Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Boxset 4 Books Page 8

  I smirked at her and took her hand in mine, shook it firmly as if we were making a deal to get to know each other.

  “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. Yes, the very busy lawyer that doesn’t have time for anyone. Much less dating, most of the time,” I pointed out to her, raising my eyebrows.

  I saw that Julian was giving me a look as if I shouldn’t have said that, but she laughed it off. I smiled at her.

  Most of the women that I knew would take that as an insult and walk away. Not her, though. No, I could see that her eyes were amused, that she was interested in me. It wasn’t that hard to figure out.

  Everyone began taking their seats and I was getting ready to stand beside Julian.

  I didn’t want to be rude, but I wasn’t going to tell her that I was looking for a date. I wasn’t. I liked the freedom that I had. I loved it. I was just looking for a good time. There was nothing wrong with that. I was upfront and honest with every woman that I met.

  I cleared my throat as the preacher was getting ready to have them state their vows. I had the rings in my pocket whenever Julian was ready, and I remembered his vows by heart.

  Looking down at the sand, I really knew every line by heart. Sometimes I even dreamed about the vows that he recited over the phone to me.

  I cleared my throat again, this time to hide the fact that I was going to laugh if I didn’t.

  "The rings," Julian whispered to me.

  Lost in my own thoughts, I felt Julian nudge me; he nudged me hard. Looking up at him, I took the rings out of my pocket, feeling my face grow warm when I realized that Jasmine was trying not to laugh at me herself. She covered her mouth, but I still saw the glimpse of her smile, threatening to turn into a giggle.

  Chapter 2

  Derek looked good, he looked like a cool rebel. I was intrigued by him. I was looking forward to getting to know him. What made him tick? Why was he so casual with women? Anyway, I wasn’t going to put so much thought into this. I was here to have a good time, too.

  His hair was blowing in the breeze; it looked like he was getting ready for a photo shoot and I wanted to be the one to take his picture. I guess that was a force of habit because I was a photographer for a big company in New York. We were going to have the week together. The four of us. And I was planning on getting some good shots of the newly married couple. I definitely intended on getting some pictures of this gorgeous best man! Memories to take back home…

  Lindsay had told me about Derek, his hard front that he put on, but she told me that once he was comfortable, he could be the most fun-loving person there was.

  I listened to Lindsay and Julian say their vows, watched them as they exchanged rings, and I would’ve teared up if I wasn’t worried about my make-up running down my face and looking like a goth woman.

  I was so intent on Derek that when it was time to go up the aisle, it was my turn to be embarrassed when Lindsay nudged me.

  "Go take his arm," Lindsay whispered in my ear.

  I slowly walked over to him and put my arm through his. I didn’t know what to say to him; we didn’t know each other, and it was a long walk up the aisle. I was dumbfounded. I didn’t have a clue about what to talk about.

  “I’m going to go out and play pool tonight. Are you coming with me?” Derek asked, making my heart jump a little.

  I gave him a funny look. Here we were going up the aisle and he’s talking about playing pool and having drinks. Well…he didn’t say anything about drinks, but I was hoping that we were going to have some.

  "That would be great," I whispered back to him, not wanting anyone to hear our conversation.

  He was asking me out in a very casual way. We were going to get to know each other and I couldn’t wait to get to know more of him.

  “I knew that you would say yes.” He smirked at me.

  He was full of himself as well; though most would find it unattractive, I thought that it was great he would have the confidence in himself to think that way.

  I figured next time I wouldn’t agree so quickly; I didn’t want him to think I was desperate! That I was an easy catch.

  “Are you going to wear that pretty dress out or did you bring some clothing with you that would be good for the bar scene? I mean, we could go shopping and get you something sexy,” he bent down and whispered in my ear.

  My eyes grew wide. I didn’t know what to say to him. I didn’t know if he was joking or if he was being serious.

  The more he talked the more I knew he didn’t care what came out of his mouth. He didn’t care what was said and who liked it or not. Maybe that wasn’t the best line, but I knew what I was going to wear that night.

  "I have clothes, thank you very much. I’d be afraid what you would pick for me anyway!" I giggled, seeing the smile come over his face.

  He knew that I was teasing him, he knew that I was playing it cool. If I had said that to any other man, they would’ve let go of my arm and told me to walk the rest of the way up myself.

  I did realize just then that neither one of us had a filter. It was the first thing that we had in common.

  We were laughing, and the guests were giving us strange looks. It was a party, a wedding—that didn’t mean that the bride and groom were the only ones that could have fun.

  He was a very wealthy man, very sure of himself. I knew almost everything about him from the cases that he won and the cases that he lost. It wasn’t like I wasn’t warned about him, but Lindsay made him sound so good as well. I just had to make sure that I didn’t fall under his charm. That I didn’t go too far. I wasn’t going to get my heart broken. There was no way that was going to happen to me!

  “What are you thinking about right now?” he asked.

  The way he had talked, it sounded like he could guess. He thought that I was thinking about him and I shook my head.

  “Come on, tell me,” he said, his voice husky.

  “Shoes. I’m thinking about shoes and how these shoes are killing me. I don’t want to wear them anymore. I want to slip into something more comfortable and can’t wait until I can sneak away and change out of all of this,” I explained to him; he wanted to know, so I told him.

  I saw the smirk slide just a little off his face before he recovered. He thought that I was thinking about him. It was what he wanted to hear. I wasn’t like any ordinary woman, either. I wasn’t going to be putty in his hands. Not this woman. He wasn’t going to get me no matter how hard he tried.

  I wanted to have fun with him; he was there. I would’ve been stupid to think that we weren’t going to spend some time together. We were best friends of the bride and groom. It was silly to think that we wouldn’t want to get to know each other, even if it was just as friends by the time we left.

  “Meet me back at the hotel in an hour. We don’t have to stick around for the rest of this.” He let go of my arm and I met back up with Lindsay as I watched him go see Julian.

  Chapter 3

  Julian was waiting for me by the outdoor bar. I smiled at him when he gave me the look, wondering what was going on with me and Jasmine already.

  “There’s nothing going on. We’re going out in a little bit because I want to go out and play some pool. That’s it.” I shrugged my shoulders.

  It was no big deal to me but what came out of Julian’s mouth surprised me. Shocked me even.

  “You’d better be careful with that one.” He nodded his head towards Jasmine.

  “Really? Come on, I’m not going to do anything to hurt her.” I scoffed. I just wanted her.

  “I’m telling you, I’ve seen her break hearts. You don’t know her like I do; she plays that card well.” Julian laughed, showing his Crest-white smile.

  “Are you forgetting who you’re talking to? I’m the man of games. I know what I can do, and I know what I can get. I’m telling you that I could get her if I wanted to.” I couldn’t believe that he would try to bruise my confidence like that.

  "Don't say I didn't warn you, bro." Julian sighed, shaking
his head.

  One minute he was trying to get me to date her and the next he was warning me against her. I couldn’t tell what he really wanted me to do!

  “And if I hurt her feelings, I don’t want you threatening to beat me up outside in the parking lot.” I rolled my eyes, laughing at him.

  “I won’t—the one you’ll have to watch out for is Lindsay. Though I’m sure that Jasmine can handle herself,” he shot back at me.

  I looked over at Lindsay and Jasmine. Jasmine was talking and having a good time; she didn’t know that I was watching her. She didn’t know that I was spying on her to see how she was without having to put on a big front.

  I brushed off what Julian had told me, practically forgot about it and saw her as an innocent woman. I could have her if I wanted to and I planned to have her that night; it was all fun and games until the end of the night when there was that kiss at the door.

  “You’re planning. You’re scheming—I can see it in your eyes.” Julian was staring at me. He saw the gleam that I had.

  “So, what? You’re the one who wanted me to meet her,” I pointed out to him.

  “I did; you were going to meet anyways. You’re here for a week, bro. I mean, come on, be easy on the first night. I don’t want you knocking on my door in the middle of the night crying.” Julian laughed.

  It was a joke, but it hit a little hard. I knew that there was no woman that was going to break me down. No woman could make me feel pain, that wasn’t going to happen. I never had to worry about feelings because they were never in the mix.

  I couldn’t wait for the hour to get there. I couldn’t wait to get away from the wedding party, it was starting to clash with who I was.

  “Are you going to be up later tonight?” I grinned at him.

  “I will be, but don’t come knocking at my door. I will kick your ass in the morning.” Julian grunted, taking a glass of champagne from one of the waiters that were going around with the circular trays for the guests.

  “I won’t, I promise. If I hear that you fell asleep tonight, or you got too drunk, I’m going to kick your ass in the morning. I like Lindsay. I think that she’s good for you. I don’t know her all that well, but I can tell that she’s good for you. The two of you are in love, there are some people who are meant to be in love and then there are people like me.” I pointed at myself.

  “What are you meant to be, then?” Julian asked me.

  “Single. Alone. I don’t want to ever get mixed up with a woman. That’s not in the plans. Fuck them and leave them, that’s it for me.” I would never be stupid enough to do what Julian was doing. Getting married sounded like a death sentence to me. Once that ring came on it was like a trap. A trap that you were stuck in for the rest of your life, and if it didn’t work out, the woman left with half!

  “You’re just going to go through this life the way you are, then? You’re going to stand there and tell me that you’re never going to fall in love?” Julian was being serious.

  I could hear the tone in his voice. He wasn’t playing anymore, and I wasn’t in the mood to answer him, but I gave him the only answer I had anyway.

  “Yes, I'm never going to be getting married. Not in this lifetime, and if there's another lifetime, I'm not going to be getting married then, either." I looked him in his eyes. I wasn't smiling.

  We were best friends, but we were two different people. We were completely opposite of each other, and when we got together we did things that the other wanted to do so that we could even it out.

  "Good luck with that. When love does bite you…you're going to love it." Julian shook his head, finishing the glass of champagne that he had in his hand.

  “Yeah, when hell freezes over.” I rolled my eyes and saw that Lindsay was headed our way.

  “Lindsay should talk you into settling down.” Julian winked at me.

  His tone was soft, and we were back to joking with each other.

  “She could convince the devil himself to fall in love with an angel. You two have fun; I’m out of here.” I slapped him on the shoulder and headed in a different direction before Lindsay got all the way to Julian.

  Chapter 4

  He was headed my way and I was glad that we were getting away from the wedding scene too. I wanted to see more of him. I wanted to get to know who he was. If there was another side to him—there had to be. There were two sides to everyone.

  “I’m going to get out of this. We’ll meet in the hall in about fifteen minutes?” he asked me, raising his eyebrows.

  “Yes, I’m going to change quickly, and I will meet you in the hall. It’s too hot out here; wherever you decide to go it had better be cool air.” I fanned myself.

  He was looking at me with that bad-boy smile on his face. I had seen it numerous times before and I wasn’t going to be fooled by it.

  “I will be looking for you in the hall,” he stated, going ahead of me.

  I wasn’t going to run to catch up with him; there was no need to. I had never chased a man and I wasn’t going to now.

  Walking to my own room, I got the key and hurried to get dressed.

  I wasn’t hurrying for him, I was hurrying for me. I wanted to have a good time too. I wanted a man to take me out. He had been the one who had invited me, after all, and I wasn’t going to pay for anything. When the man asked the woman, they didn’t have to worry about anything.

  I got out my leather pants and a short, black top. I could see my flat stomach and my belly button. I looked good enough to eat.

  Leaving my hair down and curled, I took off most of my makeup and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked good. That’s all I could say. I was ready for the night out.

  I walked out of the hotel room, locking the door behind me. I put the key card in my back pocket so that I wouldn’t lose it.

  I wasn’t the type of woman that carried around a purse. I couldn’t stand it hanging from my shoulder.

  Looking around the parking lot for him, I saw that he wasn’t out yet.

  “What is taking him so long?” I muttered to myself.

  I heard a roaring motorcycle. It was getting closer and closer to me, and as I looked around the corner, I saw that it was Derek on the bike.

  He stopped in front of me.

  “You really don’t expect me to get on that, do you?” I asked.

  I wasn’t smiling; in fact, I was sure that I looked scared of the thing.

  He was wearing his leather jacket, a white shirt and a nice pair of pants that looked a little tight in the crotch, but it looked sexy on him.

  It seemed that no matter what he wore, it looked great on him.

  “This is the only thing I brought with me. Did you think that I was going to bring my own driver?” he asked, laughing as he took the helmet off his head and handed it to me.

  “You don’t have a second one?” I asked, not reaching for the helmet.

  “No.” He shook his head, looking at me as if I were asking a trick question.

  “What about you? How are you going to be safe if anything happens?” I would’ve said or done anything to make it so that I didn’t have to get on the bike.

  “Quit stalling. You can’t tell me that you’re scared of motorcycles.” Derek threw his head back and laughed at me.

  I didn’t like being laughed at. I didn’t want to be picked on for not wanting to get on the bike, but I felt myself giving in to him.

  I felt a small smile come across my face and knew that if I didn’t get on the bike that he was going to go on without me.

  He once again handed me the helmet and this time I took it.

  “You’re going to need to hold onto me tightly when we get ready to take off!” he hollered over the roar of the bike.

  I heard him just fine as I put the helmet on my head.

  It was tight. I didn’t like tight spaces, but I knew that it was something I would have to accept. I didn’t want him to think I was afraid of his toy!

  I put my hands on his shoulders as I cl
imbed on the bike behind him.

  When I was seated, I held him around the waist, not thinking that I would have to hold on tightly like he said, but when he got ready to take off I could feel the jolt and felt my legs hug the seat that I was sitting on. I felt my arms gripping him tighter than what I expected.

  As we pulled away from the hotel, I heard him chuckle. He thought that it was funny that I didn’t believe him. He thought it was funny that I was slightly scared of the motorcycle and the way it felt between my legs.

  I’d never been on one, but I was getting used to it before we got to the bar. I was shocked at myself. I was doing things that I’d never done before. He was pushing me, not in a mean way, but he was pushing me in a daring way to let loose, to enjoy some of the freedom that I had…that we both had.

  I felt a bigger smile come across my face when I realized exactly what he was doing. He wanted me to live the freedom that he had. He wanted me to know what it felt like to be him, to not take things so seriously. Coming from a lawyer, it was hard to grasp.

  I laughed, feeling the warm breeze surround me, and I loosened my grip on him when I felt comfortable.

  Chapter 5

  She didn’t look like a woman that would fear anything, but the look on her face when I picked her up showed nothing but fear. She tried to hide it well, but it was there. I saw how white her face had gotten when I came around the corner on the bike.

  I was glad that she was getting used to the bike; she had loosened her grip quite a bit. She looked smoking-hot in the leather pants, the short top and the black boots that she had decided to put on.

  She could be a rebel when she wanted to be. I could see a little bit from Julian’s point of view. It was fun, it was dashing and daring. I could tell that she didn’t have any of that in her life.

  Me, the lawyer—a lot of people couldn’t believe that I would live a life like this. I couldn’t stand being in a stuffy office, going in front of a judge and staying in a suit all day, but I played the part well because it was my talent as a lawyer. It brought me in the money that I wanted but when I clocked out, I was done for the day. I took off the mask that I wore so well in front of people and was able to be me. I was able to stand in front of the mirror and know who I was at the end of each day.