Billionaire Romance Boxed Set (9 Book Bundle) (103 page)

He left me in his library basement, disheveled and
half-clothed. I relished the idea of sitting with him, eating pizza like
a couple and watching a movie. Talking. Leaning my head against his
shoulder while he put his arm around me.

I needed to refrain from that, though. I needed
to pull back and stop this right now. Asher accepted me, gave me a second
chance, and though he’d acted in a fit of passion again, I didn’t think we
could do this anymore. Especially with his wife returning.

Some fluke, he might say. I’d apologize
profusely to her, beg her to accept, and somehow Asher had decided he would
weave in a request for me acting as her surrogate. Egg donation,
pregnancy, their child in my womb. Except it would be partly my child,
too, wouldn’t it? Not exactly, but somewhat. My egg and his seed,
but it was for her, his wife. Beatrice.

Could I handle that, though? Could I do any of
this? I’d agreed so quickly, and I didn’t have any real reasons for it.

That was in the long term, though. Thinking
shorter, could I even manage to survive dinner with them tomorrow? Asher,
yes, perhaps, but I pictured Beatrice, some cool, calm woman screaming at me
and demanding I leave, threatening Asher with divorce, or more. I had no
right to ask if he had a prenuptial agreement with her, but if he didn’t I
could very well be his downfall.

And then what would Asher think of me?

There was no reason to worry about it right
now, I told myself. Tomorrow, dinner, I had plenty of time until then to
think of what I was going to do and say.

His Absolute Desires

*

I sat on the couch waiting for Asher to return,
feeling calmer than I had in months. Years, maybe? I didn’t know
for sure and couldn’t have said why—since I felt like I should be anxious—but
I felt wonderful. Asher, the man I’d met only a couple days ago, the CEO
of Landseer Enterprises, was off ordering us pizza.

And a movie! I wondered what movies he might
have. Did he watch classics, like
Casablanca
, or did he prefer
newer movies? Comedies? Action films? Or, dare I think it,
romance? The latter was, perhaps, awkward wishful thinking. I didn’t
actually care what kinds of movies he liked, or what in particular we watched,
but I enjoyed the idea of sitting in his guest home and watching a movie with
him. By ourselves, alone, with pizza, like some kind of casual date.

Of course it wasn’t a date, but some small part of me
had classified it as that. He had a wife, told me multiple times he
needed to be faithful to her, but why? I didn’t want to ruin his
marriage, not by a long shot, but I wanted him to be happy. She left for
weeks at a time from what he mentioned, and when she was here she rarely spent
time with him from what I knew, so it wasn’t a very expressive marriage.
Convenience and association, and since they both came from well-to-do families
it made sense, but that didn’t mean marriage needed to be that way.

There was love and passion. Fervid desire and
anticipation. There was emotion, like butterflies caressing your skin and
sinking into your stomach, making you feel weak in the knees and oh so
wonderful. I knew Asher was fully capable of these feelings and of making
someone else feel them, too. He’d shown me passion aplenty in his office
when I first met him. Just last night he’d shown me even more, too.
He had love and desires and excitement bottled up inside of him, begging to get
out, but he had no way to release them.

I wanted all of him. He was rich, yes, but that
wasn’t what was important to me. I wanted his affection and his love, his
release and his happiness. Maybe that was why I accepted his request to
act as an egg donor and surrogate mother for his infertile wife. It was
an awful, horrible, horrendous idea, and I knew in the end I would come to
regret it if—or more like, when—the entire ordeal was over and Asher and I
parted ways, but I felt like I needed to do it anyways. For him, for his
happiness, and for a brief glimpse of happiness for myself, too.

Asher was kind. He was aloof and dominant and
sometimes too aggressive. I don’t think he knew exactly what he wanted in
his life, even if he had precise control over everything regarding his career
and his finances. He was quiet and isolated and the sort of person who
preferred curling up in his private library with a good book over attending
fancy parties and showing himself off to the general public. He was a lot
of things that a lot of people probably wouldn’t like, but he was everything
that I wanted.

I desired him beyond belief. His touch, himself,
his warmth and his body pressing against me as he whispered words of adoration
into my ear.

Unfortunately it was not to be. I knew this, and
he’d said it, and despite the fact that we’d gone against it and I’d made him
feel terrible about cheating on his wife, I knew it couldn’t happen
again. I understood that and I told myself to let it go, but some part of
me refused to accept it. A passing fancy, something stuck into my head
that would come loose over time, dislodge, and vanish as quickly as it
appeared. Whim, pure fantasy, and nothing more.

That’s what I told myself, but I didn’t believe that,
either.

…

“Jeremy,” Asher said, seeing his driver
hastily walking through the main house foyer and heading to the front
door. “A word?”

Jeremy paused, looking as if he needed to decide
whether he was going to keep going or listen to the man who paid his salary.
“Hey, Asher,” he said, reluctant. “Is everything
alright?”

“No,” Asher said. “Not
particularly. There’s an annoying, ridiculously stubborn, absolutely
infuriating woman in my guest home, and I’m not sure why she’s still
there.”

“Oh,” Jeremy said, face turning red.
“Right. I don’t know?”

“I think you do,” Asher said.

“You, uh… did she…?”

Asher fully suspected Jeremy knew exactly why Jessika
was still in his guest house. He’d asked the man to drive her home early
that morning, and was surprised to hear she’d refused to leave. Except,
why would she do that? Jessika didn’t seem the sort to take risks like
that; not unless she knew it would pay off. True, he didn’t know her
that
well, but from what he did know she was respectful with a slight feisty streak.

Except, how feisty? Enough to refuse to leave,
and enough to go around his guest home and mess the place up. Not a huge
mess, nothing more than superficial dirtiness, but still. And, my God,
she’d admitted to masturbating in his bathtub while he was away. Granted,
he’d been easing away her aroused distraction at the time, pulling her clothes
off and pushing her panties to the side so he could…

Had he needed to do that? In his mind, he
rationalized their behavior. Jessika was something else entirely, and he
needed to prove to her that he wasn’t a pushover. She was no ordinary
woman, no matter what she thought of herself. But, had he wanted to do
what he did? That was a dangerous question and best left unanswered.

He wanted so much and he knew he couldn’t have
it. Why dwell on the unattainable?

“I’m sorry about the hassle,” Jeremy
said. He was apologizing now, and Asher realized he must have been at it
for awhile. “The thing is, she didn’t want to leave, and I might
have told her that you probably wouldn’t force the issue. I don’t
remember the exact details. And…”

“It’s fine,” Asher said, grinning.
“I just wanted to harass you. Actually, I was about to order pizza
for her and I. Can you go pick it up?”

“Oh,” Jeremy said, standing there with his
mouth open, looking like a hooked fish.

After a moment’s pause, Asher said, “Well?”

“Yes. Um, yeah? You sure? Is
everything… good? What kind of pizza are you getting?”

“Ham and mushrooms, light on the cheese.
Also another with chicken, feta cheese, tomatoes, and onions.”

“Oh. George’s place?”

“The Arcadia, yes.”

“Sure, I can go. I don’t have anything else
to do. Was just going to…”

“For someone who has nothing to do, you sure
looked like you were in a hurry to leave before,” Asher observed.

Jeremy stumbled for something to say. Yes, Asher
decided, he’d definitely influenced Jessika’s decision to stay. Asher
wondered whether he should reprimand him or thank him.

Probably both.

…

I lazed on the couch in Asher’s guest home. My
head resting on an overstuffed pillow, I gazed up at the ceiling. I felt
giddy, like a school girl, like my crush had invited me to his house to study
for an upcoming test and once I got there he told me that his parents would be
away for the weekend. The point of going was, of course, the studying,
but there was always that allure, hiding, of something more. A kiss, a
peck, a touch of hands as we took a break and watched a movie and both grabbed
for the same piece of popcorn from the snack bowl. Anything, just the
smallest, most simplest of things, transformed into so much more.

“Comfortable?” Asher asked. He
intruded on my daydream, waltzing into his home and joining me in the open
living room.

“Yes,” I said. I sat up and patted the
seat beside me on the couch. “Do you want to be comfortable,
too?”

He smiled and sat next to me. Not too close, but
close enough. I sat and stared at him with my hands in my lap, realizing
I had a silly smile on my face but not knowing any way to get rid of it.
I couldn’t have stopped smiling right now if I tried, so I just let it be.

“The pizza will be here soon,” he
said. “Jeremy is picking it up. The Arcadia. Have you
heard of it?”

I shook my head, no.

“It’s very good. A classier place, but they
don’t skimp or make it cheap. There, pizza is pizza, with tons of
toppings and a crust you can sink your teeth into. Not like those fancy
places that give you something the size of a tea saucer and charge you five
times what Domino’s does.” He paused for a second, then added,
“Not that I’m annoyed about that or anything…”

“I take it you’ve had some bad pizza?” I
asked, laughing.

“I prefer not to talk about it,” Asher
said. He lowered his eyes, feigning shy indignance. Asher was
anything but shy, though. He looked up soon after, glanced at me, making
eye contact, and flashed me a bright smile.

“I was thinking,” he said. “Have
you seen
The Goonies
? I haven’t seen it since I was a kid and I’d
love to watch it again. It’s a great movie.”

“Is that the one with the pirates?”

“Kind of,” he said. “Not really,
but sort of. There’s a pirate’s treasure, and a mafia crime family.
Traps and adventure and a little romance and friends coming together to
accomplish something big, and…”

I listened to him with rapt attention. He
sounded so into it. It wasn’t the kind of movie I’d typically like,
though I was sure I would have watched it with friends. The way Asher
talked about it, the glimmer in his eyes and the excitement in his voice, I
really wanted to watch it now, though. Something about it, sharing his
passion, watching the movie and simultaneously watching him watch it, seeing
him enjoy it; the idea appealed to me.

“I’d love to watch it,” I said.

“Great!” He got up, walked towards the
fireplace.

Tapping on one of the bricks revealed a panel with a
bunch of buttons and he pressed a few. The large windows surrounding the
living room immediately darkened, becoming tinted(almost like magic) and
blocked most of the late afternoon sun. Then, something clicked behind
and above me. I craned my neck and looked back to see a plate opening in
the ceiling, with a projector dropping down and arranging itself so it pointed
in front of us. And, finally, a large, white screen descended above the
fireplace.

The whole thing looked like some movie theatre set
up. Except, of course, for the fact that I was still in Asher’s living
room. I gaped at the screen, dumbstruck. I’d never really imagined
anything like this. It was the kind of thing people talked about wishing
they had, except Asher actually owned it. He snickered at my reaction.

Walking with a swagger back to the couch, he plopped
next to me again. “I have everything set up,” he said.
Leaning forward, he snatched a remote off the coffee table. “With
this, I can access every DVD in my collection and play them through the
projector. It’s quite useful.”

“I imagine,” I said. I couldn’t keep
my eyes off the projection screen. “This is amazing.”

“You think this is amazing? Just wait until
the pizza arrives.”

…

The movie ended. The pizza was as amazing as
Asher said, too. I loved all of it. Not just the pizza or the
movie, but every time something exciting was about to happen Asher would tense
up. He’d stare at the screen, entranced, watching. Sometimes he’d
notice me looking at him and laugh, telling me to watch. “A good
part is coming up soon,” he’d say.

I scooted closer to him on the couch as the movie
progressed, almost touching him, side by side. It was a good movie and I
liked it. Cute, silly, with lighthearted parts sprinkled in with the more
serious plot points. I could tell why he liked it, and I think I would
have loved to read a book about it, to learn more, get a better feel for the
characters. It was good, though. The whole evening was good.
Wonderful and great.

“Who was your favorite character?” he asked
me during the credits.

A Cyndi Lauper song hummed through the surround sound
speakers. “I liked the little boy with the gadgets,” I said.

Asher laughed. “I always wanted to be like
him when I was younger. I used to watch this movie all the time. I
don’t know why, but whenever I saw it was on TV I’d switch to that channel and
watch it, even if it was halfway over already.”

I shifted closer to him on the couch. Our thighs
touched and he looked at me briefly, some unspoken words between us.
Careful, his eyes seemed to say. This is alright, but no more.
Careful.

I leaned back on the couch, looking towards the
ceiling. My head lolled, rolling to the side, touching the top of his
shoulder. “I never did anything like that,” I said.
“I liked to read a book after I saw the movie, though. If I saw a
movie and liked it and found out it was based on a book, I needed to read the
book after. I don’t know why, since I knew most of what would happen, but
it’s still different, too. Sometimes a lot different.”

“Like what?” he asked. He put a hand
on my thigh by my knee, a friendly gesture. My heart raced at his touch.