Billionaire's Protest: A Complete Romance Series

by Kira Blakely

  Sometime later, the door opened and closed. Gage smiled, figuring she must have come to her senses. “Ready to tell me a number?” His voice carried to the kitchen he knew, because that’s how he and Esme communicated on the rare occasions he was home when she was. Moments later, he heard the quick shuffle of feet.

  “A number for what, Mr. Steele? “

  Esme, not Shawna. “Never mind, Esme, I thought you were Shawna. How are you?”

  Her round brown face with smile lines at her eyes and mouth broke into a smile. “I’m good, Mr. Steele. You feel okay?”

  He nodded. Since his mother had died at such a young age, he found he appreciated her brand of mothering. Sure, the older woman nagged him to eat, gave unsolicited advice about everything from his dating habits to his sleep cycles and patted his cheek like he was a little boy, but she did it all with such affection he couldn’t help but feel cared for. “I’m fine, Esme. I just decided to get a little work done from home today.”

  She nodded, eyeing the sandwich on his desk. “Miss Shawna again?”

  Gage smiled and nodded. “She’s as bad as you with forcing me to eat.”

  “Such a sweet girl, but too independent. It’s a shame when a girl so young has learned not to rely on anyone.” Her expression changed to one he’d never seen; she was remembering something dark and unpleasant. Then, just as quickly, her serene smile was back. “Did she ask you yet? Probably not, I swear the girl would do anything to avoid asking anyone for help ever.”

  So, she’d tried to butter up Esme first? Well, Shawna would find out that no one could change his mind once it was made up. “Ask me what?”

  Her eyes widened when she realized her mistake. “Oh, dear. She wanted to use the library to study and work on her research because she didn’t want to be in my way in the kitchen. That explains the note. She’s gone to the University library and postponed our cooking lesson.” Esme looked sad and disappointed by the news. “Maybe another day.”

  “Cooking lesson?” This was the first he’d heard of any of this.

  Esme lit up. “Oh, yes, she wanted to know if I ever made molé for you and asked if I would teach her. I was so surprised she asked. How could I refuse?”

  Yeah, he was the biggest asshole alive. It was official. Everything Esme said was true. Shawna hated relying on other people, owing them or asking them for anything. She went to great lengths to avoid it, and he’d just given her another reason. “Dammit.” He smacked his desk, shooting an apologetic smile to his housekeeper. “Sorry, Esme.”

  She took a step back and gave him a small smile. “It’s okay. I’ll leave you alone now.”

  Great, now you’ve scared her. If he kept acting like this, chances were good he’d make a mistake at work, make Shawna reconsider their arrangement or end up in the nut house.

  Chapter Five

  “You are one hell of a businessman, son, but your public image leaves a lot to be desired.” Steve Wilde sat back in the comfortable club chairs Gage kept by the windows in his office overlooking the strip. “My business is geared toward families and no halfway-respectable man will book his family vacation at a place known for half-naked harlots and drunken debauchery.” His face was tan from spending most of the year on a tropical island and his belly hung low over his jeans, proof that he was a man who loved life. Well, who loved food, at least. “Your business savvy don’t meant shit if people don’t like or trust you.”

  Gage listened, schooling his features into a blank mask to hide the rage he felt at Steve Wilde. Who in the hell did the man think he was, anyway? Gage had built his empire in a quarter of the time it had taken Wilde. “So, you don’t like the fact that I’m single and won’t sell me your business, is that it?”

  Steve’s smile was very fatherly. “Of course, I’d rather you were settled with a wife and a few little ones but I can’t demand it. What I’m telling you is flaunting your sex life in the public eye is going to come back and bite you in the ass. But only if you really do want to expand beyond nightclubs and adults-only resorts.”

  Dammit. The man knew that was exactly Gage’s plan. He’d cornered the market on adult fun for all budgets around the world. Now he wanted to rake in the family money. And he’d just found another use for his temporary houseguest. “All right, Steve, I’ll play it straight with you but this stays between us?”

  Steve nodded, sipping his scotch like the man of leisure he would be as soon as he sold Wilde Resorts to Gage.

  Gage took a deep breath. “I have a girlfriend. It’s kind of new and she just moved in with me.”

  Steve frowned, skeptical at Gage’s claims. As he should be. “Really? What’s her name?”

  “Shawna. She wants to keep it quiet because, like you, she’s wary of my reputation even though she likes me.” Gage remained silent, letting Steve decide if he believed the story or not.

  Eventually, Steve pushed his round body from the chair and looked out over the desert city. “Bring her with you next month then. Maybe a vacation in paradise will make her see that the cocky playboy shit is just a role you play.” He turned, gray eyes assessing, before a grin curved his mouth. “I know you, Gage, and if she’s special enough to get you to move her in, she’ll see through your crap.”

  Gage groaned, pulling a laugh from the older man. “Where will we be vacationing?”

  Steve smiled. “St. Lucia, of course. I’ll reserve a bungalow for you.” He walked to Gage and clapped him on the back before leaving with a wave. “See you soon.”

  As much as he respected Steve, in that moment, Gage could have ripped the man’s arms off and beat him with them he was so angry. Just because he’s unhappily married doesn’t mean the rest of us need to suffer. He could admit the man had a point about his reputation, but that was his concern, not Wilde’s. He was more determined than ever to get his hands on Wilde’s business and luckily for him, he had the perfect girlfriend to use to get it.

  With a smile, he shot off a quick text to Shawna to let her know she needed to get dressed up. Tonight, they were going dancing. I’ll get my hands on her way or another.

  ***

  Shawna groaned when she received Gage’s text. Dancing. He wanted them to go dancing. As a couple. With his friends. She so badly wanted to text back a resounding ‘hell no’ as she made her way back to his log mansion, but she couldn’t. Not only was being his fake girlfriend part of the deal, the whole damn reason she was living with him, but he hadn’t asked for anything. Except… how much money do you want. Yeah, she was still pissed off about that, but she was also happy because it kept the lines clearly drawn.

  So, even though she had to squeeze into a tiny sexy dress—because what else would Gage Steele’s girlfriend wear? —she plodded into the kitchen and enjoyed a big slice of Esme’s two-meat, three-cheese lasagna. If I have to deal with Gage and his rich friends, I’m gonna be happy and stuffed. But that only delayed the inevitable, so she washed her dishes and put them in the dishwasher so Esme didn’t feel like she was being put out and took a long, hot, lavender-scented bath.

  She was clean shaven and moisturized by the time she heard Gage push his grumpy way through the front door. But instead of stopping at her door and telling her the night was off, he walked right by. So much for wishing it into reality. “Ugh, fine,” she grumbled and snatched her sapphire-blue, crushed-velvet cocktail dress with structured sleeves and no back from a hanger. It was sexy but not too over the top, and despite how short it was, she knew she could dance in it. If they actually did any dancing.

  Finally, her hair was bone straight, thanks to a half hour of straight ironing her auburn locks, her makeup was appropriately smoky blue and her black stilettos gave her four extra inches. Not that it would matter next to Gage. Sometimes she swore he was a giant. A quick glance at her reflection in the full-length mirror and she sighed with resignation, even though she was pleased with her appearance.

  I really should be grateful. She knew she should, because she hadn’t heard from Pearce
since the day she’d left her old apartment. Well, not technically anyway. He had snuck inside her apartment after she and Gage left and shredded all the remaining clothes and bedding before the movers showed up. So, while he hadn’t been stalking her, he had ruined most of her wardrobe, all of her bedding and furniture. The cops hadn’t been very helpful and would only say the door had been jimmied open. Pearce hadn’t approached her on campus either, for which she was grateful. That meant she had to paste a smile on her face and pretend to be happy tonight. “Okay, let’s do this,” she told her reflection before grabbing her purse and heading out to find Gage.

  It was obvious he felt uncomfortable having her in his house, so she tried to stay out of his way by spending time in her room or the kitchen only. “Gage?”

  “It’s about damn time,” he grunted and flipped on the lamp beside him. “Holy fuck, Shawna.” He stood, his blue gaze dark and intense.

  “Glad you approve,” she said and waited for him to say or do something.

  Of course, he said nothing. He marched toward her and placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her out of the house and into a silver sports car. Inside the car, he was silent, but his anger or frustration or whatever the hell it was emanated from him in waves.

  With a roll of her eyes, she flicked on his stereo and cranked up the rap station, tapping her feet and bopping her head to the hard bass thumping against her body. She glared at him when he turned the volume down but refused to say a word.

  “What is a nice girl like you doing listening to hardcore rap?”

  She grunted and arched an auburn brow at him. “Nice girls can’t love rap music, too?” Instead of waiting for his answer, she cranked the music back up and rocked out until the car came to a stop and a valet helped her from the low-riding car. Thank goodness. The last thing she wanted to think about was her friend Tyrell, who’d turned her on to rap, and his horrible fate.

  “You can love it; I’m just trying to figure out why.”

  She shrugged and took his hand. “Rappers aren’t the only ones with hard luck stories, Gage.” Thankfully, he had no reply and silently pushed her into the dark club with the loud dance music. Although how anyone could dance to this was beyond her. “I’m getting a drink; you want anything?”

  He gave her a bemused look and shook his head. “No, we’ll get a waitress once we get to the VIP section.”

  Shawna frowned. “Do we have to?” If she had to be here, she wanted to dance, dammit.

  Those sexy blue eyes glittered with bemusement. “You don’t want to go to the VIP section? Tired of that whole scene?” he asked condescendingly.

  “What’s the point in coming to a club just to sit too far away to hear the music or dance?” Remembering she was here as part of her deal, she sighed. “Fine, whatever, let’s go then.” She started toward the discreet black staircase when Gage grabbed her wrist.

  “If you really don’t want to, we don’t have to. But we will have to wait for drinks.” He was teasing her, trying to goad her into choosing VIP over dancing.

  “With this dress and those eyes,” she pointed at him, “I doubt we’ll wait long for cocktails. Come on.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him along, smiling smugly when a cute blonde skipped over several others to serve them. Two shots of expensive tequila—each—and she was ready to hit the dance floor. “Come on. This music isn’t the best, but we can still shake our booties to it!”

  She grabbed him, forgetting for a moment that he was her boss and her fake boyfriend, and pulled him onto the dance floor while a pulse-pounding beat coursed through her. This may not be real, but she intended to have a good time. For at least the next hour, because after that, she’d be ready to go.

  For now, though, she planned to press up against his hard body and let the beat move her.

  ***

  With her head thrown back, a smile on her face, and her curves swaying from side to side, Shawna took Gage’s breath away. He had no business thinking such flowery thoughts of her when she was his fake girlfriend, and his employee. But damn, she was so sexy he didn’t know where to look first, those big tits begging to be touched and tasted, or that round ass he wanted to smack as he fucked her from behind.

  Surprisingly, it was the back of her dress that had him intrigued. And hard. Despite the conservative front, the back was damn near indecent.

  Gage did what any red-blooded man would do in his situation, he moved closer and fitted their bodies together. A move he quickly regretted when her ass began to move in a hypnotic figure-eight motion that had his dick hard in an instant. Grabbing her hips to slow down the cyclone, he sucked in a breath when she looked over her shoulder with an intense gaze filled with desire. “You’re a pretty good dancer, Gage, but this music is too fast for that.”

  He grabbed her hips tighter and pulled her against his erection. “I slowed down because this is what you did to me.”

  The vixen dropped down to the floor and slowly dragged her round ass up his leg before doing figure-eights on his dick. “Shawna.”

  She backed up with laughter in those emerald eyes. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

  “Yeah, you look real sorry.”

  She shrugged and slid closer so their bodies were pressed together, her nipples hard against his chest. One hand played with the hair curling at his nape.

  “I’m not, but it was polite to say so.” She smiled mischievously at him, stepping closer.

  Then, to his dismay, Shawna was unceremoniously bumped away and replaced by a busty blonde wearing way too much perfume and dancing all up on Gage.

  Gage frowned when the woman wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned forward to kiss him. He side-stepped her attempt and scowled over her shoulder at Shawna. “A little help,” he mouthed to her and motioned her over to get rid of the handsy blonde.

  She straightened her chest and stood taller before grabbing a handful of the blonde’s hair. “Step off my man, bitch, or your weave will be on the floor.”

  The blonde gasped and turned, smirking when she took in Shawna. She obviously found her lacking. “Yeah, right, honey. He may want you now but just wait. Everyone knows Gage doesn’t keep anyone.”

  Shawna was not deterred. She tugged a handful of blonde hair, just enough to make the woman cry out and take a step back before releasing her and stepping into his arms. “Then why are we living together? I know you’re angling for a night at the hotel on your flat ass, but we’ll be going to his actual home. Together. Now run along and give someone else those crabs crawling down your legs.” She didn’t wait for another reply before turning in Gage’s arms and planting those plump lips against his for a kiss that had him hard and aching to slide deep into her warm, wet body.

  His hands instinctively slid lower on her waist until he held two handfuls of plump ass in his hands. He deepened the kiss, savoring the taste of her mouth—tequila and watermelon lip gloss—and swallowing her moan.

  Gage ripped his mouth away in what had to be the dumbest move of his life, panting and groaning as he took in the look of hazy desire shining in her green eyes.

  “Shawna,” he growled, practically carrying her through the club. He didn’t stop until the valet had his ticket in hand. Turning another heated look her way, another groan ripped through him at the way her gaze settled on his mouth. “Shawna,” he warned.

  She smiled as laughter bubbled up out of her. “Gage,” she said in the same grave tone, but it was quickly ruined by more laughter.

  “We’ll see if you’re still laughing when we get home.”

  ***

  The promise—or was it a threat? —she heard in Gage’s voice set off her overactive imagination. She’d always wondered if it was his lovemaking and the heated promise in his blue eyes that made women do stupid things to try and get a second night with him or if it was just his wealth.

  Judging by that kiss on the dance floor, it was purely the man. At least when she was kissing him, the last thing she was worried about was h
ow many digits were in his bank account. She was more concerned with if anyone would notice her dropping to her knees on the dance floor, or turning around and flipping up her skirt so he could take her from behind. Her thoughts had nothing to do with his portfolio and everything to do with the big, sexy man beside her, who was driving like the hounds of hell were chasing him. “In a hurry?”

  He slid her a look that she was sure soaked her panties through. Pathetic puddle of want that she was, she couldn’t look away.

  “You could say that,” he told her a moment before grabbing her hand and placing it between his legs. “This is what that kiss did to me.”

  Oh. My. God. Shawna wasn’t sure if she was surprised that she’d had that kind of effect on him or if it was the sheer length and girth of him that had her squeezing her knees together. “Oh,” she said, sounding more breathless than she would have liked.

  “Yeah,” he grunted and sent her a disapproving look.

  Wait, what? He looked pissed. But turned on. But definitely pissed. Idiot. Here she was, burning up with desire, ready to throw good sense out the window simply because one kiss had fired her up and had her wanting him more than she’d wanted any man, and he was upset about it.

  “Yeah, well, I don’t recall asking you for a damn thing, Gage Steele!”

  As soon as the car came to a stop in the garage, she hopped out on wobbly legs and shot through the door leading into the house. What is wrong with me? I know what kind of man he is, but I want him anyway. She was more like her mother than she thought. But I’m not expecting a fairytale ending. That brought her up. So what if she didn’t like Gage and he didn’t trust her? She didn’t need any of that. Nope, I need an orgasm.

  “Shawna, dammit, wait!”

  She turned at his voice and found her face practically buried in his wide, delicious-smelling chest. “What?” Hands on hips, she refused to let him intimidate her, but she did take a step back. Then another.