“Lobster is over priced and really not all that tasty. I’d rather have a curry.” She turned her attention back to the menu. “What do you suggest I try?”
“Everything.”
“I don’t think I can eat that much tonight.”
“How about we get a couple of dishes each, and then we can share them? You pick a couple of things you like the look of, I’ll pick a couple of things I like the look of, and we can go from there.”
“Okay.” She glanced over at him, smiling. “Hopefully we won’t pick the same thing.”
***
The staff had been willing to help them with their sharing system, and it worked out better than Monica thought it would. “We can definitely come back here.”
“I’m glad you like it.” Jonny smiled. “Do you want dessert?”
“Honestly, I don’t think it will fit. I have ice cream at home. Hopefully by the time we get there I’ll have enough space for some.”
“Are you inviting me back to yours, Miss Banks?”
“Yes, I am, Mr. Houston.” They laughed. “I want this, Jonny, in a way I haven’t wanted anything before, and tonight has just made me more certain of that.” Their eyes met. “I was scared before. Now I’m not. Now I feel like I know you, and I know you’re the right man for me.”
“That is a relief. I was worried things weren’t going to work out the way I hoped they would.” He stood, and she did the same. “Ice cream at yours it is. Have you ever put hot chocolate on ice cream?”
“No, but I’m willing to try it.”
“It’s something I used to do when I was a kid and having a bad day. Mom would make me the hot chocolate, I’d get some ice cream out the freezer, and we’d spend some time talking about what the problem was. Kids can be cruel. They all knew Dad had money and they weren’t very nice about it.”
“What happened?”
“I ended up going to a private school, where everyone had parents with money, even though it wasn’t what Dad wanted for me. As I wasn’t the odd one out it made my life a lot easier. It’s something I’ve thought about a lot and I don’t know what choice I’m going to make for my own children.”
“Home schooling’s always an option.”
“True.” He held her coat out for her, and she slipped her arms into it. “Would you be willing to do that?”
“I would if I thought it was the right thing for our children. School was never something I enjoyed. I felt like they were trying to make me think the way they wanted me to, and I hated that. College was a relief. I felt much freer there and I spend some time with a couple of home schoolers. Their parents always made certain they spent plenty of time with other kids, so it’s not an impossible thing to do.”
As they made their way to the car Jonny took hold of her hand. “I like being able to talk to you about anything.”
“That’s what we need to be able to do if we are going to have a future together.” She shrugged. “I do think, if we are going to get married, we need to have some sort of pre-nup, to protect both of us.”
“I trust you, Monica.”
“I trust you, but I think it’s a useful safety mechanism if things do end up going wrong. We need to plan for every possibility.”
***
Jonny made the hot chocolate while the ice cream defrosted a little on the counter. Their eyes met as he did and Monica could see how their relationship was going to work out. Shaking her head she turned her attention back to the ice cream, slowly drawing a spoon through it to see how close it was to being usable. “Not much longer.”
“Good. I’m still hungry.”
“With the way you work I’m really not surprised.” She poked his abs with the handle of the spoon. “And work out.”
“The last thing I’m going to do is let all that hard work go to waste. I spent a very long time honing my abs.” He pulled his shirt up. “What do you think of them?”
“They’re very nice.”
“Very nice?”
“Yes. Very nice.” She couldn’t help laughing. “I’ve seen abs like that before and they’re all pretty much the same. It’s what’s inside that counts, Jonny, and you know that as well as I do.”
He grinned. “Yeah, they are.” He pulled his top down. “You’ve never been attracted to your employers before?”
“I have to admit there were a couple who were physically very good looking. Then they opened their mouths, and that was the end of that. People with money aren’t always smart. Often they’re just very lucky. I’ve spent far more of my time around the people who are very lucky, unfortunately, because they were the ones who needed me the most.” She dug her spoon into the ice cream. “Why did you hire me when it’s obvious you don’t really need a P.A.?”
“Having a P.A. makes life a lot easier, especially when it comes to scheduling things. Having someone there to help with that is the most important thing and I was hoping to convince you to keep control of my schedule when you go back home. Obviously I’ll pay you for it.”
“No, you won’t.” Monica shook her head. “I’m willing to keep an eye on your schedule for free, because I want us to have a different sort of relationship.” She studied the ice cream in the bowl. “If you want me to be your girlfriend then there can’t be a contract of any kind.”
“Okay.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “I will, however, come out at least twice a month to take you out for a meal, to thank you for being my wonderful girlfriend.”
“You will?”
“Yeah, I will.” She looked at him and could see the sincerity in his eyes. “I want to be with you, Monica, no matter where you are, and it’s not that far to your home town from here. Plus it gives me a chance to do some work there, because I want to start building up our portfolio in your state.”
She looked down at the ice cream again. “I never thought I’d say this, but I love you, Jonny.”
He put a hand under her chin and tilted her head up. “I love you too.”
***
Their lips met and she could taste the ice cream he’d been eating. As she kissed him back she felt him moving, so she was underneath him and looking up into his eyes. He took one of her hands, white mixing with chocolate brown, smiling. “We look like our dessert.”
Monica laughed. “We do, don’t we?” She stroked a hand down his chest. “How did we get here?”
“I don’t know, but I’m glad we did.” He kissed her again. “Do you want this?”
“That all depends on what ‘this’ is.”
“Us. I want to take your clothes off and see you naked, Monica. I want to spend the night with you, and tomorrow night, and the next night. You make me happy in a way I didn’t think was possible and I want to make the most of every moment we have before you go home.”
“Jonny…” She didn’t know how to reply. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. “Let’s see how things go. I want you, but I never thought something like this would happen to me, and there’s a part of me that’s scared of what might happen.”
“There’s a part of me that’s scared too. I’ve never opened myself up like this before and I know it’s possible you might make the decision to walk away in the future. I just… life’s too short. We need to make the most of every moment we have, so I’m not going to let that fear get the better of me.” He kissed her, his lips warm against hers, and she couldn’t help smiling. “All I want is to be with you, even if we do end up falling apart in the future.”
Without stopping to think about what she was doing Monica pulled his shirt over his head, running her hands down his chest again, feeling the hardness of his abs and the softness of his skin. “Okay.” She smiled as she ran one of her fingers around his nipples and felt it go hard in seconds. “Life is too short.”
Slowly he undid the buttons on her blouse. “You’re beautiful.” He nuzzled his face into her neck. “You’re the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, because you’re beautiful, and smart, and organised
, and you understand me.”
If he’d just left it with beautiful she might have been worried. People had found her beautiful before and she hadn’t had any interest in being with them, as it seemed like that was the only thing they saw. They didn’t seem to want to get to know her. Instead they had this idea in their mind of how they wanted her to be, only she was never going to be that imaginary person they came up with, because she was someone else entirely. She had been a workaholic P.A. and now she was a woman who was doing her best to work out what she wanted out of the rest of her life. One of the newfound certainties was Jonny.
When she felt his warm hand on her stomach she looked down at it. “You’re gorgeous.” She ran her hand over his, feeling the contours of his knuckles. “I don’t think I’ve ever told you that before, but I think it’s important you know I do find you incredibly attractive, although that isn’t the reason I want to be with you.”
“I know.” He lifted his face and looked down at her. “I want to do this more than I’ve ever wanted to do anything, but I don’t want to rush it.”
“Don’t worry about rushing it. We have the rest of our lives to do this.”
Smiling, he pulled a condom out of his pocket. “Yeah, we do.”
He kissed her, before standing up. As she watched he pulled his jeans and boxers down, his erection springing free, and she couldn’t help staring at his cock. She watched as he ripped out the condom packet. Once he had the condom in his hand he slowly rolled it down. “I never knew how erotic that could be.” Monica slipped out of her blouse and skirt. “I don’t think anyone’s ever made putting a condom on seem that erotic.”
Jonny laughed. “Normally it isn’t, which probably says something about the way you feel about me.”
“Probably.” She smiled. “You said you wanted me.”
“I do.” He pulled her panties down, before returning to where he had been before, his warm body between her legs. Slowly, gently, he slipped himself inside her, and that was when he could feel how ready she was for him. “You want me too.”
“Yeah, I do.” She stroked her hands down his back as he moved within her, far more carefully than any of her previous boyfriends had. “I really do.”
She moved with him, to show him how much she did want him, and that seemed to help. He took her bra off, putting it with her panties. For a few seconds all he did was stare down at her. Monica was almost worried he’d been put off by something. “You are just so beautiful.” He shook his head. “I realise I’m behaving like a teenager, but I never knew how different sex could be when I was with someone I was in love with.” His cock went into a little deeper, which was something she didn’t think was possible until it happened. “I do love you. I love you more than I thought possible.”
“I love you too.”
One of his hands stroked down her body, to her clit, and she felt his thumb stroke her. She shuddered. That wasn’t something any of her exes had done, and she knew that was at least partly because they had no idea what it was or what they were meant to do with it. Sex was for them. If she wanted to cum she’d had to go into the bathroom after they were done to get herself off. Maybe she wasn’t going to have that issue with Jonny.
“You okay?”
Monica nodded. “I’m good.”
“Tell me if I go too rough.”
“I will.”
He thrust deep into her, his cock far deeper inside her than her previous boyfriends had been, and stroked her clit with his thumb, varying the pressure and the speed. When she clenched tightly around him he grinned. “I’ve found it.”
“Yeah, you have.”
That was the last thing she could say. Their bodies pressed hard together as he kissed her, his tongue stroking hers, and she knew she was getting close, which was a wonderful sensation considering the others in her life. His free hand wrapped around her breast, thumb stroking her nipple, which was what tipped her over the edge. The sounds she made as she came might have been her trying to use words, but she was too wrapped up in the moment for her mind to work. At the same time he came deep within her and he made a deep sound that definitely wasn’t a word. He collapsed on top of her.
“You’re good.” She stroked her hands down his back. “You’re very good. Best sex I’ve ever had.”
He turned his head to look at her. “You have to be joking.”
“I’m not. None of my other boyfriends ever made me feel the way you did.”
He kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry for that, but I’m going to make sure you enjoy the sex every time.”
***
When Monica woke up Jonny was still there. He was awake and his eyes were open. “Morning.”
She smiled. “Morning.”
“Last night was wonderful.”
“Yeah, it was.” Their eyes met and she kissed him. “Now, however, we have to go to work.”
“I’m the boss and I say work can wait.”
“You have meetings this morning.”
“I cancelled them yesterday after I asked you to go to the Italian with me. I knew what I wanted to happen and it did, so we have the whole morning to ourselves.” He stroked a hand down her side. “I was hoping we could have a shower, maybe a little sex, and then we can go to work.”
“Sex and then shower, or shower and then sex?”
“Both.” He laughed. “I know that’s wishful thinking after last night.”
“Yeah, it is.” She moved slowly, trying to work out how comfortable she was. “I think I could go once more.”
“We don’t have to, if last night was too much.”
“It wasn’t.” She stroked her hand down his back. “I did initiate a couple of times, so this is as much my fault as it is yours.”
“That’s a good point.” He grinned at her. “Shower first, I think, and then we’ll see how you’re doing. I don’t want to wear you out too soon. We do have the rest of our lives.”
Monica laughed. “You aren’t going to wear me out.” She slipped out from under the quilt. “I’m going to wear you out.”
Bonus - The Billionaire and Me Complete Series
COMPLETE SERIES
Part One
There are times I have thought to myself “my luck has been so bad if I bought a grave yard people would stop dying!” Today has been one of those days for me.
For the past several years I had been working at the local college as an administrative assistant. It had seemed like a steady job, good pay, and there were always people wanting to enter college. I had really thought I was set for the longest time.
However, sometimes real life has a habit of pulling the right out from under you when you thought things were going well. I thought it had been for me and if I ever find the gremlin that caused all this chaos I’m dropping an anvil on his miserable little head!
It was nearing the end of the school year when notices were being handed out. There had been some cut backs due to school budgets but, like everyone else, I thought I would be spared the axe. In fact, I was confident that I would be spared. After all, the school did need an administrative assistant!
You know that old saying of “pride goeth before a fall”? Well, it sure seems to be true! No sooner than I was sure I wouldn’t be laid off I got quite the shock.
On my desk were two words printed in neat ink letters.
Amanda Granger.
My name.
My first reaction as to think that it was just some formality stuff. Surely I wouldn’t be getting laid off!
Now about that pride thing…
Not feeling at all worried I opened up the letter and began to read. If it were humanly my jaw could drop to the floor it would have.
I was getting laid off!
Despite my best efforts I began to feel myself sputter through the shock. How? Why? Why me of all people? I was certain I had seniority and would not have been let go.
Gradually my shock began to become replaced by anger. They were laying me off and no one had the testi
cular fortitude to actually get up off their rear ends and tell me to my face?
Sometimes my anger would get the better of me and I went to find the dean to confront him about this.
“We had cut backs,” the dean explained.
“But after all the years I’ve worked for this college?” I protested.
“I’m sorry, Amanda, but that’s the way that it is. If it’s any help you weren’t the only one who got laid off. You have plenty of valuable skills and anyone would be crazy not to hire you!”
I knew he meant well but that only made me angrier. “I heard Elizabeth got laid off too! What about her? She’s got two kids and another on the way! How’s she going to be able to get work? I could almost be more accepting of this if this college made more of an effort to be fair about it.”
“I’m sorry but it’s the budget cuts.”
I soon learned I would not get anywhere with this arguing and gave up trying to explain logic to the dean.
I ended up backing up my box and leaving the office the same day. It’s funny how the television shows show the person with just one single box as they leave. When it came to be my turn it took a few trips to the office and my car and then back again. Sometimes fiction was incredibly deceptive.
I had been lucky in that I had been smart and saved some of my money when I still had a job. I had enough to live on for a little while.
Job hunting in any economy can feel like a challenge and employers certainly weren’t reaching out to grab me up off the street.
For all my experience each employer found a reason to turn me down. Not enough experience in this, too much experience in that, even I don’t have the right amount of experience. It’s ironic that I have to get experience before trying out again for an entry level job.
My mother did point out that I should be grateful we live in an era where a person could not be rejected because of their skin color. I knew I should indeed be grateful that I didn’t have to go through what my parents and grandparents did with segregation and discrimination, but sometimes, when you’re frustrated it can feel like very poor advice.
The Alpha Billionaire's Unexpected Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Pregnancy Romance Page 34
