The Billionaire's Sextape: An Adult Billionaire Romance (7 page)

              “Spill it. Come on. Okay, let me guess. I have a feeling you’d give it a girl’s name. Maybe Emma? Sally? Sabrina?”

He laughed, “Where are you getting those names from?”

              “I don’t know. They sound like sexy names. And that’s a sexy machine.”

              “Fine. You got me. She’s Mrs. Bean.”

              “Like Mr. Bean?”

              “Exactly.”

Lilah burst out laughing.

James felt his cheeks start to redden, “Why is that funny?”

              “Because it’s not sexy at all.”

He couldn’t help but laugh too. “Not at all. But she’s very dependable and strong, my Mrs. Bean. A sexy name wouldn’t have felt right.”

              “Well, you surprised me there, James.”

              “A good surprise?” he asked.

              “A good surprise.”

He handed her a cup, and she grinned as she took a sip. “Thank you, Mrs. Bean,” she said to the machine.

              “Uh… so… I was wondering if we could just talk tonight?”

Lilah looked surprised and then smiled. “Sure, of course we can. Many of my clients just like to talk. I’m happy with that. I’m a good listener.”

James was surprised at that. He never knew that some men hired these women just to talk. That flustered him a bit. She must think of him as a very lonely guy if that was what she thought he was suggesting to her.

              “Oh, no; I don’t mean like that. I mean…I’m not looking for someone to talk to.”

              “I don’t understand.”

              “I’m sorry. I’m not saying this right. I asked you to come here because there’s something I wanted to talk to you about. Uh… do you want to go sit in the living room?”

              “Okay.”

James became suddenly aware that this was where she had taken her clothes off just a few nights ago. This was where they had started the video camera rolling in the first place. This was where he had made one small decision that would forever change his life.

              “Lilah, remember that video we did together?”

              “Yeah, of course I do. I was okay with it, remember? I mean, I normally wouldn’t say yes to things like that, but I know it was just for you. You said so yourself.”

              “Well… it was. I mean, I had no intentions of doing anything with it. It was probably a stupid idea, but at the time it was something that I wanted to do, so I just rolled with it. I mean, you’re gorgeous, Lilah, and it was a nice idea to keep that forever.”

              “Okay… so what’s the issue then? You’re kind of freaking me out, James.”

              “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to. It’s just that something has happened.” James was aware that he was drawing out the conversation far more than he should be. He should just go ahead and tell her, but he felt so nervous. She could easily just storm out and make this a million times worse for him than it already was.

              “What? What’s happened? Just tell me, James.”

              “My ex-girlfriend happened. She still had a key to my place, and I came home the next day to find that she had been going through all my stuff. She said she was just taking back everything that was hers, and I stupidly believed her. Meanwhile, she’d found that tape. She wanted to get back together with me and I  said no. I guess she did it out of spite.”

              “What did she do with the tape?”

              “It’s all over the internet. Oh, Delilah, I’m so sorry. My friend phoned me today to tell me. He wanted to warn me before it got out of hand. I looked it up and I found it. It’s already spreading like crazy. I’m so sorry. I know this is not fair on you either.”

Lilah was staring inside her coffee cup as if suddenly an answer would appear in front of her. She seemed unable to look James in the eye.

              “So… what now?”

              “Elton, my friend… well he had an idea. And I wanted to run it by you.”

              “An idea?”

              “Yeah. Look… I’m not sure if you know who I am?”

              “I’ll be honest, James – I thought you looked familiar that night, but I actually had no idea who you were. But then last night I was looking through a magazine and there was a picture of you coming out of a club with some girl. And it said that you were James Elton – son of Entrepreneur Jason Elton. It said you were a billionaire.”

James sighed. “That’s me. But I’m not a billionaire for any other reason than that I’m my father’s child. That’s the only reason I am who I am. Other than that, I’m a self-obsessed party animal who loves going out way too much. I love women, I love booze, and I love the fact that I have a lot of money. And I completely realize how that makes me sound, but I want to be honest with you.”

              “So, if you are all those things, then why do you even care? Won’t this just make you look like even more of a bad boy? You’ll get more interviews than ever before. Or are you just embarrassed that you were with a stripper? Because I tell you what, James – I don’t think the media is going to really care. I mean… they’ll pretend that they care – but really, your status will just be elevated. That’s just how this world works.”

              “Because despite everything that I am – or at least portray to the world – I still come from a good family. And my father is going to die when he finds out what I’ve done. I’m sorry, Lilah – I know that sounds disrespectful to you – but if he knows I have been going to strip clubs, he’s going to flip out.”

Lilah sighed; she didn’t seem to take offense at all to what he had just said. In fact, she seemed to agree with him. “I understand, James. It’s not exactly something that I go shouting about to the world.”

              “So, why do you do it then?”

              “Seriously? You really want to know that? Or are you being condescending? I assume you think I’ve just got no morals. That I’d do anything for money. Am I right?”

              “No! I’m asking because I want to know. Because you actually seem like the complete opposite of that.”

              “Sorry. I just get snappy when someone questions what I’m doing. Especially when that someone has paid me to do it with him. So why do I do it? Because of the money. Plain and simple.”

              “But why don’t you just get a job?”

              “Do you have a job?”

              “Well… no.” James felt mortified by that question and even more mortified by his answer.

              “Sorry. I didn’t mean that,” she said. “Look, you have your father who has given you so much money that you don’t even know what to do with it anymore. And that’s great. I’m not angry at you for that. He sounds like a great dad to have. I’m doing this because once upon a time my parents died, and they left me with more debt than I had ever thought possible.

So much debt that I couldn’t fulfill my dream of going to college to study English. My dreams of becoming an English professor and a novelist have now been shoved so far to the back of my mind that I don’t even know if they are even there anymore.

The only way I could keep the house – the one thing that I had left of them – was to find a job that paid good money and paid it quickly. Otherwise, I’d lose the house. I’ve spent the last few years trying to pay back their debt and trying to earn back their house. I can’t lose it, James. I already lost them. They were my only family. Literally, my only family. So that’s why I did it.

And yeah… it might not have been the best idea – but it was the only idea that I could come up with. And I still have the house, so I must be doing something right. But do I hate myself for it? Yes – every single day of my life.”

James watched as Lilah looked back down at her coffee – which was more than likely cold now – and a single tear fell down her face. She wiped it away and took a deep breath.

              “I’m sorry.” He had no idea what else to say. His life had been so easy. Probably too easy.

              “That’s okay.” She smiled at him. The smile was sad but genuine. “So… what’s your plan then?”

James wondered how she was going to react to the plan. He had figured that she’d just say yes immediately – because he had made the mistake of believing that she didn’t have feelings. That she’d be easily swayed by the money.

But now he wasn’t so sure. “The plan. Well… I was thinking… well, actually, Elton suggested this and I agreed.” He was stuttering. “Perhaps we should pretend as if we were a couple. And that the whole video thing was purely something that we wanted to do together – that it was never meant to get out.

We can say that we have every right to do that as a couple. And then… after a few weeks, we can just break up. And that would be that. I mean… the video is not going anywhere. I’m going to get some guys to look into it as soon as possible and see if they can get it off the internet. But I know that the damage has already been done.”

James took a deep breath and watched her reaction. A million emotions seemed to be going through her mind, and he watched as she considered them. “But James… there’s only one problem with that.”

              “What’s that?” He racked his brain trying to think about what he had forgotten.

              “The fact that I work at Betsy’s. That I’m a stripper. Someone is going to say something. It’s impossible that it won’t come out. And then what?”

              “I did think of that. And we can fully admit that. We can just say that we met under different circumstances and that we fell in love instantly despite all of this. We can say that you quit your job. I agree with you – the truth about that will come out no matter what. So we won’t be able to deny that. But maybe it’s better if we don’t.”

              “But I can’t just quit my job. It’s my JOB! It’s the only way I can make money.”

              “I know, I know. It’s a horrible thing to ask of you. But you said yourself that you wanted to get out of it. You said that you were almost finished paying everything back. Aren’t you?”

              “I am. I’m almost finished.”

              “So, I pay you until then. We can see this like a job.”

              “But I’d feel awful about that.”

              “Why? What’s the difference? And please don’t make me feel guilty about asking that question. I paid you the other night. Now I’ll pay you again. But this is even better. You won’t have to work there. You won’t have to sleep with other guys. You won’t have to do all those things that you don’t want to do. And you’ll still get paid.”

              “And what about after that? What happens then? Nobody is going to hire me.”

              “Someone WILL hire you. Your house will be paid off. You won’t need as much to survive. And you’ll start somewhere small. Maybe waitressing. Maybe as a secretary. Then you’ll work your way up. If you want, I’m sure I can even get you a job.”

              “No! I mean… thank you… but I need to do this on my own.”

              “Or maybe you should stop being so stubborn and actually let someone help you.”

              “James – you say all this like it’s so easy. And yet you’ve never worked a day in your life. Don’t be offended either, but you don’t exactly understand how hard it is to find work. Especially when you have actually worked before. I mean – being a stripper doesn’t exactly get me places. Not the right places, anyway.”

              “But you want to get out of that place. Don’t you?”

              “Yes. Of course I do. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

              “Then maybe this is the right time for it,” James insisted. He suddenly realized that he might actually be doing her a favor in the end. He could be her knight in shining armor.  The thought somewhat thrilled him.

              “You’re just saying all of this so that I’ll agree to your plan and keep you in your father’s good graces,” she said. But he was sure he noticed a small smile playing on her lips.

              “You got me! I am. Of course I am. But at the same time… it would benefit you too. You can’t deny that.”

              “You’re absolutely right. It would benefit me. I’ve been desperate to get out of this for a long time. Flip, though… I’m nervous. James… this is huge. I mean – we’re going to pretend we’re a couple. Who knows about this? Your friend – Elton, you said his name was? Hey, same name as your surname!”

              “Yeah, we’re childhood friends. We used to joke about that all the time. Like I said, he’s the one that came up with the idea, and he’s the one that first warned me about the video. He’s cool. He won’t tell anyone. I think it’s best that we don’t tell people what we are doing. The more people who know, the more who might find out.”

              “I might tell my friend, Melissa. She’s trustworthy, too. I’m just telling you from the get go because I need someone that I can talk to about all of this. I might
not
tell her. But I might. I don’t have any family, and I have very few friends, so this won’t get out.”

              “What about your boss?”

              “I’ll tell her that you and I started dating a while back. That you came here under false pretences to see me. That I’ve fallen for you and I want to quit. She’ll be sad to lose me. But she’s a romantic at heart, I think. Actually – how the hell would I know? Girls leave all the time, so there really isn’t much she can say about it.”