Charming: A Cinderella Billionaire Story

by Sophie Brooks

  “He is a really great guy,” I said, looking down at my gloved hand in hers. I wondered if it was fair to confide in her about my love life. She was my little sister. But she was also my best friend. “Sometimes I can’t believe a man like that is interested in me.”

  “Why? Don’t think like that.” She waited until I looked up into her vivid blue eyes. “You’re smart, hard-working, you’re funny, and let’s face it, you’re beautiful. Ford would have to be an idiot not to recognize those things in you. And he’s not an idiot. Why is it so hard to believe he likes you?”

  “It just is,” I said lamely. But her words made me wonder about something. Would I doubt Ford’s attraction to me if there wasn’t this huge secret between us? Dating a billionaire seemed daunting enough. Why did one of the darkest moments from my past have to be wrapped up in his history, too?

  Ford returned and asked us if we wanted anything to drink before heading to the airport. He indicated a coffee shop across the street. But Cara had eyes only for the storefront next to it that advertised Chicago souvenirs. “I want to get something for Janie. It’ll only take a few minutes.”

  “Just there and back, okay? We’ll wait here.”

  “Actually, I think I left something up in the room,” Ford said. “Something I wanted to give you. Come on, let’s go see if it’s still up there.”

  “You’ve already given me an amazing weekend,” I said, but I took the hand he offered.

  “What’s wrong with giving you things?” he said the moment the elevator doors closed around us.

  “I don’t have anything to give you back.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. You’ve given me an incredible weekend, too. Do you think I would have had anywhere near as much fun without you here?”

  “You could have brought anyone here with you.” I looked down at our legs, noticing how small my foot looked next to his big black boot.

  “And I chose you to bring here. What does that tell you?”

  “That you’re a nice man.” I glanced up at Ford when I said it, and I saw his eyes darken.

  “Wrong again,” Ford growled, and he pulled me out into the hallway of his floor. He was walking so quickly I had to struggle to keep up. “Would a nice man have said those things to you on the observation deck? Would a nice man have made you blush? Made you wet? Made you ache for my touch right there in public?”

  Before I could answer, he swiped the keycard and let us into his room. Grabbing my arm, he pulled me over to the large window overlooking the lakefront. Somewhere along the way he flipped my coat off.

  “Hands on the glass,” Ford barked and I obeyed, my body a mass of nerves standing on end, waiting for what he’d do next. “This is how you make me feel,” he said, and his fingers closed around my hips as he pressed himself against my ass. His erection felt hard and hot, even though the layers of clothing. “I’ve been hard for you almost the whole damn day. There’s nothing nice about that, is there?”

  Ford ground himself against my skirt, and I moaned, closing my eyes and leaning my head back to rest on his chest.

  “Eyes open,” he snapped. “And keep your hands up. And I’ll show you what I wanted to do to you right there on the fucking observation deck.” His arms wrapped around my waist and then he was cupping my breasts through the sweater, squeezing them, lifting them. It felt so damn good. I moaned again, pressing back against him, feeling his hard bulge throb against my ass.

  “Ford…” I murmured, but the sensation of his fingers cupping me, pinching my nipples made my voice trail off.

  “Tell me that nice is what you really want, and I’ll stop,” he said into my ear, and then his lips were on my neck.

  Oh god. I had to close my eyes, it felt so good. I could feel every inch of his warm, hard body pressed against me in direct contrast to the cold of the glass between my palms. Every time I tried to answer him, my words turned into a moan as his lips sent shivers radiating throughout my whole body. At last, I managed to form a sentence. “I don’t want nice.”

  “Good,” he growled against my throat. “Because you’re about to find out what I’ve wanted to give you all day.” With a final squeeze, he released my breasts, and I groaned from the lack of contact. But he ran his hand down my side, gathering up the fabric of my skirt, and then he was caressing my bare thigh. “Spread your legs,” he ordered.

  My pulse pounded between my legs as I did so. His hot body was still pressed against me, as if he might take me at any second, but my only focus was his hand as he rubbed his way higher and higher. If he didn’t speed up, I was going to explode.

  “Look at you, grinding back against me.” Ford’s voice was rough in my ear. “You pretend to be a bad girl on the phone. But I think you secretly want to be one.” As he spoke, one long finger pressed against my panties and I shuddered, wanting to feel more. Needing to feel more. “You’ve been waiting for the right man so you can do those things for real. So you can do all the naughty things that bad girls do. So you can have the fun they do.”

  Unable to help it, I pressed against his finger, rubbing myself against him. “See?” he said, his amused chuckle so close to my ear. He pushed my panties aside and suddenly he was pressing against my opening. “I can feel how wet you are. For me. Have you been like that all day?”

  Groaning, I writhed back and forth, wanting to feel him more.

  “Answer me,” he said, his teeth capturing my earlobe and tugging.

  “Yes,” I said, and he instantly ran his finger up and down my slit.

  “See? When you admit you’re a bad girl, good things happen to you. You get fingered in front of a window with thousands of people in the building across the way. On the street below. All of them being good and having boring days.”

  With effort, I focused my eyes and looked down at the street below. It was too high for anyone to see me. And the windows in the building across the street mostly had their blinds drawn. Most of them. Still… someone might be watching. Could they tell what Ford was doing to me? But then he plunged two fingers into me, and I cried out in shock. And in pleasure.

  Who the hell cared who was looking? My skirt was covering me from the front at least. And the things Ford was doing… I’d die if he stopped.

  “You like that?” he said, pumping his fingers in and out. “I wanted to do that earlier, when you were pressed against the glass. In front of all those people. People who thought you were a good girl, but I know you secretly want to be bad. With me.” His thumb found my clit, and I let out a voiceless gasp.

  “Come for me, Autumn. This is what I’ve been wanting to give you all day. I won’t stop until you scream.”

  And he didn’t stop, working his fingers into me relentlessly. I pressed against the glass, trying to survive the onslaught. Ford’s other hand supported me around the waist as he leaned over me, saying such nasty things. “If I could have, I would have taken you right there. I would now, if we had more time. Someday soon, Autumn, I’ll be standing behind you, filling you, pumping into to you so hard that you see stars—”

  With a cry I exploded, waves of pleasure shooting from my center outward. He stilled his fingers as I spasmed around him, clenching him, but his thumb pressed firmly against my clit even as I writhed around as if electrocuted.

  Panting, I slid further down the window, only his strong grip keeping me from crumbling to a heap on the floor. Ford leaned me against his chest, holding me until I could stand on my own. Barely. Still panting, I moaned slightly as he trailed his wet fingers across my thighs. Then he moved his hand and tugged at my skirt, putting it back into place.

  God, that had been amazing. Weakly, I looked up at him and parted my lips, but I still didn’t have control of my breathing yet.

  He smiled at the look on my face. “I take it you liked your gift?”

  I managed to nod.

  “Good,” he said. “Because that’s a gift I’ll be giving you repeatedly.” He continued to stare me in the eyes as he brought his fi
ngers to his mouth and licked them. “With you, one taste is never enough.”

  It was so hot, watching him lick my arousal off his fingers. But now that my senses were coming back to me, I realized that I wanted to give him a gift, too. Surely after the day we’d shared, he needed to come, too. But when I shyly reached for the button of his pants, he caught my hand in his and pulled me upright. “Gifts don’t always have to be reciprocal,” he said. “Come on, they’re waiting for us.”

  And as he pulled me across the room toward the door, as I sat blushing next to my sister in the car, and as I ate Chicago-style deep dish pizza on the plane ride back, my main thought was how the hell I had gotten so lucky. But since I had, I was going to enjoy every second of it.

  While it lasted.

  27

  Ford

  “Montgomery Media, Autumn speaking.”

  Wow. Her voice sounded sexy even when she was being 100 percent professional. Or maybe it was just me. My mind was pretty much always in the gutter when I talked to her. “Good morning.”

  “Ford! How are you?”

  “Good. And you?”

  “Well, Cara now sings songs from Hamilton from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to sleep.”

  “I guess you have me to blame for that.”

  “Or you to thank,” she said, and she sounded as if she was smiling. When I pictured her in my mind, she was smiling. “It was an amazing weekend. I can’t thank you enough.”

  “Not necessary,” I said. “You made it a very enjoyable weekend for me, as well.” Like when she’d come apart in my hotel room, all but collapsing with pleasure. Seeing her fall apart like that, from my touch, from my embrace, had been so fucking hot. I wanted to reduce her to that mindless, needless state again. Soon. But today I had a mission. “I’d like to take you to lunch, if you’re free.”

  “Today?”

  “Yes. I can pick you up at noon.”

  “I’m not wearing anything fancy.” She sounded a little apprehensive. What, did she think I ate in five star restaurants all the time? Well, okay, most of the time. But I could be, as Cara had so charmingly put it, a regular peasant, too.

  “You don’t have to wear anything fancy for me, Autumn. In fact, you don’t have to wear anything at all.”

  “You’re taking me to lunch at a nudist restaurant?” She sounded amused at the idea. But there was a catch in her voice that made me think her fair skin was flushed. Amazing that a woman who worked for Sultry Sirens could still blush about things.

  “I just meant in general. Naked is always a perfectly acceptable dress code around me. More than acceptable. But not today. I’ll see you at noon.”

  She was waiting outside the building when I pulled up. That was good. I liked Heidi, and I was overdue for coffee with her, but I wanted as much time with Autumn as I could get. I had a feeling I would need it to convince her to see things my way.

  But right now, I was just enjoying seeing her. As always, she looked gorgeous. As I walked around to greet her, I couldn’t help noticing how hot she looked. Professional, with her hair pulled back instead of floating around her shoulders as it usually did. She had on a thin white blouse I immediately wanted to unbutton and a navy pencil skirt. Her heels gave her an extra few inches of height but I still had to bend my head to kiss her.

  “No driver today?” she asked as I held the door to the SUV open. I was glad I hadn’t brought one of the sports cars. It was probably much easier to get into and out of a taller car in a tight skirts and heels. And I didn’t want to do anything to discourage Autumn from looking so hot. That thought made me remember how dazed she’d looked after I made her come on Sunday. In the car to the airport and on the plane ride home, she was in a daze. She looked as if she barely recalled her own name. And then I felt a brief stab of guilt—I’d known her name long before I ever talked to her or laid eyes on her.

  “How’s your day going?” Autumn asked as soon as I was in the car.

  “Fine,” I said, though it hadn’t been. I was about ready to drop-kick the members of my board off the roof of my building one by one. All except Garrett. He had my back just as he’d had my father’s.

  “So what restaurant are we going to?”

  Shit. I was hoping she wouldn’t ask that just yet. I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “We’re not going to a restaurant.” I pulled onto the road and then turned back to see her puzzled expression. But then she smiled. She thought I was teasing.

  “Still full from that deep dish pizza? I told you not to have a fourth slice.”

  I grinned at that. She and her sister had barely managed three slices of the thick gooey cheese and pepperoni pizza between them. Amateurs. But then the smile slid from my face. I wasn’t sure how she was going to take this next part. “I have something else planned. Something I want to show you.”

  “What’s that?” When I glanced over, she was looking at me curiously, perhaps taking note of my tone.

  “The thing is, if I tell you what it is, you’ll say no.”

  “Why would I say no?”

  “Because you’re a proud woman,” I said, and then winced. That hadn’t come out right. “I mean independent. And I get that. I admire that. But still, even independent young women need people who are on their side. Friends. Boyfriends.”

  She was silent for a moment. “Is that what you are?”

  “That’s what I’d like to be. Would you like that?”

  When I looked over, she was staring out the window. I wished I could see into her mind. Finally, she said, “Yes.”

  “Good,” I said, and only then did I realize I’d been holding my breath. Me—the guy who’d once broken up with a woman who referred to herself as my girlfriend in public. “So, as your boyfriend, I’d like you to do me a favor. I’d like you to listen to my idea with an open mind. I’m all out of tricks, Autumn. I can’t show up at your workplace and bug you until you agree—Heidi would have my balls. And I can’t spring this on you like a last-minute trip to Chicago. So please, just keep an open mind, okay?”

  Reaching my hand out, I picked hers up off her lap. She met my eyes as she squeezed my hand. “Okay, I will.”

  “Good, because we’re here.”

  “You can’t be serious.” Autumn looked tiny standing in the middle of the large space.

  “You said you’d keep an open mind.” I reminded her.

  “I am, but… look at this place. It’s incredible. There’s no way I could ever afford to live in an apartment like this.”

  “But you can. It’s subsidized. A percentage of the apartments are rented to people using a sliding scale based on their income.”

  “And you own the building?”

  “Davenport Industries owns this and several other properties.”

  “Which means you own it,” she said, but she wasn’t looking at me. She’d walked over to the sliding glass doors that opened to a balcony. The apartment was on the seventeenth floor and overlooked a local park. I moved over to her and put my arm around her. For a while, we both looked at the willow trees below us.

  When I couldn’t stand the silence any more, I made my pitch. “It’s in Cara’s school district. There’s more space. You wouldn’t have to share a bathroom. There’s a doorman on duty twenty-four seven. It comes with a parking spot in a private garage. You’d be safe here. No main doors propped open. No dimly lit hallways. No one breaking in and scaring you half to death.” And scaring the hell out of me, too, thinking I’d get there too late.

  We stood there for a few more minutes and then I led her through the rest of the place, showing her both bedrooms, the bathrooms, and the small laundry room. Her only comment was, “I’ve never had my own washer and dryer.”

  Back in the living room, she turned to face me, taking both my hands in hers. “Please tell me something. Truthfully.”

  Crap, what was this? But I nodded.

  “Is this just you paying for the apartment and charging me a small amount of rent so that I w
on’t feel like it’s a gift? Because there’s no way that monthly payment you quoted me even covers the entryway of this place.”

  “It really and truly is subsidized per your salary.” At least that much was true.

  “But isn’t there a huge waiting list to get in an apartment like this? For other people who couldn’t afford to live here otherwise?

  Shit. “Yes, there is a waiting list.”

  “And Cara and I are somehow at the top of it?”

  I looked her in the eye. “Yes.”

  “That doesn’t seem very fair to the other people on the list.”

  “That’s easily solved. I’ll have another apartment added to the subsidized ones. Then you’re not taking anyone’s spot.”

  She broke away from me, releasing my hands. “Ford… it’s very generous. And I’ve tried to listen with an open mind. But this is just too much. First there was the week in the hotel, and the door to our place, and the job, and Chicago…”

  “Stop,” I said, walking over to her and putting my hands on her shoulder. “You got that job by yourself. Because of your skills and abilities. Sure, I told Heidi about you. Why shouldn’t I have, since I knew that you’d be a good fit for her company? And Chicago was me taking my girlfriend and her sister on a nice trip. And it was a hell of a lot of fun.”

  “But this is too much,” she said, her voice a whisper. And suddenly I was angry.

  “You know what’s too much? You’re asking me to let a person I care about—two people I care about—live in a hellhole when there’s something I can do to change that. Men broke into your apartment, Autumn. While you were home. While Cara could have been home. Do you know what they could have done to you? Do you know what could have happened if the police hadn’t gotten there? Do you have any idea what it was like to listen to you, to hear how scared you were, and to know that at any moment, I might hear you cry out in fear or pain?”

  Releasing her, I stormed into the kitchen, glaring across the breakfast bar as she stood there looking at me in shock. I turned on the faucet intending to get a drink until I remembered that there weren’t any glasses.