Tempting the Billionaire by J.A. Low
Stirling
My house phone is ringing, pulling me from my deep slumber. What the hell? Rolling over I see it’s well past one in the morning.
“What the hell?” I answer the phone grumpily.
“I’m so sorry to wake you, sir,” Jennings, my door man mumbles. “But there’s a Miss Davenport downstairs for you, sir. She’s not in a good way,” he whispers the last bit. That information wakes me up instantly. What the hell is Audrey doing here?
“Send her up, now,” I tell him before slamming it into the receiver. What on earth has happened? Why is she here? I pull on a pair of gray sweatpants and shuffle toward my foyer where the elevator will bring her up. The doors open as I get there. Audrey looks up at me, her blue eyes shimmering with tears and her make up is smudged from them falling down her face. She’s in a cocktail dress, so she’s been out, but why is she crying and why is she here? Next thing I know she is rushing toward me and wrapping her arms around me tightly before breaking down. I hold her for what feels like an eternity. Her soft, curvaceous body against mine. My dick stirs a little. Down boy, now is not the time. Actually, now will never be the time. She’s my best friend and business partner’s little sister. She is an automatic no go zone. Plus, I’m so much older than her.
I’ve always liked Audrey like a little sister, but these last couple of years it’s been hard not to notice the smoke show she’s turned into. My late-night social stalking hasn’t helped especially the thirst trap photos she posts with her friends. I’m like the million other men lusting after her through my phone. I feel like the biggest jerk for the indecent thoughts that run through my mind about Audrey and usually I can keep them at bay because I don’t spend that much time with her.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I ask, running my fingers through her blonde hair as she hugs me. She squeezes me tighter instead of answering me. Okay, she’s not ready to talk about it. “I’ve got you, okay. Whatever it is. I’ve got you,” I reassure her.
“I just want to go to bed,” she mumbles against my bare chest. “I’m kind of hoping it’s all a bad dream.” Looking up at me, there’s black lines where her mascara has run down her cheeks thanks to her tears. Her blue eyes are bright but red rimmed. A surge of protectiveness comes over me as I shuffle her towards the guest bedroom. “Can I stay with you?” Her voice is so quiet and broken as she asks me the question. She wants to stay with me, in my bed?
Oh no. Nope. No.
Can’t do that. That’s too close. Plus, Rhys will kill me. If I’m feeling protective of Audrey he is a damn Grizzly bear when it comes to his baby sister.
“I don’t want to be alone at the moment. Rhys wouldn’t leave me alone like this.” She looks up at me, her eyes pleading with me to help her. And I can’t say no, not when she looks so lost. Damn it. I lead her back into my bedroom and she slumps against the bed looking lost.
“Do you want something to change into?” I ask, looking at her designer dress, that surely wouldn’t be comfortable to sleep in. She nods her head while staring at the floor. I walk over to my closet and pull open the draw and grab a t-shirt and give it to her. “Want something to drink? Water maybe?”
She grabs the shirt from me and holds it to her chest. “Don’t think water is going to cut it. Vodka? Tequila? Anything along those lines would be great,” Audrey asks me. My brows pull together at her request.
“You sure?” I question her because the state that she is in makes me think otherwise.
“I’m damn sure, Stirling.” Those blue eyes land on me and there is a fire burning behind them. “Bring the whole damn bottle.”
Right, okay this isn’t going to end well, but if this is what she needs then I’ll do it. I think Rhys would do that for her, wouldn’t he? I leave her to get changed and head back out into the kitchen. I grab the bottle of tequila from the fridge and a bottle of water and bring it back to my bedroom. I knock on the door and she calls out that she’s changed. I push open the door and find her fresh faced and dressed in one of my T-shirts. Shit. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think Audrey would look this good dressed in one of my shirts, in my bedroom. I never dared to think about Audrey wearing one of my shirts. I’m sure telepathically Rhys would know and murder me in my sleep if I ever did. Shaking my head, I try to clear the bad thoughts from my mind. Audrey reaches out and grabs the bottle of tequila from my hand, her hand touches mine and my dick instantly twitch to life. What the fuck? No. Not now. She opens the lid and throws back a big gulp of tequila.
“Auds. What the hell?” My eyes widen at the heavy gulp of tequila she threw back. Maybe I need Miles on speed dial because if she keeps chugging tequila like she is she’s going to be heading right on down to the ER to get her stomach pumped.
“Screw you!” Audrey yells at me as she points her finger in my direction. What the hell did I do? Her blue eyes are lit with fire as she glares at me. “You’re all a bunch of cheating assholes!” she screams at me before she takes another large swig of tequila. I still at her words and replay back every single syllable.
Oh shit! It all makes sense now. Dan? Drew? What’s his name… her boyfriend. David, that’s it. Some fitness model. I met him at some event Audrey dragged him to. He was a dick; his ego was out of control. Honestly, I don’t know what Audrey sees in him. Yes, he might be good looking, but I never thought Audrey was impressed on looks alone.
“And you can’t trust sneaky bitches.” She points at me again. As she has another large gulp of tequila.
“Right. I think that’s enough,” I tell her, taking the bottle back from her and exchanging it with the water bottle. “Drink this. And then start from the beginning.” She reluctantly takes the water bottle, but doesn’t open it she sits there looking defeated.
“It’s all on my phone.” Pointing to her bag on the floor. “See for yourself. It will explain everything.” Audrey’s shoulders begin to fold in on her. She unscrews the lid to her water bottle and begins to take a sip. At least that’s one thing. I bend down and open her purse and pull out her phone, it’s locked.
“6969 is my passcode.” My hand hovers over the numbers and I slowly look up at her. Is she serious right now? “What? I like it.” She shrugs her shoulders, but I can see her cheeks pinken, having to confess that to me.
“I’m not judging.” Unable to keep the smile from my lips, I punch in the code to her phone which unlocks it.
“It’s under the text from Janice,” she points out before laying back against my bed and placing her arms over her forehead. What the hell am I going to see? “Press play, Stirling.”
“Are you sure?” Because she doesn’t look sure as she slowly rolls over and curls up into a ball on my bed. I’m distracted for the moment as my T-shirt rides up her bare legs and exposes her G-string clad ass. Her perfectly round peach of an ass greets me.
Shit. Fuck. Balls. Do not look. Eyes, abort, abort!
“Please, just watch it.” Her voice is barely a whisper through her arms. Thankfully she doesn’t notice me checking out her exposed rear. I press play and am transported to a tropical island and then suddenly in stereo the sounds of someone getting off fills the room. What the fuck? I press pause.
“Aud?”
“It’s Dior and David.” She sniffles through her fingers. “In Bora Bora.” I look back down at the paused image and realize what I’m looking at now. That’s her best friend riding her boyfriend at work. Fuck! How could they do this to Audrey? Have they been messing around on her this whole time? Was it a one-time thing? Not that it excuses any of it. Fuck, wait till Rhys finds out he is going to lose his mind and be on the next flight to Bora Bora. At least it’s a beautiful destination to kick some ass in.
“That fucking little shit. I’m going to fucking kill him,” I curse throwing her phone back onto her bag. I move over to the bed and sit down beside her, ignoring her peachy ass. I reach out and place my hand on her arm and give it a squeeze.
“It’s going to be in all the gossips blogs by morning.” Audrey sniffles as she looks up at me helplessly.
“It’s going to be okay.” I reach out and cup her face, as my thumb swipes away the tears that are falling. “You can stay here as long as you need.”
What the hell are you doing? No. That is not a good idea at all. Audrey sits up and gives me a strange look.
“You’d let me crash here and cramp your style?”
“I have no style to cramp, firstly,” I tell her with a smile. “But of course, you’re family.” Her face falls a little at my family comment. But she is, she’s like a little sister to me. Okay a little sister whose ass I’ve been checking out. Yeah, that’s fucking wrong.
“Thanks for taking me in.” Her face falls again. “I had nowhere else to go.”
“Where were Nell and Rainn?” I ask, wondering why her best friends are not here consoling her.
“They were still inside the club, and I didn’t want to go back in. I was in shock. I jumped into the first taxi I could find and came here.”
“You did the right thing coming here,” I tell her.
“Do you think?” Audrey raises her brows; her blue eyes widen at my comment, but she doesn’t look convinced.
“You know I will protect you, Aud. Especially while Rhys is away.” Audrey nods her head but doesn’t look at me.
“I’m going to be okay, Stirling.” She lets out a heavy sigh. “I needed a moment to breath.”
“I’m glad you came here.”
“I am sorry to barge in on you so late.” She bites her bottom lip, and my eyes follow the action subconsciously. What the hell is happening to me? Usually, I can control myself around her, keeping my thoughts right where they belong, buried deep down in the dark crevices of my soul. Is it some kind of white knight complex I’m suffering from where saving her is turning me on? Is that a kink I don’t know about? “I’m glad you were home alone, otherwise this would all be rather awkward.” She waves her hand around the room and gives me the smallest of chuckles.
“Like I said, not much happening around here.” Why am I telling her this?
“Really?” She raises a brow in my direction looking rather skeptical. “I’ve seen photos of your out and about with beautiful women on your arm.”
“Doesn’t mean I sleep with all of them,” I add. Stop it, Stirling. Disengage. You are travelling well into the Danger Zone. This has Audrey’s attention, and she sits up, flashing me her underwear before sitting cross legged in front of me with her hand resting between her thighs.
“What do you do with them then?” she asks, seemingly genuinely curious.
“I bid them goodnight and come home.” Audrey’s brows raise high at my explanation.
“Bullshit.” She glares at me.
“It’s the truth. I’m a gentleman.” Why am I trying to defend myself?
“Please, look at you.” She eyes me up and down. “You’re handsome, rich and not that much of a dick.” She gives me a blinding smile.
“You think I’m all those things?” I ask, smirking at her.
“Urgh, I didn’t realize your ego was that big.” She playfully hits me. It’s not the only thing that is. Those words were on the tip of my lips but thankfully commonsense prevailed and I zipped my trap shut.
“I think you’re confusing me with Remi, he’s the playboy of the family.”
“That’s true.” She chuckles letting herself forget her problems for the moment until her smile quickly fades.
“Why did they do it?” She looks up at me as if I hold all the answers.
“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly.
“Is it because I’m not like Dior?” she asks me quietly.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean Dior’s sexy. She’s hot, confident, alluring. The girl fills out a bikini like no one else.” She lets out a sigh. “Whereas I’m me.” She shrugs her shoulders in a self-deprecating way. How does she not realize she is all those things and so much more? Dior is fake. She is filled with fillers, Botox and silicone, whereas Audrey is a natural beauty.
“You’re beautiful, smart, funny, captivating, and sexy.” I begin listing off all the things that I find alluring before realizing what I’m saying.
“You think I’m all those things?” Those blue doe eyes widen with surprise at my confession. She’s looking at me as if she can’t quite believe what I’ve just said.
“Of course, I do,” I tell her. It’s all true and I don’t think I’m crossing the line telling her all of them either. Am I?
“Thanks.” She gives me a small smile.
“But I don’t quite believe you.”
“Why not?”
“Because if you thought all those things, you would have kissed me on my eighteenth birthday.” She still remembers that night and my rejection. It’s not that I didn’t want to, it was that I couldn’t. Plus, at that time I didn’t see Audrey for the beauty she is today. I made sure I didn’t. “So why didn’t you?” she pushes.
“Aud, come on you know why.” I stand up and move off the bed giving us both space, as I run my hand nervously through my hair.
“Rhys?”
“Yes. But he wasn’t the only reason.” How the hell did we get onto this topic?
“Then what? Tell me. I’m a big girl now. It’s something that has bugged me all these years and now finally I have the chance to ask you and let’s be serious it’s the only chance I’m ever going to get. Humor me, Stirling?”
“It’s late. You’ve had a rough night. You can sleep on the bed, and I’ll sleep on the sofa here,” I tell her as I point at the sofa at the end of my bed.
“You’re changing the subject.” Audrey’s eyes narrow on me. Then she jumps up off the bed and moves toward me. “Please, just tell me what I did wrong that night and I’ll never talk about it ever again.” She crosses her heart which brings my attention to her breasts then her nipples, which are poking against the fabric of the T-shirt. What am I doing?
“You did nothing wrong,” I tell her honestly. “But you had just turned eighteen.”
“I was legal,” she states.
“I know but in my mind all I could see was you as a kid.” Audrey nods in understanding.
“And you still see me as the kid needing your protection,” she states sadly, her shoulders roll in on themselves as if resigning herself to the fact that I only see her as my best friend’s kid sister. When in reality I see her in so many other ways that I’m not meant to. Audrey turns away and heads back toward my bed. I watch as she pulls back the covers and jumps in.
“I definitely don’t see you like that kid anymore.” My confession falls from my lips into the quiet of the room.
“But I’m still your best friend’s little sister,” she answers back.
“Yeah, you are.”
Then silence falls between us as there isn’t much else to say. I head over to the sofa at the end of the bed.
“Just get in the bed, Stirling. This doesn’t have to be weird.” Audrey flips back the covers and taps the bed before rolling back over. I stand there wrestling with my thoughts for so long that the sounds of Audrey snoring softly fills the room. The bed is big enough for the two of us and it’s only for a couple of hours.
It’ll be fine. I’m sure.