The Billionaire Bachelor (Billionaire Bad Boys Book 1) (18 page)

He lifted his chin and met Gwyneth’s green eyes.

“Hey, sailor.” Her lips bowed into a smile. “Buy me a drink?”

Oh. My. God.

Watching Reese medicate himself with scotch was one thing, but standing idly by while Gwyneth kamikazed him was another.

Merina wasn’t going to allow the skinny redhead to hit on her husband. She finished her wine and relinquished the glass, but before she took two steps toward Reese, Tag stepped in front of her.

“May I have this dance?” A smile lifted his trimmed beard.

“No. I have a redhead’s ass to kick.” She smiled sweetly.

“Ah. Yes, that would be good for the media.” He offered his hand. She regarded it suspiciously.

“Are you going to give me more answers than he did?”

“I doubt it.” He took her hand and she sent a look across the room at Gwyneth and Reese, wanting nothing more than to bust through the crowd like ten-pins before that woman could sink her teeth in him.

Again.

Funny how defensive Merina was and she didn’t know what had gone down between them. But something. Her intuition was spot-on even on her worst day.

She allowed Tag to lead her to the center of the ballroom amidst a few couples dancing and chatting. He expertly turned her so her back was to Reese.

“Just remember to smile.”

She forced a grin and spoke between her teeth. “How’s that?”

His mouth pulled into a grimace.

When she went to move away from him, he laughed and towed her back in. “I kid, I kid. Come on, Sis, relax. I promise it’s not as big of a deal as you’re making it.”

“Really?”

“Probably.”

Tag’s eyes were lighter blue than Reese’s, his hair sun-kissed and golden, the waves hanging over a white button-down shirt that had to have been custom-tailored to cover the expanse of his shoulders.

She’d met Tag once before at a conference. Towering over everyone, dressed in a tight T-shirt hugging his rounded muscles and sporting a bearded smile that was oh-so-genuine, he wasn’t an easy person to overlook. He carried the Crane air of confidence and moved like he was in charge. And he was not bad on the eyes. She’d noticed that as well, though her danger-o-meter went off the moment he came near. This guy was a player.

He towered over Merina, even taller than Reese by a few inches, so she had to tilt her head a little more than usual to talk to him.

“Who is she?” she asked.

“Who?” Tag’s eyes flicked to the side, then back. He grinned. How full of shit was he? Merina rolled her eyes to let him know she wasn’t buying it. “Oh, her.”

“Yeah,
her
.”

“That’s Reese’s story to tell, Sis.” True, but she didn’t feel like being fair. She wanted to know the truth and Reese wasn’t talking.

“Obviously they dated and she’s horrible.”

Tag laughed and squeezed her hand in his. Merina stole a casual look over her shoulder, making out Reese’s arm and Gwyneth’s dress before Tag moved her again and blocked her view with his huge body.

Merina pegged him with a glare. “Is she a socialite?”

“You could say that. She cares a great deal about money,” Tag said.

“Were his flowers not well received?” she fished.

“No can do on the intel.” Tag shook his head. “I have a suggestion, though. When he comes back over here, seduce him. Make him a little hot under the collar in front of everyone and then take him home and”—he winked—“you know.”

“Kiss my ass, Tag!” She kept her voice down, but she didn’t hide her anger. “You don’t have any right to tell me what to do and what not to when it comes to Reese.”

“Did I hear my name?” Reese appeared between them. His voice was low and soothing, his eyes tight at the corners. He’d escaped the clutches of Gwyneth Sutton Lerner, apparently. He offered a palm to Merina. “May I?”

“Please.” She pulled away from Tag, who released her waist and gave his brother a look of concern.

“Sure you’re okay?” Tag asked.

“I’m good. Thank you.” Reese gave his brother a nod and Tag nodded back. In the midst of that subtle exchange, she guessed these two would do anything for each other.

“I don’t need Tag to run interference,” she told Reese as she narrowed her eyes at Tag’s retreating figure. Several women’s heads turned and several of them were with dates or husbands. She clucked her tongue.

“Go easy on him.” Reese tucked her against his body, and she instantly subdued, settling against him like she fit there. Tag was attractive, yes, but nothing was as electric as being held by Reese. All of her tingled.
Sizzled
.

“He’s looking out for me.”

“I saw her talking to you.” She moved one hand into the back of his hair, staking her claim to anyone watching.

Reese studied her for the count of three before saying, “She told me where she and Hayes were sitting so I could say hello.”

His words were carefully measured, almost robotic.

“It looked more intimate than that,” Merina mumbled to his bow tie.

“After this song, I’ll introduce you. You shouldn’t have been in the position to introduce yourself and I apologize for that.”

His avoidance was bothering her. “Reese.”

“Merina.” He pulled her close, splaying his hand across her back.

Lost in his eyes for a few staggering seconds, she almost forgot what she was going to say. Then she remembered.

“Do you want to talk about it?”
Whatever put that truckload of hurt in your eyes?

“Not here,” he said after a few beats. She’d take it. That was better than the staunch “no” she’d received earlier. “I won’t give you a reason to worry again, Merina.”

But he wasn’t doing her any favors by shielding her. She didn’t want Reese hiding his anguish from her. She’d rather him lay it on her lap so she could help him with it.

A tiny voice of warning rose up and refused to be ignored. Hadn’t she tried to “help” Corbin by letting him move in with her? The last thing she needed to know was Reese’s messy history with any of the women he’d had in his life or his bed.

Especially since Merina would be leaving both sooner rather than later.

The music slowed and Reese released Merina, most of him not wanting to. Holding her comforted him and allowed him to put off playing nice with the last two people on earth he wanted to be cordial with. Unfortunately, his father and brother were right. Reese couldn’t avoid them. Or he
shouldn’t
, anyway.

What would the CEO of Crane Hotels do?

He sighed and Merina took his hand, offering her steady brand of comfort. It was a novelty to have a woman at his side for anything other than business or pleasure. This was neither. She offered her friendship and support and nothing about her was faking it. She was here for him.

He kept hold of her hand, and as they crossed the room, he told her the truncated truth. “Gwyneth and I used to be together. We ended things amicably. Hayes was an employee of Crane Hotels—manager of quality control for a while—until my father let him go.”

She was quiet as they drew closer to the couple that had irrevocably changed Reese’s life.

“Sounds like there’s more to that story,” Merina said, not fully accepting his offered half measure. But then, he hadn’t expected her to. She was smart and sharp and unafraid to speak her mind. Three things Gwyneth never was. The redhead who used to share Reese’s bed had nothing on the suave blonde at his side today.

He pulled Merina closer, resting her hand at the crook of his arm and glancing down into amber eyes. “There is, but now’s not the time.”

“Fair enough.” They shared a polite smile, but hers had a hint of heat behind it. Camaraderie. Silly as it sounded, her walking with him gave him strength.

Hayes looked up from his food and swiped his mouth with a cloth napkin.

Surprised, you bastard?
Hayes had known Reese would be here, but he was probably surprised to see Reese venturing over to say hello.

Hayes sipped from a glass filled with clear liquid with a lime floating in it. Club soda or vodka tonic? He’d celebrated his one-year sobriety the day before he was fired for being a douche. Hard saying if he’d stayed on the wagon since then. So much had changed.

“I guess congratulations are in order,” Hayes said, speaking first. “On your marriage and I assume you’re taking over for your dad.”

“One of those for sure, the other is to be determined,” Reese replied, his tone smooth.

Hayes’s eyebrows jumped in consideration. He still had a small white scar on his lip from where Reese had clocked him. He’d landed a hit on his nose, too, but the bump on the bridge had predated Reese’s fury. Probably some other boyfriend he’d pissed off in the past.

“Hayes Lerner.” He offered a hand to Merina, but she wrapped both hands around Reese’s biceps and smiled instead of touching him.

Reese admired the hell out of her for it.

“Mr. Lerner.” She didn’t make an excuse for not shaking his hand, and there was nothing rude in her words or expression. Hayes, realizing she wasn’t going to be cordial, awkwardly pulled his hand away.

Reese wanted to kiss her. Later, he’d show his appreciation.

“Your lovely wife and I met earlier,” Merina told Hayes.

From the chair beside her husband, Gwyneth looked down her nose. Merina unwaveringly held her gaze.

“It was kind of you to come out and wish Alex well,” Merina said. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy for either of you to show your faces here.”

Reese smothered a smile, practically hearing the mic drop.

“I have no problem being here,” Gwyneth hissed. But she was way out of her league. Her freckled cheeks went ruddy, betraying her anger. She’d never been good at hiding her temper. She and Reese had gone round and round over the stupidest shit when they’d dated. And then they’d gone round and round over Hayes, which turned out was even stupider.

“Alex taught me a lot,” Hayes interjected, putting his hand over his wife’s to calm her. “Gwynnie reminded me that I was the bigger man by showing up here. Which is why we came. We’d never miss Alex’s retirement. No matter how you feel about us being here.”

Pompous prick. That was the exact reason Reese bounced his fist off Hayes’s face all those years ago. He flexed his hand with the temptation to do it now too.

Smarmy dickweed.

“Alex is a good man.” Merina stroked Reese’s arm, bringing his temper down a notch. “I’m sure he can see exactly what you are trying to accomplish by being here. If you’ll excuse us.” In a stage whisper, she added, “I’m going to sneak out of here for a moment with Reese. You remember how hard it was to keep your hands off him, I’m sure.”

Merina gave Gwyneth a saucy wink and snatched a cube of cheese off Gwyneth’s plate and ate it. She sucked on the tip of her thumb in what had to be the sexiest move Reese had ever seen. “Mmm. Thank you. I know that wasn’t mine, but I saw it and just had to have it. You know what that’s like. Try the crab bites. To die for.”

Her arm wrapped around his, Merina turned. He walked with her, a smile tickling the edge of his mouth and a twitch coming from the recesses of his tuxedo pants. Bawdy and refined. That was his Merina.

His.

At least for now.

“Now find us a closet so I can kiss you,” she said as they left the ballroom.

Right fucking now.

“No closet.” He flattened her back to the wall outside the door. Her eyes flared, her mouth curving into a pleased smile. He leaned close and brushed her nose with his. “Let ’em watch.”

Then he tipped her jaw and covered her lips with his and kissed her for all he was worth.

M
onday morning, Reese surfaced from sleep when a soft sigh paired with tugging the covers from his shoulder reminded him that he had company.

He usually slept on the couch next to the bed, save for the time after Merina had gone down on him and left him prostrate and dead to the world. Even then he hadn’t woken up next to her. She’d risen before him and he’d found her downstairs sipping coffee out of his favorite mug.

Well, that and Saturday night after the retirement party. He’d gone from kissing her in that hallway (and getting busted by Bob) to going back in for the party until they could make their escape. After, they’d gone straight to bed, but then, too, Merina had been up and reading the
Wall Street Journal
when his eyes opened.

This morning she hadn’t scampered out of bed, for reasons he guessed he was responsible for, and that made him proud. He felt her finger touch his lips and opened his eyes.

“Cocky bastard,” she grumbled. Merina was rumpled and sleepy, her eyes barely open, her hair in complete disarray. And so gorgeous with the sun filtering in behind her, he had to blink to make sure she was real. “Do you always wake up smiling?”

He pulled her close, because in his huge bed, she was too far away. Then he rolled, threw a leg over her body, wrapped an arm tightly at her back, and kissed her neck.

“I wake smiling,” he said, kissing her ear next, “whenever the woman I go to bed with has six screaming orgasms.”

“Six!” she protested, pushing against his bare chest with both hands.

“Was it seven? I lost count.” He loosened his hold on her and pulled back to find her rolling her eyes.

“Hardly.” She wiggled away from him, then climbed out of bed. She was wearing almost nothing: a barely-there pair of panties and a silky tank top. When she was on her feet, she grabbed a pillow and tossed it over his face.

“I’m still smiling,” he said, his voice muffled.

She grumbled something else and he moved the pillow in time to watch her fantastic ass wiggle into the bathroom. Then he rolled over, and despite the shining sun, closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

An hour later, Reese emerged wearing a suit and tie, looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to take over hotel chains and turn them into dust. Merina was dressed in her usual uniform of pencil-skirt-and-blouse but doubted she looked either bright or bushy. Unless you counted her hair, which she’d wrestled with for nearly twenty minutes before giving up and pinning it back in a low ponytail.

“I was going to run this morning, but you wiped me out last night.” he said in greeting, moving to the coffeepot. His gaze strayed to the mug in her hands.

“What?”

“I have a cabinet full of mugs and that’s the one you choose.”

“I like it.” She cradled her coffee protectively.

“Of course you do.”

“It’s comforting.”

“Of course it is.”

The black mug with gold writing on it was the last thing she’d ever expected to find in Reese’s sterile, clean environment. It added a touch of whimsy, which was shocking.

“You mean this is…
yours
?” She turned the mug and read the message aloud. “‘Sometimes all you need is a billion dollars.’”

Reese grinned and Merina almost had to reach behind her to grab the chair for support. He was ridiculously gorgeous, and remembering the sight of him between her thighs last night wringing orgasms from her made her want to grab his tie and lead him upstairs now too. And, yeah, her orgasms had numbered around seven, but she wasn’t ready to admit he could separate her body from her brain so thoroughly.

“Tag bought it,” Reese said. “He thinks he’s funny.”

At the mention of her brother-in-law, she hummed.

Reese came to her, his own mug white and plain and boring. For the first time, she thought how that didn’t fit him. Which made her frown. She didn’t like that he kept surprising her.

“What did he say at the party that pissed you off so much?”

“It wasn’t what he said. It was…I don’t know.”

But she did know. She didn’t want to admit it, but she knew. It was the way Tag instructed her to seduce Reese. The suggestion that what she and Reese had was for show…which it was. But she didn’t like to talk about him or what they had in such obvious, sterile terms. Tag had made their marriage sound cold, but with her, Reese wasn’t cold. That night, last night, and hell, even this morning, there was considerable warmth between them.

“I was just pissed about Gwyneth,” she fibbed.

“Ah.” Satisfied with that answer, he nodded. “You handled her and Hayes beautifully, which was why you received so many presents last night.” He stole a kiss. “Like I said, I was going to go for a run today, but you let me sleep in.”

“You needed it. We had a stressful weekend.” Though yesterday had been an almost lazy Sunday by comparison. Reese took calls, and she did some work on her laptop, but mostly, they sat in the sunroom and watched it rain. Magda delivered lunch to the room and had left a casserole in the oven for dinner. Merina and Reese ate at the counter rather than at the table and ended up going up to bed sooner than either of them expected for the sex he’d previously been bragging about.

“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me more about your sordid past?” She fluttered her lashes. She didn’t know the story behind Gwyneth and Hayes, only the bleached, censored version Reese had mumbled at the party. But as the woman who had thwarted Dumb and Dumber at the party, she was due an explanation.

Reese disagreed.

“Nice try.” He finished his coffee and put the mug in the sink. “I can drop you at work, but I have to go to a dinner meeting at eight, so you’ll have to find your own way home.”

“No, that’s okay. I have to run a few errands while I’m at work. I’ll take my car.” Including an overdue therapeutic lunch date with Lorelei.

“Okay. By the way, you should try that sometime.”

She narrowed her eyes in confusion. He pointed to the mug.

“Having a billion dollars. It’s handy.” He kissed her again, lingering long enough that she had to pull air through her nose. “See you tonight.”

He left and Merina shook her head, worried that her current set of problems couldn’t be solved by a billion dollars. Arguably, her problems were
caused
by a billion dollars. Which was the reason for her meeting with Lorelei. Things with Reese were getting complicated where her emotions were concerned. And since she knew her best friend was re-seeing her ex-husband (though Lore had yet to officially admit it), she could help Merina compartmentalize when it came to Reese.

Merina needed to keep her heart separate from the sex. Because the sex was great and she refused to give up the best perk to this arrangement.

“I’m in love with him.”

Her fork halfway to her mouth, Merina lowered it back into her salad bowl and gaped at her best friend. “Malcolm?”

“I know!” Lorelei hadn’t touched her salad, but she had downed a glass of Riesling in record time, and she never drank alcohol before five. She dropped her face into her hands. “I didn’t mean to.”

“This is awful,” Merina muttered, abandoning the salad in favor of her own glass of wine.

Lorelei peeked from her hands, an expression of devastation decorating her flawless brown skin. “It is, isn’t it?”

“I meant for me. You were supposed to be the voice of reason. I came here to talk to you about keeping my heart out of the equation with Reese since we’ve…” She looked around at the restaurant and leaned in to say quietly, “Crossed a few boundaries.”

Lorelei stopped looking devastated and started looking interested. “Boundaries?”

Merina nodded.

“Did he earn his hashtag?”

“Lore! Seriously?” She lowered her voice when a pair of well-dressed women shot twin evil looks at her. “That’s what you want to know? Out of everything I said,
that’s
what you’re most interested in.”

Lorelei folded her arms on the table and shrugged one shoulder unapologetically.

“Yes, okay?
Yes
, he earned it and honestly, it’s terribly uninventive and a lame descriptor for what he’s capable of.”

“Well, maybe you are the only one who knows what he’s capable of since he’s kept you in his bed for more than one night.”

There was a thought. Merina bit her lip. Of everything they’d done together, she hadn’t stopped once to consider she was blazing some sort of trail. Reese was now a one-woman man after being a one-woman-for-a-night man. That was scary. She wasn’t ready to start a real one-on-one relationship. Not with the man she’d temporarily married.

“Listen, you’re going to be fine.” Lorelei, bless her gorgeous lying face. She had snapped into lawyer mode, saying exactly what Merina needed to hear, and Merina was not going to argue.

“Hit me.”

“First off.” Lorelei held up a finger. “Malcolm and I were married.” Her smile fell. “Of course, so are you and Reese. Maybe that’s a bad place to start. You know what I mean. We were
really
married. Like, for real.”

“I’m with you.” Merina waved a hand. She didn’t feel better yet, but she had faith her friend would arrive at a point.

“Malcolm and I have a relationship that is volatile,” Lore continued. “You know, the kind where everyone has a quip for everything. Bickering became like foreplay with us.”

Merina sighed. Yeah. Not helping her feel better at all.

“Plus he had a rep before he met me of being quite the ladies’ man. Once he met me, he quit those bitches cold and I was the only one he had eyes for. He went from player to a good husband and the only reason we split was because I was too stubborn to—” Lorelei cut off her own speech, seeing the same thing Merina saw: that Lorelei’s and Malcolm’s story was eerily similar to Merina’s and Reese’s.

And Lorelei had fallen back in love with Malcolm.

“Sorry, honey.” Lore offered her condolences with a hand over Merina’s on the table. Then she waved over the waitress and ordered two double chocolate mousses and espressos. “It’s not for sure yet,” Lorelei said when Merina’s shoulders slumped. “Maybe he’ll turn back into a dick. Like…Cinderella at the stroke of midnight. Give him time and he’ll give you a reason to hate him.”

“Okay,” Merina said, but that didn’t make her feel any better. Because maybe…just maybe, she was enjoying herself too much. Enjoying Reese too much to be willing to hate him.

If she ever had.

“With the exit of Alex, we’ll be deciding who to appoint within the next month,” Bob said at the board meeting.

Reese fisted the pen in his hand, willing himself not to throw it like a dart and hit one of them with it. Any of them. He wasn’t picky.

“You know my preference, gentlemen,” Alex said, leaning back in his chair. How did he do that? Always look so damned calm? “Reese is my number one. He’s been groomed for this role since he was a young man. He’s good at his job. He works hard.”

“We’re aware,” Frank, the blowhard, said.

Reese looked to his left, but Tag’s chair was empty. Usually his younger brother’s careless expression was calming. Tag was visiting the Crane Hotel resort in Hawaii to assess the bar situation the board had bellyached about. Nitpicking bastards.

“I will say,” Bob interjected, casting a smile of encouragement at Reese, “that the few stockholders I’ve spoken to have been impressed with his recent turnaround.”

“Yes, and the few I’ve talked to,” Frank said, “are suspicious of this sudden marriage and abrupt change in Mr. Crane’s behavior.”

“The state of my personal life has nothing to do with my business ethics,” Reese growled, unable to play nice any longer. At his right, his father sighed in resignation. “Leave my wife out of this.”

“And yet, you’ve been sure to include her at the most opportune time,” Lilith said. “Don’t get me wrong, Reese, I’m all for a reformed man, but who’s to say this isn’t a ruse to earn favor and land the CEO?”

It was on the tip of Reese’s tongue to ask if that would be so bad, but he was relieved of that urge by Bob’s interjection. “Come on, Lilith. You saw them at the retirement party.”

“Could be an act,” she said.

Reese’s nostrils flared.

“Well you can’t expect them to consummate on the boardroom table for you to see how serious they are,” Frank, who hated Lilith, replied, oddly on Reese’s side.

“Over the line.” Reese stood and pressed his palms into the table. “If you think I’d pander to you or the stockholders, you’re out of your mind.”

He may have married Merina for favor, but that had since changed. No longer was it a show. The hugs and kisses—the sex—everything between them had shifted from pretend to real.

“My father is right. I’ve been groomed for CEO my entire life. Lilith, as someone who used to be friends with my mother, I’d think you’d have more respect for my choice of woman to settle down with. She would approve.”

“She would,” Lilith said gently.

Alex put his elbow on the table and stroked his hand over his mustache, probably to keep himself from interrupting.

“And, Frank, unless you’d like the entire room to imagine what you’d look like having sex with that twenty-eight-year-old wannabe actress you’re dating, I’d thank you to never paint a visual like you just did about Merina. As for the rest of you serpents, if you could call on whatever professionalism still clinging to your recently shed skin, you might consider my talents, my motivation, and my work record rather than who I take to bed every night.”

Reese straightened, buttoned his jacket, and scooped his phone off the table. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to prepare for a
real
meeting this evening.”

No one added anything, not even his father. Reese all but strutted from that room, mentally picturing his own mic drop.

Merina would have been proud.

“What a bunch of cockroaches,” Merina commented after Reese told her how far south the meeting had slipped. She opened a drawer, then another, then one after that. “Where is a knife in this kitchen?”

He shrugged. “How would I know?”