by Andi Simms
One night on an enormous yacht, schmoozing the parents of her sorority sisters and trying to forget that she’s got no idea how she’s going to pay next term’s tuition, Michelle’s problems might be solved when an obnoxious frat boy knocks her into the bay. The man who jumps in to save her has more money than sense, and wants to peel her out of her wet clothes. Getting an unconventional scholarship was never so delicious.
Love Boat Billionaire
- One Hot Semester -
By Andi Simms
Among the many places I never wanted to be, I’d have put a floating pier in four inch heels at the top of the list.
On a yacht with the overpuffed parents of my sorority sisters was probably tied.
And here I was, with my best friend’s hand firmly locked around my wrist and my stilettos clicked along the planking toward the idiotically named “Galavancia” and a hundred or so self-important, overly wealthy members of the Olive Oaks’ golf club.
The upside was that Di wasn’t making me jog. She might have done if we weren't in view of the spangle-clad women on the upper deck.
“You’re dragging your feet, Chelle.” Di said, glancing over her bare shoulder.
“Pretty sure that’s a physical impossibility in these heels.”
She finally slowed down, turning back to give me a good once over before wrapping her arm around mine and dropping her head to my shoulder. “You’re right. They’re gorgeous by the way. Someday, you’re going to have to tell me the secret of where you found them.”
“There’s no secret. I stole them from Andrea.”
Di shot me a sideways glance at the mention of our sorority treasurer. She was around so rarely, theft of her clothing was a little like adopting a neglected cat.
Pausing to have our names checked off the guest list, we slipped onto the crowded decking and, as usual, Di found us two tall flutes of very bubbly, very pink champagne.
She let out a groan of delight after the first sip. “Hunter always gets the best catering.”
“Funny, I haven’t seen you eat anything.”
“Hush. Someone will be around with a tray sooner or later.”
A moment later, the fabled server appeared, and I had to agree with her. Whatever they’d put in their olive tapenade was to die for.
My delight was not long lived.
Dianne let out a small whoop of surprise in the same instance I grabbed the handrail and the boat lurched--ever so slightly. We were headed toward open water.
“Remind me again how I let you talk me into this?”
“Because you love me.” When I shot her a glare, she brought her glass to her lips and smiled. “Because you owe me and I need to get laid.”
It didn’t surprise me in the least that her salacious glance raked over one of the men in a starched white shirt holding a tray of salmon mousse cups.
“I’m sure whichever of these guys you pick, they’ll be glad of your particular brand of tip.”
“It’s their tip I’m concerned with.” She waggled her perfectly painted brows and led the way to a less crowded spot by the railing. “Now, let’s talk about me not being the only one getting laid tonight.”
I’d known this was coming.
She was already scanning the crowd and I said nothing. It would do her some good to fail every once in awhile.
***
The man in front of me was exactly the sort that made sure I stayed away from these sort of events.
Di knew that. She was trying to play interference, bless her, but his head was made of marble… and probably full of the loose, glass variety as well.
They quickly shuffled the conversation, this time to their latest golf scores. Leaning on the railing, I looked out into the dark, the only difference between the sky and the sea in the distance was the stars. Above, pinpricks of light. Below, squiggled reflections broken by waves.
“It’s smaller than this one, obviously,” David--I thought, I wasn’t sure it mattered--said. “But I’d love to take you for a pleasure cruise sometime.”
Of course he had a yacht. If there was someone on this boat who was more than one order removed from a yacht, I’d throw myself overboard.
A flash of white drew my attention over David’s shoulder.
The man walking toward us--and there was no way he wasn’t headed for us--was the sort that broke the crowd like a shark in one of those glittering schools of fish that flit about beneath the black water.
He was gorgeous.
He looked pissed.
“Shit.” Di’s curse came a second before she snatched the champagne out of my hand and drank it in one gulp.
“Hunter, what have we done to earn a visit from the God King of Olive Oaks?”
“I’ll remember to have that printed on my next business card, Miss Faust.”
I watched as the other men attempted to fall all over themselves--a curious dance of one-ups-man-ship and grovelling--and Hunter listened in silence, jaw twitching.
As soon as they stopped talking, he ignored them, his gaze shifting to me. Suddenly, I had nothing to do with my hands.
“You haven’t introduced me to your date,” he said, clearly talking to Di.
Another beat of silence and I wanted to drag Di in front of me as a shield for that penetrating gaze.
“Right, sorry. This is my best friend, Michelle.”
He paused and this time his his question was directed at me, as was his hand. “Michelle….”
I took his hand and smiled as I shook it. “A girl’s gotta have some secrets.”
Thankfully the boring boys took up the mantle of the conversation as soon as I let go of him. He was listening to them. I knew, only because he answered all of their questions and added the requisite sounds of agreement or irritation. His gaze was locked firmly on me and all I could think was: This guy is cataloging me.
Well, the joke was on him. Because I was getting out of there as soon as possible.
It did not matter that his shoulders were broad, that his muscles were clearly visible, even under the--no doubt expensive--dress shirt. It didn’t matter that his lips were that perfectly kissable full.
“You’re staring at his mouth.” Di had leaned in her words were low enough amid the echoing conversations around us.
Smiling--a gesture I’m sure he took as a good omen of his chances--I brought my hand up, cupping it to hide my lips. “Turnabout is fair play. Also, I’m making a mental list of all the reasons he’s not getting into my pants.”
“You’re not wearing pants. And, no point in letting a test drive pass you by just because you know you aren’t going to buy the car.”
Di moved away again, grabbing herself another drink. The fact she neglected to grab me one too was not what had me watching her. She was nervous. Whatever she said about me jumping the guy’s bones, there was something else I didn’t know.
Danger was something she liked about sex. I didn’t share the sentiment.
“I think we’re boring them,” D number one said, looking at her with a sheepish smile. “I was telling her about my ship earlier. I mean, she’s nothing compared to yours.”
That statement was accompanied by a sweeping look around the deck. And I looked at Di--who wouldn’t meet my eyes.
Of course she wouldn’t. Pushing me to have sex with one of these stuck up pricks was one thing. Pushing me to fall into bed with the man who owned, not just this boat, but the Olive Oaks golf course too… that was tantamount to a breach of the friendship contract.
“You don’t like them do you?” Hunter asked and I glanced briefly between the brothers.
Even unsure as I was as to whether he was talking about yachts or the Berring brothers, the answer was the same. “No.”
His smile told me he could guess the duality of my answer.
“How,” D number two asked, “could you not love being out here, the fresh salt air, the sound of the sea, it’s magnificent.”
He swept his arm out and I stepped back to avoid his hand impacting with my face… right into the hard railing.
And then I was falling....
The last thing I heard before I hit the water, was a half dozen gasps fading into the engine thrum.
***
Fuck.
When I broke the surface, blinking away the cold water, I heard commotion and even though the ship was already further away than I would have guessed, I saw the man climb onto the rail and dive in after me.
The engines died.
Hair pulled back away from my face, shivering, I felt like a drowned rat.
Panic struck my mind and I patted my hips a moment before remembering Di had my phone.
“Thank God.” I pushed my hair out of my face and kept treading water, not sure how I was going to get back to the boat.
The man who’d dived off after me finally got close enough I could see him.
I’d thought it would be a waiter or some other life-guard style employee….
Not the man who owned the damn boat.
“I’m not going to let you drown.” Hunter said as he slid a hand around my waist and pulled me close.
Frustration had me laughing. “Drowning is the least of my worries.”
Even with his support, my feet were too heavy to keep myself treading. Of course, he knew.
“Hang on to me, or lose the shoes.”
“They’re not mine.” I couldn’t send them to the bottom of the bay.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, my legs around his waist.
The water might be cold, but I certainly wasn’t anymore.
Shifting--which only made it worse--I said, “Um… thank you for coming after me.”
“Anyone would have.”
Brows raised, I studied his face. “So I’m imagining this private midnight swim with you and the rest of your guests dove head first into potentially-eel infested waters to save me too?”
“Maybe you’ve died and gone to heaven.”
Eyes darting to his lips, I licked mine. “Maybe.”
He was exactly the sort of man I never wanted to find myself in the arms of… and yet, all I could think about was kissing him. He wasn’t a knight in shining armor--one of those would have sank, dragging us both to the bottom of the bay. But I had a pretty good idea of how much each item of clothing he wore cost, and rich or no, I’d seen men wearing less money wince at the idea of a puddle.
“You okay?” he asks me, and I realize I’ve been staring at him.
Shaking my head at myself, I say, “Fine, just wondering how long we have before your boat turns around and gets us.”
My skirt was too short for the position we were in, a quick tug of a zipper and a thin scrap of fabric pushed aside, and I could add myself to the list of women he’d had screwed in unconventional places. A list I was certain could have spanned the distance between us and the slowly approaching boat…. A boat with all it’s passengers hanging over the edge of the railings… looking at us.
Unconventional and very public.
Brows pinched, he went from studying my face, to glancing over my shoulder. “Don’t worry, We’ll go in off the back deck. You won’t have to deal with any of them until you’re dry.”
“I’d rather not have to deal with them at all.”
His hand on my back was warm, his smile too. Both sent dangerous feelings through my spine. His smile was genuine, but I didn’t trust it for a second. Pretty sure he could tell.
“Want to follow me?”
I didn’t want to let go of him, a fact that was as disconcerting as it was asinine. Untangling my legs, I pushed away from him. “Lead the way.”
The “back deck” as Hunter had termed it, was like a porch hanging off the stern of the ship. Covered so that, luckily, no one above witnessed my pushed up skirt when Hunter reached down and hauled me bodily out of the water, completely ignoring the fact I could have managed the ladder on my own.
Righting the fabric wasn’t as easy as it should have been. I was going to have to buy my sister new shoes.
Another six hundred dollars added to my ever increasing debt.
Lovely.
“Come on,” Hunter said, leading me through the heavily sealed door.
He’d lost his shoes.
The thought hit me when I looked down at the carpet we were ruining. He must have seen me looking.
“They were too heavy out in the water.”
He said it so nonchalantly, as if kicking off a pair of designer shoes and letting them sink was no loss. Then again, I had to remind myself who he was.
One pair of designer shoes was nothing to a Billionaire.
His smile looked too practiced.
The one I sent back was weak.
“You’re shivering. Let’s get you into some dry clothes.” He pushed open a door in the back wall.
The first thing I saw made me stop in my tracks.
A shower.
I could picture myself in it, wrapped around him the same way I had been in the water, no clothes or saltwater between us. My back pressed against the tile, him slowly sliding--
No. that was definitely not a place I needed to go.
“Are you both alive?”
Di rushed in and looked me up and down.
“Oh, honey. Get in that shower right now. I don’t want you dying of hypothermia before you help me pass the O-Chem midterm.”
She looked between us and her worry vanished from her face.
Snapping open her purse, she handed over my phone before turning to Hunter. “You, take care of her. I don’t want to see her on deck until after we make it back to the dock.”
And then she left.
He watched her until she closed the door behind her, and then crossed to a compartment in the wall, pulling out a black, button up shirt.
“Shower’s all yours. I’d put your dress on the towel warmer.” He handed me the shirt. “We’ve got another three-or-so hours before we get back into port…”
With an apologetic smile, he closed the door behind him, and I looked at the shower, shivering.
I snicked the door lock and hung the shirt on the peg.
First, I’d clean up. Then, I’d worry about what to do with the man in the other room.
***
When I stepped out again, he was sitting on the sofa in the lounge, a heavy tumbler in his hand, a scowl locked on the dark window.
“I’ve been thinking.” He said, not looking at me yet. “We have hours to kill, and I’m willing to negotiate.”
“Negotiate.”
Nodding, he turned to me. “Twenty grand.”
Twenty grand to…. My hands went numb.
“I’m not a…”
“I know. But I did a little research while you were in there. I know you need the money.”
I didn’t have the ability to deny that. Men like him could find out anything they wanted to know with a single phone call.
“I have money and I want you.” He stood and set the glass on the table. “You might not like me, but you want me… and I’m willing to give you anything you want to feel those legs wrapped around me again.”
It was a lot of money… and it was just one night.
If Di was here, she’d push me straight onto Hunter’s cock.
And I was three thousand dollars short of this year’s tuition.
“Okay.” I hand him my phone, open to the account information on my banking app.
He paused thumbs hovering over his phone. “Are you on birth control?”
“Yeah.” I didn’t add the ‘duh” that echoed in my mind. I was in college. Birth control was almost a prerequisite.
“I’ll add ten grand if we skip the condom.”
God that was a terrifying prospect.
“I am clean. I promise.”
Was ten grand worth the risk? How much was?
“Another fifty.”
He smiled. A feral thing that had me questioning how much I could have gotten out of him if I’d reached higher.
“Done. Check your account.”
My phone had buzzed and I opened the bank app from the lock screen.
Money received.
Setting it down, I turned to him, and “Okay. I’m yours.”
He trailed a hand down my neck, pressing under the collar of the borrowed shirt and moved toward my shoulder, taking the satin with him.
It slithered down my body to the floor.
His hands followed with it, down to the band of my thong.
With a hooked finger, he slid them down and I stepped out of them for him.
He looked at my underwear. Black lace with tiny embroidered, “Peaches… well, now I know what to call you when I don’t want anyone to know your name.”
Completely naked in front of him, with the glass windows to the bay behind me, there was no hiding anything. But right now wasn’t the time to think about the five pounds I needed to lose, or that embarrassing tattoo.
I was just thankful I’d waxed.
Working at the button of his pants, I freeze when he takes hold of my wrists.
“Not yet.”
He leads me to the bed and turns me around so I fall onto it on my hands and knees.
“Don’t you want me to suck your cock?”
“Yes, I definitely do. But we can save that for later.” He slid his hand down my thigh, moving me until I was fully open to him. “But I’ve been craving a taste of this pretty pussy since I first saw you, and I don’t think I’ll be willing to wait to slide my cock in you once I’ve had you on my tongue.
But we hadn’t set any terms in relation to time or other end points.
How many times did he expect me to make him come.
His tongue worked into me, slicking my pussy lips, sliding through them to swirl around my clit and then sweeping up as though he was trying to lap me up. With my face against the bed, I was all but helpless. And my hands were useless.
He sucked my pussy lips, using his tongue like another finger, caressing my pussy.
