The Billionaire's Bet: A Seductive Deal (2 page)

When the last bid came, it was an old lady
who shouted the words ‘fifteen thousand’
and who’d won a night with the handsome guy. The
same old lady for who he’d picked up the chips she’d dropped. I
chuckled when I saw her gloat, walking off with him on his arms,
the rest of the women pouting behind her.

Chapter 2

“
A tequila Sunrise and a margarita,
please,” I said.

“Are you on a roll tonight?” the bartender
asked me while pouring the liquor.

“
No, I just really need something to
drink.” I sat down on a stool at the bar and rested my head on the
palm of my hand.

He snorted and gave me the two glasses. I
took the tequila first and sipped out the delicious tart citrus and
sweet grenadine.
I was
ignoring that stupid voice in my head that said I was pathetic,
drinking alone at a casino bar, with nothing but an old laptop and
a case full of all my belongings.

I took another sip and looked the other way,
toward the poker table. I saw Mister Hunkalicious (yes, he needed a
name) flipping cards. He was letting the old lady win and I’d seen
her glow all night long as he entertained her. They got up and she
whispered into his ear. He held up his hand and she turned around,
but just before he walked away, she grabbed his butt.

I almost blew bubbles into my drink from
laughing, so I quickly set it down.

The old lady went to the elevator while the
guy I wanted sat down again to finish his poker game.

I drank up what was left in my glass and
reached for the other one. I was feeling tipsy already, but I
couldn’t care less. I needed to feel at ease in order to write
again. Actually, I was a much better writer when I was drunk, which
was one of the things I was least proud of, but on which I was
dependant for money to flow, which was of course needed to actually
live.

Ah, the wondrous horrible
circle of life
.

“
Cheers,” I said to
the bartender, who raised an empty glass
with me. I took another gulp from the glass and closed my eyes to
wash away the guilt.

“
Such an early evening for a lady
lik
e you to be drinking
like that, don’t you think?”

My eyes shot open. Looking to
my left, I saw Him sitting
there. Mister Hot was sitting right next to me, on a stool, flexing
his wrist to look at the time.

I promptly put down the glass and took my
head off the palm of my hand.

Clearing my throat, I said,
“
I don’t know, you tell
me.”

He smiled. “There are many more ways to have
a good time.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Like what? Making a
young boy’s day? Entertaining an old lady? Enticing lusty
women?”

He chuckled with a low grunt that made my
insides quiver. “I prefer the latter.”

I muffled a laugh and took another sip.

The guy beckoned the bartender and said,
“I’ll have a Dirty Martini, please.”

He faced me again and held out his hand.
“Dominic Fury.”

Dominic
Fury? Sexy guy has a name now
and it’s a hot one too. Oh geez.

“Julie Valentine.”

“Valentine? What a charming surname.”

I chuckled. “I wish I could say the same
about yours, but it would just set me on fire.”

God, I’m awful with slapstick jokes.

He laughed. “I usually do more than just
set girls on fire.”
His
wink did exactly that.

The bartender arrived with his drink
and
Dominic raised it.
“To a wonderful evening.”

I toasted with him and we both took a sip
from our glasses. It was quiet for some time, so I thought I’d
break the ice. “It was very nice of you to give that oldie a great
time.”
“You think so? Well, I guess, but she did pay for it.”

“
Yeah, but it all goes to a charity, right?
Plus, you could’ve ditched her after a while and you didn’t. I know
plenty of men who’d rather rid themselves of grannies like
her, grabbing your butt and
stuff like that.”

Dominic
chortled. “Hehe, yeah, she packed quite a pinch,
if you know what I mean. Luckily she ditched me after a while. She
said she was tired, but that she had a lovely time with me. Guess a
little butt-grabbing is worth it.”

“
You mean making people happy?”

“
You could call it that. It’s what I do,
anyway.”
He drank some
more and loosened his collar. “So, what’s your life’s
calling?”

I snorted. “
More like a crazy whim, I’d call it.”

He raised his eyebrows and waited for me to
speak.

“I’m a writer,” I admitted, reluctantly. I
shuddered from the thought of what usually comes next. People would
either ask me if I’d ever make enough money, if I’d even sell
anything, if it was just a hobby …

“Oh, really? Guess that must mean I’m
drinking with a famous person then. I’ll drink to that.”

He took another sip while I laughed.

“
Eh, not so much,” I said. “I wish,
though.” I took my last gulp and signaled the bartender to get me
another.

“
Hmm
, so business isn’t going so well? What do you
write?”

I stirred my straw around in my empty
glass. “
Steamy romances.
I’d be selling more if I knew what to write, but inspiration
doesn’t come easy nowadays.”

The bartender brought my new drink and took
away the empty glass, leaving me with a new tequila to play around
with.

The left corner of Dominic’s lip curled
up. “If inspiration is another word for ‘having a good fuck’ then I
know what you mean.”

My eyes widened when I heard that and I
almost choked on my drink.
I put my glass down again and felt a little queasy from the
alcohol. “My, my, aren’t you the seducer.”

He chuckled. “I’d hardly call that
seducing.”

We both laughed and I drank up my tequila,
feeling tipsier by the second. I didn’t really care about it
though. I was having a good time with Dominic and talking to him
was better than sitting alone in my bedroom behind a laptop all
night.

“
Well, it was a pleasure to meet
you,
Dominic Fury, but
it’s time to head back and get my creative juices
flowing.”

I got off my stool, but my legs were
wobbly and I was very dizzy, so I almost fell over.
Dominic jumped off and caught
me. Now I could really feel those strong arms around my waist and
it was sending heat strokes through my body.

“
Wow, be careful there,” he said. “Maybe
that was a little too much tequila.”

“Thanks, but I’ll manage.”

He took my arm and placed it around his neck.
“No worries, let me help you. I’ll get you to your room.”

We moved forward through the lobby with
guests staring at us like we were goofing off. “Hey, are you
flirting with me?” I muttered, only half aware of what I was
saying.

“Flirting? No, I would never,” he said, and
he winked, making me chortle.

“You’re naughty, you know that? Wanting to go
to a girl’s room the second you meet her.”

He laughed. “Oh, I’ve seen plenty of rooms in
my life time, don’t worry about that.”

We stumbled into the elevator and Dominic
managed to press the correct button. I hung on his neck, almost
unable to keep standing up. I was so tired and … well, my brain
started to go into inactive mode.

“What’s your room number?” he asked.

I think I managed to say it, but I’m not sure
if it was the right one.

“Okay, here we are,” he said. So little time
had passed between him asking and finding the door, though I
imagined it must’ve been a lot longer than my brain told me. He had
to haul me all the way here.

I took out my keys, but was fumbling so
much,
Dominic snatched
them from me and opened the door himself. He helped me get inside
and put me down on the bed.

“
Well, goodnight,
July,” he said. “It was wonderful to meet you
too.”

I flopped down on my back, facing the ceiling
and made snow-angels on the bed, without any snow. I cracked myself
up.

I heard him sigh and then I felt his warm
fingers on my feet.

“
Oh, what are you doing, Dominic? Are you
undressing me? You’re such a tease,” I said.

“
No, I’m taking off your shoes, so you can
get into your bed.”

He was speaking the truth. My feet suddenly
felt cold and his hands had released them again.

I got back up from the bed and wriggled my
way to the end where he was standing. He was towering above me, his
buff features appetizing and hard to resist, especially now that I
wanted to be loved and could care less who it was.

He turned around, but I grabbed his hand.
“
Don’t go yet.” I pulled
him closer and planted a kiss on his stubbly, muscular neck. I
laced my arms around his neck, but he tried to unhook them again. I
was clinging on to him, while he was trying to leave.

“You’re not exactly sober, Julie. I can’t do
that.”

I lowered the straps of my bra so my boobs
became more exposed and fiddled with his tie. “Oh, come on. It’s
just a little bit of fun.”
I kissed him on his shoulder and sternum, unbuttoning his
shirt slowly. He swallowed; I saw his Adam’s apple move up and
down. I felt his pants tent against my groin and it only made me
hungry for more.

“
No, Julie.” He grabbed my arms, his hands
firm and demanding, and he pushed me away. “Th
is is not really my idea of fun and you
certainly don’t want that, trust me.”

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
I could tell he was having trouble not giving in. Then he ripped
himself away from my clutch, turned around and walked out
th
e door, slamming it
behind him.

I frowned, sighed and rolled my eyes.

Whatever.

I dropped back onto the bed and closed my
eyes.
I didn’t remember
what came next.

***

Someone knocked on the door. I heard a vague
noise. My eyes were glued together, but I managed to open them.

I woke up with a terrible headache and an
overheated body. I was still in my dress, partially under the
blanket, my legs swaying off the side of the bed. Lipstick was
smeared all over my pillow and when I wiped my face, the red stain
was on my fingers too.

I looked up and gaped at the alarm clock. My
eyes shot open and I frowned. It wasn’t the time that had startled
me. The giant pink dildo on the nightstand did.

How the hell did that get there?

More importantly, whose was it? Not mine,
that was for sure. I didn’t remember ever buying a dildo like that.
Sure, I had a flesh colored one, but not
a pink, cutesy one.

What the hell did I do last night?

Groaning, I
managed to fall out of bed.

The knocking ensued and I could hear it was
someone shouting at the door. “Miss Valentine? Room service. Open
up please,” a woman shouted.

I panicked and searched for a washcloth to
get the smudges off my face. “In a minute!” I yelled back.

I ran around the room, trying to clean
myself, pick up the dirty laundry and throw it under the bed,
rearrange my furniture that had landed all over the place and get
out of this uncomfortable dress. I threw the dildo into an empty
drawer. I put on a clean shirt and some jeans and brushed my
hair.

“Can I come in now?” the woman said.

“
Yeah, coming,” I said and I ran to the
door and unlocked it. I didn’t even know how it got locked in the
first place. I hardly remembered anything about last
night.

She came in and stared at me for a second,
before rolling in the trolley packed with scrumptious
food for breakfast. She did her
routine, placing everything neatly where it belonged and then
walked over to the bed to take off my sheets.

“
I’ve included a newspaper, as requested.
Service will be back with clean sheets this afternoon. They’ve got
the key, so no need to stay in, and they’ll bring clean towels. If
there’s anything else you need, don’t hesitate to call. Enjoy your
breakfast and have a nice day,” she said, and she quickly closed
the door behind her.

I sat down at the table and took some
toast and butter off the plate, while I turned on my laptop.
Skimming through my notes, I noticed I hadn’t made any progress in
a while. I sighed and ate some strawberries, realizing I had to
make some money soon before it
would completely dry up. My writing wasn’t going anywhere,
that was for sure.

I picked up the newspaper and, scanning it, I
noticed a peculiar ad.

‘
Wanted. Female assistant for
CEO of Casino. High maintenance job. Must be eighteen or older and
have plenty of experience with men. Not for the weak hearted or
ill.
Must be
open-minded and capable of reducing work-related stress. Must be
available twenty-four/seven. Pay is fifteen thousand a
week.’

“
Fifteen thousand a week
?” I blurted out. “What the hell is this
job?”