Page 8 of Date The Billionaire

My gaze traveled up the length of her arm and I appreciated how smooth her skin looked, soft and silky. My gaze moved on as she spoke, and she told me about the intricacies of sleeping with three other women in the same room. Her throat was just as elegant as the rest of her, made to cradle my head perfectly. And her mouth…

Peach-tinted lips moved, the flash of white teeth with a slight crook to the front two caught my eye. Her front bicuspid overlapped the other one just slightly, a fault I found endearing. And then I was looking at her smiling eyes.

“So you like wearing pink yoga pants and bows in your hair, do you?” She looked pleased with herself and I knew I’d been caught.

“Pardon?” I blinked and knew I’d been caught as I stared at her. I’d been too caught up in memorizing every inch of her I could spot to hear exactly what she’d said or asked.

“You started to say “mmm” to everything. So I asked if you liked wearing yoga pants and hair bows and you nodded and murmured “mmm”, so there you go. Own it, buddy, you like pink yoga pants.”

“Maybe on you, Laney, but never on me.” The playfully spoken words were out before I could draw them back and I felt something unusual happen, a burn in my cheeks I haven’t felt since I was an awkward teenager.

“It’s alright, I was only teasing you.” She reached out for my hand, a move that seemed to surprise even her, but I took her hand in mine gratefully.

“I don’t seem to be myself, either.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m no virgin, I’ve had my share of girlfriends and affairs, but something about Laney returned me to the sixteen-year-old I used to be.

I wasn’t very cool back then. I was overweight, a computer nerd seeing the world in computer languages I wanted to invent, dreaming of building my own empire. I started to exercise when I went to college at seventeen, and I built a physique that many envied. I’d also learned a lot about what women want and how to satisfy them. I’d come into this a little jaded and a whole lot of cynical; Laney changed all of that.

“What do you want?” She gave me a calm smile and my pulse thudded in my neck. Her effect on me was immediate.

“I’d love nothing more than to take you out on that beach and walk for miles with you.” I waved in the general direction of where I thought the beach was in relation to the house.

With a laugh, she held up the menu. “I meant for breakfast?”

“I, uh, well, I guess I should look first.” My cheeks were burning again, I just knew it.

She leaned back as she looked over the menu once more and I couldn’t help but notice the way the heavy cotton of her sweater made the neckline fall open. I could see the curve of generous breasts and a cleavage made for, well, things that good boys didn’t think about.

I’d never said I was an angel though, had I? I wanted to run my finger down that scented valley, to explore those soft globes with my hands, my tongue, and all the things that would make her frantic for more. I needed to stop my train of thought because soon standing up without embarrassment would be impossible.

We moved through breakfast, and she told me about her life, her roommate, her goals, and I was quite impressed. A young woman with drive. She pushed for what she wanted and took it. That was a strong pull for me.

I’d been lucky and had attended college at an early age on a full scholarship, and some would say money was just drawn to me. I rarely touched a project that didn’t succeed, in fact, I’ve never had one fail. Laney, on the other hand, struggled for what she had, even if she did have help from her parents on occasion. She didn’t complain, though, she just gave me the facts. I really admired that.

I’d almost forgotten the cameras, she put me at ease so well, but I saw them when we stood to go for that walk I suggested.

“Carol says you have twenty minutes, then there are other things to do. Other choices to make.” He looked at me with an apology and I couldn’t be mad at him.

“Fine. Tell her we’ll be back soon enough.” I put my hand in the small of Laney’s back and we moved through the house, the heels of her boots clicking on the hardwood floors.

We were soon in the fresh air. A slight breeze blew her long hair around her face. She really took my breath away.

“So, what do you, well… I suppose you can’t answer that. What do you do for fun?”

I knew she’d been about to ask what I did for a living, but the girls weren’t supposed to outright ask.

“I don’t have a lot of time for fun, really.” Shit, would that give it away? I wondered as she looked at me sharply. “There’s a lot of work involved in what I do, and well, there isn’t much down time. If I do have any, I’m usually helping my grandmother with her house.”

Yeah, that sounded better than me telling her I live in my Gran’s basement, and when I’m not working on projects I’m fixing the leaking roof or nailing down carpet that she refused to let me replace but came loose from the floor regularly. She wanted to keep the house the way it was when my grandfather was alive, and I wasn’t going to force her to change it.

“That’s very kind of you.” She glanced at me as we avoided the surf. It wasn’t the time of year for dances in the surf.

“It’s what a grandchild should do for someone who loves them, right?” I looked off into the distance, thinking of the blue eyes of my grandmother. More to me than a grandmother, she’d filled two roles since my parents died, and I could never repay that with money.

I’d been an awkward, subdued thirteen-year-old after they died in a house fire that took their lives but spared me. She’d done her best to make life normal for me as I’d eaten my way through my grief. She’d been the one that bought me a gym membership when I went off to college. I’d slowly started to be able to control the memory of flames and my parents’ screams and moved on with life. Grief still plagued me, but not as often as it had in the beginning.

“I suppose so. Both sets of my grandparents are gone now, I never really knew what that was like.” She sounded wistful and I knew what she was feeling. That longing for something that you aren’t quite sure is real.

“She’s a star. Ooof!” She’d tumbled over a hidden piece of driftwood and I caught her before she fell. Her body fell against mine and awareness singed through us both, sparking like static electricity. “You’re beautiful.”