Seduced By The Gifted Billionaires
Chapter 1
Nikki was not looking where she was going and she almost ran right into a man. His shoulder length hair was blonde and pushed back behind his ears. For a moment, she wished that there had been some contact, so that she could have stopped and said something because he was gorgeous. There wasn’t though and she turned and walked away. His blue eyes may have followed her, but Nikki was unaware.
The restaurant that she lived above was busy and the crowd was more than she was used to in front of it. Struggling to get out of the throng of people milling around, she pushed passed as gently as possible and opened her stride up when she reached the other side of the human mass. There was not a cloud in the sky and as the sun went down, the many lights littering the sidewalks turned on. It wasn’t long before she left the bustle of the valley behind her and started to climb up a small bluff.
The height did not bother her, because it afforded her a view that many people would never see. Silicon Valley was a crowded space full of tall buildings, but the views were beautiful if a person could just go a little higher. She sighed out loud and wished that she could stay there all night. It was her place to think and her place to take pictures. Like everyone else in the valley, she was trying to find her way. There was an air of innovation in the city that was hard to describe, but beneficial to the creative process. Her bluff and view was her process.
An hour passed and she looked up at the stars, lying on her back. It was hard to filter out the many lights from below, but it was the best she had seen since moving into the cramped city. If she hadn’t found a decent priced apartment from a family friend and the bluff she was on right then, she would probably no longer be there. She was there on a whim and so far, it was paying back in spades.
Climbing back down was always worse than going up, but she made it down without a misstep. Nikki took her time walking back to her apartment, enjoying the open space. The night was dry and clear, not too hot. Everyone seemed to be on the streets and another couple of hours had passed before she found her way back to her cramped apartment that smelled like bacon most of the time.
“Nikki dear. I want you to meet someone.”
Nikki looked at the owner of Milley’s, the daytime diner that she lived above as she walked in through the main entrance. They didn’t have much selection at the diner, but the few things they did, they did well and most likely included bacon. The aging restaurateur stepped back for a redheaded man to walk towards her. He was tall and broad shouldered, his hair cut into short flames. He was handsome in an eccentric way. His charm seemed to come from within and the smile on his face beamed.
“Hi, I am Nikki.”
“I know. I have heard a lot about you. Me and Conrad were in the military for a few years together.”
“Yeah those were the days, but I am not going to get started on that. Why don’t you guys go out and have a good time?”
The man was more than willing, so Nikki agreed to take a walk with him. Even though she had just came back from one, the man in front of her intrigued her. Conrad had tried to tell her more, but she had not needed any more convincing. The guy was hot and had a bit of an accent that was every girl’s dream with a British lilt. It sounded good and quite sexy, something that made him stand out beyond his playboy looks. They walked towards the bluff, her body automatically taking him to her favorite place.
“Well this is kind of awkward, but Conrad has been trying to set me up with someone for a while, so hopefully if I play his game he will give me a break. What was your name again?”
“Dyson. I will leave you if you have somewhere else you need to be.”
Nikki touched his arm, trying to dull her rudeness.
“Nothing against you Dyson. Just, he can be impossible sometimes. Ever since he found out I was single, I never hear the end of it. But it is a beautiful night, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
The man was barely able to get a word in edgewise as Nikki continued to chatter nervously. He followed her up the small incline, her dress rising a little higher in the back as she bent over some with the change of terrain. Dyson had no idea where they were going, he just followed her higher. When they got to a rocky plateau, she sat down on the edge of the bluff, her feet dangling over. She smiled and patted the rock next to her. Dyson had a moment of unsureness. He was not too particularly fond of heights.
“Oh come on, the view is worth it.”
He walked closer and sat down tentatively next to her. When he was finally able to focus on more than the deadly fall underneath him, he had to admit that the view was incredible. All of the twinkling lights below seemed to be alive, moving and flickering out of sync.
“I didn’t know Conrad was in the military. What did you do there?”
“Not much, followed orders mainly. We worked on helicopters.”
“Awesome. I am in no way mechanically inclined. Can’t see it in my head like some people can. So what do you do now?”
“Me and my business partner David that I met from college, started an app company.”
“I may be the only person in Silicon Valley without a smart phone. I am not even really sure what an app is.”
She pulled out a small flip phone and giggled. He took it from her and looked at it like it was from a museum. He punched in a few numbers and closed it back up, handing it to her.
“I haven’t seen one of those in a while.”
“I know. I hate phones, I wish it was back in the days of pay phones, but that is just me.”
“Not sure I agree, but something is lost on a phone. So what do you do?”
“Take pictures, draw, paint, just whatever moves me at the moment I guess.”
“Sounds like a good job.”
“Jobs are over-rated and so is money.”
There was a silence in between them. Dyson had never met someone like her before and he was a bit shocked that she didn’t know who he was. He had a recent story done on him about his bachelorhood, as well as the huge merger and sale that made him a billionaire. The man shook his head and wondered where a girl like that came from. She wasn’t too old, early twenties, but she reminded him of his younger self, before he got fixated on making money. When he was still moved by life, instead of only the biggest profits that could be made.
“I used to think that.”
“Used to? Is money all it is cracked up to be?”
“Sometimes it can give you experiences that you would not have without it.”
Nikki chuckled, “I bet.”
Nikki laid back and stared up at the stars. She felt more relaxed than she should have, but he still affected her in different ways. When he lied down next to her, she turned her head and their eyes met. Hers were glistening and happy, his were filled with a darker desire. She swallowed hard and stared back at him. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at her with his flashing emerald eyes.
Her own hazel ones were turning green as he looked at her. She bit the bottom of her lip, wanting him to kiss her in that perfect moment and when he did, it was as it should have been. His lips were soft against hers and it surprised her how gentle he was. When he pulled back, it took him a minute to recover. He wanted to kiss her again, but she had sat back up with a blush across her face that he could see even in the moonlight.
“Well that was nice and completely free, so I don’t know about the whole money thing. Come on, you want to get something to eat?”
Nikki realized then that she was completely alone with the man she hardly knew and the way he looked at her, made her heart stop. She was going to get herself in trouble if she was around him like that much more. She waited for him to get up and then he followed her down the steep hillside. Nikki needed to be back in civilization. Dyson was along for anything. He was becoming completely transfixed by the woman so different than the ones he usually met. The ones that knew about his money and he would have to question their real desire with him.
His musing was getting the best of him and he watched her start to walk faster as she picked up momentum down the hill. When she got to the bottom, she smiled up at him so bright that his heart skipped a beat. There he was in a suit that cost more than her car undoubtedly, covered in grass and dirt, running down a hill like he was a kid. Dyson hadn’t felt that good in a long time. He too, could not keep the smile from his face.
“You are very unusual Nikki.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I just have never met anyone like you.”
“I hope not. So what are you hungry for?”
Her question was innocent, but the implications to him were far different. His face moved towards her again, but she side-stepped him.
“I was thinking Chinese.”
She pulled him along with a light touch on his hand. To Nikki, the impromptu date was going well, though the man seemed to be having trouble. She knew what they all wanted and Nikki had learned ways to sidetrack men, which usually involved talking and activities. If she could keep him from getting too close and giving her that look, she would make it through.
They went into the Chinese place that she was at more than she was in her own small kitchen. She sat in the corner booth where she always did and Lena brought them water and her some wine. Dyson didn’t want anything else to drink and he had Nikki order him some food.
“Bring him what I get Lena.”
Nikki talked to him about his business and more about his partner David. By the end of the meal, she knew more about him than most people in his life did. He was not used to that part of a relationship. Dyson actually had more dates that he had never talked to, than those that he had. It was a different feeling to deny his basic needs for mental stimulation. It was too early when they parted ways, but he could still feel the heat on his lips from the barely-there kiss he was allowed, as he walked away.
“Call me Nikki. I am in your phone.”