Escorting the Billionaire (The Escort Collection #1)

by Leigh James

“How lovely for you,” she said. She gave me a filthy look.

  I had a bad feeling I was going to hear about this from her later.

  * * *

  When you vacationed with billionaires, no one worried about how high the bar tab was getting. The older guests, including Mr. and Mrs. Preston, sat under umbrellas, playing cards and sipping an endless supply of white wine. Mrs. Preston intermittently cast disapproving scowls my way, which I pretended I couldn’t see in the glare of the tropical sun.

  The rest of us drank rum punches, which seemed to be constantly served by the white-linen-clad waitstaff. By the time the sun started to set, there were a lot of extremely drunk, extremely rich people around the infinity pool. I almost wished there were a lifeguard on duty.

  Not that I needed a lifeguard; I was hanging on to James as if he were my own personal flotation device. He had me pinned up against the wall of the pool, his arms wrapped around me, the crystal water splashing over his enormous, gorgeous chest.

  It was actually his erection that had me pinned against the wall.

  “You know we can’t actually have sex right here,” I reminded him as he leaned in to kiss me again.

  “What?” he asked, smiling at me. “Oh, that.” He pressed his hard length in between my legs, and I moaned—and then I thought better of it and swatted him.

  “Stop,” I said.

  “I actually can’t stop,” he said, grinning. “You’re so fucking hot in that bikini.”

  I laughed. “I appreciate that and all, but you need to calm down. So we can at least walk back to our room without people staring at your crotch.”

  “Then let’s just stay here,” he said, poking me again with it.

  “I need to help you with that thing,” I said, laughing. “It seems like it’s gonna burst.”

  “Now, that’s an offer I can’t refuse,” he said. He pulled away from me and went to my side. “I’ll just need a minute to calm down. Then I’m throwing you over my shoulder and carrying you home.”

  I linked my hand through his. “Works for me.”

  We watched Cole and Jenny engage in a vicious battle with Todd and Evie for the biggest splash contest. In between jumps, they were doing tequila shots.

  “Jenny seems like she’s warming up to Evie,” I said.

  “Four shots of tequila will do that to you,” James said.

  Cole jumped up and did a massive cannonball, leaving an atomic blast of water in his wake. Jenny was clapping and jumping up and down on the side of the pool. When Cole came up from under water, she reached down to give him a high five. Instead, he pulled her into the pool, giving her a huge kiss.

  “I think Cole’s in love with her,” James said out of the blue. “I don’t know if he knows what that means, though.”

  “He’s never been in a relationship?” I asked.

  “Not one that lasted more than two weeks.”

  We watched them for another minute, their arms wrapped around each other, both of them carefree and happy. James turned back to me. “I want you to come to California with me when we get back.”

  “James, I can’t—my brother, my mom, all the other stuff we haven’t even talked through—”

  “I don’t care,” he said, cutting me off. “We’ll bring your brother with us. The rest of it will sort itself out.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Then don’t say anything,” James said, shrugging. “Or just say yes.”

  * * *

  He didn’t carry me back to the room like he threatened to, but we did practically run there.

  I let myself enjoy the moment. Maybe the hot sun was getting to me, or maybe I’d had too many rum punches. But I didn’t let myself think about all the bad things in our way. I only thought of him.

  “Oh my God, I need you,” he said. He kissed me as soon as we made it through the door, his hands skimming my body, my bathing suit still damp against me.

  Then he stopped. He ran his hands through my hair and looked down at me, his steel-blue eyes burning. “Please don’t ever pull away from me again like you did last night. My fucking heart can’t take it, Audrey. I mean it.”

  I bit my lip. “I know you don’t understand, but I did that to protect you.”

  He took my face in his hands. “You’re not protecting me by running away from me. I need you to stand by my side.” His eyes searched mine. “Do you understand?”

  “Yes, but—” I started.

  “No buts,” he said, dropping his hands from me and taking a step back. “I’m telling you what I need. I love you. I need to know that you love me, too, and that you’re going to stay with me.”

  “I can’t promise you that,” I said, feeling my buzz wear off instantly. My doubts returned, numerous and ugly. “I don’t know if I can. What if I think that I’m not the right thing for you? I love you—I want you to have everything in life that you’re supposed to have. And that’s probably not me.”

  “Do you think I give a fuck,” he spit out, “what my parents think? When I first realized that I had feelings for you, I was afraid. But not of them—I was afraid for you. I didn’t want to ask you to be with me, because I knew they wouldn’t treat you fairly.

  “But now that I know you love me and we’re together, I don’t care—I’ll let you make a choice about whether or not you want to subject yourself to their dislike, sure. Because that’s fair, and that’s your choice to make. But if you think I’m going to let you choose what’s best for me, you’re fucking crazy. Because I already know what that is. It’s you. I choose you.” He crossed his arms across his powerful, naked chest. “So there.”

  “What your mother said to me about the future makes sense, James,” I said, holding my ground. “Your kids are going to have more money than you even have. Scary money. And I’m a fucking whore, James. People will find out about me. You can’t let your kids have a whore for a mother.” All of a sudden, the truth of what I was saying hit me, and hot tears spilled down my cheeks.

  “Stop.” He came back to me then, wrapping his arms around me, pulling me to his chest. “If we were lucky enough to have kids, and they were lucky enough to have you as a mom…they wouldn’t care, Audrey. We’d teach them about the real world. In the real world, you have to make choices. Hard choices sometimes. But you do it to protect the people you love the most.”

  He held me fiercely, and I clung to him. “Because that’s what a real family does. They would be lucky to have you, Audrey. And so would I.”

  James

  “They would be lucky to have you, Audrey. And so would I.”

  Once I had put all my cards on the table, I held my breath. I loved her, and I wanted her to know it wasn’t just for now.

  I wanted a hell of a lot more than that.

  “Is it okay if I cry again? For just a second?” she asked, clinging to me.

  “One second,” I said. “We are on vacation, after all.”

  She nodded against my chest. “I just didn’t think,” she said, sniffling. “I didn’t know. I never even let myself hope—”

  “It’s okay,” I said, stroking her hair. “We’re together now, and everything’s going to be okay.”

  After a second, as promised, she calmed down and pulled back from me, wiping her eyes. “I’m a mess,” she said and laughed.

  “You’re a hot mess,” I corrected her, my hands skimming down her skin again. Actually, she was freezing; our bathing suits were still wet, and she was covered in goose flesh. “I think there’s a hot tub out back. Do you want to go in it?”

  “That sounds good,” she said. I grabbed her hand and led her through the house to the small, private, fenced-in backyard. There was a large hot tub back here and an outdoor shower. We both got in, and I hit the jets; the hot water felt amazing. I pulled her to me, resting my hands on top of her bikini bottom.

  “No one can see us back here, right?” she asked, looking at the high fence. Before I even had the chance to nod, she’d undone the top of her
bikini, throwing it casually to the side. Her breasts were round and luscious, her nipples hard from the chill. She had the faintest beginnings of a tan imprinted on her skin. She stepped out of her bottoms and threw those to the side as well, coming to me.

  It had been too long. She must have felt it, too. The need.

  Without a word, she leaned up and pulled my face toward hers, drawing me in for a deep, luxuriant kiss. Our tongues connected, and I got rock hard again. She quickly undid my swim trunks and pushed them down, grabbing my thick cock within her hands expertly, stroking me up and down in the hot, bubbly water. She took her other hand and cupped my balls lovingly, all the while twining her tongue around mine, making me wild for her.

  I was so hard it almost hurt. “Poor baby,” Audrey said, still stroking me. “All that crying I did, and you just needed some attention.”

  “I’m fine,” I said hoarsely. “It was worth the wait.”

  She was working me with her hands, and I started to thrust against her blindly, not even really aware of what I was doing.

  “I want to you feel you inside me—deep,” she said. She let go of my cock and came next to me. She leaned over the side of the jacuzzi, so her ass was facing me, and her face was against the warm tile of the patio. “Take me from behind,” she ordered.

  I moaned before I even put myself against her. “I’m not gonna last that long like this, babe,” I said, stroking her glorious ass. She spread her legs a little, ready for me. The bubbles in the hot tub rubbed up against my balls and my huge erection, and I positioned my tip against her slit, feeling the wetness that was all her. I slid my hardness against her, getting lubricated and so hard I was about to burst.

  She reached down and positioned my cock. She slid me into her, at first easing just my tip in. And then she moaned, and with a few motions of her hips, made sure I entered her all the way to the base of my shaft.

  It felt so good to be back in her, I almost came right then.

  “Holy fuck,” I said. She leaned back over the side so I was positioned right behind her, in balls deep. I grabbed her hips and her ass and began to thrust. Each stroke made me moan, her tight body clenching around me, my balls slapping against her and splashing in the water. Each thrust brought me closer to the edge of oblivion. She pushed back against me, and I put one hand on her back, holding her down, continuing to thrust into her deeply, almost savagely. I wanted to fuck her forever, and I wanted to come right then. I wanted her to turn around to face me so I could kiss her, and I never wanted her to get out of this position ever again.

  “James,” she moaned. “Oh my God. I want to feel you explode in me.”

  I thrust into her harder, deeper, our bodies crashing against the water and the stone. Her body was so tight, squeezing everything out of mine. I was relentless, driving into her deeper each time. Her tight body stretched to accommodate me, and she moved back against me. I grabbed her ass and squeezed. “Oh my God,” I said, starting to spasm.

  “James,” she cried out, her body clenching and shaking around mine.

  “I fucking love you,” I said, and came in a torrent.

  * * *

  The next afternoon, I rolled off of Audrey, breathing hard. “That was brilliant,” I said. Now that we’d started having sex again, we couldn’t stop. We’d been sneaking back to our villa whenever we could.

  “What?”

  “Us. Together. I think we’re even better now that we’re official.” I trailed my fingers lazily down her naked shoulders, thrilled just to play with her long hair and touch her beautiful, smooth skin.

  “You think?” she asked.

  “I know,” I said.

  “Do we have to go to dinner tonight? Isn’t everyone going to be too drunk by then?” she asked. “I wish we could just stay here.”

  I sighed and flopped on my back. Our entire party had been drinking all day, again. “Unfortunately, the Prestons do not get too drunk to do anything—we’re high-functioning alcohol abusers. We should join them. Todd wants me to make an effort while I’m here.”

  “Okay. But I’m worried about the way your mother’s been looking at me since we’ve been here,” Audrey said, nervously. “I’m all over her bad radar. I can tell.”

  “I’ll protect you from her,” I said. “But Audrey, you should get used to it. She’s not ever going to change.”

  “No,” said Audrey, looking up at the ceiling. “She’s not. And neither is my mother.”

  “You’re probably right,” I said, lacing my fingers through hers. “So let’s just stay the hell away from both of them.”

  She smiled, and I traced the outline of her jaw with my finger. “I meant what I said, you know. About California. You’ll love it out there. And Tommy will, too. The weather is perfect—except for the smog. And then there’s the traffic. But we have all the best restaurants.”

  She didn’t say anything for a beat, and my heart was pounding in my ears.

  “Tommy is really happy at New Horizons,” she said, tentatively. “I don’t know what that would be like for him to move.”

  “We don’t have to do it right away. You can come out for a few days, and we can look at facilities for him—we can find the perfect place. One that’s close to my house.”

  Audrey was still staring at the ceiling. “But what would I do? Where would I live? And I’m guessing you don’t want me to open the West Coast office of AccommoDating, right?” She laughed, but I could tell the discussion was making her uncomfortable.

  “Audrey, you can live with me. And Elena can keep AccommoDating. But she can’t keep you.” I squeezed her hand hard.

  “But I can’t just live off you,” she said, still not looking at me. “That’s not a smart five-year plan.”

  “A small country could live off me,” I said. “It’s not really a big deal.”

  She looked at me then. “It’s a big deal to me.”

  “Is this that cowboy thing again?” I asked, feeling the inklings of a headache coming on.

  “Sort of,” she said. She sat up. “It’s just that… depending on someone else for everything isn’t smart. You could get tired of me. You could get hit by a car. I have to take care of Tommy no matter what happens. You can’t be my job, James.”

  I looked at her, letting the irony of that statement just hang in the air between us.

  She swatted me and rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

  “I’ll make sure that Tommy is taken care of for the rest of his life. I know how important that is to you,” I said. If I could give her nothing else, at least I could give her that peace of mind. “And I can get you your own place out there, if that’s what you want.”

  “No—that’s not what I want,” she said quickly. “But I haven’t said yes yet. I’m not prepared to ruin your life.”

  “I’m going to keep working on you. With sex and booze as a large part of my strategy this week, I plan on being victorious.” I squeezed her hand again. “Listen, back to California—I know you like things to be even and fair. But I’m kind of out of your price bracket, Audrey. We can’t go ‘halfsies.’ No one can afford to go halfsies with me. You just have to accept me for who I am and deal with the fact that I have money.”

  “I accept you for who you are,” Audrey said, “but I can’t pretend that’s my reality, too, James. I have to take care of myself. You’ve been generous and good to me. But we’ve only been together for a week. You shouldn’t be making promises about the future. You need to think it through.”

  “Do you doubt your feelings for me, even though it’s only been a short time?” I asked.

  “No,” she said, “but that’s a no-brainer. You’re kind of the total package, James. And I’m—”

  “Exactly what I’ve been looking for my whole life,” I said. She looked at me, stunned and a little wary. “Listen to me, Audrey. My brother said something to me last week that made me think. He said that when you finally figure out what you want, you’re pretty ready… to be… serious
.”

  Actually, he’d said that once you figure out what you want, you were pretty ready for forever. But I didn’t want to scare the pants off of her, as skittish as she’d been. “I’ve figured out what I want. I’m ready to be serious. So don’t worry about me—you need to figure out what you’re ready for.”

  She took a deep, shaky breath. “I want to be with you, James,” she said. “More than I’ve ever wanted anything. But I’ve never had anybody I could trust in my life except Tommy. I’ve always taken care of myself. And I’ve kept my expectations about other people really low—that way it hurts less when they disappoint you. I want to trust you and be with you. But does it make sense to you that I have no idea how to do that?”

  “Of course,” I said. “I don’t either. I guess you just do it by doing it.”

  “Huh,” Audrey said.

  “Is that a yes?”

  Audrey

  I bitch-slapped my common sense into submission, and I nodded at him. “Yes,” I said. “That’s a yes.”

  James pulled me into his arms, where I felt safe and loved, and I was almost shocked by the depth of his feelings for me.

  I knew who he was now. I knew what happened next.

  Even though it was scary to let myself be vulnerable, my love for him outweighed my fear. My feelings were like a riptide, a force of nature carrying me along. If I struggled against them any harder, I would go under and be lost. I knew that now. I’d tried to run from him, and it was no use. Turning away would only hurt us both.

  I had to be strong, only in a different way than I was used to.

  * * *

  Everyone was drunk at dinner, and there were no signs of stopping. Cole grabbed a bottle of Patron and started pouring tequila shots, passing them down the long table. “Hair of the dog,” he called. “This might be a boot-and-rally sort of vacation.” I watched as everyone took a shot, including Mrs. Preston. She gave me a quick, sharp look afterward, and I was on my guard.