Greene's Riches (A Billionaire Romance - Vol. 1) (3 page)

As Richard Greene refused his driver’s assistance and opened the limo door himself, she thought about how she was not supposed to let it get to this point. She would not sleep with a rich man and be disposed of like his outfits after he wore them, she thought. That wasn’t in her character.

However, all of her self-imposed barriers instantly shattered as he sat down next to her, putting his warm hand on top of her own for just a moment before respectfully settling in next to her. In that second, when he was touching her hand, she would have said yes to anything. After her slight daze, she gathered her wits once again, knowing that she should not sleep with him and hoping that she would not be tempted to, but also, somewhere in the back of her mind, very secretly hoping she would be given the chance.

“So, where is it that you are staying, Ms. Black,” he asked with his voice slyly unlacing her dress. She tried to clear her thoughts. “Oh, right. Um, I think I just forgot the name of it.” She laughed nervously shuffling through her clutch for her key. “The King’s Queen Inn?” she read, struggling in the dark.

“I don’t know quite what it is about you, Ms. Black, but I find you very interesting,” he said, catching her off guard once more.

“I bet you say that to all the girls,” she said, smiling nervously. “Not that you’re with a lot of girls. Not that you’re not.” She finally stopped herself. “I’m sorry, I just get nervous and say the strangest things. Don’t mind me.” Her attempt at shutting herself up was failing.

Before she could go on, he said, “No. I’m not with a lot of girls. Just the right ones.”

“Oh, you’re smooth,” she smiled shyly.

“And you’re adorable and sexy and smart,” he said. “Where did your date go off to?”

Wow, this guy is pulling out all the stops, she thought. “I didn’t have one, actually. And you don’t know that I’m smart.” It was all she could think to say.

He laughed a real laugh this time; a laugh that was as electric as lightening and as striking as quiet thunder to Alexis. “Aren’t you?” he said confidently. “You just said that I don’t know
that
you’re smart, not even
if.”

“Exactly my point,” she responded quickly. “I don’t even use proper grammar in such a way that would convey the correct syntax.” Then she laughed with him at the irony of the conversation.

“Let me guess… English Major?” he asked, playfully.

“Yes, actually. Most people guess that I was a Journalism major, for some reason,” she said, winking boldly.  She just kept surprising herself.

“Ah, I guess I’m the one who isn’t smart then. Should have paid attention to the context clues,” he responded. “I just like being right though.”

“You’re very good at the witty banter, Mr. Greene,” she said, feeling more comfortable complementing than being complemented. “It’s nice for someone to keep up for a change.” Then she cringed at herself. “I’m sorry, that sounded bitchy. I just meant, normally I just keep making jokes that people don’t seem to get. Trust me, I’m sure if you were around me more often, it would happen. Maybe it is happening.”  She shrugged, hoping she had managed to pull herself out of that grave.

“Don’t worry, I think I’m keeping up,” he said, smiling even more as she stumbled over herself. “How would you like to run into me more often? Maybe without trying to spill wine and drinking it instead?”

“Oh,” she said, surprised. He wasn’t trying to sleep with her tonight. He was just asking her out. She would need a few days to process this, or at least a sober view of the situation. “I am traveling a lot. I’m going to Scotland next week, but if you wanted to run into each other sometime before then, I think I could find the time.”

“How about Friday then? I’ll pick you up here?” he asked, beckoning out the window.

She quickly leaned over, seeing that they had already been sitting outside her hotel for who knows how long. “I don’t know.”

He looked at her inquisitively.

“It’s just, I don’t know if I’ll still be staying here. Could I just plan to meet you somewhere?” She didn’t want him to see the next place she might have to stay in anyway, she thought, relieved.

“Sure,” he said, pulling out a card from a pocket in his lapel and writing an address on it. “Just give this to the cab driver when you’re on your way. Meet me at 6?” He smiled, his face close to hers now as he had leaned in to show her the card.

She looked in his eyes and knew it would happen just before it did. He leaned in the rest of the way and kissed her lightly on the lips, then pulled her hand up to his face to kiss as well, keeping things from going further.

“Thank you,” she said, quietly. “I’ll see you Friday.”

“Yes, you will.” He let go of her hand, then got out of the limo and walked her to the steps of her hotel, waiting for her to go in.

             
****

When Alexis woke up the next morning,
the first thing she noticed was her headache. The pain mattered for less than a minute, as the memory of the night before hit her. She must have laid there for another five minutes simply focusing on the memory of the entire car ride right up to the very last touch. She finally got up, feeling nervous and excited for all that the day had in store. After such a wonderful evening the night before, she figured that some of that luck would follow her into today; so, she began writing her piece for the magazine as soon as she had made her coffee. An hour later, the sun was shining brightly upon her face as she very happily read her work. It was phenomenal, just like the night before had been.

And tomorrow night would be even more amazing, she thought with a sigh; that was right before the doubt begin creeping into her mind. What if he took all the women that he wanted out on an awesome date just before trying to seduce them? He was certainly attractive enough and rich enough where surely few, if any, would ever turn him down. Alexis wondered if she was wrong about that because she could hardly even imagine doing it herself.

Alexis got her things together and prepared to leave the hotel. She needed to find a new place tonight and send in her article to Jacob. As she made her way down to the front desk with her bags and her key, she felt annoyed at herself for not planning better. It probably would not be too far to find a new hotel or hostel, but it would have been better if she already had made a reservation somewhere.

“Checking out, Miss?” the young lady at the front desk asked her.

“Yes, unfortunately,” she sighed. “I won’t be able to stay in many places like this while I’m traveling.” As she spoke, the blonde behind the counter had taken her key and began printing the bill.

“Well, it looks like someone wanted you to stay for a few more nights,” she responded, reading the paper in front of her. “It’s good that you brought your bags down though. You’ll be in the master suite, it seems.” The woman stood calmly smiling and blinking as she waited for Alexis to respond.

“What? There must be a mistake,” she began. “My name is Alexis Black. The magazine, Modern Woman of Today, should have covered my first night, but that’s all. I’m checking out today.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the attendant smiled, never changing her stance or demeanor. “I can see that,” she pointed to her sheet. “But someone who would like to remain anonymous called and wanted to make sure that we put you in our nicest room for the next week. Right this way,” she said and began to walk back towards the elevator.

Alexis, in a stunned state, picked up all of her belonging and hurried to follow the attendant, full of questions. It couldn’t have been anyone from the magazine, or they would have left it under their tab and they certainly would not have put her in the
nicest
room. She did not think she had told anyone else where she was staying, except one.

“No,” she said to herself. It couldn’t be him. He was taking her on a date. A first date. Unless he was crazy, a thought which made her laugh, it could not be him. She decided to suspend suspicion until she could inspect the room.

“And here we are,” the attendant said as the walked to one of the two doors in the hallway the elevator opened to.

“At least I won’t have to worry about my neighbors being loud,” Alexis joked.

“Alright,” the blonde said matter-of-factly, ignoring Alexis’s joke. She unlocked the door. “Here we are.  If you need anything, just call down to the desk.”

“Okay, thank you,” Alexis said, looking around the room in a stupor.

This was not just a room. It was three rooms. She could see a living area and a kitchenette from where she was standing at the door. As she explored, dropping her belongings slowly along the way, she discovered the large bedroom with mirrored walls, a huge bathroom with his and her sinks, and a surprisingly small closet compared to the rest of the place. Shaking her head at her dumb luck as she walked back to her things, something on the coffee table caught her eye that she had somehow missed in her surprise: a large display of white roses in a red vase.

She walked over to the flowers, shuffling through the possibilities one last time in her head, but knowing who the little black card would be from.

Now that I know where you will be staying,

I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 6pm.

Enjoy the room service.

RG

The feminist side of her perked up: the nerve of this man. She had only just met him and he was already controlling her life. She really should refuse all of this. She really shouldn’t take a luxurious bath in huge tub. Or use the free wireless that came with this room to catch up on her social life, make future travel plans, and send in her work. The more she listed reasons to herself that she shouldn’t stay, the more she felt like it would be rude not to. After all, he clearly just had so much money that he was willing to spend it on someone else on a whim
– she might as well enjoy it.

At least, that’s what she would tell herself as she sipped the complementary champagne that came at the end of the beautiful dinner that had already been ordered for her.

****

Alexis rubbed her palms together nervously. She was trying to keep them dry for the next five minutes. That’s how long it would be until six. She had been getting ready since four-thirty, something that she had not done for a date since she was a freshman in college. She had a feeling this date would be a little nicer than the one to the local pizza place where the college one had been.

She had to admit, even though she had kept fixing every little thing about herself until she had let herself move from the mirror to the lobby: she looked sexy. It had been hard to find exactly the right mixture of the conservative innocence and prowling sex kitten, she thought. Not the she planned on sex; that was another story. She stood waiting on the steps of the hotel in her midnight blue cocktail dress that she had managed to find on sale today, because she could not bear the thought of wearing anything she had brought in her small suitcase from the States. She would go broke if she kept thinking this way – but how often do you get asked out by a multi-millionaire?

Just before six, a black car with tinted windows pulled up, and Richard Greene got out, smiling and dashing as usual in his dark gray suit.

“You should have waited inside for me,” he chastised playfully. He put his hand over his heart and stilled just before he reached her. “You look absolutely stunning.”

“Thank you,” she said, trying to feel the confidence that she thought should come with her outfit.

She accepted the kiss on the cheek from him and followed him to the car.

“I trust you like your new accommodations?” he said with a grin.

“That was really too generous of you, actually,” she answered seriously. “I can’t stay there for a whole week. That must cost a fortune, and you don’t even know me!”

“Firstly, I have a fortune. Secondly, I think the point of tonight is getting to know each other,” he said playfully. “Let’s leave that alone for now. What did you have in mind for tonight?”

“What?” she asked, taken off guard. “Oh, I guess I assumed you would have plans, but we can come up with something to do!”

He grinned at her discomfort. “I like you.”

She smiled down at her lap, unable to look at him while he was looking at her so intensely. 

“Look at me,” he said. Her eyes met his tentatively. He placed his finger delicately under her chin. “I said, ‘I like you’.” As he nearly whispered these words, he leaned in to kiss her softly on her lips. He pulled away, leaving them with an intense electrical moment where it was all Alexis could do not to grab him. It was only a breath until he kissed her again, more forcefully this time, answering Alexis’s thirst.

For a few minutes, they entered into an uncontrollable desire for each other that encased them so they were completely cut off from the outside world. Alexis did not care that she was sitting in the back of a limo where the driver could clearly see and hear them. She did not care that she had only interacted with this person for less than an hour in total so far, and she did not care how far they went in this moment. She had never felt this kind of jolt when kissing someone, such a magical surge.

He slowed down his kisses as they became aware that their vehicle had been stopped for a couple of minutes, although they had not been disturbed.

“I think we’re here,” he whispered, smiling up at her sweetly. “Logan drives to quickly. Should I have him go back around the block?”

She kissed him softly one last time, making him want more, but then stopped.

“Let’s stay. There’s plenty of time for this later,” she whispered coyly back.

She saw the intensity in his eyes soften. He kissed her hand and then they began checking their appearances, taking turns laughing and helping the other straighten up.

“I think we’re feeling like teenagers again tonight,” she said as he helped her out of the limo.

“It’s better that you didn’t meet me as a teenager, actually,” he said, winking playfully.

“Oh, is that right?” she feigned awe. “Would you not have treated me like a lady then?”

He laughed. “I think I just would have already treated you like one and left.” He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

She laughed, but was caught on a thought. So he must have been with a whole lot of girls; and he was formerly a womanizer. She assessed how she felt about this, and quickly decided it was not enough of a black mark to let it ruin the entire evening – people can change, after all.

As the waiter led them to their table, she kept imagining how nice it would be for Richard Greene to treat her like a lady. She could not keep her mind off the thought of his lips on her own. Hot and wet, with the perfect balance of tenderness and spice. She imagined his kisses traveling further down her neck and then stretched the memory to a fantasy by watching his mouth continue traveling down, hitting the high points along the way. Her body shivered as she felt a chill from her heated reverie.

“Are you cold?” Richard asked, ready to offer his jacket.

“No, no,” she hurried. “I just had a shiver. It was nothing.”

“A shiver?” he asked.

“You know,” she said, wiggling in response.

He laughed out loud at that. “Cute,” he said, flashing a winning smile.

After Richard had begun ordering for them, Alexis realized that they were in a beautifully designed Italian restaurant of some kind. She did not even know the name of where they were, she thought, embarrassed at her lack of observance.

“So,” she said, leaning in. “You think since you speak Italian, you get to order for me?” she asked, peering at him jokingly.

He laughed, amused. “Honestly, I just thought I could order better.” He recoiled quickly from her outburst, “Ha, no, in all seriousness, I have been here several times and it’s my favorite restaurant in London. I know the chef, Giovanni. He told me what to order on the phone earlier.”

She smiled, surprised. She thought it was sweet that he had taken so much time to plan all this out, but she didn’t want to say or think anything too presumptuous.

The night went on, and they continually inched closer and closer to each other in the booth in between every course and glass of wine. By the time dessert and champagne came, they had been talking and kissing equal amounts of time for the entire length of the two-hour affair.

Alexis did not know why it felt so natural to be with him. He was so far out of her element, that she expected to have nothing in common with him at all. As nervous as she was about what may happen later on that night and what he expected after this, she really wanted it to happen. She hadn’t been with anyone since Brandon some five months ago. She wanted him and she felt like that was totally okay. She was curious to find out what he really thought of her though, but it suddenly seemed fine if she found out in reverse order from the way her mother taught her.

             
****