by Lexi Aurora
“Yes, but she could get murdered there or catch some disease. You’re telling me that your libido is more important than her well-being? Besides, we both know that her living here won’t stop you. It’ll just make you feel like you’re in a relationship. That’s not a bad thing.”
“I don’t do relationships,” I said pointedly. “And neither does she. In that, I think we can both agree that we’re compatible.”
Miles snorted. “I’ve known you for more than three decades, and this is the first time that I’ve ever thought that you were a fool.”
I paused mid-sip and stared at him. “Excuse me?”
“If all you wanted was her body, you’d be over her by now. You’re not, and that should tell you something.”
He wasn’t wrong. It told me that I needed to stay as far away from Julie Dennings as possible.
As if on cue, her sneakers squeaked across the floor as she made her way to the kitchen. I had no idea what she was doing with the money that I was paying her, but it clearly wasn’t to buy new shoes. “Coffee,” she moaned as she entered the kitchen. “Oh, thank God.”
“Not God, although some women have said that I’m like a god,” Miles teased. “In bed, of course.”
Julie jumped in shock and grabbed her chest as she stared at us. “Oh. Hello. I didn’t know you guys were in here.”
“We’re getting a late start to the morning,” I muttered as I stood. “Here. Let me.”
She smiled beautifully as I reached for the coffee pot, and my heart lurched. “Late night?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“I had a date,” Miles announced. “Graham is an insomniac. I wonder what could be keeping him up these past few nights.”
“Ignore him,” I advised her as I poured the coffee. “He’s an idiot. I have a favor to ask you.”
Her eyes glazed over with pleasure as she took the first sip, and I watched in fascination. She was so pleased by the little things in life. Had I become so jaded that I couldn’t even enjoy a cup of coffee anymore? When she swallowed, she moaned a little. “You can have anything you want,” she said dreamily.
Anything? I raised an eyebrow, and she must have realized how seductive her words sounded. She ducked behind the cup. “I know that you don’t work on Saturdays, but I have a fundraiser that I need to attend. I RSVPed plus one, but my date has fallen through. Would you attend with me?”
I waited for Miles to make a sarcastic remark, but he remained strangely silent. Holding my breath, I waited to see how Julie would react. I’d already told myself that if she said no, I wouldn’t push the issue.
“I need to speak with Crystal to see if she’ll watch him,” she said slowly. “But if that’s not a problem, I’d love to attend.”
Relief swept through me. “He’s welcome to stay here.”
“No.” She shook her head. “No offense, but this place has a lot to offer a kid, and I don’t want him getting too comfortable here. I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be.”
“What do you mean?” My heart slammed against my chest. “Are you quitting?”
“Oh, it’s nothing that’s going to happen right around the corner. Tyler turns five at the end of the month, and I need to start doing research on schools. I want to be in a good district during the fall so he can attend some place that’s suited to his needs. I think he’s going to do really well in the right setting.”
“I’d be happy to pay for private school.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop and think, and I felt the invisible wall slam between us. Her eyes cooled considerable.
“I appreciate the offer, but I can pay for my own son’s education.”
I’d hit a sensitive spot, and I needed to tread lightly. “Of course. Let me know if I can be of any assistance. I did grow up here, and I’ll be happy to arrange some private interviews with the school staff if that helps you put your mind at ease. When you finish your coffee, will you meet me in my office? I have a few things that I’d like to go over.”
She seemed visibly relieved when I didn’t push the issue. “I’ll go ahead and text Crystal in case you need to find another date.”
I looked pointedly at Miles, but he just gave me a lazy grin. “Go ahead, cousin. I’ll keep Julie company while she finishes her cup of coffee. I have to admit that I’m a little turned on just watching her drink it. If she moans anymore, you could probably film it and turn it into a porno.”
“Idiot,” I hissed through my teeth. “I apologize for him. If he didn’t look like me, I’d swear he was adopted.”
Julie just laughed. “I don’t mind him at all. He makes me laugh.”
And I don’t. Feeling a little left out, I nodded my head and climbed the stairs. I knew that I didn’t need to worry about Miles seducing Julie, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel jealous. She barely knew Miles, and she was already comfortable around him. I’d enter the room, and she’d want to run.
When she knocked on my door twenty minutes later, I was on edge. I had no idea how to act around her, and I didn’t like feeling so frustrated. “Come in,” I growled.
“Is this a bad time?” she asked quietly as she opened the door.
I stood. “Close it and lock it.”
She obeyed without questioning why. For a moment, I thought she might flee, but there was a strange glint in her eyes as she walked to the desk. “I spoke to Crystal. She has no problems watching Tyler for the night. Is it okay if I wear the same dress from last week?”
“I’ll get you a new dress.”
“Would you deduct it from my paycheck? I can’t keep letting you buy me dresses,” she laughed.
I didn’t bother telling her that the dress I had in mind for her would cost her a whole month’s pay. I walked around the desk and leaned against it. “You like Miles.” It wasn’t a question.
“I do,” she admitted. “He’s charming and funny. It’s hard not to like him.”
“Is that all?”
Cocking her head, she studied me. “He cares for you a good deal. I like that as well. If you’re asking me if I’m attracted to him, the answer is no. When I look at him, I see you. He has your eyes, although they don’t carry as much weight as yours do. His hair is the same color, but I don’t want to run my hands through it.” She walked towards me and put a hand on my chest. “You have the same build, but I don’t think of him pressed up against me.”
“Christ, Julie.”
“That’s what you wanted to know, right? You think that I want you, but you’re not sure. There’s a part of you that maybe wonders if I want someone like Miles instead. After all, you two are night and day. He’s easy to be with, and you’re complicated. He makes me laugh and you make me spitting angry.”
I reached down and lightly cuffed her wrists. “So why aren’t you touching him?”
“I don’t want him, Graham. I want you.”
That was all I needed to hear. I lowered my lips to hers and reveled in her breathy moan as she parted her lips. I’d spent too much time away from her, and I was ravenous. In one swift move, I’d lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around me as I carried her to the desk. All the while, I never once broke the kiss.
I was rock hard and desperate to be inside her, but first I needed to taste her. Lowering her to the surface of the desk, ignoring everything that spilled off it, I slid a hand up her shorts and caressed the mound beneath her panties.
God help me, she was soaking wet.
“Graham,” she gasped and lifted her hips. “Please.”
“Please what?” I whispered. “Tell me what you want?”
“Everything. I want you to do everything.” Her voice was breathless, and I could hear the unspoken words between us.
While we still have time.
The very thought of her leaving me ripped a primal growl from my chest as I attacked the buttons of her shorts. She lifted her hips, and I ripped them down her legs, dragging her pink panties with them. The moment they hit the floor, I’d parted her le
gs and slid my tongue over her.
As Julie fell back hard against the desk, I licked her until her whimpers turned to guttural moans. She was so sweet, so responsive. I wanted to spend all afternoon right here, bringing her to orgasm over and over again.
“Graham,” she pleaded. “Oh God, I’m going to come. Please.” Her hips bucked against me, but I anchored her down and stroked her with my tongue through her shudders and screams. Only then did I stand and unbutton my pants.
“You’re mine,” I hissed as I spanned her hips with my hands. “Do you understand that? Mine.”
Pulling her to the edge of the desk, I entered her in one thrust. She was as tight and hot as I remembered.
She felt like home.
There was no finesse. I surged into her like a wild animal. With no regards for the future, I marked her with my teeth. I didn’t give a damn who saw it. Hell, maybe I wanted people to see it. I wanted people to know that she belonged to me, and I wasn’t about to let her go.
I barely held on until her muscles clamped around me as another orgasm took over, and it wasn’t until I found my own release and slumped over that I realized I was naked inside her.
Chapter Twelve- Julie
The dark maroon fabric shimmered over my body as it clasped behind my neck and flowed down my breasts, dipping low at my back, and cupping my hips before falling to my ankles. It cinched at my cleavage with a jeweled pin, and while I tried to tell myself that it was a rhinestone, I knew it was a diamond.
I’d never worn anything like it, and as I stared at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t help but feel like crying. There was a battle raging inside me. I wanted to enjoy these few fleeting moments with Graham, pretend that I could be his princess, but I also knew that it would be over soon, and while I might be in love with Graham Porter, he would never be in love with me.
Pressing my hand to my abdomen, I knew that chances were slim that he’d gotten me pregnant. There was a wild panic in his eyes even though his voice was calm as he explained that he’d forgotten the condom and came inside me. He asked me to keep him appraised of the situation. Logical. Cool. I knew that inside, he was terrified. Getting his personal assistant knocked up was not on his to-do list. Lucky for him, the timing just wasn’t right.
I’d borrowed a little make-up from Crystal. A little shimmer for my lips and some eyeliner and mascara so I didn’t stand out too much in what would be a crowd of glamorous women. Unfortunately, she had the most beautiful dark complexion, so I couldn’t use her foundation.
I’d even borrowed her curling iron and attempted some soft curls around my face. Of course now I sported a burn mark on my arm and the curls were limp, but at least I had tried.
Pathetic.
Everyone at the party would take one look at me and know that I was a fraud, but what could I do? I wasn’t about to give up a chance to spend another night in Graham’s arms.
He’d wanted me to get ready at his house, but I wanted that moment when he’d knock on my door. Now, as I stared at the buzzing light outside my window and the stains on the wall, I realized how ridiculous I was being. My neighbors would take one look at my dress and steal the thing right off me.
Graham no doubt knew that, but he indulged me. When I saw his car pull up in the parking lot, I smiled. He’d been different this week. Quiet and controlled but also a little softer. Part of me wondered if it was because he thought I might be pregnant, and another part hoped that maybe I’d just misjudged him. Maybe the cold exterior didn’t run as deep as I originally feared.
He’d barely knocked before I flung the door open. “I know I’m supposed to make you wait, but I don’t want anyone to try and steal your car,” I said hastily as I stepped outside and locked the door behind me. “I didn’t really think this whole thing through.”
I tried to hurry past him, but he grabbed my elbow. “Let me look at you.” His voice was soft as he stepped back and stared at me. “You really are beautiful, Julie.”
“Anyone would look beautiful in this dress,” I muttered. “And I put on a little bit of makeup.”
“I noticed. Now all I can think about is kissing you until your lips stop looking so delectable.” His fingers brushed over my burn mark, and he frowned. “What happened here?” Kissing it gently, he pulled me a little closer until he could claim my lips. It was a full minute before I could break free and explain about the curling iron.
He held out his arm, and I almost giggled as I accepted it. The whole thing was laughable. The billionaire bachelor was picking me up at the hooker motel.
“What’s the fundraiser for?”
“I believe it’s to raise money for the children’s cancer ward at the hospital.”
Confused, I stared at him. “You don’t know?”
“I receive a hundred invitations a week to charity events,” he admitted. “I gave Darleen free reign to filter them down to ten for me to peruse. It wasn’t until recently that I realized she was only sending me to fancy galas.”
“I haven’t seen any charity invitations.”
“That’s because I have them brought directly to me. I didn’t know you well enough to trust that you’d put some thought into it, and I was upset by Darleen’s methods. I wanted to make sure that I was more hands-on in some of the other events.”
He opened the door for me, and I thought I heard a strange clicking noise. Frowning, I turned my head and looked around, but I didn’t see a single soul in the parking lot with us. Sliding into the car, I waited for him join me. “What do you mean by hands-on?”
“I like working with my hands,” he said with a shrug. “Whether it’s building houses or volunteering at the wildlife center.”
It was hard to imagine buttoned-up Graham in his silk ties hammering wood together or shoveling manure. My silence must have spoken volumes for he laughed harshly. “You think I’m the kind of man who enjoys sitting behind a desk bossing people around.”
“Not at all,” I said quietly. “I guess I just didn’t think you understood that it’s okay to shed the Porter lifestyle every now and again.”
He was quiet, but it was a comfortable silence. When we arrived at the gala, all the butterflies returned to my stomach as I watched the women in beautiful dresses enter the hotel.
“Hey,” he said softly as he reached over and took my hand. “I won’t have you intimidated by anyone here, do you understand? There are going to be women in there who are like Darleen, and they’re going to be jealous.”
“Because I’m gracing the arm of Graham Porter instead of them?” I asked wryly.
“Because you are a genuine and beautiful woman.” He reached over and kissed me gently, and my heart skipped a beat.
Why couldn’t he have been someone just a little more attainable for me?
The valet opened the door and helped me out. I wasn’t alone long before Graham walked around and took my arm, but before we could enter the hotel, people swarmed us and flashbulbs went off in our faces.
“Are you Julie Dennings?” they shouted at me. “Is it true that Tyler Dennings is the son of Jonathan Bright?”
Shocked, I froze. It was like something out of a nightmare. For a moment, Graham’s arm loosened around me, and I pulled away. The questions continued as the press blocked my path into the building.
“Is it true that you were once engaged?”
“Are you living out of the Sunny Side Up Motel?”
“Are you working for Graham Porter or sleeping with him?”
“Does your son know who his father is?”
“Enough,” Graham snapped as he grabbed my arm and pulled me roughly back to the valet station. “Take her home,” he growled as gave them his address. The next thing I knew, they were pulling me into a service limousine. The door slammed shut behind, and I watched through the window as Graham pushed his way through the reporters and into the hotel.
Terrified that they’d find Crystal, I knocked on the window. “Excuse me. He gave you the wrong address. I need
to go to the Sunny Side Up Motel. I need to get to my son.”
The driver looked at me in disbelief, and for a moment, I thought he was going to ignore me. Fumbling with the buttons on the door, I finally got the glass lowered. “Please. I can’t let them get to my son. If you’re not going to take me, then you need to let me out, and I’ll call a taxi.”
“I’ll take you,” he said quietly. “But I don’t think Mr. Porter will be very happy.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said tightly. “I don’t think Mr. Porter is going to care one way or another where I end up as long as I don’t end up back in his life.”
I couldn’t think of Graham’s reaction to my dirty secret right now. The only thing more terrifying than the press discovering my secret was Jonathan discovering it, and I knew that if they put my picture in the newspaper, he wouldn’t be far behind.
When we turned into the parking lot, my heart sank. There was already a limo waiting, and I knew that Jonathan hadn’t followed the press.
They’d followed him.
Quickly, I reached for my phone. “I need you to do me a favor.”
Chapter Thirteen- Julie
Time had been good to Jonathan. The charming young man that I’d fallen love with had turned into a handsome man. He flashed a brilliant white smile to the driver as I got out of the car, and his dimples only deepened. He knew that I was spoiling for a fight, and he hadn’t wanted to create a scene. Instead, he smoothed his golden locks with one hand and reached for me with the other. “Julie. Thank God,” he whispered. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“Relax,” I muttered. “He’s just a valet driver at the Gala I was supposed to attend. He doesn’t work for Graham.”
The limo pulled away, and his smile vanished. “Graham Porter,” he said with an ugly twist of his mouth. “Was I not rich enough for you?”
“Look at where you’re standing, Jonathan. Does it really look like I’m living in the lap of luxury?”
He must have remembered that we were out in the open. As he looked around, he grabbed my elbow and led me to the stairs. “Where is my son?” he hissed.
