The Virgin and the Billionaires: The Complete Series (14 page)

Dana did a small victory
dance on her way out. She felt a small pang of guilt for not mentioning Bela,
who was, despite her party behavior, a great model. She walked the two blocks
over to Mr. Noodle, where William was standing outside and looking around for
her.

“Dana,” he said, smiling
upon seeing her. He cordially kissed her cheek in the LA fashion.

“Hello, William.”

“Is it okay if we order
takeout? I was thinking we might eat in the park.”

“That sounds good to me,”
Dana replied.

“It’s on me. What would you
like?”

“I’ll have what you’re
having.”

“Simple enough! I’ll be
back in a moment.” William went inside to place their order.

Dana sat down on a bench by
the door.
It seems like he wants to talk,
she thought, fiddling with the screen on her phone.

William emerged ten minutes
later, bag of food in tow. The two walked over to the nearby park, where they
found a quiet bench by a stocked pond. Dana opened her noodles and tossed one
to the koi, who swarmed toward it. Two of them grabbed hold and fought over the
noodle until it broke in two.

 
William cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry about Saturday.
I should have been more up front with you about that party.”

Dana poked at her Pad Thai
with her chopsticks.

“Yeah, that was certainly
unexpected.”

“I was being honest when I
said that it’s something that you’ll probably see again, especially if you
choose to network in your line of work. But it was deceptive of me to drag you
into that scene without giving you a full disclaimer. I’m very sorry.” William
looked Dana in the eyes as he said it. His apology felt sincere.

“I hardly think of myself
as a closed-minded or prude person, but I still can’t figure out why you
thought it would be okay to bring me there without knowing how I felt about…
that
. Once I realized what was going on,
I felt so out of place.”

“Did you feel that way
before you realized the second party was happening?”

Dana was struck by that
question. She realized that before she went to the other wing of the house, she
was enjoying herself. “No,” she responded sincerely. “I was having a really
good time meeting all of those people.”

“That’s the element you
have to focus on the next time you are in a similar situation. Don’t judge the
people by their vices. Judge them by their work and their professional
reputations.”

“I guess that makes sense,”
Dana admitted.

William cleared his throat.
He struggled to start his sentence. “Um, but a big part of the reason I
withheld that detail from you is because I really wanted you to come with me. I
guess that’s the other thing I’ve been deceptive about.”

Dana thought she had
misheard William.

“Wait, what?”

William’s brow arched as
his green eyes stared into hers with deep sincerity. “I knew the party would be
a good networking opportunity for you, but I also wanted you to come with me
because
I
wanted to spend more time
with you. I think you’re just lovely, Dana, and I want to see more of you.”

---

Part 4:
A Complicated Situation

Dana couldn’t believe what
she was hearing. William had just professed his admiration for her. The
thoughts that zipped through her mind were confusing and ecstatic. It was
almost too much to take in.

William noticed Dana’s confusion
in her expression.

“I’m truly sorry for lying
to you,” he said.

Dana scoffed, still at a
loss for words. She and William stared at the koi pond in silence.

 
“Most of the things I’ve said and done to
you, I’ve done to attract your interest – I swear.”

Dana finally spoke up.
“Why? Are you so insecure that you thought you’d need to butter me up?”

William shook his head.
“Not at all. I just didn’t know what other chance I’d get, and I didn’t want to
blow my chances by letting you know how I felt too soon. I also wanted to make
sure my feelings were justified, and see what kind of person you were.”

Dana could understand. It’s
not like she would have encountered William in her day-to-day life. And yet she
was surprised that someone so successful could be so insecure.

“Yeah. I get that. How else
would you get to know me? I guess I should have realized. I think that I did on
some level, but I didn’t really want to believe it.”

“Well, believe it.”

Dana smiled. They both
stared awkwardly at the pond for another moment before William spoke again.

“Well, did my ploy work?”

Dana found herself
experiencing a sense of comfort she had never felt before. It was as if she
didn’t need to fear being completely honest. She thought about Alexander, and
briefly worried about the consequences of straying from him. He
had
said that Dana was free to do as she
pleased, but her emotions made her hesitant to do anything that would threaten
their changing relationship, which felt like it was getting stronger.

She looked at William,
gazing into his eyes. His smile was warm and kind, free from the cockiness that
penetrated Alexander’s expression. Her heart began beating faster.

“Tell me one more thing,”
Dana asked.

“Anything,” William
replied.

“Did you invite anybody
else to dinner at the Poisson D’Or?”

“No,” William said, not
averting his gaze. “I hope that you can forgive me for that.”

“I’m - not surprised. I’m a
little disappointed that you went so far to cover that up,” Dana paused. “But
I’m also incredibly flattered that you would even think so highly of me.”

“Don’t be too surprised,
Dana.” William’s face lit up. You’re an incredible lady. You’re intelligent,
you’re good at your job, you’re independent – shall I continue?”

Dana smiled.

“On top of all that, you’re
beautiful.”

William leaned his head
toward Dana’s. Dana relaxed, deciding in that moment that this felt right, that
she wanted William. His lips gently grazed hers before he pressed them firmly
against hers. They kissed slowly and sensuously.

Dana enjoyed the velvety
softness of William’s lips, which seemed to know exactly how to best navigate
hers. He would occasionally stray away from her mouth and plant soft kisses on
her cheek, chin, and neck.

“You smell lovely,” he
remarked while burying himself in Dana’s skin.

Dana smiled and sighed.
Each kiss sent a tingle through her body. She slowly lifted a hand to William’s
hair, running her fingers through his thick blonde strands. As he made his way
back up her neck and to her lips, Dana could feel the moisture beginning to seep
through her panties. It only got stronger when William placed a hand on her
thigh.

William stopped himself
before things became too hot and heavy for the park bench. He pulled away from
Dana, sighing audibly and brushing his hair back into place.

“Wow. I need a minute to
collect myself,” he exclaimed.

Dana’s heart was pounding.
“Me too.”

William glanced at his
watch. “It’s almost one. I have to get back to the office. I’m sure you do,
too.” He ran his hand through Dana’s hair.

“Yeah. We should probably
get going.” Dana packed up her half-eaten Pad Thai.

“This is where I leave
you,” he said. “I’ll be in touch soon. Perhaps we can go somewhere – this
time without any business pretense?” William’s face reddened slightly.

“Sure,” Dana replied. “I
would love that. An honest date.”

William kissed her cheek
and headed toward his car. Dana headed back to the office, her head swimming.

I can’t believe that just happened
, she thought.
It’s okay, though. I’m not bound to
Alexander. He told me I could do whatever I want. I just hope that I didn’t
make a bad decision going for William, of all people.

At the office, Dana felt a
strange feeling of empowerment and guilt as she tried to settle back in. She
couldn’t believe that she had now wooed
two
handsome billionaires. She feared the possibility of her new affair causing
trouble, so she decided that it was best to keep it strictly to herself.

What a great day it’s been
, she thought. The praise Graciela had
given her earlier motivated her to do her best work. Working on a makeup
spread, she artfully poured out shapely puddles of nail polish and foundation,
throwing every ounce of herself into her work.

A few hours later, Dana was
looking over her finished shots when her phone began to ring. She picked it up
without looking at it.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Jessica!”

“Oh
hey
, Jessica!” Dana hadn’t heard from Jessica for a little while.
She still wasn’t quite sure how she felt about her, but decided to express
excitement at hearing her voice.

“Hey! How’ve you been?”

“Good, good.”
No details necessary,
Dana thought.

“Listen – I’ve got an
extra ticket to the James Blake concert at the Airliner this weekend. Do you
want to come with me?”

Dana didn’t know who James
Blake was, but had never been to the Airliner. She’d heard Amy and Emily talking
about it a few times, so she figured that it was probably somewhat ‘cool’.

“Sure, that sounds like a
lot of fun. I don’t go to concerts much.”

“You’ll like this place.
It’s a pretty low-key nightclub, but it attracts a lot of cool people. You
know, in case you want to meet someone.”

Dana laughed nervously.
“Thanks for looking out for me,” she replied.

“Of course,” Jessica said
sweetly. “Alright, I have to get back to work. But I’ll see you next week!”

“Okay, bye.” Dana hung up
her phone and continued going through her photos.

As if he had sensed that
she’d just made plans, she immediately received a second call - this one from
Alexander Price.

“Dana,” he said breathily.

“Alexander,” she replied
nervously.

“Come to New York with me
this weekend.”

Dana’s heart skipped a
beat. New York! She had never left California and had always wanted to visit
the City. After all, New York was far more of a fashion city than LA.

Even though she was
excited, Dana hesitated. She couldn’t turn down an opportunity like this in
favor of going to the concert with Jessica. She’d just have to tell Jessica
that she couldn’t make it. Besides, she and Alexander had an agreement. She was
supposed to be available at his beck and call, so she really didn’t have much
of a choice - and she already felt bad about kissing William.

“Well?” Alexander
interrupted her thoughts.

“Th- that sounds
wonderful,” she stuttered. “I’ve never been to New York.”

“It’s an exciting place.
Very high energy. I think you’ll like it.”

“It sounds great. Do I need
to get anything? Bring anything?”

“Only your sexy self and
some lacy panties.”

Dana blushed. “I’m at
work!
”

“My apologies. The travel
arrangements are all made.
 
I’ll
send a car to your office Friday evening.”

“Thank you,” Dana said,
brimming with excitement.

“Nonsense. The trip will be
better with your company. I’ll see you soon.”

Dana hung up the phone. She
quickly sent off a text to Jessica, telling her that she couldn’t make it after
all. She didn’t bother to give her an excuse.

Emily looked over at Dana
from her desk.

“That sounded like an
interesting call,” she said.

Dana, unable to contain her
smile, shared the news of her upcoming trip with the interns.

“So jealous!” Amy replied.

“Why are you going?” Emily
inquired with a hint of sauciness.

Dana stumbled for a
suitable response.

“My cousin’s decided to get
married – in Central Park!” Dana was satisfied with her lie.

“Aw!” The interns cooed in
unison.

***

The rest of the week came
and went. Dana hadn’t heard a word from William, but she wasn’t concerned. She
was too busy getting ready for her trip to New York. She was expecting the trip
to be unusually luxurious and indulgent. Before work, she had overstuffed a
small valet pack with her nicest dresses and shoes, trying to have a different
outfit for every day and night. If the trip were a day longer, she would have
had to upgrade to a much larger suitcase. She took along her nicest camera,
hoping to take some fantastic shots along the way.