WIFE WANTED (A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance) (38 page)

"Thanks," Nick said. Impressive was not the word most girls he had brought to his office used for that picture. In fact, none of the girls he’d ever dated had noticed or commented on the picture. They had been too busy trying to spread out on the table for him, something Sara was clearly not going to do anytime soon.

"You must love the outdoors," Sara said.

"I do.” Nick looked at Sara, who avoided his eyes. “Do you?”

"Yes," she simply said. “A lot.”

“Great. Then you should visit sometime," he said, pointing at the painting on the wall. “That’s the most peaceful place on earth.”

“It’s real? That’s amazing,” Sara said, her eyes lighting up.

“That's the preservation we raise funds for annually through the ball. My company wants to preserve all nature as we know it.”

Sara looked at the picture again. “Is it okay if I get a little closer?”

"Sure," he said, walking over to the picture with her. The only thing he wanted to get closer to was the woman in front of him, but he didn’t want to scare her any more than he had already. He watched her walk gingerly toward the picture. He gave her some decent space, not wanting to crowd her, but as she stood observing the picture, he inched closer to her.

"There, over there, is a tree that’s over a hundred years old." He drew nearer to her to point at a tree in the picture.
Gosh, she was sweet
, he thought. She smelled sweet! Her scent was tugging at all the right parts in his body. He could smell her hair - fresh berries with a hint of orange. What conditioner did she use? He wanted to ask her but knew that would be weird.

"Wow. It looks like a lost kingdom. A place you could live forever."

Nick's heart stopped. He would love to own a home close to the preservation if it meant Sara would be with him there forever. They could play all night and sleep all day. Heck, she could even do whatever she wanted as long as she was always close to him.

He looked at her childish admiration of the painting and decided to tease her. "I don't know. A girl like you may not survive there.”

"You'd be surprised. I'm not one of your skinny, blonde girlfriends you can kiss at will."

"Regarding that," Nick said, walking away from the painting so she was forced to follow him. "I am so sorry that happened. It was not meant to happen. I didn’t do it to make anyone jealous, as you imagined."

"So, why did you kiss me? Do you make it a habit of kissing women whenever you feel like it?”

"I warned you," he chuckled. “I did ask you to kiss me.”

"Telling me to kiss you is not a warning. It's a command, and I'm not your child to boss around."

Nick’s tone changed, and his voice lowered. "You’re right, Sara, and I'm truly sorry. I don’t know what came over me. You looked so beautiful that day, and I couldn’t resist the urge to get closer to you. I wanted to kiss you so badly, since the first day I saw you at the coffee shop. I guess I just gave in to my desires when I saw you at the ball.”

Nick looked at her, observing her reaction and wishing he could tell her the truth rather than apologize for a kiss he had loved. If only he could tell her how he felt about her - he wanted to kiss her, hold her, and make love to her right then and always. He liked her so much more than was healthy, and he was prepared to do whatever he needed to do to get her to say yes to him.

“Apology accepted,” Sara said. “I'm flattered.”

Nick looked at her, her innocence overwhelming him. If only she knew how good she looked. Girls like her intrigued Nick, but they were hard to find. They didn’t see their bodies the way men saw them – beautiful and sexy!

"I’m not flattering you," he laughed. “Just stating the obvious. You’re beautiful.”

"Oh," she said, her face turning red. “Thank you.”

“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I keep doing that. My apologies again,” Nick said.

Nick could tell she was not she used to compliments, which was a shame for someone so pretty. Was she not used to being loved? If he ever got a chance to show her how much he cared for her, he would protect her with all his life, with all his money. He looked at her again, and all he could think of was her parted lips. He wanted so much to kiss her again, but he knew better than that.

"Thank you," she said simply.

SARA

I looked at the man who had just told me I was beautiful. Beautiful was a word I rarely heard but one I’d take. He was avoiding my eyes as if I’d caught him looking at me. I wanted to tell him how beautiful he was, but I was still mad at him and really needed go home. I had a couple of job resumes I needed to send out and hanging out here, playing friends with him, was not going to make my bills go away.

“So the necklace,” he said, taking the box I had given him earlier and replacing it in my hands.

I pushed the necklace toward him, sliding it on the table. "It's so gorgeous, but I can't accept it, unless you tell me every invitation card for all your guests was sent with a diamond necklace."

"What if I said yes?" he said.

I looked at him. One look into his eyes told me that wasn't true. "I'd know that's not true and you’re saying it to make me keep the necklace."

"I do want you to keep the necklace, Sara," he said, pushing it back to me.

"Why? We've never met. You don't know me. Why would I keep a necklace that looks like it cost a thousand dollars?" The necklace game was getting childish and I needed to end it.

"A million," he said casually.

"Excuse me?" I asked, hoping he hadn’t said what I thought I’d heard. Why would a person send a million-dollar necklace to a random girl? What if I had sold it and kept the money? I had no clue how expensive that necklace was, and if I had sold it, I'd have been cheated.

"Never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything about the price.”

"But you did, and I won't keep this," I said and stood. “I don’t know why you want me to keep this necklace so badly. It’s ridiculous. I don’t want to play games anymore.”

“I don’t play games,” he said coldly.

“Maybe not, but I need to go. I have a million job applications to complete. I don’t have the luxury of sitting in a penthouse entertaining men, women, whatever. I’m sorry, I have to go…”

“You’re hired.”

"Excuse me?" I asked, looking at him.

“You said you needed a job, so I hired you.”

“You just can’t hire me. You don’t even know what my major is or what I’m qualified to do.”

“That, Ms. Nolles, is wrong. I have seen your resume, and I did question why and how my company did not retain you after your internship.”

“Maybe so,” I replied, wondering how in the world the CEO of a multibillion company would have seen my resume. But he sounded so sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had done a background check on me.

“I make it a habit of knowing who I hang out with,” he told me, drawing closer to me. I was standing against a wall, and he was too close for comfort.

“I guess you did a background check on me?” I asked, my voice disappointing me. Instead of sounding confident, I sounded hollow and weak. Mr. Rich had a ridiculous way of making me hot and bothered.

“Not the way I’d have liked to,” he said, drawing even nearer until a kiss between us was inevitable. He hesitated for a moment like he was going to ask me first, so I nodded, rather involuntarily, but it was the answer he needed. His lips crushed mine, and he kissed me like I’ve never been kissed before. At first I was not sure how to respond, but as his kiss persisted, I kissed him back even more furiously. Soon our hands were all over our bodies.

“I’ve been thinking of you forever,” he moaned between his kisses. “You don’t know the half of it.”

I knew what he meant. Though I didn’t want to admit it, Nick had become a permanent part of my dreams and fantasies, but I wasn’t going to tell him I thought about him every night. No way, at least not now, when I was lost in his arms, his touch. I reached out to hold his head and draw him closer to me. I haven’t kissed many men, but what I was doing was working. Nick was getting hard against me, his cock pushing against my skirt, my stomach. He was moaning as he kissed me.

I froze, unsure of what I wanted to do. The good girl in me wanted to put a stop to this, but the bad part of me, the one that wanted Nick so badly, didn’t want to let go. I went with my gut feeling and reached for his hips and pulled him closer to me, causing his cock to dig deeper into me. I wanted him so badly my body was shaking.

“Are you okay?” he murmured between kisses. “I can stop if you want me to.”

I couldn’t let him stop now. My pussy was wet with anticipation and lust. Only one thing would do: getting his cock inside me.

The thought of his fucking me made me shy and sort of brought me back to reality. This guy was a player who had a girlfriend named Olivia as well as numerous other girls on the side. How did I get myself in this situation? I was not one of those girls who gave in to every desire. I wanted so badly to pull out of his arms, curse him out, and leave with the intention of never seeing him again. But I couldn’t. His kiss was too tantalizing to break off. Then he broke it off.

“What?” I murmured, and catching myself, I stepped away from him, my shame at having let my guard down overpowering me. I couldn’t look him in the eyes.

“I don’t want to rush you, Sara. God knows I want you so bad. I want you and everything you have to offer, but I don’t want to rush you.”

I felt stupid. What sort of woman hooks up with Nick Saunders, the official bad boy of the country? What was I thinking? The thought of what could have happened and how Amy would have been excited made me giggle.

“What am I missing?” Nick asked.

“Nothing. Just my best friend almost came with me to see you, and she backed out at the last minute. Just wondering if she had any idea what might have happened.”

“What might have happened?” Nick drew closer to me again, and I stepped aside so we weren’t so close.

“I don’t know. We might have….” my voice trailed off.

“Might have done what, Sara?”

“You know,” I said, embarrassed.

“Had sex?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Yes, we might have, but I don’t want to rush you,” he said, touching my face tenderly. His hand felt soft and warming.

Gosh, this man turned me on just by looking at me. This was ridiculous. Amy was right, I needed to get laid so I could get on with my life. “I didn’t take you for the patient type.”

"Did you do a background check on me?” he giggled.

"What? No. My friend, Amy, is one of your biggest fans.”

"Then I'd love to meet her. How about dinner tonight? You and Amy?"

"Ah…okay,” I said hesitantly, wondering how returning a necklace had become an arousing afternoon that led to dinner. "Well, Amy is working late and I..."

"You’re off from the coffee shop, and you haven’t started working here yet."

"How do you...?” How did he know my schedule?

“Know what you’re up to?”

“Yes. Are you keeping tabs on me?” I said. I should have been mad at him, but I was flattered that he knew my schedule and we weren’t even together.

"I make it my duty to know what I want to know. Dinner at seven then? You, me, and Amy? "

“I’ll try.”

"Please wear this necklace." He pushed the box back to me. The damn necklace again.

“I haven’t even said yes to the invitation,” I giggled as I picked up the jewelry box.

"I’m hoping you will. Please take it, and accept the dinner as my apology for kissing you,” he said.

"That’s fine, dinner at seven then,” I said.

“I’m guessing the only way to make you go out with me is by kissing you?”

“What?” My cheeks were on fire. “Of course not. Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Well, my illicit kiss got me a dinner date with you. I better score some more dinner dates to bank for the future,” he said.

“What…”

He didn’t let me finish. His mouth was on mine again, but I was ready for him. He was slow and deliberate like he wasn't rushing, and he truly wanted to explore the kiss. I let my hand drop to his side as he reached out to hold the curve of my ass and pull me closer to him. I let his body melt with mine. I could smell his essence.

Again, I felt his cock pressing against my tummy. I was losing my senses, and as much as I wanted to escape his hands, I was too weak to let go. As his hands moved from the curve of my waist toward my ass, I let myself relax. I knew he wouldn't do anything I didn't want. He had been in a position to take me just a few minutes ago, but he had stopped when he assumed I couldn’t handle it. His kiss deepened, his mouth searching mine like he had lost something. Once more, I had the courage to kiss him back with the same fervor. He pressed hard against me, his cock bulging even more as I kissed him. I wanted so much to focus on the kiss, but his cock was so huge I was literally melting in his arms. I broke the kiss, causing him to moan.