The Billionaire’s Big Bold Woman: A Single Father Instalove Romance (The Billionaires’ Club)

‘Damn, princess,’ Mac says, looking me up and down as soon as I open the door to my hotel room for him. My stomach flutters at the look in his eye. It’s dark and wicked, exactly like it was last night after the girls went to bed.

‘Damn yourself,’ I murmur, returning his slow perusal with one of my own. He’s sexy as hell in his black suit and black polka dot tie. I never realized before meeting him just how hot a suit could look on a man. But he wears his like a freaking Gucci model. He’s dashing and a little bit devilish at the same time. It makes me glad I took extra time getting ready for this date.

 My dress is a gorgeous 1950’s inspired red and black polka dot pencil dress with cap sleeves. It fits tight all the way to midthigh. It accentuates my curves without being too sexy. I wasn’t sure where we were going tonight, so I thought it was the best option. I pinned my hair into a roll at the nape of my neck with a big curl in the front. It took forever, but it was worth it to see the look on his face.

He stares at me for a long minute, almost as if he’s trying to convince himself that he wants to leave my room, and then shakes his head and holds out his arm.

‘If we don’t leave now, we’re not going to leave at all,’ he says.

‘Is that a bad thing?’ I ask, smiling because I was right. He was trying to convince himself that we have to leave.

He smirks, pulling me into his arms. ‘I’m more than happy to mess up that pretty lipstick here and now, princess. But I’d like to feed you before I get you in my bed since you won’t be leaving it until morning.’

‘Oh?’ I arch a brow at him. ‘We’re doing sleepovers now?’

‘Nah, baby girl,’ he says, nuzzling my neck. His lips slide down the side of my throat. ‘There won’t be any sleeping involved. I plan to be in you until the sun comes up and you’re pleading for mercy. If you’re a good girl, I might take it easy on you then.’

Oh, wow. It is possible to have a mini orgasm without him even touching any of my fun parts. The way I respond to this man is insane. It’s like my body is a livewire shooting off sparks when he’s near me. His scent, his touch, the way he looks at me, and that wicked, deep growl all work like an aphrodisiac on my system, turning me into a little puddle at his feet.

‘Um, do I need a bag?’ I ask, not telling him no. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than in his bed with him all over me. It beats the hotel any day. Leaving him last night was so hard. We kissed and cuddled and talked until nearly midnight. I don’t think he wanted me to go any more than I wanted to go, but we’re trying not to traumatize the girls. Neither of us wants to hurt them.

But I’m so in love with this man and his twins. Leaving to go back to Nashville tomorrow is going to break my heart. It’s only a couple hours away, but it feels like a million miles. I don’t have a choice though. He has the girls to think about. I have an apartment and a job.

I have to finish my profile on Ian and get it turned in. I interviewed him over the phone earlier today. Intruding when Holly was just released from the hospital this morning seemed wrong, but he insisted on keeping his promise, which was really sweet 

I like him. He’s charming like Mac, and funny. He’s head over heels in love with his wife and Finn, which is adorable. He talked about them so much today. He seemed a little surprised when I didn’t ask him anything about Marion. I think he expected me to try even though he set the ground rules. I didn’t need to ask about her. She has no place in his life anymore, just like she has no place in Mac’s.

She’s hurt him enough already. Hearing what she put him through broke my heart last night. Knowing he feels like he failed the twins broke a little piece of my soul. He didn’t fail them. He did the best he could to protect them. I don’t even know her, but I know she would have followed through on her threats to keep them from him.

Losing them would have destroyed him. They are the center of his world, and he’s the center of theirs. They idolize their daddy. I think we’re in complete agreement on that front because I idolize him a little bit too. This bossy, filthy man is one of the best I’ve ever met.

I can understand why Marion was so hurt that he wasn’t in love with her. To be loved by this man? There’s not a lot I wouldn’t give to know what that feels like. But I’m not Marion. I’m not spiteful or spoiled. I’m not selfish.

If he never learns to love me back, I’d still be grateful that I met him. I’d still thank God for giving me even a tiny piece of him. I’d still love him. And that’s how I know Marion didn’t love him.

You don’t destroy the people you love. And I do love him. I think falling for him was inevitable. It’s fast and intense and so amazing. I was a little worried that I was crazy for feeling so much so soon. I was worried we were moving too fast.

But after spending the day with Jason and Miranda today, I realized that love doesn’t work on a schedule or a timetable. It certainly didn’t for them. They were married within weeks. It’s been three years and they’re still blissfully happy.

‘Yeah, princess,’ Mac says, placing a kiss against my throat. ‘Bring your bags.’

‘Are you sure?’ I ask. Okay, so maybe I’m still a little worried that we’re crazy. But not because I don’t want this. I just don’t want to hurt Isla and Bella. They’ve been through so damn much already. Marion hurt them deeply. I can’t even fathom being jealous of Mac’s relationship with his girls. If they accept me in their lives, I’m going to spend the rest of mine giving them so much love.

I’ll love them enough for me and her since she’s incapable of doing it. They deserve that. They deserve to know that they’re loved and wanted and that nothing they did caused Marion to be the way she is. God, they were just babies when she went to prison, just three. It’s heartbreaking to see how much damage she did.

‘Positive, Jenna.’ Mac pulls back to look at me. ‘The girls are with Marion’s mom until morning. I want you in my bed where you belong. Maybe then I’ll be able to fucking sleep. I didn’t sleep at all last night. As soon as you left, I regretted letting you go.’

‘Me too,’ I whisper, tipping my head forward to rest it against his chest. My heart feels like it’s in a vise, being squeezed from all sides. ‘What are we going to do, Mac?’

‘Go to dinner,’ he says. ‘And then I’m going to take you home and make love to you. Tomorrow, we’re going to have breakfast with the girls. And after that, we’ll figure it out.’ He crooks a finger beneath my chin, tilting my head up until I’m looking at him. ‘You’re afraid.’

‘I’m…’ I nod, unwilling to lie to him. ‘I’m so fucking scared I’m going to mess this up and hurt the twins,’ I whisper. ‘I already love you…your girls so much.’

‘That’s not what you were going to say.’

‘Hmm? What?’ I play dumb even though I know darn well what he means, what I almost said. My heart beats unnaturally loud as his handsome face falls into an intense scowl.

‘That’s not what you were going to say, Jenna.’

‘Sure it was. I love your girls. Love, love, love them.’ I twist out of his arms. ‘I’ll just get my bag and we can go. Wouldn’t want to be late.’

I don’t even make it two steps across the room before he’s on top of me and I’m pressed up against the wall, my cheek to the wallpaper. He pins me in place with his body. His warm breath touches my ear and I moan, unable to stop the desperate, needy sound.

‘You’re lying to me,’ he growls in my ear.

‘Mac.’

‘You were going to say you love me, weren’t you?’

I sob his name instead of answering. I can’t answer. He has his hands on my body, his erection digging into my back, and all I can think about suddenly is how good he looked when he was coming in my mouth last night, and how badly I want him there again right now.

My whole body is burning up for him. I’ve never been a meek person. I’ve never considered myself to be submissive. And yet I like the fact that I’m pinned beneath him and at his mercy. I like that I have no control here.

And God help me, I really like it when he shoves his hand between my body and the wall, yanking my dress up. He growls his impatience when he has to work it slowly up my thighs. He makes me pay for it with his teeth in my skin and his voice in my ear.

‘This dress is beautiful on you, princess. But it’s standing between me and what belongs to me,’ he growls.

‘Then d-do something about it.’

He smacks my ass hard enough to make it sting, and then soothes it with a brush of his palm. Cool air brushes against my inner thighs like a kiss. A second later, his hand is there, sliding along the seam of my panties. There isn’t much to them. They’re sheer, barely even anything. But I didn’t want lines ruining the dress.

The thin fabric tears like paper in his grip. A single twist of his wrist and they’re gone, no longer separating him from what he wants. I sob his name when he shoves his knee between my thighs, wrenching them open for him. And again when he touches his thumb to my clit.

‘Lie to me now, Jenna,’ he growls, playing with me like he knows exactly how to touch me to drive me wild. How he learned my body so fast, I don’t know. But I’m putty in his hands, unable to support my own weight because my legs are trembling so hard.

‘Mac,’ I sob…beg, plead. I don’t even know if the door is shut or if anyone walking by can see what he’s doing to me. Part of me loves not knowing, loves the thought of being caught like this.

God help me, but this man is turning me into a wanton, gluttonous little princess.

‘Tell me you weren’t going to say you love me, Jenna,’ he growls, nipping my ear. ‘Tell me you aren’t in love with me and my girls.’

I can’t tell him that. I don’t want to tell him that. With his hands on my body and that mouth wreaking havoc on my senses, I don’t want to lie to him. I want him to know that I’ve fallen head over heels for him, just like I did for his girls.

‘I’m in love with you,’ I cry, giving him the truth. ‘You made me fall for you!’

He goes completely still as soon as I say the words. He doesn’t even breathe. For a long minute, he’s frozen in place, frozen in time. And then his heart thumps so hard I feel it against my back.

‘Jenna,’ he breathes in my ear. ‘My queen.’

It’s the last thing he says. Before I can even process the reverence in his voice and the sweetness in his kiss against my neck, he roars wordlessly. And then he’s all over me.

I tempted a billionaire and woke a beast. And he’s not just hungry. He’s starving. For me.

Gulp.

He drops to his knees behind me, groaning his desire. His need. His lips brush my right cheek as he drags my hips backward, moving me exactly where he wants me. I claw at the wall, caught between the desire to beg him to make me come and the instinct to cover myself, to hide this part of me from his searing gaze.

‘Jesus Christ,’ he breathes.

Heaven is real. I find it with his hands on my body, my cheek to the wall, and his face buried in me from behind. He holds me open to him, snarling and growling while he feasts on me. His lips and tongue are everywhere…circling my clit, thrusting into my center, touching every sensitive fold.

I hang onto the wall for dear life, sobbing so loud it hurts my throat. Begging so hard it’s just a string of senseless gibberish. Yes and please and oh, God, Mac comes out all twisted up and tangled like metal in a car wreck. Only it’s not ugly or frightening. It’s…beautiful. Its own symphony, composed entirely of pleasure.

I come so hard my legs give out. They just cease to function. So does the rest of me. As the first waves crash over me, I stop breathing. My heart stops beating. All I see, all I feel, all I hear is him. Everywhere.

When I come back to myself, I’m on his lap, his arms around me. He pulled my dress back down, covering me up. The door is closed, thank God.

‘Did you mean it?’ he asks.

Did I mean it? I’ve never meant anything more.

‘I meant it,’ I whisper, grimacing when my throat aches.

Mac notices. Those intense ocean eyes tangle with mine. ‘You screamed my name.’

‘Oh.’

‘You sound good moaning my name, princess,’ he says. ‘You sound even better screaming it.’

Good lord. He’s wicked.

He smiles, lifting his hand to chase the blush climbing up my cheeks. ‘You’ve had my dick down your throat and my tongue buried in your cunt, but knowing you screamed my name makes you blush.’

I roll my eyes at him. Sometimes, he’s larger than life to me, too incredible to be real. And then there are these moments, when he reminds me all over again that he’s just a man after all. I love it far more than I should.

‘Are you ready to go to dinner now?’

My stomach growls, answering for me.

He chuckles and brushes his lips across mine before lifting me to my feet. Once I’m steady, he rises to his, pulling me back into his arms to kiss me.

‘We’re keeping you, Princess Jenna,’ he whispers against my lips.

‘Okay,’ I whisper back. 

He kisses me again and then reluctantly lets me go. I glance around for my panties, frowning when I don’t find them.

‘Did you steal my panties?’

‘You mean my panties?’ He smirks at me like a proud little boy.

‘Keep them.’ I shrug. ‘I like this dress better without them anyway.’

His smirk slips.

I walk away before he can get his hands on me again or demand I find another pair. I have a feeling they’d meet the same fate. He tore the first pair and then stole them. He can suffer through the night, thinking about the fact that I’m not wearing any.

Most of my stuff is already packed up and ready to go. I fix my lipstick and hair since he messed up both and then toss the few remaining odds and ends into my bag. He watches me from across the room, tracking my every move like a panther.

My stomach flutters and twists like a whole flock of butterflies are dancing ballet in there. He didn’t say he loves me, but I see it deep in those ocean eyes, lurking like a riptide. He’ll say it when he’s ready, and I’m not going to rush him. I’m just going to enjoy every moment and soak up every second.

‘I’m ready,’ I say once I’m sure I’ve got everything. 

He pushes away from the wall and prowls toward me, taking my bag. ‘Come on, princess. I have something to show you.’

‘Yeah? How big is it?’ I ask, unable to resist teasing him a little bit.

‘You know damn well how big it is, baby girl,’ he says, cocking a brow at me. ‘Don’t make me put it down that pretty throat again to remind you.’

Oh, jeez.

I stumble a little, which makes him grin. The bossy, sexy bastard.

‘That’s funny,’ I sass, sashaying past him. ‘I don’t remember it being down my throat in the first place.’

He growls my name, making me laugh.

Yeah, I can wait for him to say it back. Just, please baby Jesus, not too long.

‘This place is so amazing,’ I whisper, staring around me in awe. We’re at the aquarium, which is right on the river. Fish of all shapes and sizes swim through blue-green water on each side and above us. It feels like we’re in a different world, one of our very own. In a way, I guess we are. Aside from a staff member, we’re the only two here. He rented the entire place just for dinner.

I’m a little relieved he didn’t order us fish. It feels cruel to eat their friends in front of them. Instead, we had the best steak I’ve ever eaten and steamed veggies. I had a glass of wine. He drank water, saying he didn’t want to take any risks with me. I think I fell a little harder for him when he said it. He’s so good to me.

‘The girls love it here,’ he murmurs, placing little kisses all over the side of my neck. Our chairs were on opposite sides of the small table, but he didn’t seem to like that much. His gorgeous ass barely even touched the seat before he was up and moving his chair to my side of the little table. We cuddled all the way through dinner.

He fed me bites of steak and told me all about the project he’s working on with Justice Foster and Jax Archer. Like Mac, they’re both billionaires. I don’t know either of them, but I’ve heard of both of them. My paper actually did a story on Jax when he inherited his estranged father’s hospitality company. Justice Foster isn’t from here, but he has several business ventures here. He owns some of the bigger cattle ranches Mac’s company helped build.

The three of them are building a retreat for rich men who want to play at being outdoorsmen. Working on a ranch and hunting and trooping through the woods doesn’t sound like a good time to me, but then again, I’m not rich or a man, so what do I know? The place hasn’t even opened yet and they’re already booked up.

I’m so proud of Mac. Most people would have crumbled after what Marion put him through, but he didn’t. He kept working, kept building his company. He turned his millions into billions. If karma is real, I think this is what it looks like in action. Had Marion just been patient, she would have had the title she wanted so desperately. Instead, she’s in prison and Mac gets to enjoy the fruits of his labor without her dark cloud hanging overhead. He did things his own way in his own time, and it paid off for him.

Is it mean of me to hope that stings a little when she thinks about it? Probably so, but I feel so protective of Mac and the girls. Actions have consequences. Let Marion live with hers. Maybe it’ll teach her that the life she had with Mac wasn’t so bad after all. He might not have been in love with her, but he gave her everything she could have ever wanted. He gave her two amazing little girls.

‘We come here at least once a month, just so they can see the animals,’ he says, smiling indulgently. ‘Isla loves the otters. Bella loves the sharks.’ He chuckles quietly. ‘When she was younger, she wanted to be a shark when she grew up.’

‘Aww,’ I say, giggling. ‘She took the speech about being able to be anything to heart, huh?’

He nods, grinning at me. ‘I didn’t tell her any different either. Now, she wants to be a real pirate when she grows up. I dread the day she turns eighteen. She’s going to rule this world or die trying.’

I can see that. She’s so full of life, so eager to jump right in with both feet. Nothing seems to slow her down or stop her for long. She has questions about everything and never stops asking them. All day yesterday, they spilled from her lips in an endless parade. I barely had one answered before she was asking another.

‘What about Isla?’ I ask. ‘What does she want to be when she grows up?’

 ‘An only child.’

‘Mac.’ I swat him on the arm, laughing.

‘I’m just kidding,’ he says, grabbing my hand to kiss my fingers. Gah. He’s so sweet! ‘They argue a lot, but they love each other fiercely. Isla is very protective of her sister. She’s wanted to be an astronaut since she was two.’

‘She’s protective of you too, you know.’

‘She’s my little mama bear.’ He grins again. ‘She’s always been that way. When they were babies, if Bella cried, Isla was always right there trying to comfort her. She’s going to make a hell of a mom someday.’

‘Yeah, she is,’ I agree, smiling. I can just see her with a bunch of babies to spoil.

‘Marion really did a number on her,’ he sighs, deflating a little. ‘Bella has a lot of mixed feelings about Marion, but Isla just flat-out wants nothing to do with her. I don’t know if she’ll ever forgive her.’

‘She might not,’ I murmur, laying my head on his shoulder, trying to comfort him the best way I know how. He slides his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. ‘Marion hurt you, Bella, and her uncle Ian. She loves you guys so fiercely. She may never entirely forgive Marion for that. But give her time, Mac. Things will get better. Your girls will heal, and so will you.’

‘We’ve already started,’ he says. I feel his lips against my ear. ‘You’re helping, baby girl. You made the girls so damn happy yesterday. They were a little jealous that I got you all to myself tonight.’

‘Yeah?’ I smile, my heart growing a little bit bigger. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing them again tomorrow. I miss them so much already.’

‘They miss you too, princess.’

‘I’ll probably cry when I leave tomorrow,’ I warn him. ‘Not being able to see you guys for an entire week is going to suck.’

 ‘Maybe I should have let the girls kidnap you yesterday,’ he mutters, scowling like he hates the thought too. ‘Then you couldn’t leave.’

‘I have a job and an apartment,’ I remind him, though neither sounds very appealing right now. My boss is a dick who should have been fired long ago. He’s always making life miserable for the women who work at the paper, especially my best friend, Stella. Aside from her and my mom, there’s nothing in Nashville I can’t live without. But we have to do this right. Which means I have to go home tomorrow and pretend that I’m not leaving my whole heart behind when I go.

‘If that’s supposed to convince me to let you go, it’s not working,’ he mutters.

‘I know.’

He nuzzles my neck for a minute and then curses and pulls away. Before I can ask what’s wrong, he’s on his feet, holding his hand out to me. His eyes blaze with heat. ‘Come on, princess,’ he says. ‘If I have to let you go tomorrow, I don’t want to waste another second. I need you.’

I take his hand, willingly letting him pull me to my feet and into his arms. There’s no where else I’d rather be.