The following Sunday, Bella returned to Dallas exhausted yet excited about all the work they got done. They’d even had the opportunity to decorate a Christmas tree together, getting them both in the spirit for the holiday . . . and Bella’s birthday, which was upon her all of the sudden.

  Christo had waited up on her, excited to give her good news, but he knew as soon as he saw her that she wouldn’t last through his retelling.

  “How are you, babe?” he greeted.

  “Exhausted. I’ve been working all day and up late with Nicky having too much wine and too much talking.” Bella flung herself down on the sofa beside him.

  “She can talk that girl,” Christo agreed. “I’m surprised she actually went through with a weekend away from Loverboy. What happened? Did she dump Reece?” he asked, rubbing his hands together hopefully.

  “Not likely. I had to listen to too much detail and too many ideas and plans she has for the future. I think that wore me out more than the work and late nights. But don’t get me wrong—I’m glad she went with me. It was good to catch up.” She looked towards him and yawned. “How about you? Good news?”

  Christo patted her knee. “Take your sorry little self to bed,” he instructed. “My news can wait. You need a good night’s sleep anyway.”

  Bella tried to force herself up straighter on the sofa.

  “No. I’m good. I really want to know about your meeting with the mysterious art collector.”

  “Oh, I’ll tell you, and I think I may need your help too. Of course you’ll be paid.”

  “Don’t tell me: you want to paint me again,” she said and rolled her eyes.

  “Not exactly,” Christo smiled wickedly.

  “What then?” Another yawn escaped, taking over her entire face.

  “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. I promise. You go get some sleep. After all, you’ve got a big day tomorrow.”’ He kissed her on top of her head and wandered off to his room.

  Big day? she thought. Then the reality set in on her like an elephant on her chest. That’s right. My birthday. UGH! I’d rather not think about it. In fact, I’d rather not have a birthday this year. The last one before I hit thirty, and what do I have to show for my life? Nothing but a lot of feet-dragging. Maybe I’ll go to bed and sleep through it all.

  Just before sunrise the morning of Bella’s birthday, she awoke with the smile of her dream still on her lips and the tingle still between her legs. She had dreamed of a masquerade party arranged for her birthday. There were people there she knew and didn’t know, somehow all happening at the South Padre Island house. Christo, of course, had been there, painting bodies, but hers was left untouched by Christo’s brush. She had been draped in a rhinestone-strapped navy silk number that showed off her glowing tan and formed biceps. (Hey, it was her dream after all.)

  Reece had been there—but oddly, no Nicky she could recall— and though he had worn a gleaming silvery mask, she had known it was him from the way her body had responded whenever she had gotten near him. In her dream she had played cat and mouse, enticing him to chase her. He had caught up with her in a crowd just before she had waltzed away, chatting along with others, the quintessential social butterfly. But then she would turn and cast him a look that dared him to chase after her.

  Finally tiring of leading him on, she had beckoned for him to follow her down the long hallway to the master suite and the circular floating bed. In the frenzy of her dream state, Bella—in reality and in the dream—had felt herself yearning for his touch, and finally she had dreamed and had felt the heat of his touch as he had slid the straps off her shoulders, kissing where they had touched. She had lifted the mask in the dream to reveal Reece’s entire face, smiling yet hungry.

  “Enough stalling,” he’d whispered to her, and then he’d hoisted her up into his arms, placed her in the center of the bed, and ripped her dress from her body to ravish her with his desire.

  That’s when she had awakened—hot and still horny.

  She fumbled in the nightstand for her vibrator, tested to see if the batteries sounded strong, and mumbled, “Happy birthday to me.”

  Mere moments after her climax as she tried to finish out the dream, she opened her eyes to the sensation of someone jumping onto her bed.

  It was Christo with a beautifully decorated box singing “Happy Birthday”.

  “Don’t you knock?” she asked, thankful that she’d at least not been in the middle of orgasm when he decided it was time to start the birthday festivities.

  “Not when I want to surprise someone,” he said. “Think I got a little surprise, too.” He pulled her covers off of her to look underneath.

  “I’m naked!” she asserted.

  “I see that! No need to be embarrassed. I’ve had lots of beautiful bodies pose for me, but I must say for certain it’s just as I thought: none of those bodies were as nice as yours. You know you really should pose for me. Your curves are perfect. And I’ve already painted on your body. You might as well let me do a painting of your body too.”

  Bella laughed a little louder than necessary. In the commotion and the jumping onto the bed, she had lost her handle on the vibrator and could hear it buzzing somewhere within the covers of her bed.

  “Don’t hold your breath on that one, maestro. I will never pose nud
e for you to immortalize every crevice and divot of my ass and thighs. No way. That will never happen.”

  Christo sat up suddenly alert. “What’s that noise?” he asked benignly.

  “Nothing. Get out of here. I will get dressed and come out to open my present.”

  Christo hopped off her bed, his energy always astounding to Bella who especially was not a morning person. “Ok,” he said, but at the door he turned back. “But you’d better switch that thing off before the batteries run dry. Been thinking about anyone in particular?” And he danced out the door just as the pillow Bella let fly hit where his head would have been.

  11

  Bella’s phone rang, and she saw Nicky’s name pop up on the screen. She knew it’d be birthday wishes. After Christo and her mother, Nicky was usually one of the first to remember her birthday and wish her well.

  “Happy birthday, babe! What decadence do you have planned for yourself on this, your special day?”

  Bella laughed.

  “I haven’t planned anything yet,” she confessed, “besides, you know me: I’m not really one to plan lavish nights on the town.”

  “Good—because I have a plan. Let’s double date. You can bring Christo—or any secret lover I don’t know about—and we’ll meet up at Plush. We’ll do up your birthday right! I know that Reece would love to meet the two of you; I’m always talking about you, and he says it’d be nice to hang out with my friends.”

  Bella’s face froze at the suggestion to meet up with Nicky and Reece. That was exactly the last thing she wanted to do . . . on her birthday or any other day of the week.

  “Let me just make sure Christo didn’t have some craziness planned,” Bella said thinking as quickly as her mind would let her. “I’ll get back to you in a bit.”

  She hung up the phone with Nicky and looked towards Christo. She knew she needed his help, his advice, but she wasn’t sure she could tell him everything. . . . could she?

  Reece swallowed hard as he listened to Nicky’s idea for her friend Bella’s birthday. He wanted nothing more than to see Bella. Hell, he’d been trying to arrange it for weeks, and he was about to exhaust all of his resources. And here was his own girlfriend practically dumping Bella into his lap (exactly where he wanted her to be), but there was a price: they’d be on a double date . . . with their significant others.

  He rubbed his forehead, a migraine threatening.

  “I just don’t think I’ll be able to swing it. I’m pushing everyone to get a lot done before the holidays, so I have to do the same. You know, gotta lead by example and all that.”

  “Well, what time are you knocking off for the night?” Nicky asked.

  “I’m not even sure. You go,” he said. “Have a good time. In fact, I’ll call the bar and set it up so that you guys give your friend a special birthday.”

  “You are one generous man,” Nicky purred. “Must be part of my attraction to you.”

  Reece grunted in response.

  “And when I see you tomorrow, since you were so generous and so good to my friend, I’ll be extra generous and good to you,” Nicky said as she dropped her voice to a near-whisper.

  If you knew just how generous I’d been to our friend, you might not ever want to see me again, Reece thought. And he knew there was a large part of him that would welcome a break-up, but he couldn’t find it within himself to go through with it when it came down to it. It would have to happen eventually, but for now, he would prolong the inevitable.

  Nicky immediately rang Bella with the exciting news.

  “So, Reece can’t join us, but the three of us are instructed to go to Plush and have a good time. He’s setting it all up.”

  Bella tried to respond, but her voice wouldn’t cooperate with her. She felt an odd sensation of relief and regret traveling to the pit of her stomach.

  “That’s so nice of him, but it’s too much. I’m practically a stranger to him,” she said, and it wasn’t a lie. She and Reece knew very little about each other . . . except all the intimate details of their lovemaking.

  “He knows how important you are to me,” Nicky defended. “And he regrets he can’t be there to celebrate with us, but he sends his best. So, let’s party, girlfriend!”

  Bella decided that the least Reece Hamilton owed her was a great night on the town—whether he was there to enjoy it with her or not was miniscule. He’d gotten more than most guys who took Bella on a date; now she’d at least get the date out of him.

  “Let’s do it!” Bella agreed, and Christo clapped with excitement at the sound of resolve and frivolity he heard in his best friend’s voice.

  The doorbell cut off their impromptu dance of joy, and Bella opened the door to what looked like a huge bouquet with legs.

  A clipboard was thrust towards her from behind the bouquet.

  “Sign please,” a voice said.

  She scribbled out her signature and took the large bouquet from the delivery guy.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “No, I should thank you! That has to be the biggest bouquet I’ve ever delivered. I’m counting that as my workout for today.”

  She shoved the door closed with her foot and struggled with the cluster of roses, lilies, dahlias, peonies, daisies, and gladiolas. She sifted through them for the card, eager to find it before Christo did, but no such luck. He was there before she could balance the bouquet, and he’d found the card and was sliding out of its miniature envelope.

  “ ‘Happy birthday, sweet painted lady,’ ” Christo read. “Ooohhh! Intriguing. Our masked man sent you flowers, but how in the world did he know it was your birthday?” He put his hands on his hips and cocked his head towards Bella. “Have you been sneaking around on me?” he asked.

  Bella hid herself behind the large bouquet. “I have no clue how he knew. Maybe he’s a stalker. You know, you can find out all sorts of information on the internet these days. I could just Google your name and know all about you in no time,” she covered.

  Christo buried his face into the bouquet and breathed in deeply. “These are wonderful,” he said. “And right now, I don’t care who he is or how he knows it’s your birthday. I’d say he got major points sending this . . . and it wasn’t cheap!”

  He stuck out his lip in a fake pout.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Bella asked. “Jealous?”

  “Duh. Of course,” he admitted. “It’s not fair: Nicky’s landed Reece Hamilton, that tasty little morsel, and now you have the Lone Ranger. Who do I have? No one! How does this happen? Lord knows I’m the hottest of the three of us!”

  “Maybe someday, my boy,” she said, and she turned to leave the conversation before she confessed everything to Christo.

  12

  Plush was exactly what its name claimed. Gargantuan crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Pink and purple velvet sofas lined the walls on one of the three floors of the bar. Sophisticated black leather booths were scattered throughout, matching the black and purple leather that dressed the bar-front.

  “This place is amazing,” Christo gushed. He’d been more excited than Bella to head to Plush—especially on someone else’s dime. “I think I’ve died and gone to gay boy heaven,” he crooned.

  “It is really beautiful,” Bella said as she craned her neck to take it all in. “I can’t believe I’m having my birthday here!”

  Nicky leaned in. “This is gonna be the best birthday ever, girl! I promise you that!”

  They settled into a posh pink sofa as a waitress approached. Nicky conversed with her, and the waitress told them all had been arranged. She’d take good care of them for the evening. She departed to get their first round—champagne of course—and Christo left to “make the rounds” as he called them, taking in the scenery and scoping out the possibilities.

  As soon as Christo was gone, Nicky grabbed Bella’s arm.

  “I’ve been needing to talk to you all evening,” she said dramatically.

  “What’s wrong?”

  �
��Reece.”

  “What do you mean? We just got back from the island. You didn’t mention anything then.”

  “Well, I had a suspicion—you know how I am with guys; always second-guessing myself and never completely certain they like me for me. And after Paul, well, I just expect them to cheat on me now.”

  Bella gulped. She was glad the lighting was not great in the bar as she was certain she’d either just lost all of her color or was redder than a danger flag.

  “You think Reece is cheating on you?” she squeaked.

  “I don’t know about the cheating, per se, but . . . well, there’s definitely some ice.”

  “Ice?”

  “He seems to be going cold on me,” Nicky said.

  “Come on, Nicky. I’ll bet you’re just paranoid,” Bella said.

  “No. I mean, I know he is practically married to his job—he’s a self-made man, I get it, but he works more and more. I’m starting to think it’s a way for him to avoid me. And he used to love it when I surprised him with new lingerie or if I answered his door wearing nothing but one of his Oxford shirts, but now, I feel like I’m throwing myself at him and he’s feigning a headache every time.”

  “Does he really use the headache routine?” Bella asked.

  “Sometimes, and I know better—I know the office gossip and the reputation he’s had for being a lady’s man. And all of the sudden, he doesn’t want me? I just don’t get it.”

  Bella was glad Christo wasn’t there. He’d try to give advice which could lead to his suggestion of body painting her which would most likely lead to his divulging Bella’s dirty little secret—her unknown lover. That would be hitting all too close to home, and Bella had a feeling that the “ice” as Nicky called it could very well be herself.

  She reached over and patted Nicky’s hand.