Page 15 of Her Billionaire Boss
“Because I was exactly where you are now.I pretended I was in some equitable friends-with-benefits relationship with an older, wealthy man, when I was bonkers in love with him.”She shrugged.“You’ve moved in with him.That’s when things get scary, and you want to bolt at every little thing.”
“What the fu—”
“I told you.I was where you are.”She laughed.“Don’t look so freaked out.I’m here to help.I could have used some, myself.”
This was too weird.
“Hit me with your questions.I live to help,” Sophie said, patting the tabletop.
“What do you do all day?”It blurted out way too loud; people at the next table looked over at us.
Sophie didn’t even seem to notice them.I wouldn’t have known that she had if not for her saying, “There’s another tip.If something draws attention to you, pretend it didn’t.And then people pay more attention to you.”
“And you like attention?”I asked, as if I hadn’t seen her strapped down as a prize in a sex casino.
“I do.”She sighed happily.“At least, low stakes attention.It’s fun to be the mysterious person nobody knows about.Because—and I’m sure you’ve noticed—I’m an open book if you talk to me for more than fifteen seconds.”
I watched in fascination as her prediction came true: the man at the next table couldn’t stop himself from looking at us, visibly trying to puzzle out our conversation or who we were.
“I thought people in New York didn’t notice each other,” I whispered, shielding my mouth from his potential lip reading.
“They usually don’t.But look at us.Two gorgeous women in designer clothes, looking stunning together.People mind their business, but they still have eyes.”She leaned in with her elbows on the table.“As for what I do all day…nothing.”
That sounded like paradise.Boring paradise.
“I still haven’t figured out what I want to do when I grow up,” she went on.“I thought I wanted to work for a fashion magazine, then I wanted to write books, which I still do, but nothing I try seems to fit perfectly.So, I write my books, which is like pulling my teeth out for two hours a day, then I lay by the pool or sit on my ass watching true crime shows.Oh, and have ridiculous sex with my husbands.”
I supposed there was no reason, other than our potential eavesdropper, to avoid that subject.We both knew exactly where we’d met and what we’d been doing there.“Are you a part of any kink clubs?”
“Black Orchid,” she replied without hesitation.“El-Mudad had a membership, but for a long time, he wasn’t using it.He’s only now getting back into the idea of swinging and sharing.He had a bad experience.”
For someone dipping a toe back into the lifestyle, Ascend Red was an intense jumping off point.
Then again, it had been for me, as well.
“I was thinking of something I could do here in the city.So I’m not sitting around, like you were saying.And Matt offered me a consulting job for a project I came up with.”When I said it out loud, it sounded sleazy.My billionaire boyfriend wanted to give me a position in his company that lots of people would probably kill to have.I had literally fucked my way to the top.
I expected Sophie to voice some ethical objection, so it took me by complete surprise when she nodded slowly with an impressed grimace.“Banging the boss.Not a bad move.What’s the project?”
“I expected you to say something else,” I admitted.
“Another tip?Learn to accept some things as how the world works.Sometimes, things aren’t fair.Or ethical.My husband bought me a magazine that I ran until I got bored with it.A magazine.It was a toy to me.I’m not going to judge you for doing something that may or may not be frivolous.What’s your idea?”
I took a deep breath.“A kink club.Here in Manhattan.”
I said it too loudly; the man listening in jerked his knee into his table, clattering the silverware.
“An exclusive, extremely upscale kink club and hotel.Super discrete, invitation only.Like Ascend Red.”In case the dude eavesdropping was an FBI agent or something, I added, “Obviously, no sex with the staff.That’s illegal here.What do you think?”
“I think you’d have a waiting list ten years long,” she said.“And I think you’d have a least one investor.”
Was she offering to become an investor in the kink club I hadn’t even accepted the consulting job for?Did that somehow force my hand?
It felt like it did.
“Are you serious?”I asked, hoping she meant what I thought.Otherwise, I was about to seem presumptuous.“Are you saying that you want to invest?”
“Yeah, sure.Why not?I don’t know how it works.Let’s say I’ll do like… forty percent?”She waved her hand.“I have lawyers.They can figure out how to get it done.”
