Read Loved by the Billionaire: A Torrid, Romantic BWWM Story Online
Authors: Eve Brown
Loved by the Billionaire
A Torrid, Romantic BWWM Story
A Work of Fiction By
Eve Brown
Copyright © 2015 Eve Brown
All rights reserved. No part of the work may be reproduced without the expression written permission of the author.
This book is a work of fiction.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All characters, events, and incidents in this book are a product of the author's imagination.
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to all of my friends and fans. I'd like to say thank you for all of your support. I do this because of each and every one of you.
* STORY SYNOPSIS *
Twenty-nine year old LaKeeta Hunt is beautiful, smart, curvy and sexy. When a routine visit to her doctor shows that she's at risk for developing health problems, she quickly decides to take her doctor's advice and lose a little weight.
Her decision to join a local gym puts her in close, steamy contact with the very sexy and single trainer, Anthony Paulson.
Anthony is the billionaire CEO of Body Work Zone. When he first lays his eyes on the super-gorgeous LaKeeta, he's instantly attracted to the curvy beauty.
It doesn't take very long for them to realize that they have a mutual sexual attraction. But in the end, will sexual magnetism be enough to keep them together? Or will secrets from Anthony's past cause their budding relationship to crumble like a house of cards?
* * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER ONE
* * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER NUMBER ONE
Twenty-nine year old LaKeeta Hunt quickly got redressed, then waited for her doctor to come back into the examination room. The pretty, brown-skinned girl gave Dr. Harris a smile.
“
Well, Dr. Harris….everything okay with my check-up again this year?”
Dr. Harris returned the smile with a grin of her own. However, LaKeeta could tell — from the expression on the woman’s face — that something was wrong.
She felt her heart beat faster in her chest. She closed her eyes, then swallowed a little nervously. “What is it, Dr. Harris? There was a problem with my exam today….wasn’t there?”
Dr. Harris drew her eyebrows together and nodded her head. LaKeeta felt the tiniest bit relieved that the middle-aged doctor was at least still smiling.
Well sort of
, she thought to herself.
The doctor sighed. “Everything came back pretty normal….except for your blood pressure. Your diastolic number….that’s the bottom one….it’s one point shy of me having to give you a Stage One high-blood pressure diagnosis.”
LaKeeta frowned. “You’re telling me I have high blood pressure?”
The doctor shook her curly head. “No, I’m not telling you that you have it, because technically you’re one point away. What you have right now is a condition called pre-hypertension. Like we discussed last year at your checkup, if you don’t go ahead and get that pressure down, you’re gonna need high blood pressure meds….like ASAP.”
LaKeeta shook her head. “I’m too young for high blood pressure pills, Dr. Harris. My mom takes those things—”, she frowned, “— and my Auntie. They both hate them.”
LaKeeta let out a worried breath. However, she refused to go out without a fight. “Well, what alternatives do I have, Dr. Harris? Besides those pills you're talking about, what else can I do to fight this?”
“
You can give changing your diet a try. Plus, studies have shown, time and time again, that a ten to twenty pound weight loss can lower your blood pressure. It can cause your pressure to drop by ten points or more.”
The doctor smiled, then raked her eyes up and down LaKeeta’s curvy, voluptuous body in appreciation. “Don’t worry, dropping ten to twenty pounds won’t mean you’ll lose all of those curves you’ve been blessed with.” She nodded her head, deep in thought. “I do admit, you’ll probably drop a dress size or two, but you’ll still be drawing the men like bees to honey.” At that point, the doctor smiled at her, “— or drawing the ladies, if that’s your preference.”
Fifteen minutes later, as LaKeeta pulled out of the medical complex’s parking lot and merged onto I-10, she knew what her next move was going to be. She frowned. There was no way in hell that she was taking any blood pressure meds.
At twenty-seven
,
I'm too young for that shit
.
She sighed as she pointed her late-model Lexus towards High Boulevard. She began speaking under her breath to the empty car. “I'm gonna do something I should have done a long time ago....I'm taking my behind to the gym.” She grimaced.
But first I'm getting rid of the junk in my fridge and replacing it with stuff that's a little healthier
.
That should go a long ways towards my new goals
.
* * * * * * * * * *
Less than twenty minutes later, LaKeeta was pushing her empty shopping cart through Natural Place Organics, Too. The organic grocery store had only been open for a year or so, but it was the premiere go-to spot for those times when a person wanted to eat healthily.
She'd only been in the store for five minutes when she heard someone calling her name.
“LaKeeta Hunt....is that you, girl?”
LaKeeta turned around to see where the light, feminine voice had come from. A smile spread itself across her pretty face when she realized that it was her old middle-school friend, Adina Brewster. “Adina Brewster?”
Smiling, the petite, caramel-colored girl nodded her head. “Yep. It's me in the flesh. I go by Adina McAlister nowadays, though.” She held up her hand flashing a big-ass diamond ring, indicating that she was very married.
The two women gave each other heartfelt hugs, then pulled back.
LaKeeta shook her head. “You're just as pretty as you were back in eighth grade, honey.”
Adina grinned. “You too, LaKeeta.” She paused for only a moment. “How long has it been? Fifteen years?”
LaKeeta nodded her head, then giggled. “Give or take a year or two.”
“How long have you been back in Texas? Last I heard, you and your mom had moved to Fort Lauderdale.”
“Yeah. That's true. My mom moved back six years ago....I followed her back a year later.”
Adina nodded her head in understanding. “Girl, it sure is good running into you like this. What have you been doing with yourself?”
LaKeeta smiled. She felt the exact same way. “I own a bakery here in town....Keeta's Just Dessertz.”
Adina smiled. “The place off of Ocean Boulevard? That's you?”
LaKeeta nodded her head.
Still beaming, Adina said, “I love that place! I stop in and pick up cupcakes from there all the time.” She drew her eyebrows together in surprise. “Where you be hiding at, honey? I've never seen you there.”
LaKeeta didn't consider herself to be a shy person, but she'd opened her shop because she actually enjoyed the cooking part. “That's because I prefer to stay in the back doing the actual baking. I let my staff handle the other stuff.”
“Wait a second....I knew that the girl who works the register all the time looked familiar. Is that your little sister? Is that NyAsia?”
LaKeeta nodded her head. “Yep. Indeed it is.” She paused for a moment then said, “And what have you been up to....it's Mrs. McAlister now, right?”
Adina smiled. “Yes. Mrs. Adina McAlister. I've been married three years — give or take a few days. But, when I'm not taking care of my hubby, I'm running this place here.” She motioned about the store using her hand. “My friend Jessica and I opened
Natural Organic Place, Too
almost a year ago.”
LaKeeta congratulated Adina on the very apparent success of her business venture. Then the two women talked for a few minutes more. That is until Adina was called to the back of the store by an employee to handle some type of minor emergency. Before she rushed off, the two women exchanged phone numbers and agreed to call each other and meet for lunch.
Minutes later found LaKeeta standing down the supplement aisle comparing two bottles of pills. They both touted some type of weight loss benefits. She turned, startled by a deep, masculine voice beside her.
The man was an inch or so above six-feet tall. He was buff and all deeply-tanned muscle. He flashed her a smile. “Instead of the pills, I'd take a more natural approach by just brewing a couple of cups of green tea every day. Green tea is easier on the system.”
The slightest bit of a frown spread itself across LaKeeta's face.
The man gave her another grin. “I didn't mean to butt into your business. I'm a life coach, um....fitness trainer of sorts. Sometimes it's hard for me to drop out of work-mode.”
LaKeeta drew her eyebrows together. “Uh, okay then. Thanks for your input, but I think I'll just read up on these two myself.” Then she focused all of her attention back to the bottles in her hand.
The man could tell when he was being dismissed. He gave the beautiful girl another friendly grin then continued on his way. He hoped he hadn't somehow offended her.
It wasn't until he got to the next two aisles over that he turned around and decided to go back and offer some type of apology for giving her his unsolicited advice. But as he rounded the corner of the bread aisle, he noticed that she'd just walked out the sliding front doors.
He frowned to himself.
I sure would have liked to have gotten to know her a little better
. Something about the gorgeous girl had really gotten his attention. He hadn't felt such a strong draw to someone of the opposite sex in a very long time.
He'd certainly had his fair share of beautiful women in his thirty-five years. He frowned.
Probably more than my fair share
. But in the last three years or so, he'd tuned down his playboy ways quite a bit. That type of lifestyle simply didn't hold the excitement that it used to for him.
He nodded his head in regret.
Yep, I sure would've liked to have gotten to know her a little better
.
* * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER TWO
* * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER NUMBER TWO
An hour later, LaKeeta filled out the paperwork that the toned, blonde-haired girl had given her. Then she stood and walked back up to the front desk. She was at Body Work Zone, which was touted to be one of the best and most affordable gyms in the Dallas Metro area.
She handed the clipboard and papers to the young lady. “Well, I’m done with these. What’s next?”
The woman — who had told LaKeeta that her name was Jan — gave her a friendly smile. She scanned over the papers, then started keying information from them into her computer. “Just give me a few minutes to get your account set up. Then I’ll call one of the instructors up here to give you a tour.”
The girl pecked away at the keyboard. “Most people do the tour
before
deciding to join, not afterward. You sure you don’t want to do a walk-through before I finalize your contract? The contract’s for a whole year you know?”
LaKeeta nodded her head. She smiled. “Yep. I’m positive. My sister actually comes here….and a friend of mine. They both say Body Work Zone is the place to be in Dallas if a person wants to get into better shape. I trust their judgment.”
The girl smiled again. “Okey-dokey. Got it.”
It was at that moment that LaKeeta began to feel the effects of the two liters of water that she’d drunk before going for her doctor’s appointment two hours earlier — she’d wanted to make sure that she had enough urine to leave her sample in the doctor’s little testing cup.
She grimaced. “Um, where’s the bathroom again, Jan?”
Jan looked up from her monitor and pointed down the wide hallway. “It’s down the corridor and to your left. Can’t miss it.”
As LaKeeta made her way to the restroom, she barely noticed the buff, muscular, gray-eyed man with the gorgeous tan. But he’d certainly noticed her.
Anthony Paulson walked up to the front desk and gave Jan a smile. “Hi, Jan.”
Jan immediately stood up a little straighter. After all, that’s what a normal person would do when their boss decided to show his face. She smiled. “Mr. Paulson….hello. I didn’t know you’d be at this location today. We didn’t get any type of notice this time.”
With a smile on his face, Anthony nodded his head. “It was a last minute decision. The Denver Body Work Zone location got snowed in — you know, that late season blizzard that the meteorologists had forecasted. I decided to fly in to Houston instead.” He paused for only a moment. “I hope you and the staff won’t mind me being in attendance for the next month or so?”
“
Of course not, sir,” she hurriedly replied.
Anthony switched his gym bag to his other hand. Still smiling he said, “Like I told you when I was here the last time, Jan….the sir part isn’t necessary.”
“
Oh yeah, that’s right,
sir
—
I mean, Mr. Paulson.”
There was no way that he could possibly remember all of the thousands of people who decided to get a membership to Body Zone — seeing that his company had twenty-eight different locations across the US. However, he was sure that he would have remembered the beautiful girl that he'd met only an hour earlier at the grocery store, if he’d ever seen her in Body Zone before.
His eyes met Jan’s. “The girl who was at the desk a few minutes ago….is she new?”
Jan nodded her head. “Yep. I’m signing her up right now. I’m about to call one of the guys in to give her a tour….probably Carlton or Brock.”
Anthony smiled. “Oh, that won’t be necessary, Jan. I’ll handle it. What’s her name?”
“
LaKeeta. LaKeeta Hunt.”
* * * * * * * * * *
LaKeeta looked at her reflection in the floor to ceiling mirror in the women’s bathroom. At a little over five foot four, and with a dress size that fluctuated somewhere between a fourteen and sixteen — depending on whether or not it was close to the holiday season — she couldn’t necessarily understand why she would have a blood pressure problem.
Yeah I’m not stick-thin or anything, but I look healthy
.
She smoothed her hand down the side of her body. With her 36D chest, bubble-butt, and much narrower waist, she knew she had the type of figure that plenty of guys were attracted to.
She grimaced as she pinched the softness of her thighs.
Maybe the doctor is right. Maybe I should lose ten pounds or so
.
Then she smiled at her reflection. She’d come to terms with her feminine curves a long time ago. As a teenager, and even in her early twenties, she’d been self-conscious about her weight. But, by the time she’d hit twenty-two, she’d grown to accept and love herself for who she was.
As she walked out of the bathroom, and back towards the main atrium, she told herself,
I’ll lose these ten pounds for my health, not my image….I love myself just the way I am
.
As soon as she made it back to the front desk, the side view of an extremely good-looking guy with dark, wavy hair and deep gray eyes immediately caught her eye.
Damn, he’s fine….with a capital F
, was her first thought as she felt a familiar ache between her thighs. When he turned around and faced her, her second thought was,
uh....wait a second, it's the guy from the grocery store
. Then she frowned.
“
Oh, Ms. Hunt….you’re back,” Jan said with a smile. Then the girl pointed towards Mr. Muscles. “I’d like you to meet Anthony Paulson. He’ll be doing your tour today.”
LaKeeta turned. Her eyes met his. “Oh....I see we meet again.”
Anthony extended his palm for a handshake. He wore a brilliant smile when he took her small hand into his much larger one. When he felt a jolt — almost like electricity — travel down to his groin from their skin contact, he had to hide the look of surprise that threatened to come to his eyes. As he mentally willed his cock into submission, he thought to himself that he shouldn’t have been alarmed by his response at all.
She’s absolutely gorgeous
.
A puzzled expression came across Jan's pretty face. “You two know each other?”
LaKeeta grimaced. “Not exactly. Mr. Paulson and I actually just met today—at Natural Place Organics. Apparently he's a fitness expert....a guru or something.”
At that point, an apologetic look settled on Anthony's face. “Again, I didn't mean to offend you, Ms. Hunt...I was just trying to be helpful.”
LaKeeta surprised him by actually giving him a smile. On her drive over to the gym, she'd mentally replayed the little conversation that she'd had with the stranger—who she now knew was named Anthony. She'd decided that he hadn't been trying to be rude. He'd genuinely been trying to offer her his assistance.
She subconsciously pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. Anyways, judging by how fit he looks, it's evident that he probably knows what he's talking about when it comes down to getting in shape.
She allowed him to shake her hand, then smiled again.“I know you were trying to help.” She winked at him. “That's why I put the pills back and bought a big ole box of green tea.” She paused for a moment, then continued. “By the way Anthony, my name's LaKeeta, but most of my friends just call me Keeta.”
He smiled, pleased that she'd decided to look at their earlier encounter in a different light. Being on LaKeeta Hunt's good side was important to him for some reason.
He nodded his head. “Okay.
Keeta
it is then. You ready for your tour?”
“
Of course.”
* * * * * * * * * *
It took almost a half-hour for him to lead her through a complete tour of the four-story, state-of-the-art facility. When they got back to the front desk, Anthony turned to her. “Well, Keeta. You think Body Work Zone is the gym for you?”
She nodded her head. She’d been certain that she and Body Work Zone would be a good fit before their little tour had started. Now that she’d gotten to see the entire facility, she more than felt at home there. Her lips turned upwards in a smile. “I love it here, Anthony.”
“
Good.” He paused for a moment, then continued. “I like to be familiar with our clients, so I took the liberty of reading your application before you came back to the front desk a half-hour ago. I noticed you hadn’t answered the question on whether or not you wanted a trainer. Now that our tour is over, and you’ve had the chance to see some of the other participants here working out, have you made up your mind?”
She sighed. “Um, I don’t know. In all honesty, I would
love
to have a personal trainer. But, my upstart bakery is less than a year old. So….I really don’t know if I should drop an extra five hundred bucks on a trainer every month.”
He nodded his head in understanding. “You signed a year-long contract. How about I write you up a voucher so that you can get six months worth of training here free-of-charge?”
She looked at him, her eyes full of doubt. “six months free? That’s almost three grand. You sure you can arrange that?”
He nodded his head. “Yeah....I can make that happen. You’d be stuck with me as your trainer though. You alright with that?”
From the bits and pieces of conversation they’d indulged in while he’d shown her the complex that day, LaKeeta was pretty sure that she liked Anthony Paulson as a person. They'd just gotten off on the wrong foot in the grocery store. With his ruggedly-handsome, good looks pushed aside, he seemed to be a really nice guy.
She smiled. “If you can arrange that voucher, Anthony. I’d be honored to have you as my trainer.”
He returned her grin. “In that case, let me go back up front and get started on your paperwork. If you want to go home and change clothes, we can even get started today.”
“
That would be great,” she said excitedly. “I only live fifteen minutes away.”
“
So you’ll meet me in the aerobics room in an hour then?”
She nodded her head. “That’ll work for me.”
Ten minutes later, Jan looked at Anthony a little curiously. He had just asked her to add his name to the trainer log. She frowned. “I thought you gave up training clients years ago, Mr. Paulson.”
He smiled. “Yeah. It’s been about three years since I’ve donned the trainer cap. But like they say….once you learn how to train someone, you never forget it. ” He paused for but a moment. “LaKeeta Hunt decided that she wants a trainer. Assign her to me as a six-month premium client.”
Jan grimaced. “
Premium
? You gotta be kidding me….or else you talk a really convincing game. The premium package is a thousand dollars a month. Ms. Hunt had told me she wouldn’t even be willing to pay a hundred dollars for the basic training package.”
Anthony could have easily told Jan that he was giving LaKeeta the premium package free of charge, but he really didn’t see where that was any of Jan’s business. Plus, he didn’t know how LaKeeta was going to feel about him telling everybody that he was training her for free. Nobody else had received that type of deal at Body Work Zone. He smiled to himself.
Except my mom and dad, of course
. He and LaKeeta had only spent an hour or so together, but he felt drawn to the beautiful girl and wanted to spend a little more time with her.
Plus
, he thought to himself,
I really wanted to help her out
.
He decided at that moment that he would enter her information into the computer system himself — as the owner and CEO of Body Work Zone, he had that right.
He smiled. “You know Jan, I’d appreciate it if you’d run upstairs and get those papers from Brock for me please. He knows the ones I’m talking about. I’ll hold down the fort here for awhile.”
Jan nodded her head, then stepped around the desk. She smiled. “I’ll be back in a flash, Mr. Paulson.
”