Bought: A Billionaire Romance (6 page)

Well, that was awkward. So awkward that we have managed to avoid talking about it for the entire walk to the diner. Still, at least I was a bit dehydrated and hadn’t eaten dinner yet. I was still pretty pumped from my squash game too. I must have looked ripped. That’s probably why it took her so long to close the door.

Keep it professional. You aren’t trying to screw this one…yet.

“So, you, err, play a lot of squash?” asks Clara with a forced casualness that suggests she’s still painfully aware of the fact she just walked in on me naked.

“I try to play at least once a week. I get the occasional game of basketball in now and then too. How about you?”

I can see the glowing blue neon of the diner’s sign now like a beacon of hope shining through the dark city street. Hopefully, in a few minutes, we’ll both have our mouths so stuffed with beef we won’t have to continue this awkward conversation

“I’m not really into sports. Swimming has always been my thing.”

I should have guessed. Clara looks like a swimmer.

“I was on the swim team in high school and managed to keep it up through college. Haven’t been able to find anywhere to swim in the city since I moved here,” she continues.

“Have you tried the gym up on 66
th
street? They’ve got a good pool there.”

“No. How much is it?” she asks.

“It’s quite reasonable for the area. About $150 a month I think.”

“ONE-FIFTY A MONTH!? You and I have different ideas of what constitutes ‘reasonable’,”

“You aren’t going to find much cheaper than that unless you want to swim out by the docks with the sewage and the industrial waste.”

“Living in the city is even more expensive that I thought it would be. Is this diner ‘reasonable’ too? Is it ‘only’ $30 for a burger and fries?”

I laugh. “No. Not that it matters anyway because I’m paying.”

“Well I won’t try to argue with you,” says Clara with a smile.

“What’s the point of hanging around billionaires if they don’t pay for meals now and then?” I say as I hold the door to the diner open and Clara enters.

The smell of food frying hits me the moment we enter. Damn, I’m hungry.

The place is decorated in imitation of those diners you always see in old movies, probably to try and draw the tourists in. I never see many tourists here but it’s still one of the best places I’ve found to get a burger in the city.

We sit down in a booth with red faux-leather benches and a few moments later the waitress appears.

“Mr. Ellis! Great to see you again,” she says, her chubby face beaming at me.

Oh well, time to find somewhere else to eat, probably need to cut down on the burgers anyway,
I think. It’s never as good once they start to recognize me.

“Can we get two chocolate milkshakes, two of the house burgers with fries and—”

“Wait,” interrupts Clara, “are you ordering for me?”

“Yeah, I thought it would be easier.”

“Well, I’m vegetarian, so…”

“We do a vegetable burger,” says the waitress, “would you like that instead?”

“Yes. Thank you,” says Clara.

Vegetarian. Of course she is. That explains why she’s so stressed all the time. I wonder how much more relaxed she would be with some steak inside her. I also wonder how pissed off she would be if I actually said that to her.

“So you’re vegetarian? I had no idea.”

“You never asked.”

“Why did you decide to be vegetarian?”

“Lots of reasons I suppose. I never liked meat that much to begin with so it wasn’t exactly a big deal for me. I’m sure you’ve heard all the stuff they say about the environmental damage raising all those animals for meat causes too. Cutting down the rainforest for ranching, the methane emissions. You know?”

“Yeah I’ve heard all that. I figure my lifestyle is so far gone now that giving up meat would just be a drop in the ocean.”

“You always have to start somewhere. Every little helps,” says Clara, “I was talking to Mira earlier today and she told me you’re not the heartless playboy you seem to be. At least, not entirely. She kind of implied that was just a façade you like to maintain.”

“And you believed her? I thought you were smarter than that, Clara,” I say.

“Don’t worry, I don’t think I’m as easily taken in as she might be. She did say something interesting about you, though”

I should have known Mira would take to Clara straight away and tell her everything she knows about me. Mira is a mother hen and Clara is the perfect little chick for her to nurse.

“Like what?” I say, pretending to be unconcerned.

“Just stuff about where you came from. About how you’ve always made sure your companies do things by the book, that they’ve never had any accidents. She’s right about that too.”

“What’s your point? You don’t get to be a billionaire by letting your companies rack up government fines by damaging the environment.”

“Yeah, maybe. Or maybe you care a bit more than you let on.”

Great. Another woman who thinks she’s found my heart of gold. She probably thinks that it’s all an act and inside there’s really this great guy just trying to get out.

“Look, I know it’s a cliché but I work hard and I play hard. I’m sure Mira told you that my family was poor as dirt because they got fucked over big time. It’s a tough world and people get screwed, so I promised myself when I was a kid that when I grew up I would be the one doing the screwing.”

“So is that the truth? That you really don’t care as long as you come out on top?”

“I’m gonna have to let you decide that one for yourself.”

Mercifully the waitress reappears with our food and we start eating. For some reason, mine tastes a bit flavorless today. I have to admit that Clara’s veggie burger looks pretty good.

“So,” says Clara between mouthfuls, “I want to know the reason you bought me from Greene.”

“Sounds pretty horrible when you say that I ‘bought’ you.”

“What would you call it then?”

She’s got me. I pretty much did buy her.

“I guess I’d say that I presented you with an opportunity.”

“My question still stands. Why?”

No harm in being honest I suppose.

“You’re good. I could tell that straight away. You’re passionate about the project and you can crunch the numbers quicker than anyone I ever saw. When I see something I want for me or my business, I pay what I think it’s worth and I don’t take no for an answer. Doesn’t matter if it’s a pot plant or a person.”

“So I’m like a pot plant?”

“What you are is an asset to the business.”

That, and I figured it would be nice to have a hot girl around the office. I decide not to mention that. You don’t get a billion dollars by paying out for harassment lawsuits all the time.

“Thanks. I guess,” she says before biting down on her burger again.

Kyan and I spend the rest of the meal managing to avoid talking about anything too deep. Mostly we just stuck to chatting about what TV shows we’ve been watching and how we think the economy is going. Best of all, we’ve managed to avoid talking about the fact I saw him naked.

I think the worst thing is that I can’t stop thinking about it.

I try to put it out of my mind as he holds the door open for me and we walk out into the cool air of the night.

“How are you getting home?” he asks me.

“Subway I guess.”

“I’ll walk you there.”

“I didn’t know you were such a gentleman.”

“Don’t worry, I’m meeting someone downtown so it’s on my way.”

“You can’t even admit to doing one nice thing?”

“Well, I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong impression,” he says with one of his trademark winks. It might be creepy from some guys but he knows he’s handsome enough to get away with it.

“Thanks for dinner,” I say, “…and thanks for being honest when I was grilling you. As honest as I’ve ever seen you, that is. Hope I didn’t annoy you too much.”

Whatever has happened before, he’s still my boss and I know I really need this job to work out, even if he has pissed me off.

“Yeah, you could say that I really laid everything bare for you this evening, huh?”

I feel the heat rising to my cheeks again.
Why did he have to bring that up?

“And the only thing I really learned about you was that you’re vegetarian,” he continues.

“What else do you want?”

“Well, you got to see me naked so I figure there’s only really one way to make that fair…”

Even though I can feel my face glowing again, I punch him playfully on the shoulder.

“We’re being professional. Or have you forgotten that already?” I say.

We get to the steps leading down to the subway. Time to say goodbye.
How are we supposed to do this?

I hold out my hand for him to shake like we’ve just concluded a business meeting. I feel dumb as hell the moment I do it.

“For real? I know I said we were supposed to be professional, but what the hell,” he says as he embraces me.

For a moment I’m enveloped in his thick arms, surrounded by the subtle, musky scent of his cologne. We keep the hug professional, not lingering too long, not squeezing too much. When it ends after a few moments I feel kind of empty, like I want to sink back into his arms for a little bit longer.

Don’t be an idiot, Clara. He’s your boss and that’s all. And anyway, he’s a jerk. Not as much of a jerk as you thought three days ago, but still.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says, “Don’t get too hung up on that report. You’ve got a few days.”

We say goodbye and I head down to the subway, my head swimming.

****

When I get back to the apartment I find Kelly lounging on the sofa in the living room.
I’m kind of disappointed that she isn’t at work, I could use some time alone and I know she’s going to want to grill me on the evening with Kyan.

“Clara! I feel like I’ve been waiting ages for you to get back!” says Kelly as I shut the door.

I walk over to the sofa and slump down next to her.

“So, how was it?” she asks.             

I decide to tell her everything but I leave the best bit until the end. The bit I know will make her go crazy.

“…and so I opened the door and there he was, completely naked and trying to cover himself with his hands.”

“OH. MY. GOD. So did he have an amazing body? Did you manage to get a good look at what he’s packing down there?”

“Remember that guy you used to date at college, the football player?” I say.

“Shaun?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. The guy that was always taking his top off at every opportunity to show off how ripped he was.”

“Yeah, he was hot. Shame he was such a douche really.”

“Well, Kyan made him look like a flabby weakling,” I say.

“Damn. You should have taken a picture on your phone or something because I’m really feeling like I missed out on something great,” says Kelly dreamily, “So how are you supposed to be professional with him now? You are definitely going to sleep together.”

I playfully hit Kelly with a cushion for her suggestion.

“There’s no way anything is going to happen between us. He’s my boss! It was just a stupid accident, I’ve seen him naked, it’s not a big deal. We hardly even mentioned it afterward.”

You sure did think about it a lot, Clara
.

“Let’s examine the evidence. So we both know he’s hot, rich, and ridiculously cool. You kissed him when you were drunk and now you’ve seen him naked. He made a deal just to get you to come work for him and last night he took you out for dinner. I think it’s pretty conclusive,” says Kelly before she hits me back with another cushion.

“Didn’t you listen to me? He wanted me to come work with him because I impressed him in that meeting.”

“Sure he did. That and he thinks you’re hot.”

“You think I couldn’t possibly have got this job because I impressed him with my abilities?”

“I’m sure they helped a bit.”

After a few more minutes of chatting, I realize how tired I am.

“I’m exhausted. I’m going to bed,” I say.

“Yeah you need your beauty sleep as you’ll be seeing your lover Kyan at 9am tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Kelly,” I say as I turn and walk to my room.

It feels good to shut out the rest of the world behind me.

A few minutes later I crawl into bed and turn out the light. I was exhausted before but a kind of restlessness has come over me. I can hear my heart pounding in my chest.

I think about Kyan. A few days ago I hated him but now it feels like there’s more to him than meets the eye. Maybe it’s just because I saw him naked. It’s been a while since I saw a guy naked.

I let my mind float back to what I saw when I burst into his office earlier, except this time my imagined version of him isn’t even trying to cover himself. His cock is out in the open, huge and rock-hard in his hand.

“Like what you see?” he says in his deep drawl.

I can’t deny Kyan is hot so I probably just need to get it out of my system.  A little bit of fantasy never hurt anyone right?

I breathe out sharply as my hand moves down my body to the aching desire that is growing between my legs. I’m not surprised when I find wetness there.

In my fantasy, Kyan is walking towards me hungrily. I’m frozen to the spot, ready to let him do anything he wants to me. He stops, a few inches in front of me, not touching me but close enough that I can feel the heat of his body and sense the size of him there. The warm scent of his body and his cologne hangs in the air between us and I will him to take me.

My fingers start moving faster, honing in on the shudders of hot pleasure that are coursing through me but still teasing myself, prolonging my ecstasy until I’m truly ready for the release.

I imagine Kyan’s cock resting against my stomach when he kisses me. Its smooth, hard tip slides against me as our lips lock and I feel his strong hands bury themselves in my hair and grip the nape of my neck. I can feel the sticky wetness he leaves on my stomach as his hips start to thrust involuntarily towards me and he pulls me closer, pressing his body into mine.

I let out a little moan involuntarily as I start the motions that I know will make me cum. I hope Kelly can’t hear me.

Kyan is lifting me up and taking me over to the massive mahogany desk that dominates his office. I can almost feel the cool hardness of that dark wood as he sets me down on it and begins tearing at my clothes. Then I’m naked there with him, my hard nipples brushing against his powerful chest when he kisses me deeply again and again.

I slide a finger down the wetness of my opening as dream-Kyan prepares himself to enter me. I imagine the tip of his huge cock sliding inside me, filling me. He kisses me again as he enters me bit my bit until I have completely enveloped him. Then, slowly, he starts to thrust.

It’s too much. I struggle to stop myself crying out as heat rushes to my face and chest. Fireworks of pleasure explode through me and I twitch and shudder against the mattress.

Then peace. My breath and the pounding of my heart the only sounds.

Hopefully, that should get Kyan Ellis out of my system. I just hope I can look him in the eye when I see him tomorrow.

Wow. I needed that. I doubt I’ll have any trouble falling asleep now.

When I settle down to sleep I notice the light on my phone is blinking. I try to close my eyes and fight the urge to look at it but, in the end, I give in. The bright light of the phone hurts my eyes and I squint for a moment in the darkness of my room. One message from an unknown number:

Had a great time tonight. Was really

good to get to know you better. Kyan x