SWNOVELS The Billionaire’s Big Bold Wonder: An Age Gap BBW Romance: Chapter 2
‘Stop the car!’ I growl at the driver, sitting forward in the seat.
He slams on the brakes in the middle of the roadway, forcing the SUV behind us to swerve around us. The driver lays on the horn as he whips around the limo, nearly taking the sidewalk to avoid careening with us.
‘Jesus Christ,’ I swear, gripping onto the seat. ‘Not in the middle of the road, man.’
‘Sorry, sorry.’ The driver—a young kid with no experience—stomps the gas, throwing me back against the seat.
I bite back another curse as the seatbelt digs into the side of my neck, threatening to strangle me. ‘Just pull into the parking lot,’ I demand, ready to get out of this fucking limo before Toby manages to kill both us and any innocent bystanders who happen to be nearby. I’m killing my sister, Jillian, for hiring this kid. If he’s driven before, it wasn’t a limo. I’m not even sure it was anything bigger than a Tonka truck.
Toby makes a hard right into the parking lot, bumping the curb in the process. He throws another round of apologies over his shoulder before navigating his way into three spaces. I don’t even question his parking job. My eyes are fixated on the doors of the hotel, my heart in my throat.
I could have sworn I saw her rush inside. Piper. The goddess who stole my heart and then disappeared with it. She’s haunted every dream I’ve had for the last two months. I’ve turned Nashville upside down looking for her, but all my family’s money, all my status, and all my influence got me exactly nowhere.
When she left my hotel room two months ago, she disappeared. I’ve been in hell every day since, slowly losing my mind over her. I had one perfect night with her and glimpsed heaven…only to have it promptly snatched away. I’m not a man who likes to lose, especially when it counts. It counted more than ever that night. She counted more than ever.
And one fucking decision sent it all crashing down like a house of cards. No, not one decision. A series of shit decisions on my part. I’ve replayed every damn one of them on an endless loop for the last two months. My first mistake was not demanding her last name. If I’d had it, perhaps tracking her down would have been easier. My second misstep was not prying for more information about her personal life—where she goes to school, where she lives, the names of her siblings…anything to help.
My third mistake was leaving the room to find her breakfast. Had I known I’d end up in the world’s slowest café, I’d have left a note. I’d have woken her up. Hell, I’d have stayed in that bed with her. I’d have done anything other than left her sleeping peacefully, confident that she’d be there when I got back. She wasn’t.
Which is all because of the biggest mistake I made. I never let the fucking hotel know I wasn’t checking out as planned. She woke up alone with no clue where I was, and then had a housekeeper waltz in and inform her that I’d checked out. It wasn’t the housekeeper’s fault. I was scheduled to check out that morning, and I never stop by the desk to do it. I leave my keys in the room and go. They handle it from there. But my plans changed when I met Piper at the bar the night before.
I was so caught up in her that I forgot to inform the hotel staff of that information, though. All I was thinking about was the quickest way to get my ring on her finger. And I fucked it all up. The receptionist saw me leave that morning and assumed I was checking out like usual. She sent the housekeeper to clean the room…and the housekeeper told Piper I left.
By the time I got back to the hotel with breakfast, the damage was already done. Piper was gone. I took her virginity in a hotel, promised her the world, and then, as far as she knows, just ditched her. I saw the security footage of her leaving that morning. She fled my room like the hounds of hell were chasing her. She was so pale. That sight has tormented me for the last two months. My sweet girl thinks I had my fun with her and then ran.
She probably fucking hates me. I’d hate me if our roles were reversed.
‘Should I pull up to the doors, sir?’ Toby asks, recalling my attention.
‘No. Stay here,’ I growl, reaching for the door handle. The last thing I need is for him to take out the front of this hotel trying to maneuver into the valet area. I need to talk to Piper, not risk killing her and everyone else in the damn lobby. The upscale hotel is one of the best in downtown Chattanooga, but I doubt the sleek glass panes would hold up well against the limo.
Why is Piper here? Fuck, was it even Piper I saw? Yes, I know it was. I spent a night memorizing every dip, curve, and roll of that gorgeous body, and the last sixty-seven nights dreaming about them. I’d recognize her anywhere.
I slam the door of the limo and charge across the parking lot like an enraged bull, ready to snatch my girl up and get her somewhere private so we can sort things out. Then I can get my ring on her finger, take her home with me, and we can pretend the last two months never happened. I’ll fix this and everything will be just like it was then.
Except it won’t.
Two months ago, I wasn’t the head of Blake Industries. My uncle was. That changed three weeks ago when he announced his impending retirement. Come Monday, I’ll be the majority stakeholder in the company…and one of the biggest billionaires in the state. I’m not so sure that information is going to sway Piper into giving me a second chance. My life is quickly turning into a circus. People who didn’t give two shits about Dorian Blake’s nephew a month ago are pouring like termites out of the woodwork to curry favor now.
It’s fucking ridiculous. They’re leeches, and they are everywhere.
I don’t know how Callan put up with this shit for as long as he did. Or why, for that matter. He could have told everyone years ago that he had no interest in running Blake Industries and been done with the whole farce, but he said nothing. To protect me? Likely.
My cousin always has been an overprotective son of a bitch. I’m grateful as hell to him for it. The last three weeks have been brutal. I may join him at his hideaway in the fucking mountains if this shit continues much longer.
Piper can go with me. No one can interrupt us if they can’t fucking find us.
I spot her behind the desk as soon as I push my way into the opulent lobby. My heart stops for a moment, all the blood in my body rushing straight to my cock. She’s even more beautiful than I remember. Her long, dark hair is piled up on her head in a demure bun, her seafoam green eyes fixated on the computer in front of her. I eat her up like a dying man, unable to look away.
Not even her sharp black business suit hides her luscious body. Her body…goddamn that body. Men fought wars over women like her in centuries gone by. They tore the world apart trying to claim them as their own. Nations toppled; alliances shattered. Hell, Troy fell to myth. For centuries, we believed Virgil’s story was make-believe…right up until we found the ruins of that legendary city in modern-day Turkey. But I’m no Paris and Piper is no Helen. She outshines her by miles.
I was spellbound by her that first night. Everyone in the bar was there for one reason—to hook up. Not me. Not Piper. I was there with Justice Foster, a fellow billionaire who wanted to talk to me about a business venture. She was oblivious to everything except the textbooks spread across her table. That single-minded focus turned me on. Fuck, everything about her turned me.
The way she blew that single, stubborn piece of hair out of her face. The roundness of her cheek. How she tilted her head when she was considering something carefully, and the way she pursed her lips when she didn’t like what she read. She was perfectly at ease in her own skin, perfectly at home in the bar. She was an enchanting combination of confident woman and shy lamb. That fucking fascinated me.
I’m just as spellbound now. Only she isn’t comfortable in this lobby like she was in that bar. As she types on the computer, she nibbles on her bottom lip as if she’s anxious. Her face is pale, her back ramrod straight. When she thinks no one is looking, her face falls into lines of worry before she quickly schools it again. I don’t like it. Not one bit. Whoever put that fucking look on her face is going to answer to me.
I take off across the lobby in her direction.
‘Piper,’ I rasp, stopping at the desk in front of her.
Her head flies up, her green eyes locking on mine. For a split second, sheer joy fills them, as if she’s happier than she’s ever been to see me standing there. And then she gasps and jumps backward a step, all the color draining from her face.
‘W-what are you doing here?’ she asks.
‘I came to see you.’
‘You need to leave. Now,’ she says, looking everywhere except at me.
Even though I know why she feels the way she does, hearing it hurts. To her, I’m the asshole who used and discarded her like she meant nothing. She has no idea that I’ve been in hell every day without her. She has no idea that I fell in love with her that first night, or that I turned Nashville upside down looking for her.
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ I say quietly, my heart in my throat. ‘Not until we talk.’
‘We have nothing to talk about,’ she snaps, her color slowly recovering. Pink seeps back into her cheeks, her face flushing. With anger? With desire? God, I hope it’s the latter. Does she remember what it feels like to have me inside her, fucking my way into her soul? Does she remember the way she cried out for me, pleading for more? I certainly do. I’ve jacked my cock raw to those memories.
‘We have plenty to talk about,’ I disagree.
‘I…’ For a minute, a look of overwhelming panic crosses her face. It’s so powerful, it’s startling. It’s almost as if she’s genuinely terrified of what I want to talk about. And then she gives her head a sharp shake. ‘We’ve said everything that needs to be said, Cortez.’
‘The hell we have,’ I growl. ‘I’m not leaving until you talk to me.’
‘I don’t want to talk to you!’ she cries.
There aren’t many other people in the lobby, but all eyes are on us. An older woman near the elevators narrows her eyes on me, her face pinched. Judging by the nametag on her suit, she works here too. She doesn’t start in our direction, but it’s only a matter of time before she sends security.
Fuck my life.
I take a deep breath and expel it sharply.
‘I’d like to check-in,’ I say to Piper, going for plan B.
‘What?’ She gapes at me like I’ve lost my mind.
‘I’d like to check-in,’ I repeat.
She blinks those long lashes, confusion filling her seafoam green eyes. ‘You want to check-in?’ she says. ‘Here?‘
‘This is a hotel, is it not?’ I give her a tiny smile.
It only pisses her off more. The color in her cheeks deepens from pink to red, irritation flashing in her eyes. ‘I know what you’re doing,’ she hisses under her breath, ‘and it isn’t going to work. I don’t care how charming you are, I’m not sleeping with you again. Especially not in the hotel where I work, Cortez.’
‘You’re pissed at me, and I’m going to let you be pissed at me because you don’t know what really happened that morning,’ I growl. ‘But I saw the way you looked at me when I walked in, Piper. You may want to hate me, but you don’t. Your body still aches for me, pretty baby. You still dream about me. It’s killing you that you’re not in my arms right now. I know because it’s fucking killing me too.’
‘Is not,’ she lies. The tremble in her voice gives her away though.
‘Yeah, it is,’ I murmur, reaching in my pocket for my wallet. ‘You’re mine, sweet little Piper. You’ve been mine for two months. And you will be sleeping with me again. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but as soon as we sort this shit out, I plan to give you exactly what you need.’
‘All I need is for you to disappear again like you did two months ago,’ she snaps.
‘I went back for you.’
She snorts.
‘I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true,’ I say quietly, pulling my credit card out of my wallet and sliding it across the counter to her. ‘Everything got fucked up that morning, but I didn’t just check out and leave you there.’
Her gaze flits to mine, doubt creeping into her expression as she reaches for my credit card. I don’t let it go though. Instead, I grab her hand, needing to touch her again. She startles slightly, and I know she feels the same thing I do…the pervading sense of peace. The electric shock of desire. The piercing need. The sense of homecoming. For the first time in two months, I feel like I can fucking breathe again.
‘I meant every word I said that night, pretty baby,’ I rasp, clinging to her hand. ‘Every fucking word. I didn’t check out and leave you there.’
‘I…’ Her gaze dances over my face, confusion swirling through her eyes. And then they fall to the credit card caught between our fingers. She flinches, her body going taut. Whatever progress I just made vanishes in a puff of smoke as she pulls away, taking my credit card with her.
What the fuck?
‘Cortez Blake,’ she says.
‘Yeah, your man.’
‘You said you work for Blake Industries,’ she says, her voice soft. ‘You never told me that you are a Blake.’ She shakes her head, dropping her eyes to her computer. ‘Whatever game you’re playing, I’m not interested.’
‘I’m not playing a game with you, Piper.’
‘How long will you be staying?’
‘Until you talk to me.’
‘We have nothing to talk about.’
‘Bullshit,’ I growl.
‘Checkout is eleven tomorrow.’
‘No. Longer.’
She flicks hers gaze up to mine.
‘Longer,’ I repeat. If I have to haunt this fucking hotel until she agrees to talk to me, so be it. Jillian can rearrange my schedule. After I’m sworn in on Monday, I’ll work from here until Piper agrees to give me a chance because I’m not leaving here without her.
‘How long?’ she asks, narrowing her eyes on me.
‘What’s the longest reservation you have available?’
She reluctantly taps on her keyboard for a moment. ‘A little over two months.’
‘Book it,’ I say.
She gapes at me like a little fish. ‘You cannot stay here for seven weeks!’
‘I just spent two months in hell without you,’ I say, holding her gaze. ‘Haunting this hotel for two more is infinitely better than that, pretty baby. At least this way, I get to look into those pretty green eyes and remember what heaven felt like.’
‘Cortez,’ she whispers when I snag her hand again.
‘I’m not leaving.’
The same panic from earlier drifts through her expression, only she isn’t as good at shaking it off this time. She doesn’t want me here, and I don’t think it has anything to do with her being afraid to give me a second chance. She’s hiding something.
‘What are you hiding, pretty baby?’ I ask, searching for any little hint of what she doesn’t want me to know. Whatever it is, it’s big.
‘Nothing,’ she snaps, her eyes flashing molten fire at me. She rips her gaze from mine, focusing on the computer. Her long nails tap against the keys, every keystroke acting like punctuation at the end of her frustration. That probably shouldn’t turn me on, but it does. Feisty Piper is sexy as hell. ‘It’s a standard suite.’
‘Pretty baby, I’ll sleep in a fucking closet if it means being close to you.’
‘Too bad. We’re fresh out of those.’
‘Put me wherever you want,’ I murmur, not willing to press my luck here. I don’t give a fuck what type of room she puts me in. I prefer space, but I’m not going to argue about it with her. She’s rattled and stressed and mad as hell right now. The last thing I want to do is give her another reason to think I’m some rich asshole playing games. She opens her mouth to say something, and I quickly amend, ‘Except for out of the hotel.’
This earns me a tiny smile. It’s not much. But it’s something. It’s hope.
I’ll take it.