A Tropical Rendezvous: A BWWM Interracial Bad Boy Billionaire Multicultural Romance (African American Romance) (57 page)

Chapter Eight

A week had passed with no word from Andrew and Courtney wasn’t even surprised. It wasn’t as though she expected him to stand up to his father for once in his life and go after what he really wanted. She didn’t expect it because she knew he never would. She had expected at the very least a passive aggressive text message that somehow apologized for how things had gone while also angling for another round of sex. But it hadn’t come and she wasn’t surprised. When she realized that the sinking feeling inside of her was disappointment, she was disgusted with herself.

Despite the fact that she wasn’t at all surprised, it still stung when she’d received David’s updated itinerary featuring a barbecue cruise to celebrate their engagement and a Children’s Hospital fundraiser to make their debut on the charity circuit. It was foolish if anyone asked her, but no one had and it was just proof that Andrew had planned to move forward with the charade.

That also meant that she needed more than work to distract her from her most recent mistake. She needed to go out on a date, to start dating again now that she knew her hostility toward rich guys had everything to do with her residual feelings for Andrew. As much as it pissed her off that she still loved Andrew Stanton, it was also liberating. Now she could open herself up to the offers that came her way, and maybe find a regular bed buddy.
Maybe even a boyfriend.

“Anyone ever tell you how sexy you look all deep in thought?”

Marcus stood backlit in the doorway looking like a big, muscular chocolate angel with devil’s horns in the form of those
oh so delicious
dimples. “No one has ever said that to me, but thank you Marcus. Come in and have a seat.” He took a seat, looking good enough to mount in snug but not too snug jeans, plain white t-shirt that probably cost five hundred bucks and a green blazer that made his eyes sparkle like gems. “What brings you by?”

He smiled and Courtney finally realized that maybe, just maybe, she was one of the millions of women who found him irresistible. “After that cupcake tower of congratulations you sent, I had to give a personal thanks. Very few gifts make me smile and that one did, so thanks.”

“You’re welcome. It’s not everyday one of my clients becomes a bestselling author. Have you been celebrating a lot?”

“You know how I do, Courtney. I’ve been hitting the clubs at night, training and publicity during the day. How about you and me have a celebratory dinner?”

Courtney thought about it for about two seconds before blurting out a harried, “Sure. When and where?”

Shock was written all over his face and he smiled. “Not that I’m not already chartering my plane to take us to Paris, but why the change of heart?”

That pulled a laugh from her. “I don’t know, maybe I want to see if the world stops spinning if I relaxed the rules a little.”
And I’m hoping a date with a gorgeous man will help me get over my stupid cowardly ex.

Marcus narrowed his hazel gaze at her. “I’ll get the truth out of you over dinner,” he said, stroking his chin like an evil villain. “I leave for New York the day after tomorrow so how about we go out tonight. I’ll plan everything and send a car for you.” He stood, not giving her a chance to do anything but accept.

Courtney was impressed that he’d managed to outmaneuver her and she sat back, enjoying the view as his long legs carried him out of her office. Marcus was attractive and charming, successful and smart. But he just didn’t do anything for her. Sure, a night in the sack would probably be incredible, but he would never make her heart skip or race the way a certain yellow belly billionaire did. “Marcus?”

He turned and smiled, those damn dimples giving him a boyish grin. “Yeah?”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Licking those full lips like a super sexy R&B singer, he beamed another panty dropping smile in her direction. “Me too.” With a short wave he walked away while she ogled his tight butt.

~

“Damn girl, you look beautiful.” Hand to his heart and a nervous smile on his handsome face, Marcus made quite the pretty picture.

Courtney twirled and curtsied with a laugh. “Thanks Marcus, you’re looking pretty irresistible tonight too. I’m beginning to see why women act a fool to get close to you.” He wore a grey suit with an eggplant shirt, open at the neck. Marcus Washington was definitely the kind of man a woman went stupid over. Thank goodness she’d already reached her capacity for stupid.

He chuckled and offered her his arm. “Be sure you keep that in mind throughout our date.” He guided her inside the restaurant where they were met by the maître d’ and led to a table in the middle of the restaurant.

“Where is everyone…did you buy the place out for the night?” She could believe he would do that, but Courtney didn’t understand why he would do it for her.

“Of course I did. You might come to your senses tomorrow and this will be the only date we get. I want to make sure I have your full attention.” He winked and pulled her chair out.

“Well you do so make the most of it. Because the only thing I love more than incredible food is stimulating conversation.” He looked at her with a serious expression and she busted out laughing. “I know I’m laughing but I mean it.”

“Good to know.” He stopped while they placed their drink and appetizer orders and turned back to her. “I’m glad you’re finally giving me a shot. I like you, Courtney.”

“I like you too,” she told him, taking a long gulp of her martini. “You’re handsome and charming. But you’re also a professional athlete which means you’re never home and you have more offers of sex than a man could possibly turn down.”

“So I’m doomed from the start?”

Tilting her head she gave him a long thoughtful look. He probably wasn’t as bad as most athletes because he was a decent guy, but given her past Courtney knew she couldn’t take the uncertainty. “Not necessarily. I think you’d try to be a standup guy, but I’m not sure we have the chemistry to make the sacrifice that being with you would entail.”

“Sacrifice? You wound me, woman.” He laughed but she knew she had to explain.

So she did. With a smile. “You’re so used to the lifestyle you don’t even realize how it would be to a normal person.” Courtney nodded her head in the direction of the crowd of photographers jockeying to get a photograph of Marcus Washington with his latest love interest. “Nonstop paparazzi, gossip magazines, groupies and long weeks on the road. That’s the sacrifice. A woman in love with you will make it gladly.”

He nodded, accepting her answer. “So why did you agree to come out with me?”

“Because I think you’re a good guy. And because I recently realized I wasn’t over an ex and decided I needed to get a life of my own.” He would probably end the date, and she’d deserve it.

“I figured you were trying to get over another guy, but that’s fine. I like you too but I’d be okay if we were only friends.”

“Really?” She didn’t believe that for a second.

“I mean I’ll probably try to sleep with you at least twice a year, but yeah. Friends.” The idea of a female friend made him chuckle. “So tell me about the guy.”

Courtney gave him a very abbreviated version of her relationship with Andrew, minus his name, from that first date all the way to her accidental slip up last week. “So that’s the dirt and now you know I’m only a genius at work. That’ll be our little secret.”

He sipped his cognac and nodded. “We all have that one relationship. Either we should have never given it up or we shouldn’t have gone there in the first place. I shouldn’t have given her up. You?”

Courtney shook her head, tucking an errant wave behind her ear. “I didn’t let him go, he did all the letting go. But I think we shouldn’t have gone there. He was never going to be mine, only I was too stupid to realize it.”

Marcus’ eyebrows rose in surprise. “He cheated? On
you
?” He shook his head in disbelief. “Some guys.”

Her body shook with laughter and she plucked a stuffed mushroom from the platter and put it in her mouth. She needed a moment to admit that no, it wasn’t another woman’s wiles that had stolen her man from her. “He didn’t cheat. He listened when his father told him to let me go.” She shrugged as though it were no big deal but the knife currently slashing her heart to bits told her that hurt still stung.

“Then he’s an idiot. He isn’t a real man and definitely not one worthy of you if he’d give you up.” Marcus leaned back and smiled at her. “Why don’t we fall in love with each other and say screw those dummies?”

Lifting her glass in the air, she smiled. “Best idea I’ve heard all day. Wouldn’t it be great if it was that easy? God, I could have a nice man to come home to and maybe take a vacation.”

“Take the vacation anyway. You can use my house in Barcelona if you want. Or Miami if you just want to get away for a few days. Think about it.”

Her laughter echoed in the empty dining room. “That’s a kind offer, Marcus. Thank you. You’re a pretty great guy, you know?”

Leaning in, he pressed a finger to his lips. “That’ll be our little secret.”

She zipped her lips with an amused smile. “I promise not to tell, unless you go crazy and trash a hotel room or beat up a lying wannabe basketball wife.” At his horrified look she laughed so hard she snorted. “Or whatever,” she tacked on at the last minute.

“And I thought you were a nice girl. What the contract doesn’t tell you,” he shook his head, mock betrayal shining in his brown eyes.

“Professional Courtney is so nice and sweet she’ll make your teeth hurt. Friend Courtney is kind of snarky, plenty sarcastic and not very nice.”

Marcus laughed. “I like her already. So Courtney, if I asked you to attend a literacy fundraiser with me, what would you say?”

“I’d say that I love any excuse to wear a ball gown and eat rubber chicken after a few hours dancing to old school music.” It was true. He might not be the one to help her get over Andrew, but his friendship would help.

“Even if you get back with the ex?”

“Unlikely, but yes even then.” As they finished their meal and he told her all about the grandmother who raised him and could be found cheering and yelling at him from the sidelines throughout the season, Courtney realized Marcus could be a great friend and a wonderful distraction. He was a great conversationalist and a fun guy. And he told her the goofiest jokes she’d ever heard as the limo carried them home with a handful of photographers in tow. “I had a great time tonight, Marcus. Thank you for asking me out again.” She leaned across the back seat and kissed his cheek.

“Thank you for getting to know me and not my persona, even if you do only want to be my friend and look at my ass.”

“It is a great ass,” she added, stunning him into momentary silence.

“Thanks
friend
and I’ll see you soon. If that ex of yours comes around tell him to grow a pair or get gone.”

She laughed and stepped from the car, ducking down to look at him. “I will, thanks. And you, be safe on the road.”

“Aww, you’re worried about me?” He laughed when she frowned at him. “I promise to be good. But not too good, I have a rep to protect you know.”

“Good night, Marcus.” Courtney ignored the photographers as she walked into her building with a huge smile on her face. “Hey Don, you pull the short straw this week,” she asked her door man.

“Nah, I traded with Pete since he’s taking Jennie away for their anniversary next week and he wants to be on schedule.” His blush told her exactly why Pete needed that.

She laughed and they chatted for another minute. “I’ll bring you a thermos of coffee in a bit, Don.” She walked to the elevator and came to a stop when she caught sight of who sat on the bench, obviously waiting for her. “What are you doing here, Andrew?”

Chapter Nine

Andrew stood and swayed before meeting her at the elevator. “I came to see how your day was. Of course I know exactly how it went.” His voice was rough, gravelly and angry.

“It went fine. Not that you have any right to ask about my life.” The elevator doors slid open and she walked on. Even though she hoped he would just leave, she wasn’t at all surprised when he joined her.

“Did you enjoy the stuffed mushrooms and the truffle risotto? How about the steak and lobster you ate as you laughed merrily at his jokes.” Bitterness dripped from every syllable but he didn’t care. How dare she go on a date with another man when he’d spent the past week miserable. More miserable than usual. “Did you actually spoon-feed each other dessert?”

That made her laugh. “Sort of. I fed him a taste of mine and he did the same. We hammed it up for the cameras so they would leave us alone. Is there a problem?”

Hell yes there is a problem. “Why did you do it? Why did you have to go out with such a high profile guy so soon after…?”

Courtney was calm.
Too calm
, he thought as she stepped off the elevator and walked to her apartment door. “Come in so my neighbors don’t know all my business.” Shoving the key in the door and pushing it open, she held the door open and waited for him to enter. Andrew took a seat while she mixed up a martini for herself. Nothing for him. “Who I go out with is none of your business.”

“Even after…what happened?” He couldn’t believe the cold hearted woman was his Courtney Hollis. She should be angry, the woman he knew would be so angry she’d have to restrain herself from smacking him.

She sat back in the chair across from where he sat on the sofa and sipped her martini. “What do you expect, Andrew? That I would be your side piece like Rodrigo?”

He smiled. There was his girl. “We’re not engaged. Not anymore at least.” With his chest feeling lighter than it had in year, he told her they’d broken their engagement much to the disappointment of their overbearing parents. “You should expect the lawyers in your office tomorrow to figure out how to handle the remainder of the contract.” Charlotte had been furious about the footage but Nicholas Stanton always got his way.
Except this time
, he smiled.”

The surprise in her big brown eyes told him he had been the coward she’d accused him of being. “Really?”

The fact that she still didn’t believe him stung. But watching her cross those long cocoa brown legs made him wish they were wrapped around his hips as he pushed inside her again. The white dress she wore hugged her curves in a way that made men think about unwrapping it like a present. Acid churned in his gut that she’d worn that dress for that womanizing Marcus Washington. “It’s true.”

Courtney took several long sips from her glass and slammed it on the table. “Congratulations.” Her smile was wobbly and her shoulders tense but her gaze never wavered from his.

“Do you mean that?” He often wondered what she thought when she thought of him. Did she hate him? Did she think about how they could have been celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary or could have a few kids running around? He thought about it nonstop and hated himself for the choice he made years ago.

“I do. If that’s what you want.” She pushed herself up and went back to the kitchen, where he could hear her making another martini.

Andrew stood and went to the kitchen, pressing his front close against her back. “What I want Courtney, is you.” He spun her around, bracketing her with his arms and trapping her between him and the counter. “Only you.”

~

No. Not only me. Me, now.
She knew that much was true but her traitorous body didn’t seem to give a damn. It pulsed and quivered at his touch, strained forward until her pebbled nipples brushed against his chest. Opening her mouth to his, she licked at his tongue and sucked it deep in her mouth, groaning at his taste. “Whiskey and chocolate,” she whispered against his mouth and let him take control of the kiss.

“I had to get my chocolate fix somewhere,” he groaned when her knuckles brushed against the straining bulge in his pants. “I have to have you, babe.”

Courtney knew she should say no. She should push him away, slap his handsome face with that rugged jawline and kick his ass out of her apartment. But when his lips touched her skin she was powerless to do anything but surrender to his will. To do his sexual bidding. There was never any choice when he touched her but her total and absolute acquiescence. She couldn’t say it aloud though. She couldn’t voice the words.
You have me.
Instead she grabbed his chest and yanked it apart, paying no attention to the buttons flying everywhere as her mouth sought his chest like a heat seeking missile.

He tugged on her hair to get her attention. “Say it, Courtney. I need to hear you say it.”

Their eyes connected in a long moment of tension and emotion, thick with desire and something more powerful. She could refuse to say it and still get what she wanted, but she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to take the coward’s way out. “You have me.” And then she pushed all thoughts out of her mind. She could pull those thoughts out and analyze them to death later. Now she just wanted to feel.

And she felt everything. His mouth played her like a violin from top to bottom, spending an inordinate amount of time licking and laving her folds. He’d brought her to orgasm twice with his mouth and she was barely more than a puddle of glowing satisfaction. She wanted to get her mouth on him in the worst way. And she would. When she could move again.

Andrew hoisted her over his shoulder and gave her ass a smack. “You still taste like vanilla. I’ve missed that taste,” he growled and then tossed her on the bed, crawling up her body to kiss her. She pushed his chest and he frowned at her. “What?”

Courtney smiled and swung one leg over him and rested by his hip. “Nothing but I just want my turn.” She savored the taste of him, the scent of his aftershave when she kissed down his neck and chest. Swiping a tongue across his nipple, her thighs were flooded with moisture at his groans. Her lips and tongue kissed and mouthed his pecs, his abs and down that sexy vee that seemed to have gotten more defined in their years apart. Then she was there, staring down his long thick length that made her mouth water. She licked across the tip, grabbing those pearls of arousal before taking him in her mouth.

“Court, fuck babe.” His fingers speared her hair and held it tight, but his hips only thrust gently.

That small thrust into her mouth turned her on and she took him deep, loving his taste, his scent and the feel of him in her mouth and throat made her wild. Faster and faster and deeper she took him, keeping her mouth wet and her throat open. His grunts and groans had her dripping wet and she couldn’t wait to feel him inside her again.

“Enough,” he growled and grabbed her waist, twisting their positions until he was on top and his erection pressed against her opening. “I need you now.”

She nodded and screamed her pleasure when he entered her in one long sure thrust. It didn’t take either of them long to ride the wave of pleasure. Andrew’s thrusts were fast, hard and punishing and she welcomed every one of them. He filled her deliciously, touching on nerve endings she thought long dead. But they were alive now as her body milked his and he grunted as he pounded harder into her. Halfway through her orgasm, he pinched her clit between his thumb and forefinger and sent her up, starting her orgasm all over again.

Andrew collapsed on top of her, both of them panting hard. “Damn that was fantastic.” His smile was so beautiful she couldn’t stand to look at him.

But he was right. This was the best it's ever been between them. “Consider my world rocked as hell.” Her entire body felt warm and not just because there was a huge hot man pressing her into her bed. Drew had always been able to set her on fire faster than any man before or since.  He separated their bodies and pulled her into his embrace. “Tell me you didn’t let Marcus kiss you tonight.”

“That is none of your business.” She didn’t want to talk about Marcus because she knew he would see it as a pathetic attempt to get over him again. But his question had her thinking of a few of her own. “Why did you call off the engagement?” She braced herself because she didn’t believe—for one second—that it was because he still loved her and wanted to be with her.

~

Shit.
It was the one question he hoped she wouldn’t ask. It was crazy to hope for such a thing because Courtney was a smart and inquisitive woman. And because he had a history of not standing up for her or for them, of course she would want to know. He could lie and was tempted to do so but he knew that she would find out the truth soon enough. “The footage. Charlotte was furious that AGP hadn’t gotten rid of it considering how it would make her look. She refused to go through with the charade, the marriage if they used any of it.” He didn’t think it was that big of a deal but she had screamed the roof down in his Burbank office. “Both sets of parents wouldn’t hear of it, thinking the drama of it would be ratings gold. Especially if they could dub in my shocked outrage.” He shook his head, still disgusted by how mercenary they could be about the lives of their children.

“Charlotte was pretty upset when she showed up in my office demanding to know what I planned to do with the footage. His privacy means a lot to her.”

Yeah he knew that too. “Actually I was surprised how steadfastly she defended him. Apparently she does have emotions.” He shrugged and continued. “Anyway they figured it was a win-win for everyone…but Charlotte and Rodrigo. She called the wedding off and stormed out of the AGP offices, promising her parents it would be a cold day in hell before she talked to them again.”

“Wow,” she sighed out and his breath caught at the sight of her with tears streaming down her face.

“What’s wrong?” He’d do anything to fix those tears. “I thought you’d be happy. This is good news. We get to be together now.”

Her brown eyes dripped icicles at him. “Yeah for how long? Until your dad finds another heiress to marry you off to? Or threatens to remove you from the will?” She stood, completely unashamed of her nudity. “I was stupid to think you’d ever stand up for me. You won’t. Ever, will you?” Her small cries turned to sobs. “Oh god, what was I thinking to let myself love you again. You’ll never be mine, not truly.”

He watched as she disappeared into the bathroom and listened as her cries turned into sobs. Ten minutes passed before she went silent and walked back to the bedroom.

“I think you should go home.”

“What? No!” He stood and followed her down the hall and into the kitchen. “We need to talk about this, babe.”

She filled an electric kettle and flipped the switch, busying herself with tea preparation. “There’s nothing to talk about Drew. I love you and, idiot that I am, I probably always will. But I can’t be with a man who could leave me at any moment. You’ve never been able to stand up to your dad, and he’s never liked me. See my dilemma?”

He did dammit and he hated her for it. “I love you too. That should be all that matters.”

She nodded with a sad smile. “It should, but you don’t love me more than you need to please Nicholas. He’ll always win and I’ll always lose you, so I’d rather lose you now than after we’ve built a life together.”

Unable to stand her tears, Andrew dressed and left her apartment with a heavy heart.