Chapter 12

Grace

I can’t believe I’m going to New York like this. This morning was just a normal workday, and suddenly a billionaire turned up to whisk me away for the weekend.

Anna was adamant that I go. Under no circumstance was I to come back to the office. And under no circumstance am I to come home a virgin.

“This is my apartment,” I say, opening the door.

Leo follows me inside, and I close the door. The second the latch clicks, I realize we are alone together again for the first time since the closet. My heart speeds, wondering if anything will happen.

Instead of stepping away, Leo stands beside me at the door. The scent of his spicy cologne fills my lungs. He’s so close that I can feel the warmth from his body. For a second I forget where and even who I am.

He lifts his hand. I brace for him to touch me, my heart racing a million miles an hour. But he simply scratches the back of his neck.

Clearing my throat, I head to my bedroom to quickly pack.

Not knowing what I should bring, I grab my full-sized suitcase from the back of my closet and lay it on my bed.

I search through my underwear drawer for my nicest bras and panties. Or at a minimum, the least bad ones. Every single pair of panties I own is cotton, and I curse myself for not having a single satiny pair.

Once I fill my suitcase with twice as many pairs of bras and panties as I need, I open my closet and stare meaninglessly at the contents. I have no idea what to bring.

I pad back into the living area of the two-bedroom apartment I share with Anna. Obviously, I know Leo is in my apartment, but still the sight of him makes my heart race all over again.

Leo is standing in front of the bright pink sofa Anna had before we moved in together. We tape snapshots to the wall above it, calling it our memory collage, and dozens cover the space.

Most seem to be of Anna and Tyson.

“Who’s that?” Leo asks, pointing to a photo of Anna.

“That’s Anna, my roommate. She works at Mini Motivations too.”

“She sure has a lot of hair colors,” he says turning to me, his eyes twinkling.

“A different one every week.”

“Are you ready to go?”

“Not quite. What type of clothes will I need?” I ask.

“I already told you, you don’t need to bring anything.” His eyes rake over me as he speaks, my body burning everywhere they go.

“I have to bring something, obviously.” As the words leave my mouth, I can’t help but wonder what I’m getting myself into.

In the coffeeshop, Anna texted me and told me, no, demanded I go and have a good time. A once-in-a-lifetime weekend in New York, during which I happen to lose my virginity.

Even with that purpose in mind, I can’t help but feel nervous. I’m stepping into the unknown.

“Bring whatever you think is best,” Leo says, moving away from the couch.

His eyes lock on mine as he makes his way to me. My body simultaneously erupts in nervous butterflies and tingling desire. I swallow hard, frozen to the floor.

He stops in front of me, his body almost touching mine. I swallow again, trying to coax some saliva into my mouth so I can talk, but all the moisture in my body has pooled between my legs.

For a few moments all either of us does is breathe.

Lifting his hand, he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. The backs of his fingers graze my cheek in the process, sending a jolt of electricity through me that makes me tingle from head to toe.

“I missed being locked in a cupboard with you,” he says, his hand coming to a rest on the back of my head.

Without thinking, I place my hands on his arms. His powerful biceps are evident even through the suit fabric. I accidentally whimper.

Leo leans, brushing his lips across my forehead, and I struggle to keep my knees from buckling.

How am I going to last a whole weekend in New York with him and retain any of my dignity?

I try to push the image of Shawna giving me two big thumbs up out of my mind. Part of me thinks my dignity is already gone.

He puts his lips to my ear, and in a low voice says, “I’m going to make you feel a thousand times better than in the closet.”

Through no choice of my own, I whimper again.

“This is kind of a crazy thing for me to do. I’ve never done anything like this before,” I say, my voice barely audible.

With his lips still at my ear, he says, “I know, I’ll take good care of you.”

“As long as you know it’s my first… you know.” I feel I have to make it clear that I’m a virgin. Maybe it would make him change his mind. I don’t know. I’ve always been about full disclosure with my boyfriends.

Not that he’s my boyfriend. I don’t know what this is. Being taken away for a weekend by a billionaire to lose my virginity doesn’t really have a term.

Leo pulls his head back and stares straight into my eyes. “I know — I’ve touched you, or have you forgotten?”

I shake my head slightly. “Definitely not.”

He grips the back of my head, and closes his mouth over mine. Our tongues swirl in a perfect dance, and the tingles in me turn into electric currents.

Moving my hands from his arms to his back, I pull my body tight against his.

As we kiss, his dick grows harder and harder against my body. I grind myself into it, encouraging him.

Suddenly I wonder why we’re going to New York at all. Why, when we are mere steps from my bed?

My walls are drenched and ready for him, right here. Now.

I want to hurry before I have a chance to change my mind.

I grind into him harder. But instead of deepening our kiss, Leo pulls away.

“We have to go, I can’t miss my meeting,” he says, and steps away from me, his pants tented from his huge erect cock.

My body screams in protest, but I understand. He told me before that we had to go, and I convinced him to let me come and grab a few things.

I manage a weak smile before turning and heading back into my bedroom.

Without thinking too much about it, I grab a whole selection of clothing. Everything from jeans to my nicest dress. From the bathroom, I take my toothbrush and toiletries and shove them in the mesh pouch on the inside of the suitcase lid. Finally, I throw in my make-up bag and hairbrush and zip up the case.

It takes effort to haul it off the bed, which is ridiculous considering I’m only going for a weekend.

Setting it upright, I extend the handle and wheel it out of the bedroom.

I throw my head back the second I see Leo again. I will not end up like my mother and sister.

Gripping the suitcase handle, I rush into Anna’s bedroom and start searching through her drawers.

I pull open the bottom of three drawers in her bedside table. Bingo. A large box of condoms sits beside a bottle of lubricant, a vibrator and a pair of handcuffs.

Trying to touch as little as possible, I pull out the box of condoms and take a strip of condoms from it. I stuff them into the outside pouch of my suitcase.

Half jogging, I hurry out of the room and back to Leo.

“Ready to go,” I say, bursting with anticipation.