Mr. Black's Proposal (Part One: A Billionaire Erotic Romance) (6 page)

Strike two.

“Yeah, well, they’re both idiots.”

“Do you normally date idiots?”

Steph’s voice was way too sarcastic. I didn’t know what I was doing wrong. Everything I said, she seemed to take and run with. I couldn’t get a grasp of what she wanted from me.

“I don’t normally date any girl,” I said.

“Oh? Are you gay? Because my brother thought you were super cute. Not as cute as that rock star friend of yours…”

“Clint?” I frowned. “Do you think he’s cuter than I am?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. I want an objective female opinion.”
And I want to know that you’re not into him.
If Clint was the guy who knocked away my chances at Steph, I’d be very, very pissed off.

“I think he’s got a certain charm,” she said.

“Charm?”
Like I didn’t have charm?

“A certain… cachet. The rock star bad boy vibe.”

“And I don’t have that?”

“You’re more of the guy next door type.”

I blinked.

“Oh?”

“The cowboy with a heart of gold.”

“I’m a cowboy? I live in New York City.”

“Urban cowboy.”

“That sounds pretty gay.”

Steph laughed. It was such a sweet sound, I almost wanted her to make fun of me again just so that I could hear her laugh.

“Blame it on my brother. He’s a bad influence on me.”

“I don’t know. I think you’re strong enough to resist any influence,” I said.

Including mine.
When was the last time I had to fight to get a girl to sleep with me? I didn’t know. It had been a while, anyway. Did this one have a boyfriend? It didn’t seem like it, but I didn’t know why else she would be so coy with me.

She bit her lip, and it didn’t matter that I hadn’t even looked down at her cleavage. Just the sight of her small white teeth nipping at her plump, delectable lips was enough for my body to start sending signals down to my cock. I shifted in place and tried to ignore the insistent urges inside of me.

“Anyway, this party—”

“So is that a yes? You’ll do it?”

She looked at me with a level gaze.

“Sure,” she said. “I need to see the party space beforehand, if you can arrange it. And it’ll cost you.”

“Anything,” I said stupidly. I would pay a million dollars if it meant being able to spend time with her again.

“Anything?” Was that a glint of flirtatiousness in her eye? Maybe.

“Not anything,” I said “That’s a bad negotiation technique.
Mostly
anything.”

“It’ll depend on what you want,” she said.

“Okay,” I said, standing up. “Come on.”

“Come on what?”

“Come with me. You said you needed to see my kitchen.”

“Your…”

“The party space. You said you needed to see it.”

“Right now?”

“I’m leaving for Paris soon to help Jake with that magazine deal,” I said, using my best business voice. “Remember?”

“Um. Right.”

“So you should come over now.”

“But… now?” she said. “It’s almost dinnertime.”

“Then we’ll just have to have dinner together.”

“No dinner.”

God, when she pursed her lips like that it made me want to throw myself on top of her. I resisted the impulse, but my heart still pounded with desire.

“Why not?”

“I told you before, you’re not that serious of a guy.”

“Ow. That hurts. Not serious enough for a dinner.”

I put my hand to my heart like she’d wounded me. But she only puckered those lips further. Damn that kissable scorn!

“Okay,” I said finally.

“Okay.”

“Then just come to see the place.”

I could see in her face that there was still a hint of resistance. So I brought out the big guns.

“Please,” I said, putting on my best puppy dog eyes. “I can’t figure this out without you.”

“I—okay. Fine,” she said. “I don’t know if I can be too long, but let me get Andy to cover the store.”

“Great,” I said.

I was close, so close. All I needed was this excuse, and I knew I could get her to fall for me.

I wasn’t even sure why I wanted her so badly. Hell, I could have any girl I wanted. Any model off the runway, any one of the perfect tens who flaunted their skin in front of my camera. But I had been there and back again, and I’d never been fulfilled by the fantasy come to life.

There was a strange quality to Steph, a fierceness that lured me in and told me that she was the only one who could satisfy the itch I had. I needed to have her, needed to dominate her.

“Well?” Steph asked.

I snapped back to attention. She lifted an unimpressed eyebrow at me.

“Well,” I said.

“Well, should we go or are you going to stand there like a gaping gorilla forever?”

As she brushed by me, I smiled. This one was different, yes.

This one would be
very
fun to tame.

Chapter Five

Steph

Nervous didn’t even begin to explain it. Lucas looked at me like he was one of my clients waiting to devour a cupcake. I hated it.

No, I loved it.

No, I really wasn’t sure what I felt. All I knew was that the most handsome man in the universe had taken an interest in my cupcakes. And now I had to be as professional as I could while he led me around his place. I wasn’t going to get involved with a playboy who had a new girl every day of the week. Serious, hell! He wasn’t serious enough for a one-night stand.

I understood the attraction, though. He was a brilliant billionaire in the body of “the guy next door.” He looked harmless, even boyish. Behind that innocent exterior, though, I knew that he was a devil. Every part of my brain screamed in warning:
this guy is going to hurt you
.

Well, he couldn’t hurt me if I didn’t let him in.

His hand pressed against my lower back as he escorted me through the door to his apartment. I wasn’t even able to look around, though, before I was attacked by the most adorable yellow lab that I’d ever seen. It jumped up and put both paws on my shoulders. I tried to fend him off with my clipboard, but it was impossible to be truly mad at that level of cuteness.

“Ahh!” I cringed as the lab licked all over my chin. Lucas only smiled.

“Oh, that’s Otis. Looks like he likes you.”

“Good boy,” I said, patting Otis on the head. He jumped down and turned to Lucas, nuzzling his hand to get a scratch behind the ears. His tail thumped me solidly on the knees.

“He’s not normally this friendly,” Lucas said. “He must know you’re a sweet girl.”

“Right,” I said, using a heavy coat of sarcasm to mask my excitement at the compliment. I stared down at my blank clipboard like it would protect me from any unprofessional behavior. “Alright, so this is the place?”

“Let me show you around,” Lucas said.

He took me through his apartment. I couldn’t hide my amazement at the place. It was like stepping into a movie set. Everything was sleek and modern, exquisitely designed. The floor was wall-to-wall white carpet, and the furniture was all custom black leather. One wall was all windows, and the sun was just beginning to set behind the NYC skyline.

“What do you think?” he asked.

I could tell that he was used to showing off his place. I smiled politely.

“It looks nice.”

“Nice? Come on.”

“Come on?”

“What’s do you think? Besides
nice?”

Well, if he was going to push me…

“It’s like a very… expensive, very modern bachelor pad,” I said.

“Bachelor pad?” He looked offended.

“I only mean that it’s all very… simple. Elegant. There’s not a lot of personal touch. You know? There’s not a lot of
you
in here.”

“Well, no. I hired a designer,” Lucas said, frowning.

“It looks beautiful,” I said. “But it could be anyone’s beautiful apartment. What makes it yours?”

There’s no personality.
I couldn’t say it out loud, but that’s what I was thinking.

“What makes it mine? I paid for it.”

“Never mind,” I said, not wanting to start an argument. “It’s perfect for a party. Will I be able to stage the cupcakes in the kitchen before bringing them out?”

“Sure. I’m planning on starting out in the living room, then moving to another room for cocktails after the cupcakes.”

“Wonderful,” I said, trying to stay in business mode. “One more thing.”

“What is it?”

I licked my lips, uncertain how to start.

“Okay, so, I heard from Lacey that Jake’s birthday party was a little bit… crazy.”

“Crazy?” Lucas smiled. God, that smile could melt steel. I looked away to the living room, focusing my attention on the white carpet, the ebony end tables. Anything,
anything
but those gorgeous blue eyes.

“Just to let you know, I’m not going to wear anything… risqué.”

“Risqué? Like what?”

“Like, I’m not wearing a sexy silver space vixen get up for your party. No nipple tassels, no collars, nothing like that.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“This is a retirement party for my mom. Sixty year old women, tea and cupcakes. It’s not going to be exactly sexy.”

I could feel my face turning bright red.

“Oh,” I said. “Um. Okay. Never mind what I said.”

“Could I see you in the sexy space vixen get up, though?” he asked. “Just, you know, for research purposes?”

“Uh. No.”

“I might have a space-themed party sometime later this year.”

“Then you can get in contact with me then,” I said prissily, holding up my clipboard like a true businesswoman.

Lucas twisted a grin at me.

“Yes, ma’am.”

He pressed a button on the wall.

“Jeeves, move up the space party to next week.”

“I can’t guarantee that it’ll be me in the space vixen outfit,” I said in a teasing voice. “Sometimes my brother runs the parties. He looks great in silver hot pants.”

Lucas raised his eyebrows and pressed the button again.

“Jeeves, cancel the space party.”

“Mr. Black?” The wall was talking back, and I realized that the button actually was part of an intercom system in his apartment. Lucas startled back at the noise.

“Never mind, Alex,” Lucas said. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were here.”

“So wait,” I said. “You actually have a butler?”

He gave me an apologetic look.

“Assistant, really. His name is Alex.”

I raised my eyebrows. A personal assistant on beck and call.

“It must be nice to never have to do anything yourself,” I said, with no small amount of snark. “What do you do all day?”

“Oh, you know. Eat cupcakes. Plan parties. Serious stuff.”

“I’m sure. Speaking of,” I said, pivoting to the reason I had come here. “What exactly are you thinking for this party? How many guests are there?”

“Ah, that’s the thing. I’m not sure how many people my mom will bring. Probably less than ten, but we should plan for twenty, just to be sure. Can you make the cupcakes different? Individualize them or something?”

“Individualized how?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping you would help with that. I know my mother’s friends love customized crap. Not that your cupcakes are crap—”

“I could do personalized holders,” I said, politely deflecting the remark. “Then they could choose which kind of cupcake they want. I’ll just need the guest list.”

“That’s perfect.”

“Is there a theme to this party? All I know is that it’s definitely not space themed.”

Lucas smiled.

“It’s going to be old school Hollywood,” he said.

“Hmm.”

“I don’t know how you could do anything like that with cupcakes, but—”

“Oh! I’ve got it!” My mind was racing with ideas. I loved old Hollywood movies. Men in tuxes did something to my insides.

“What is it?”

“We can do black and white cupcakes,” I said. “You know, like old timey movies. I’ll do all the frosting in grayscale, and then when they bite into the cupcake, it’ll be in color inside.”

“That would be amazing.”

I didn’t know if he really thought my idea was amazing, or if he was just coming on to me. He was staring directly into my eyes, and I felt myself starting to grow hot under his gaze. I was imagining Lucas in a tux. That blond hair, always a little bit disheveled. Those piercing blue eyes— “Great!” I said brightly. “I’ll start working on it, then. Thanks for showing me around!”