Romance: Mills and Boon Romance: The Boss's Proposal (Billionaire Bad Boy BBW Romance) (8 page)

Suddenly, she pushed him back, ending their kiss.

“I think I’ve had too much to drink…” She mumbled.

“Yeah, you’re probably right about that. So…” Sam looked like he was talking to a client. His tone was not personal anymore. His voice got high pitched.

“Thanks a lot for tonight, really. In fact…” Sam turned to his left and walked back to his desk. Then, he unlocked the last drawer and took two wads of cash out of it.

“Here’s twenty thousand dollars. You’ve earned it.” He tossed the money on his desk. At a loss for words, Aisha looked at the money first and then back at Sam. He had a toothy smile on his face.

“Twenty thousand? For me?”

“Yeah, isn’t it enough?”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what do you mean, Ms Wilson? What do you want?”

Aisha’s shock abruptly turned into anger. She did not want him to address her by her last name.

“What? ‘Ms. Wilson?’ A minute ago we were kissing, for God’s sake.”

“We were, but you’ve been through a lot.” Sam left his desk and went closer to her, again. Aisha stood tall, as if she was trying to intimidate him.

“FYI, I always get what I want, Aisha. Thanks a lot for tonight, though. We can call it even. Unless…” Sam put his right hand back on her left shoulder. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

“I can’t believe the nerve on this guy… Geez, can’t he take a hint? How about a kick in the nuts, motha-fucka? I’d probably do that if you hadn’t saved me, you stupid, arrogant son of a bitch.”

“Hands off, Mr. CEO. I don’t want your money and I don’t wanna fuck you either.”

A sardonic smile was painted on Sam’s face. Then, he slowly ran his index finger on her shoulder. His tantalizing caress made her tingle.

“Oh, but you do…”

“I think I’m dealing with a spoiled brat here.” Aisha’s body was craving for his touch, but her mind kept telling her “no”. It was up to her alone; Sam would have no say in this and would not touch her again, until she allowed him.

“Hell no, rich boy. I’m not one of your ready-made whores. Now, get your hand off!” Aisha’s firm voice discouraged Sam. He had no choice but to comply. Right after that, she stormed out of his study and ran downstairs. She had to leave that place.

Sam would not her go that easily. He ran behind her and stopped her, just before she started going down the stairs, by grabbing her right arm. Aisha flipped around, very nearly in tears.

“I’ve had enough sickos chasing me for one night. Now, leave me alone, before I tell the cops you were that bastard’s accomplice and you fought over me!”

The wealthy man was at a loss for words. He had been led to believe that money could buy him anything and anyone. Aisha had encouraged him, but she would not give into him like that; she was different. There he was, with that beautiful woman just two feet in front of him, in a very emotional state. It was one of the very few times in his life that Sam could not find anything to say. He only gazed at her, saddened by her rejection and subsequent outburst.

“I… I thought you like me.” He managed to murmur after a few seconds.

“Not like this, Sam.” Aisha took a step closer to him, raised her left arm and pushed him back with her left index finger.

“Hell no…” She went on. Much to Sam’s disappointment, he watched her storm out of his house, slamming the door behind her. He did not like the scene, but it was good that it happened in private; there were more than fifty people on the ground floor and everything would be in the tabloids the following morning. Sam sat on the landing and leaned against the wall, with his hands on his face and his heart beating hard inside his chest.

“I gotta find you. I wanna see you again…”

“Ava, get out here. And bring some water. Lots of it.” It was 10:40pm on that clear, warm summer night. The sky was full of stars; the moon was beautifully lighting up the night. Aisha was on Ava’s doorstep, looking for a shoulder to cry on.

Aisha’s friend had made a good name for herself as a realtor and had bought a luxurious house on Townsgate Road, in Westlake Village, more than 15 miles away from Zuma Beach. Featuring a big porch and a small lawn just in front of it, it was nothing like Aisha’s small apartment, five blocks away. Inside, one could find marble floors, a kitchen with a granite counter on the right, a quite large dining room on the left with a white leather sofa and a 55-inch TV. But, the young barmaid had no intentions of going inside. The only thing she wanted was to talk to her friend.

Ava was 30 years old and Caucasian at 5 ft. 6 inches, 136 lbs., with long, straight, blonde hair, hazel eyes and a pale complexion. Much less athletic than her friend, Ava used to get a lot of attention due to her natural looks and her curvaceous figure. And she did not mind one bit, even if she heard all kinds of whispers behind her back. She was confident, she loved food and no TV show would tell her what she should or should not eat. In nothing more than denim shorts, a white tee and her pink slippers, Ava emerged with a bottle of water in her left hand and a tall glass in her right. Aisha had taken a seat at the oval-shaped bamboo table in the middle of the porch, twenty five feet to the right of Ava’s front door and was staring at the stars, with her arms folded across her chest, sighing.

“Hey, girl. You sounded troubled over the phone. What happened? Hey, weren’t you supposed to be running tonight? Why are you all dressed up?”

Aisha looked up at her friend and only then did she realize that she had left her clothes back in Sam’s house. Nonetheless, she had bigger issues than her outfit. As far as she was concerned, Sam could have it. She would keep the dress and the shoes. They were much fancier than anything she could afford.

“Well, take a seat. This is gonna take a while.”

Ava sat next to Aisha and listened intently, leaning forward towards her friend, as Aisha told her the whole story. By the time she finished, Ava had a puzzled look on her face.

“I still don’t get it, girl. I mean, here you are, in Westlake. Look around you. It’s so quiet, so peaceful. You can run and run, until you can’t run no more. Yet, you just get in your Taurus; drive all the way to Malibu and for what? Just to get jumped by some pervert. It’s a good thing that Sam guy came to your rescue. Yeah, he shouldn’t have done what he did next, but I can’t blame him. If I was a guy, you’d be number one on my ‘to do’ list.”

Aisha had already heard her friend complimenting her on her great looks at least twice, but she was way too tired and frustrated to appreciate it. She placed her arms on the table parallel to each other and lazily put her head on her right forearm. This was no time for compliments.

“Normally, I’d be laughing my ass off right now. But… God, I’m exhausted. I can’t think about guys right now…” Aisha closed her eyes and crossed her ankles, underneath the table. Understanding her friend’s situation, Ava put her own arms on the table, interlocked her fingers and placed her head on her palms. Just four inches to Aisha’s left, she continued her teasing game. She pretended to read Sam’s thoughts out loud, in a hoarse voice, like a twisted sex maniac.

“Hey, check out that slender chick. I bet she’s got a lot of…” She let out a manly snort.

“Stamina in bed. Those lips of hers got a lot of…potential. Catch my drift?” Ava got up and mimed an elbow jab to the ribs of an imaginary man next to her. Aisha would not speak, though. She just smiled, without opening her eyes.

“And do you see the ass on her? I’m telling you, man, you need to take that baby for a long, hard ride. You just have to treat that ass right.” The kissing sounds Ava was making woke up Aisha. She looked up, to her left, only to find her friend holding two imaginary buttocks four inches across her face, stroking them every few seconds, French kissing and licking them from side to side. She burst into laughter; the show her friend had put on was way too funny to ignore.

“Damn it, girl, how the hell do you do it?” Aisha chuckled.

Finally done with her show, Ava put her right hand on Aisha’s shoulder. With a soft voice, she urged her friend:

“Don’t worry about him, darling. You can get any guy you want.”

Then, Aisha abruptly got up and lay back on her chair.

“You don’t mind if I spend the night here, do you? I can’t go back to my place. I don’t wanna be alone…”

A broad smile was painted on Ava’s face.

“You can, on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

Ava grabbed Aisha’s thigh with her left hand. Then, she resumed her earlier, hoarse voice.

“I get to lick your sweet pussy…”

At that point, Aisha laughed so hard that she collapsed onto her friend. Ava loved it and took her in her arms, giggling along.

“I wish I had someone with her sense of understanding… Damn you, Sam. Did you have to act like a complete moron?

Three weeks after her ordeal, Aisha had not stopped thinking about Sam. Despite her best efforts to let him go, she could not take her mind off of him. The way he had saved her from her attacker, his words, his deep voice, and his stunning looks… However, he was the one responsible for ruining her first impression and she could not forgive him just yet.

Sam even sent her flowers, twice. Fifty white lilies at her workplace, “Jimmy’s” bar and fifty red roses to her home address. But Aisha ignored him, like she would do to anyone who would not take no for an answer. As a strict judge of character, she did not believe in second chances.

“Jimmy’s” was a small bar on Agoura Road, less than ten minutes away from Aisha’s apartment. It featured a few cherry tables, (each with a small, silver candlestick in the middle) overlooking the road, a huge, oak arch door, hardwood floors and spotlights over the counter, which was lined with diamonds on the bottom. A few stool, neatly placed three feet away from each other, a body size Jimi Hendrix poster right by the entrance, thirty feet across the counter. Jimmy, a 5’10”, thin, graying 62-year old man, had always liked Aisha and took her under his wing when her parents passed. On Wednesday night, July 26
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Aisha and Ava were gossiping, as they often did on somewhat slow nights. In fact, the only two people in the bar that night, was a couple, sat at the table in the far west corner. In a red and white, flower pattern, sleeveless, chiffon mini dress and pink, three-inch high heels, Ava still wondered why Aisha had rejected Sam. Aisha herself wore a green t-shirt, with a bar logo on the back, blue jeans and two-inch high heels.

On a stool, less than two feet to the left of Aisha and with a full, cocktail glass in her right hand, Ava was determined to motivate her stubborn friend, who was wiping glasses in the far left corner of the counter.

“Aisha, you’re being too hard on the guy. Give him a break, for God’s sake.”

Not taking her eyes off the glass in her hands, Aisha kept stating her opinion.

“Not a chance in hell, Ava. I’m not one of his bimbos. He can have a thousand of them, for all I care.”

“You’re being too harsh. Give him a chance, come on!”

Aisha did not appreciate her friend’s high pitched, reprimanding tone. Suddenly, she banged the tall glass she was wiping on the counter and glared at Ava.

“Whose side are you on?”

Sensing her friend’s anger, Ava lowered her tone, mellowed her voice and leaned towards her.

“I’m on your side, sweetheart. Really, what do you got to lose? What’s the worst-case scenario?”

Aisha took a cleansing breath, before she gave Ava her answer.

“He’s gonna break my heart. I don’t need any more heartache. I’ve had enough of it, in case you forgot…”

“No, I didn’t forget. But, you should give him a chance, Aisha. After all, you like him… Don’t you?”

Frustrated by her friend’s persistence, Aisha shut her eyes and tried to remain calm.

“Ok, I like him. But he’s just too macho and way too spoiled for my taste. Happy now?”

Ava gave Aisha a toothy smile. It was as if she had found the answer to a riddle.

“Yeah…”

A few seconds later, Jimmy walked in the bar, with a brown envelope in his left hand, along with some groceries. As usual, he had a white apron on, shielding his green uniform from food splatters and stains.

“This came in the mail today for you, Aisha.” He murmured, just before he left the two women and went to the kitchen, on the right hand side of the counter.

The young barmaid got curious. She ripped open the sizeable envelope and found a two-page document inside. It was a job offering. To her surprise, it was from Sam’s company: Rocktech. She was being offered the job of Public Relations specialist and the pay was quite good, much better than Jimmy could possibly offer her seventy five thousand dollars per year, plus bonuses. If that proposal had come from anywhere else, Aisha would have been ecstatic. However, she knew this was probably one of Sam’s tricks, just to get her into bed with him. Aisha tossed the paper in disgust.

“It’s unbelievable…” She mumbled. Ava jumped from her seat and picked up the documents from the floor, five feet to her right. Her eyes glowed for a second. Then, she faced her friend again.

“This is your chance, Aisha. Don’t blow it.”

With a brittle smile on her face, Aisha rejected Ava’s claim.