Page 33 of Billionaire’s Promise

Technically, he kissed me first.

Not just kisses on the forehead.

But proper kisses.

And oh my god, he was a good kisser.

It was how I had always imagined a perfect kiss would be. Lustful. Sensual. Hot. Passionate. None of those words could actually describe how perfect it really was. His kiss was so tender, like he was handling a fragile china doll.

I would have prompted him for a full on make out session if Dr. Rose hadn’t walked into the room and interrupted us. The universe always knows how to play a joke on you. Perhaps it was a good thing, to have a small taste of whatever this thing between us was. It gave us a chance to think if that was truly what we wanted.

Did he have feelings for me?

It couldn’t be, could it?

He had plenty of girlfriends and he was into different kinds of girls. Women that had more experience in the bedroom, doing the kinds of things I knew little about.

Lincoln got into the whole bondage thing because of him. Okay, that was unfair, Lincoln wouldn’t enjoy any of that kinky stuff with any other woman than Chloe, and Chloe knew her fair share of that world. I’d thought about experiencing it, but the thought alone freaked me out for some reason.

Kai had offered to let me stay over at his place, so I didn’t have to drive back alone at night. I understood his concern, his real concern. But I didn’t need his protection. My apartment was secure enough that Mack or anyone else wouldn’t be able to get in without alarming the building security.

He couldn’t and shouldn’t leave Jenny alone. Not after we found out what she had been through. It must have taken a lot of courage for a mother to leave her kids behind, let alone travel to another country without them. I wasn’t an expert in psychology, but I’d picked up a few things here and there over the course of my career. From my observations, it was obvious that Jenny was running away from danger.

On the other hand, I was glad that I didn’t have to accommodate Kai and his team in my little apartment. It would have been nice, being able to wake up seeing him, but having his team there was just a deal breaker. Sharing wasn’t really my strong point and that was the reason I’d bought my own apartment in the first place. I needed somewhere that was mine and no one else’s. Including my parents. Especially my parents. If they’d sponsored a dime in anything that I owned, they would feel like they had the right to take over everything.

Back when I was living in company owned accommodation – although it was larger, more modern, and comfortable – my family would dictate how I lived. How I should decorate. How often I should get it cleaned.

Well, I hated it so much that it drove me to buy my little apartment.

I entered my home and selected a lively playlist on Spotify. As music filled my apartment, I danced to the remaining sensation of Kai on my lips. I knew it was pathetic, but this was what the eighteen-year-old me had been dreaming about. After about ten minutes of uncoordinated bouncing, I went to my study for a walk down memory lane.

Inside the room filled with walls of light wood bookcases, there was a hidden safe behind a painting. Like the ones in every heist movie. It was silly but so cool.

When I requested to have one of those done, I didn’t expect the decorator to say yes. Surprisingly, many of her clients had one, or at least thought about getting one. My decorator didn’t actually recommend having one though. It was so common nowadays that most thieves were aware of it and would look there first. All they needed to do was find one and they would try anything they could to break into the safe. Of course they didn’t always succeed in breaking in, but the damage from trying alone would cause the owner a massive headache.

From my safe, I took out a pastel blue Tiffany bag. I pulled out a pile of hundred-dollar bills and counted them one by one. Ninety-eight. I repeated again and I got ninety-nine. And one more time just to make sure that it was indeed ninety-nine. Putting the cash back in the bag, I pulled out the note that was left on my bedside table the morning after my birthday.

Hey little J. Wishing you no more heartache for the rest of your life. It made me happy that my party helped cheer you up. I would throw one every year just to see you smile. Your friend, Kai.

The note was from Kai thirteen years ago. For a long time, I wondered whose idea the party really was and who put in all the work. My brothers would never think of doing something so sweet. But why would Kai do something so kind? Did he really just want to be friends? I wanted to believe that there was more between us.

He had shown up to some of my other birthdays over the years, but he wasn’t always there like he promised.

I put everything back where it belonged and climbed in my bed –unmade from my earlier nap – and passed out, falling into darkness in no time.

Then I heard footsteps approaching my room. I was too tired to open my eyes but given the day I’ve had, I knew I had to.

“Don’t get up.” A figure landed in my bed, his weight pressing on me. I didn’t have to open my eyes to know that it was him, Kai. His large frame had almost no weight on me – like a warm fuzzy cloud that gave nothing but warmth and comfort.

“I thought you had to stay with Jenny?” I whispered.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” he whispered back.

When I opened my eyes, his gorgeous face came closer to me, and he kissed me again. His hand cupped the side of my head, then lightly he trailed his finger down my neck and down to the bottom of my pajama top, pulling at it until it came off my head. I gasped softly when he found my bra, and with a flick of his fingers, he parted the front clasp and pushed the material off my shoulders. His lips followed his hand as he cupped my left breast and sucked at it with a force that made my hips arch up in need.

I moaned, unable to stop myself. “Kai, I don’t do this.”

“You want me to stop?” He breathed the words into my ears. I shook my head vigorously and pathetically – no. He dropped to his knees, his hands sliding up my hips and down went my pajama bottoms, leaving me in my lace panties.