ROMANCE: The French Billionaire (A Dark New Adult Billionaire Romance) (Billionaire Romance,Contemporary Romance,Untamed Billionaire,Short Stories)

by Cartwright, Lisa

  Just then, the hosts of the party stood up to make speeches about the charities that were being sponsored that night. Then, they invited everyone to dance. Jayden turned to Mia and held out his hand. She accepted, and he lead her to the dance floor, where he pulled her into a slow waltz. Jayden was a skilled dancer, and soon they were whirling around the dance floor, the other couples just a blur of flowing silk and black suits.

  “This is fun,” Mia said. “I’ve never been a good dancer, but you make it feel easy.”

  “Thank you,” Jayden said. “I was forced into cotillion when I was young. I guess that’s where I learned everything.”

  They continued to chat amicably until Mia felt a firm hand on her shoulder. She turned around to find herself looking straight into Xander Will’s deep brown eyes.

  “Sorry, Jay, d’you mind if I cut in?” he said, his eyes still on Mia. “Your date’s the belle of the ball tonight. I didn’t want to miss out on a chance to dance with her.”

  “Whatever you want, boss,” Jayden said irritably.

  “So,” Xander said with a flirtatious glint in his eye. “Tell me something about yourself, Sarah. You look absolutely stunning tonight, but you seem so.. mysterious.”

  “Well, Mr. Will, that’s probably because I’m not one of those secretaries that follows you around like a lost puppy, hoping you’ll pet me.”

  “My secretaries do not do that!” Xander replied indignantly.

  “They most certainly do. But that’s alright. I can’t say I blame them. I just wish they had a little more dignity. But anyway… Something about myself? I’m really not that interesting… I grew up in California, went to business school in Los Angeles, and then moved here when I was twenty-one, hoping to live out my dreams in New York City, thinking it would be life changing. But mostly I’ve just been doing boring secretarial work.”

  “Surely you’re capable of more than that.. You seem intelligent, Sarah, and you’re charming and beautiful on top of it. What were those dreams you came here to pursue?”

  “I don’t know.. I just wanted to be the one running the meetings, instead of taking notes at them, or grabbing the bosses’ coffee. I think I could do more than just answer phones and type, you know? Or actually, you probably don’t. You’ve never been a secretary. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to complain to you. I should be thankful I have any job at all, and you just wanted to have a fun night.”

  Xander put a finger to her lips in a playful way, and Mia was surprised at the intimacy of the gesture. “It’s all right,” he said. “Just dance with me. I know how it feels to be constantly working, never feeling like you’re getting where you want to go… I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I’ve had to work very hard to get where I am, and to stay there. Just relax and enjoy being the most beautiful girl in the room.”

  The party was starting to clear out, but Mia and Xander were still dancing. A friend of Xander’s came over and gently tapped him on the shoulder. “Just so you know, it’s almost one in the morning,” he said. “I think they are going to want everyone to clear out of here soon.”

  “I guess that’s my cue to leave,” Mia said.

  “Wait,” Xander replied. “Can I at least get your phone number? I love talking to you. You’re… easy to be around. I don’t have many people like that in my life.”

  The pair pulled out their smartphones and quickly traded numbers. “Where do you live?” Xander asked.

  “Downtown, about twenty blocks south of here.”

  “Damn, I’m headed in the opposite direction, otherwise I’d offer to take you home. I’ll call you a car, though.”

  Mia watched as the city lights flew by outside the window of her town car. She was feeling tired from all the dancing, and had to force herself to keep her eyes open. No matter how long she lived here, she would never get used to the beauty of the twinkling skyline at night, and she always tried to absorb it all.

  Lillian had been right, it had been incredibly easy to get Xander interested in her. She’d barely even had to do anything, other than make eye contact and respond when he talked to her. She was surprised, though; he’d been nicer to her than she’d anticipated. She still thought he was a horrible womanizer, after all, he’d just barely broken up with Lillian and he was already trying to flirt with her. But she was starting to understand why women were so charmed by him.

  Her phone buzzed, and she looked down to see that Xander was calling her.

  “Already?” she thought.

  But she figured she might as well answer, the sooner she truly seduced him, the sooner she could break his heart and be done with this case.

  She picked up the phone. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Sarah,” he said. “I know this may seem… soon. And very impulsive. But I have a request for you.”

  “What is it?” Mia asked, slightly bewildered.

  “Would you want to come out of town with me this weekend? My girl– er, the person I planned the trip with, uh, she canceled on me. And I would really like to get to know you better. Please say yes.”

  “That sounds wonderful, Xander. Yes, I would love to spend the weekend with you.”

  ***

  Chapter 5

  Xander had decided to take her out to the Hamptons for a weekend, and a car pulled up in front of her apartment around nine in the morning. The chauffer stepped out and opened the door for her, and Mia stepped in, not totally sure what to expect.

  Xander was sitting in the back, looking much more relaxed than usual in chinos and a polo instead of his usual work suit. He held out a piping hot coffee and a bag containing a blueberry scone. “I got you some breakfast for the road,” he said. “I hope you like caramel macchiatos. I didn’t know what coffee you usually drink so I figured that was a safe bet.”

  “Thank you,” Mia said. She decided that there were definitely worse things in the world than seducing beautiful, rich men who brought her breakfast. “So what are we doing today?”

  “I thought I would take you to my favorite beach in Southampton. It has one of the most beautiful ocean views you’ve ever seen. I know you’re from California and everything, but we have some pretty incredible coastline here, too.”

  Mia laughed. “I’ll believe that when I see it,” she said. “I grew up going to Newport Beach on the weekends. That will be pretty hard to beat. But that does sounds fun.”

  Xander had been right, the beach was amazing. There were miles of beautiful white sand, and lucky for them, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. “I stand corrected,” Mia said. “This is really wonderful.”

  Xander gave her a playful little shove. “See, I told you,” he said. “And I have a surprise for you.” He pulled two bottles of top-notch white wine and a picnic basket from the back of the car. “I thought this might be more fun than going out to lunch. I had my personal chef at home make us some sandwiches, and I think there are fresh strawberries in there as well.”

  “Do you do this for all the girls, or is it just me?” Mia asked jokingly. Xander’s face fell.

  “I wasn’t going to tell you this, but I actually just broke up with my girlfriend,” he said.

  Mia tried to force her face into a surprised expression. “I’m so sorry to hear that,” she said, keeping her voice high and girlish in hopes that it would sound sympathetic. “I had no idea.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “It was a long time coming, I guess. I was pretty horrible to her, always flirting with other girls and stuff. But we fell out of love a while ago. There was no spark there anymore. It just wasn’t worth it.”

  “Well,” Mia said, flirtatiously, “Let’s drink to new beginnings, then.” She grabbed the bottles of wine and ran down towards the beach, her long hair streaming behind her in the sea breeze. Xander stood there for a moment, appreciating the view, and then ran after her.

  Two hours and several glasses of wine later, Mia and Xander were feeling uninhibited, to say the least. In fact, they had been getting along wonderfully. Xander was surprising
ly funny, and he had a sarcastic side that Mia had not anticipated at all. “So, are you enjoying your day out?” he asked her.

  “I actually really am,” Mia said, actually meaning it. She was starting to feel bad for what she was going to do to him. But then, she remembered Lillian, and how upset she had been, and decided it was justified.

  “I’m so glad you’re here. This may sound strange, but you’re the first person in a long time that I feel like I can truly relax with. When I’m in the city, I feel like I’m always trying, you know? Like I have to live up to what everyone expects me to be,” Xander said.

  “But you always seem so confident. That’s what everyone loves about you - it seems like you’re not trying.”

  “That couldn’t be farther from the truth. I inherited this company at twenty when my dad passed away - I had no idea what I was doing. I was far too young to be running a business, especially one this big and this important. I didn’t have anyone to guide me at all, and at the time I was actually pretty shy. It was sink or swim, and I decided losing myself was okay if it meant I was still swimming.”

  “Wow, I didn’t realize that. It just always seemed like everything came really naturally to you.”

  “Not at all. I sacrificed a lot of things that were important to me in order to be successful. I used to have a lot of friends– real ones, not people that I pretend to be friends with for professional reasons, or girls I just hook up with. Somewhere along the way I lost all that. It’s amazing how you can be surrounded by people all the time and still be lonely, you know?”

  “I do. I can actually really relate to that,” Mia said. This was bad. Now she was starting to feel sorry for him. Snap out of it, Mia, she thought. He just wants to sleep with you. There’s no way any of this stuff is true. But she wasn’t sure how much she even believed that.

  The sun was starting to set by now, and the beach was starting to clear off. “Hey,” Mia said, putting her hand on Xander’s arm. “Why don’t we go get another drink.”

  They found themselves in a dark, smoky pub, full of rowdy townies and college kids dancing and playing pool. “This is totally not a place I would expect you to go,” Mia said as Xander grabbed them some vodka shots from the bartender.

  “This is the best kind of bar,” Xander said. “Everyone’s just here to have a good time. Also, no one knows or cares that I’m the CEO of Will Golden, so that’s a plus.”

  “Except me, of course,” Mia said with a wink. “I hope you trust me with your secret.”

  “You, and no one else,” Xander said.

  He sat down at a booth in the corner of the bar, and grabbed her waist and pulled her to him. All of a sudden, Mia was very aware of how close they were, and his arm around her. She wondered what it would be like to kiss him, but shook the thought out of her head. Don’t get too involved with this, she thought. You’re just doing this for Lillian. That’s all.

  Xander grabbed his shot and raised it for a toast. “Oh god,” Mia said. “I haven’t done shots since college. What are we drinking to?”

  “Us,” Xander said, and they downed their shots as quickly as they could.

  “That was terrible,” Mia said, shaking her head. “There’s a reason usually stick with wine.”

  “But don’t you feel so much better now?”

  “You know, I kind of do.” And it was true. Mia was starting to feel the warmth moving through her body, her muscles loosening up. “You’re a terrible influence, Mr. Will.”

  “Oh, you don’t know the half of it,” he said with a grin. “Why don’t we head back to the hotel, and I’ll show you just how bad of an influence I can be.”

  Mia knew she should be appalled by the cheesy line, and that going back to the hotel was a terrible idea, but she was starting to feel really drunk, and she was really intrigued by Xander.

  “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go. Before you get me even more drunk.”

  They wandered through the streets of the Southampton, laughing as they held on to each other for balance. Finally, they reached the hotel, a tasteful old inn that was a favorite of wealthy Manhattanites on vacation. Xander had booked them a large corner suite on the top floor, with a big bay window facing the beach.

  They fell on the bed almost as soon as they were in the door. Xander kissed her deeply, and instead of resisting like she knew she should, Mia kissed him back. After that, things started to blur together, and before Mia knew it, they were having sex, and she was enjoying it way more than she’d ever intended to.

  “You were very hard to get than I thought,” he whispered to him, trying to seduce her even more.

  “Am I really?” she asked, amused. Mia wasn’t able to resist him anymore. She wanted the way Alexander Will feasts on her body. Surprisingly, the trace of Lillian’s memory vanished at the moment.

  Naked and hungry for each other, both of them savored the gratifying sensation of what they could possibly call a one-night stand.

  “Oh, Xander,” she gasped submissively as he started to dig deeper, and thrust majestically to feel her. “This is… We shouldn’t…”

  He kissed her roughly, to stop her from protesting. Alexander stares at her with deep, seducing eyes, and she knew by then that she was already captivated by him. He continued to push himself inside of her, trying to weigh how far he could go. Ohh… she thought.

  Alexander’s hand travels around her skin, cupping her full breasts greedily. “Damn, Sarah,” he said, appreciatively. “You’re trying to cross my line, but I like it,” he continued, then softly sucks one of her nipples, while going deeper and deeper.

  Sarah’s body burns madly. This is all wrong, but she just can’t help it. He is too gorgeous, too beautiful, and divine. Soon enough, she found herself voluntarily following his rhythm, unable to control her aching body anymore.

  “Fuck!” he howled in gratification. “Oh Sarah…” he whispered , gritting his teeth.

  She smiled at him pleasantly, full of desires and thirst. Abruptly, Alexander went back to own her lips, invading her mouth possessively and biting her neck at a time. When Mia closed her eyes, she felt him freeing himself, his lips going down to her sex. Oh, no! He wouldn’t–? She breathed in panic, but the sensation of his soft tongue eventually soothes her aching piece.

  “Oh, Damn! This is crazy!” she let out, squirming at his sweet torture.

  She found him staring at her with a mischievous, satisfied grin. Slowly, he eases one of his fingers inside and teases her clitoris. “Oh, baby. You’re even more beautiful when you’re wet,” he whispered, watching her while she glory in pleasure.

  “I-I can’t hold it any longer,” she panted, her legs feeling numb and rigid.

  She clasped the pillow above her, and scratched Xander’s back with her other hand. He knew she is finally meeting her orgasm, so, abruptly, he guided himself inside her sex once more, and continuously pushed his enormous muscle without any mercy. His eyes were dark, and dangerous, yet quite engrossing to look at.

  “AH! Xander! Oh, don’t stop!” Sarah whimpered, completely exploding and releasing her climax. She felt the sweet, sweet secretion of her delicate piece, and finally, she lost all the strength to keep up with his pace.

  It didn’t take long when the lovely man found his release too. She called out her name, and collapses on top of her in a complete satisfaction and wonder.

  Mia lay in bed after it was over and Xander had passed out, knowing she should feel guilty, but she couldn’t bring herself to feel anything other than exhaustion. She slowly passed out into a drunken slumber.

  Chapter 6

  “Wake up, sleepyhead. I ordered room service,” Xander said, opening the curtains.

  “Ughhh, it’s too bright. And too loud,” Mia said. Her head was throbbing from all the alcohol. She sat up slowly, and opened her eyes to a massive buffet on a tray table next to her. There were scrambled eggs, fresh orange juice, and big, fluffy pancakes.

  “I hope you like it,” Xander said, looking uncharac
teristically nervous.

  “Of course I like it!” Mia said. “This is the perfect hangover cure. That’s very sweet of you, Xander. Thank you.”

  “I went and talked to the chef downstairs and asked him to make you the perfect Sunday morning breakfast. He’s done some of the food for Will Golden events in the past. He’s really very good.”

  “Wait,” Mia said. “How are you not in a hungover!? How did you have the energy to get up and talk to the chef? I don’t think we even fell asleep until after two last night.”

  “Well, you were too drunk to realize, but I was drinking water in between the wine and the shots. I assumed you were doing the same, but clearly I was wrong.”

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve been that drunk. Clearly, my partying skills are a little rusty.”

  Xander laughed at her, though not unkindly. “Come on, eat your breakfast and get dressed. I have another surprise for you this afternoon.”

  Mia was starting to wonder if she should go through with Lillian’s plan. Sure, Xander had done some horrible things, but he also seemed like he was incredibly lonely and sad, and she didn’t want to make that worse. Plus, he was treating her like a princess and she couldn’t remember the last time any man had done that for her.

  Xander’s surprise turned out to be that he actually owned a small island off the coast of Southampton. They walked over to a pier from the hotel, where Xander had chartered a boat to take them over to see it.

  “I wasn’t even going to show you this originally, because I think it kind of makes me seem like a pompous asshole. But my family’s owned this island for generations. My great-grandfather built a little beach house over here almost a hundred years ago, and the land’s just been passed down through the family. It’s my favorite place in the world,” he said.

  The boat ride took about twenty minutes, and if the breakfast hadn’t cured Mia’s hangover, this certainly did. The wind blew through Mia’s hair and hit her in the face, making her feel strangely alive in a way that was rare for her. They got off the boat and found themselves on a small beach surrounded by trees. There was a path up off of the beach that lead to a small, but charming little house.