My Bad Boy's Secret: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (57 page)

So the next morning, I put on my best and most dapper suit. You would think I was about to propose to the girl. I set out early, stopped in front of her flat, and grabbed a coffee at the café and waited. Then I saw her. Suddenly seeing her as though it was going to be the last time I saw her, made me sick to my stomach. I did not want to let go. It was then that I decided I would just come clean. I would tell her everything. I would tell her that I loved her. I would tell her that my love for her was the real reason I tried to distract my heart with the Viscountess. It was because I wanted Alicia for more than just sex. I wanted her for love. Then it all changed when she said what she had to say, she had a new test for me. It was one that I was not sure that I could pass.

“Please, just get away from me Mason, I’m done. I’m done with your tricks and your tests. In fact, I have a test for you, stay away from me forever,” she said as she pouted and walked angrily away from me. It only enticed me more, it made me walk after her and chase her. But her words sunk in deep. If that was how she really felt then I could not confess my love for her. It would make me seem like a fool. So all I could say was, “I agree.”

She stopped cold and I saw some surprise on her face as she said, “You do? Then what are you doing here?”

So I handed her the reward, which was my original reason for coming, not the love confessions nonsense that I was glad I was not doing. She would only laugh in my face and tell me to get lost, “I just came to give you this. This is your reward for the last test. It was the final test, of all the tests, and you passed them all. So here is your reward just as promised, and I promise to leave you alone.”

“You do? Just like that?” she said with a look of disappointment that made me feel like there was something else going on in her head, but I didn’t know what to make of it, so I just continued in my usual cold ways by saying, “We’ve had our fun. Enjoy,” then I got back into my car and drove off to work. I didn’t dare look back. Now, I would just have to sit and wait. Either she would be happy about the gift and keep it or she would throw it in my face. I didn’t know which one. I hated waiting. I was a very impatient man. Then, her words rang in my ears, “In fact, I have a test for you, stay away from me forever.”

Keeping apart from her was my original plan, but now that she had formed it into a test, I suddenly felt compelled to really try it. She had undergone all my tests and passed, even when she didn’t know it was happening. Now, she had given me a test and it was only right that I respected it. But what would be my motivation for passing this test? For her there were rewards when she passed the test. There was no reward for me. In fact it seemed more like punishment. Then it hit me like lightening. The reward would be that the longer I stayed away from her the easier it would be to fall out of love with her, then I could get back to my womanizing ways in comfort. I smiled at the thought of getting Alicia out of my head.

“Welcome back Mr. Dreux,” my secretary said as I walked in.

“Merci, we have a very busy day, please come take notes,” I said to her as I decided to pile work and meetings into my day to keep me distracted. I had a billion dollar empire to run here.

This was how I ran my entire week. I filled it with work and fucking my maid and my secretary and any other woman I picked up. But it didn’t work. I never heard from Alicia as to whether she would keep the flat or not. I guess she thought it was none of my business, and I guess her words about keeping apart were holding true.

“Cancel my Friday and Monday meetings. I’m heading to the country,” I told my secretary as I headed out of my office that Thursday. I would go to Provence. I would bury myself in fixing up the cottage and I would be far away from Alicia’s new Parisian flat. This way I could stop fighting the urge to drive by. I needed to get away. I needed to be far, far away. I didn’t know what was happening to me. I had never felt like this before. It felt awful. I felt like I was out of control.

When I arrived in Provence that evening, I built a fire and got shit faced drunk just to numb my mind. Then I passed out. By the next morning I felt better. I felt free. Then it all came crashing down.

“Oh, la mademoiselle Alicia? Where is she? I would love to see her again. I have new recipes for her to try,” the woman at the La Natura café said as I walked in. I had forgotten that the two were now acquainted.

“She could not come this time. Could I order breakfast and a cappuccino?” I said trying to change the subject.

“Oh, no. Well, just a minute,” she said as she wondered off. Her husband smiled and nodded to me as he made a cappuccino for me. The woman returned a few seconds later in a flurry.

“Here, I made this for her. You will give it to her, yes?” she said as she handed me a lavender crown. It was delicate and smelled very fragrant. The moment the scent hit me, I thought of Alicia lying naked in the field lavender. My body started to respond. I grabbed it and laid it on the table, “Yes, of course. Now breakfast…” I said, looking up at the chalkboard with the menu. Not only was I not able to get rid of my thoughts of Alicia, I was now given an assignment to meet with her. I couldn’t do it. I just wouldn’t. I would conquer these fleeting feelings. I would.

ALICIA

I met with a real estate agent and everything checked out. The deed was a real deed and the property records now reflected my name. In fact, there was a note saying that I was expected to meet with the landlord to fill in the rest of my identification information on the property notes. I could not believe it! This was absolutely insane. I could not accept such a gift. I had to give it back. But could I? I didn’t know. This was how I was all week. I was in a state of being torn between giving it back and keeping it. After all, I had kept all the other rewards. The painting and the necklace were probably worth more than this flat was anyway. So why was I having a hard time making up my mind?

“You look distracted,” Andres said.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said snapping out of it. I was in class in the middle of painting and I had only made a few strokes on the canvas. Then I just sat there in a daze. Andres came closer over my shoulder and whispered. “Have you thought about what I asked?”

“Yes,” I whispered back.

“And?” he said waiting for my answer. He wanted me to pose for him while he painted me. He wanted me to be his model. Andres had brought it up before class and to be honest I had not thought about it at all. I could not stop thinking about the deed to the flat. So now he was waiting for an answer.

“I’ll think about it,” I said playfully. Really, I couldn’t think of anything but figuring out whether or not I would give the flat back to Mason. Then I realized that I had to. Otherwise, I would never escape the hold that he had over me. I really was excited about possibly living in Paris full time, or even off and on with my own flat to come back to, but I just couldn’t. That was it. Tomorrow, Friday, I would go to his office and tell him that I could not accept his gift. I smiled to myself finally feeling relieved that I had a plan.

The next morning I woke up and spent three hours getting dressed. I took a long bath and then applied moisturizer to every part of my body. I dried and curled my hair, and then I pulled on a red dress with ballet flats. I tied a white headband around my hair and I was on my way. I might as well look good if this would be the last time I saw him. A part of me was very sad about it, but this bad boy was not good for me and he had proven that over and over again.

“Mr. Dreux please,” I said to the front desk girl. I wasn’t sure if she recognized me or not, but it didn’t matter. “I’m sorry he is not in and won’t be back in until Tuesday,” she said.

“I see, thank you,” I said walking out as I made my way to his penthouse. I didn’t know what I would find there. He could be in the middle of fucking his maid for all I knew, but I had to do this now or I would never do it. But when I arrived his butler had news for me, “Oh Alicia, I am sorry, Mr. Dreux went to Provence. He is at his cottage for the next few days.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“Should I have a message sent to him that you came for him?”

“No! That’s not necessary. Thank you. I will be on my way,” I said as I got out of there as fast as I could. I knew what the cottage meant. He was giving some new girl the same test that he gave me. It was test number two in the lavender fields. The keeping still test while he fucked whatever woman he was with. I started to swell up with tears as I ran the streets of Paris on my way home. Then it started to pour. It was a warm summer rain and it didn’t bother me because I hardly noticed it in my jealousy and pain. I should not be feeling this way, but I did. I was so angry. When I got home I picked up the phone, “Hey, it’s me. I’ll do it. Yes, I’ll come to your studio in an hour.”

I hung up the phone with Andres and freshened up, washing the rain and tears off of me before heading to his studio for him to paint me. I needed the distraction and I needed the attention.

I walked into his studio and it was just as I expected a French artist studio would look like. “This is beautiful Andres,” I said looking around at the glass pouring in through the skylights.

“Merci, please make yourself comfortable. I am pleased that you will let me paint you. There is a curtain there where you will find a long vintage gown that I would like to paint you in, if that is good?”

“Change?” I asked.

“Yes, I cannot paint you in your jeans. It would not fit with the painting that I have in mind. It is part of an imaginary world, old and medieval.”

“Yes, right,” I said feeling dumb.

I moved toward the curtain and moved behind it. There was a rich blue satin dress with white pearls sewn into the fabric. It was very elegant and rich. It was beautiful.

“Do you need help?” he yelled.

“No! No, I got it,” I yelled back frantically. I heard him chuckle at my nervousness. I quickly fumbled with the laces and buttons of my dress and then slipped on the blue one. However, it buttoned up the back and not the front. I had no choice but to ask for help. I pulled the dress up my body as tight as I could and held it against me. I stepped out from behind the screen.

“I do need help after all. The buttons on the back, I cannot reach them.”

He smiled and walked over to me. I looked up at him from under my dark lashes and pleaded with my eyes for him to touch me. He moved behind me slowly and then grabbed the dress. He slowly buttoned the buttons with his fingers trailing up my back as he did. They were warm and I gasped at his touch. He slid them purposefully touching the bare skin of my back with much liberty. I sighed and let out a moan. He stopped and then buttoned the rest of the buttons quickly. I felt offended.

“Done,” he said as he walked away. I turned to him with a flushed face, which he must have noticed. He smirked that arrogant grin that I had so become fond of, “Please will you sit on the chaise,” he motioned.

I put down my glass of wine and followed him to chair. I sat down. He moved over me hovering just above me, staring down at my body. My breathing grew faster and faster. He was staring at me so intently. Being a model was not going to be easy work, I realized, as I would have him intensely looking at me. How would I hide my lust for him? He reached down and grabbed the hair clip in my hair. I had goose bumps all over my body as he touched me. He was studying me. He shook my long dark hair out and placed it over my shoulders in just the way he wanted it.

“Good, this is good,” he said. “Now lean on your arm this way and bring your legs up here.”

I did as he asked and moved in the way he placed me. He took a few steps back and took it all in. I was trying not to breathe fast and remain calm, but it was so hard. I had flashbacks of him licking me and sucking on my breasts. I wanted it again and again.

“Perfect, now just stay like that,” he said as he moved to his easel and canvas and began to sketch me in pencil on the canvas.

Now I was relaxed. He was occupied and I was just the model. He was far away from me. However he was still staring at me like he was going to eat me. It was very unnerving. I sat like this for a few hours, and then I could not be quiet anymore.

“How is the painting coming along? Can I finally see it?”

He sighed and said, “Very well,” as he put his brush and palette down and placed his hands on his hips.

“Now?” I asked.

“Yes, of course.”

I stood up and hesitantly walked over to him. He watched me closely as the blue satin dress rustled with every step. I came around to the front side of the canvas. I stopped and tears filled my eyes at the beauty before me. The unfinished painting was a masterpiece. He had captured my likeness exactly as I was, but more than that. I was glowing and beautiful in it. This was how he saw me.

“It’s beautiful. I am breathless,” I said in a whisper.

“You truly like it?” he asked moving closer to me.

“It is a masterpiece,” I said moving closer to it.

He came up behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders. He kissed my neck and whispered in my ear, “I want to fuck you Alicia. I cannot take it anymore.”

His words caressed over me like honey. I moaned and moved my head to the side to allow him to kiss my neck. Then he attacked the buttons on the dress down my back with fervor. In seconds he slipped it down off my shoulders and onto the floor. I stood topless with my petticoat at my waist. He turned me to him and kissed me. His full lips pressed hard and aggressive against me. I kissed him back. I finally allowed myself to touch him. I ran my fingers through his thick curly hair and pulled on it. I had longed for this. I fumbled with the buttons on his shirt and tore it off of him and ran my hands down his strong bare chest with the soft curls that covered it.