The Virgin and the Billionaires: The Complete Series

by K. J. Diamond

  “Amazing,” he said.

  Dana agreed. She struggled to catch her breath. That was so amazing, she thought. So kinky. Who would have thought that nice, proper William could fuck like that?

  They intertwined their fingers, gently stroking each other’s hands. William pulled himself up and lay down next to Dana, drawing her closer. They wove their legs together and Dana rested her head on William’s shoulder. She stroked his firm chest with her fingers, lightly scratching him. They lay in silence, enjoying the rush of endorphins and good feelings that came after a deeply satisfying evening of sex. A cool breeze batted the flaps of the cabana and reached Dana and William’s bare, glistening skin.

  “That feels nice,” William commented, referring to the breeze.

  Dana muttered in agreement. Once she had caught her breath, she gave voice to the questions floating in her mind.

  “What do we do now?” she asked.

  “We lie here and enjoy each other,” William responded.

  “No – I mean, what happens after tonight? What do you want to happen after tonight?”

  William chuckled. “Something more, that’s for sure.”

  Dana smiled, but naïve concern was occupying her.

  “Do you want an ‘arrangement’?” Dana inquired meekly.

  William propped himself up and looked at Dana.

  “What do you mean, ‘arrangement’?”

  “You know exactly what I mean,” Dana replied.

  He stroked her soft shoulders with his warm hands.

  “If we are talking about the same thing, I don’t do ‘arrangements’. I either like you or I don’t. No games.”

  “Okay –“ Dana sounded a little confused.

  “Let’s just enjoy each other’s company for a while. I like you. I’d like to get to know you more, but I don’t want to put any pressure on you.”

  Dana smiled, touched. “That’s sweet,” she said. “I don’t know if anybody’s ever talked to me like that.” She instantly regretted saying that. She didn’t want to sound naïve or too vulnerable, but she couldn’t help but feel like the connection that she had with William was above that.

  “I only talk as sweet as I can act,” William said. He kissed Dana gently on the lips, lingering for a long time. Dana kissed him back passionately, and they made out on the bed. William cradled Dana’s face with his hand, softly stroking her cheeks as they kissed.

  Dana felt the butterflies kicking around in her stomach as she and William shared this passionate moment. She softly ran her hands through his cowlicked hair, breaking from William’s lips to kiss him all over his face. Exhausted, she fell back onto his shoulder.

  “I’m exhausted, William – not to mention that I have to get up early tomorrow and go all the way back to Burbank before I go to work.”

  “Let’s go to my room, then.” William kissed Dana’s forehead and got up. He walked over to the far corner of the cabana. Dana felt something soft fall on her head.

  William chuckled when he saw where the object had landed. “Have a towel. I’ll grab your clothes.”

  Dana sat up and wrapped herself in the oversized, pillow soft towel.

  “Let’s go to my room. I’ve got your clothes.” William grabbed Dana’s hand and guided her back into the house, where the lights were still on. They zigzagged through a few rooms and hallways before they reached William’s bright, cozy master suite.

  William shut the door behind them and dropped his towel. It was the first glimpse Dana got of his naked body, and it was just as chiseled and muscular as she had surmised in the darkness of the cabana. Her eyes did not leave his visage.

  William noticed Dana staring and smiled warmly. He walked toward her until he was towering over her petite, round figure.

  “Do you want to take a shower before bed?” he asked, gently tugging at Dana’s towel.

  Dana felt the towel about to drop. She clung to it for a moment, but when she saw William’s hungry eyes, she dropped it to the ground. She watched William’s eyes widen. A big grin stretched across his face.

  “Beautiful,” he declared. “Just beautiful.”

  Dana couldn’t recall being called beautiful by anyone before. ‘Hot’, yes. ‘Sexy’, yes. But never ‘beautiful’. She walked toward William.

  “Gorgeous,” she beamed, looking him up and down.

  They both drew their eyes upward until they met.

  “Shower?” William repeated.

  “Sure,” Dana answered.

  William took Dana’s hand and led her toward the shower, where they sat together under a line of showerheads and bathed in steam, intermittently sharing a passionate kiss and pressing their hot, wet bodies together.

  Refreshed and exhausted, Dana and William huddled together under the covers of William’s plush, soft bed and feel asleep in each other’s arms.

  ***

  Dana woke up with the sunrise the next morning. She kissed William, who was still sleeping, on the forehead before she headed back out to her car and made the long drive back to her apartment to change before she had to be back at the SoCal Style office.

  She threw herself together as quickly as she could. She couldn’t wipe the smirk off of her face; she was so glowing with happiness.

  But before she had the chance to leave her apartment, Dana’s phone buzzed and vibrated.

  A blocked number. She knew exactly who it was. Her stomach sank. The rosy glow in her cheeks turned a pallid white. She took a deep breath and answered.

  “We need to talk. After work. Come to my office.” Alexander did not sound happy.

  “Okay,” Dana replied with a shaky voice.

  Alexander hung up. Dana knew something was going on, but she didn’t want to indulge her worst suspicions.

  Dana tried to keep her spirits up during the day by remembering that she had just gotten a raise, but it wasn’t working very well. She was perpetually distracted and all of her shots were shaky or blurred. At one point, Amy and Emily felt they had to comment on Dana’s appearance.

  “You look green, literally,” Emily fretted. “Are you okay?”

  Dana, lost in her head, didn’t hear her.

  “Dana!” Amy yelled from across the studio.

  Dana snapped out of it, startled. She almost dropped her camera when she turned in Amy’s direction.

  “Are you alright?” Amy asked. “You look sick. Your face is all green.”

  “I’m fine,” Dana lied. She continued to ignore the interns as she tried and failed to get into a good work mindset. The day slipped by and little got done.

  She was grateful and incredibly anxious when five o’clock rolled around. She and her car crawled over to Alexander’s Downtown office in the thick rush hour traffic.

  Dana felt suffocated. The heavy smog hanging low in the sky didn’t help this feeling, brought on by the anxiety she’d been feeling all day. It was moments like these, fraught with emotion and stuck moving at a snail’s pace in the LA gridlock, that Dana questioned whether leaving the peace, quiet, and relative boredom of her hometown had really been the right decision.

  Slowly, the skyline loomed larger in the distance. Dana inched toward her block and spent another 15 minutes looking for a parking spot in the garage of Alexander’s building. The cars spilling out in an unending stream made it difficult to move against the flow of traffic, let alone turn in to a parking spot.

  I just can’t get a break today, Dana thought.

  Her parking spot secured, Dana headed toward the building’s elevator. A nauseating sense of déjà vu overcame her as she shot up the height of the building and was let out in the lobby of the Price-Levy Investments offices. The lights were familiarly dim, the floor familiarly empty.

  Dana heard Alexander’s familiar voice call to her from his office. As she walked by the boardroom, she remembered running out on Alexander the first time they had hooked up. She remembered meeting William at their shoot, and having put him at the back of her mind without another thought bec
ause she was so enraptured by Alexander’s charms.

  Dana stepped into Alexander’s office and turned to close the door.

  “Don’t bother. There’s nobody here,” Alexander interrupted from behind his desk.

  Dana laid down her bag and sat down on the other side of Alexander. He came around the desk and sat in the chair next to hers. He sighed deeply as he sat back, not looking at Dana. She didn’t feel intimidated by him anymore, and it seemed like Alexander was aware of this.

  Seeing him face to face, Dana was even more certain that Alexander was about to confirm her worst suspicions.

  He sat in silence for a moment. He reached for the glass of scotch he had left on the other side of his desk. He swished it around in the cup. He took a big sip before finally speaking.

  “Of all the people that you could have chosen, you chose to fool around with my business partner.” Alexander paused. “Not only my best friend, but my business partner.” He shook his head, almost imperceptibly.

  “It’s not like I planned it or anything –“ Dana countered.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Alexander interrupted.

  “You never told me I couldn’t!” she exclaimed. She wasn’t going to let Alexander exert his dominance over her when she knew she was right.

  Alexander paused, knowing what Dana said was true.

  “But it never occurred to you that it might be a bad idea?”

  Dana wanted to tell Alexander that it had indeed occurred to her, and had nearly kept her awake at night, but she thought it best to not answer.

  Alexander took another sip of his drink and set it down on the desk with a loud ‘clank’.

  “It is – in part – my fault,” he admitted. “I never told you not to; you’re right. But for William to go around behind my back like that, it’s just – wow.” He looked at Dana, his eyes meeting hers for the first time since she’d come in.

  “I’m sorry. I’m thinking out loud. I don’t know what to make of the situation.”

  “That’s okay,” Dana replied. “I don’t either, really.” She chuckled, exasperated.

  Alexander was beginning to lose his cool. Dana could tell that he was working hard to restrain himself.

  “William knew, and he did it anyway,” he revealed.

  Dana gasped.

  “WHAT?” she cried. “Who told him?”

  Alexander hung his head and leaned on his desk. “It was probably Jessica, our secretary. You know her, I believe.”

  Dana’s mouth nearly fell open.

  “Yes. How the hell did she know?”

  “I sure as hell didn’t tell her,” Alexander said. “But she knows me well enough to get suspicious about things like that. She is my secretary, you know. She sees my schedule and makes my dinner reservations. That’s her job.”

  “No shit it’s her job,” Dana blurted, getting testy. “You didn’t think to do that for yourself when I was involved? For your own discretion? Out of respect for me, maybe?”

  “I didn’t think she would care!” He shouted, extending his arms in exasperation.

  Dana tried to calm herself down for a moment. She stood up and paced around the office, breathing deeply.

  “Why would she want to tell William that we were sleeping together? What reason could she possibly have?” Dana’s heart was racing.

  Alexander was silent. Dana shot her eyes at him.

  “I…I…”

  “’I’ What?” Dana probed.

  “I probably shouldn’t tell you that.”

  Dana rolled her eyes. “Well, now you have to tell me.”

  Alexander sighed and sat in his desk chair. “She probably did it to stick a wedge between us.”

  “Why? Why would she want to? Does she have a crush on you or something?” Dana was trying very hard not to raise her voice, but wasn’t doing very well.

  Alexander hesitated and hesitated. It was clear that his penchant to be honest was not suiting him at that moment.

  “Jessica and I have been sleeping together for a long time,” he finally blurted. “Since before you and I ever did.”

  Dana had a brief flashback to the fantasy she had had of the two of them having rough sex in the restaurant bathroom. That quickly subsided and transformed into shock and rage. Jessica had reached out to her as a friend, but she had lied to Dana. She wasn’t trying to be her friend at all. Dana was only glad that she had never gotten too close to her, and at that moment she knew that she never wanted to see Jessica again. At the very least, she didn’t want to be her friend.

  And then there was Alexander. As if it needed to be any clearer, here it finally was: evidence of where his priorities truly lie. He had been honest with Dana about his lack of desire for a relationship. She couldn’t fault him for that. She felt safe assuming he was telling the truth about having been with Jessica longer than he had been with her. It made sense. She couldn’t fault him for choosing to sleep with both of them. Why, then, did she feel so deceived and confused? Why were they having such a heated argument?

  “Alexander,” Dana finally said.

  “Yes?” He looked at her.

  “Why are we fighting like this? Clearly, neither of us has really done anything wrong.”

  Alexander nodded in agreement. He planted his face in his hands, rubbing it vigorously and sighing. He lifted his head and looked Dana in the eye.

  “I think that both of us have allowed our feelings to get more involved in this situation than either of us wanted.”

  Dana’s stomach sank. “I think you’re right.” She sat back down across from Alexander, who moved to the seat next to her. Together they sat for a moment in another of the many pregnant silences that punctuated their conversation.

  “I let myself get attached to the idea that your loyalty to our agreement meant something more,” Alexander confessed. “But on a more personal note, it’s rare that I meet somebody who I feel can really ‘hang’ with me. You’re one of those people, Dana. So I confess that I liked the idea of you being around a lot.”

  Dana sighed. “And I had a lot of thoughts that seem –“ she laughed at herself. “ Incredibly naïve looking back. Like the idea that because we got more comfortable with each other as we went along, that actually meant that we were developing feelings for each other.”

  Alexander chuckled uncomfortably. He took another swig of scotch, then turned and looked at Dana in the eyes.

  “Maybe we’re both just trying to admit that we developed feelings for each other. Strip away the complicated analyses and that’s what it boils down to.”

  Dana was silent. She knew Alexander was right. It was strange to hear it from his lips, though. She didn’t want to tell Alexander, but now she wasn’t so sure of those feelings, especially after her incredible night with William. She simply felt more at ease with him. She felt more respected and more appreciated. William was kinder, gentler, and simple in his motives. She liked Alexander – she admired his intelligence, his work ethic, his incredible good looks and swagger that combined into a demeanor that was irresistibly sexy – but felt now that he was too cold and distant.

  Alexander interrupted her thoughts.

  “I’m afraid that I can’t act on those feelings,” his voice sounded heavy with emotion in a way Dana had never heard from him before. He looked Dana in the eyes again. “I’m married to my work. I don’t have the time or the energy.”

  “That’s okay,” Dana replied, not wanting to rub her preference for William in his face. “I understand, and I wouldn’t want to demand that of you.”

  Alexander smiled. “You know me well enough to know, I see.” He continued to look at Dana, fleeting glimpses of emotion filling his eyes. He rested his hand on Dana’s. Though she let him, she couldn’t stop thinking about Alexander and Jessica. Why would she ever settle for an ‘arrangement’ with someone who would never stop seeing other women when she had someone who wanted her without any of the strings that ironically came with ‘no strings attached’?

&
nbsp; “I guess this is it for us, then,” she said. “There’s no way we can keep going. It’s turned into something completely different.”

  Alexander nodded. “I’m strangely sad. But I won’t bug you with that. I’ll miss you, Dana.” He squeezed her hand.

  A sad smile spread across Dana’s face. “I’ll miss you too.” But this is the right thing to do.

  She stood up. Alexander followed her. They shared a quick embrace.

  “Thanks for the company,” Alexander whispered.

  “Thanks for everything,” Dana replied. Even the bittersweet things. “You taught me so much.” She let go of Alexander and grabbed her purse off the floor. She was just about to walk out the door.

  “Wait, Dana.”

  She turned around.

  “Do you want to screw around one last time before you go?”

  She thought about it for a moment, tempted.

  “No, thanks. You could always ask Jessica.” She turned her back toward Alexander and walked out of his office, not intending to return.

  “Goodbye,” she whispered as she turned the corner.

  ***

  Dana needed to clear her head. She had gotten into her car and driven toward the Pacific Coast Highway, but instead of heading north toward Malibu, she had headed south toward Santa Monica and parked her car at the Santa Monica Pier.

  Feelings of uncertainty had overwhelmed her during her drive. It still wasn’t clear why William had pulled Dana away from Alexander when he knew that they were sleeping together. She figured that he had either done it out of spite, jealousy, or a sense of competition; or that he had swooped in early to steal Dana away from him. She didn’t know enough to be sure either way.

  What she needed at that moment was a little time to herself. She took her strappy sandals off and squished her feet around in the sand, letting the cold water of the Pacific wet her feet. Up on the pier, she paced back and forth from end to end, pausing to watch the fisherman catch and gut small fish. She distracted herself with a Skee-Ball game in a seedy arcade, but didn’t win enough tickets to get anything larger than a Tootsie Roll. The diversions of the pier did nothing to stop her mind racing, so she gave in and went back down to the sand, where she sat and watched the sun fall over the water.