Wash Over Me: A Billionaire Second Chance Romance Read online

  “Don’t call the police. I’ll talk with him,” I said.

  “If he ever comes by here again and handles me like that, I’ll—”

  “You’ll what? Have him arrested? Tanner, if you call the cops and they come here, I’ll tell them everything. Everything I know. I’ll throw down the biggest lawsuit on your business for sexual harassment it’ll spin your head and ruin your reputation in Palm Beach. I’ll get all the girls in on it. Because I know I’m not the only one. I’ll let Palm Beach chase you out. How does that sound?” I asked.

  I heard someone pick up on his phone before he dropped it from his ear. He cut the phone call before shoving his cell into his pocket. He peeked over my head before he huffed, and then he shooed me away to go outside.

  Like some kind of fly he had yet to squash.

  I pushed myself through the door as Tanner backtracked, readying myself for my conversation with Gram. It was about time we got things out into the open anyway.

  “Nia, are you all—”

  “You’re going to listen to me,” I said.

  I whipped around, resolving myself to having the conversation I really didn’t want to have.

  “You had the chance to protect me from my father. And you did. Once. And then you left, Gram. You took Vince, and you went off to school, and you didn’t come back until I had graduated. Barely. By the skin of my teeth,” I said.

  “Nia, I tried—”

  “No, you don’t get to defend your actions. You promised me when you left, I would leave with you. I never had any plans to finish high school because I was shit in my classes anyway. You knew that. You tried tutoring me. I never did well in those classes. I never could focus. Gram, I counted down the hours to your graduation. The minutes. The second. I had a fucking calendar on my phone my father finally allowed me to have that told me when I was hiking out of that place with you,” I said.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Because you promised me, over and over again, that when you left? I left. But instead of taking me the day after your graduation, Vince was the one riding shotgun. And you didn’t come back for two years. I barely scraped by in school, and you came back trying to convince me to do what?”

  Gram fell silent as his gaze hardened on me.

  “To do more school! The one damn thing you knew I sucked at more than anything else on this planet!” I exclaimed.

  Tears flooded my eyes as I sighed heavily.

  “You went to New York to start your life, and you bailed on your promise. You didn’t come back for me, Gram. The girl you promised to protect. The girl that loved you.”

  “You loved me?” he asked.

  “Of course I did, you idiot! Are you insane? I would have done anything for you! You were my rock. My protector. My escort. My dream. My life was supposed to parallel yours in every way. And instead, you took Vince. I watched you drive away with him. You came back and tried to convince me that school was the right path for me. Not once did you ever give a thought to the fact that my path was to be blazed at your side. Like it had always been. From the time we were children, Gram.”

  I sighed as I stumbled back into the glass doors of the shop, wiping at my tears before they fell.

  “You left me with my father. You left me with no one to protect me. And when you did manage to spare me a thought and come back, all you did was throw more shit on my plate. College applications and helping me with essays and all this fucking stuff that didn’t matter. And it—”

  I closed my eyes and leaned the back of my head against the door.

  “It broke me, Gram. When I turned down college, you left the very next morning. You didn’t take me with you. You didn’t help me get away from my father. You left again. You left me with him again. You went back on your promise a second time, and you broke my heart,” I choked out.

  I opened my eyes and found Gram gawking at me. I didn’t know why the fuck he’d come to the shop, but I knew it wasn’t for that.

  “Nia, I’m—”

  “Leave,” I said.

  I watched darkness flash behind his eyes.

  “I’m not leaving you with that man,” he said.

  “I don’t need your protection. I learned how to defend myself just fine in the last two years of my high school career,” I said.

  I watched him wince at my words. Like I had slapped him across his face.

  “I don’t need your protection, and I sure as hell don’t need you around tearing my heart into pieces again. So leave, Gram. Before I let him call the cops,” I said.

  Chapter 17

  Gram

  I packed my bags for the airport. Palm Beach had effectively been ruined for me. I knew there was no way I’d be able to stay there and enjoy my vacation with everything that had happened between me and Nia. I knew Vince would give me an earful when I got back. He’d probably force me to stay at my penthouse and still cash in the weeks of vacation he’d put in for me. Technically, I could go anywhere. I could still book a flight to a tropical climate on some hideaway island. Wallow in my sorrows and drink pineapple rum until I passed out on a beach somewhere.

  Classy, Gram. Just like your mother.

  I shook the urge away. I’d stayed away from alcohol all my life for a reason, and I wasn’t about to start entertaining the idea of it now. I didn’t know where I’d go to finish out my vacation, but I couldn’t leave things the way they were with Nia. I couldn’t let that encounter be the last time we spoke.

  I took my time packing my things. I double-checked the hotel suite before setting everything by the door. I’d come back up for it before I headed for the airport—after I talked with Nia and cleared the air between us so neither of us walked around with anymore guilt or pain or hurt.

  Thinking about how long she’d walked around with that made me fucking sick.

  I sent a text to Al and went to wait for him. And when he pulled up, it was like he knew where I was headed. He didn’t ask me for an address. He didn’t inquire as to where I was going. He simply pulled away from the curb and started driving. I sat there, riding in silence until he pulled up to the curb in front of the bakery Nia lived above.

  And just like every other time I’d ever picked her up in my life, she came walking out as I stepped onto the curb.

  “What do you want now?” she asked.

  I knew she wouldn’t be as welcoming to my presence as she had been before. But hearing her tone of voice drove a knife into my gut.

  “I left right after high school because my mother was slowly killing me.”

  I locked my eyes with Nia, watching as her posture softened.

  “Not literally. Not physically. But mentally? Yeah. I was watching her waste away. I watched her drink all of our money away. I ate out of trash cans other than what you always brought me for lunch until I was eighteen years old, Nia. Eighteen. We were poor. Destitute. And I needed to make that right.”

  “But you told me she was getting better,” Nia said.

  “I know I did. And that was my fault. But I knew what you were struggling with regarding your father. I knew what he was doing to you. Especially after I—”

  I swallowed the anger into my gut and didn’t let it bubble over into my voice.

  “Especially after I pried him off you that morning,” I said.

  “Why didn’t you tell me this?” Nia asked.

  “I was ashamed. Tired. Angry at the pitiful looks I always got from people. But when I came back for you, Nia, when I came back talking about college, you didn’t listen to all I had to say. You got so angry with me. You kept cutting me off at every turn. You yelled at me to leave, and not once did you give me the chance to tell you that I was footing the bill for college.”

  “What?” she asked.

  I sighed. “It killed me when I left. When Vince was at my side and not you. But I told myself when I had enough money, I’d come back to find you. And I’d come back with the proposal of a lifetime. I’d pay for whatever you wanted. College. A plac
e to live. A car. A whole new life. Whatever it was. But you were so angry at the mention of school that I couldn’t get past the first rung of my offer.”

  “You were going to pay for college?”

  “I was going to pay for anything you wanted. Or needed. Or desired. Vince and I built Oden Investment in the first two years of our college careers. We graduated as millionaires, Nia. When you got angry at me and told me to leave, I did as you asked because I figured after you calmed down, I could try again. I could come back in a few weeks and talk with you like we always used to. But when I came back…”

  “I was gone,” she said.

  I nodded slowly. “You were gone, and no one knew where you went. Not a damn soul.”

  I took a step toward her, holding her gaze with mine.

  “I’ve loved you for every damn day I’ve known you. And it haunted me that I never made good on my promise. That I never kept my word to you. That I couldn’t make things right between us. So, I’m not going back home without you knowing the truth this time,” I said.

  “You’re… leaving?” she asked.

  “Doesn’t make much sense to stick around if the one person I want in this city doesn’t want to see me,” I said.

  Nia closed the distance between us. She placed her hands on my chest. Her touch ached. It electrified me and made me remember what I’d miss the most about her. Her warmth. Her comfort. Her delicate nature. I closed my eyes and sighed, feeling her hand come up and cup the back of my neck.

  “You should have been honest with me, Gram,” she whispered.

  Then, she pulled my lips down to hers.

  Chapter 18

  Nia

  I pulled his lips down onto mine and melted into their warmth. The strength of his arms surrounded me. The pull of his scent encompassed me. The comfort of his presence swallowed me whole as his hands fisted my ass. He picked me up and walked me back into the door, up the steps, through the front door, and into my apartment. Our tongues dueled. I sucked on his lower lip as he closed the front door with his foot. I wrapped my legs around his waist and reached out, flipping the lock before I clung to him.

  Before I melded myself with him.

  We collapsed to my couch, and our clothes went flying. I tossed his shirt over the back of the cushions and my shorts somehow ended up slung over my television. Our naked bodies pressed into one another as we tumbled to my carpeted floor, tangling ourselves up.

  I kissed every part of him I could touch as he nibbled my neck.

  He kissed down my chest. His tongue lapped at my breasts. I dug my nails into his back as he traveled farther and farther south. He slipped my thighs over his shoulders. His arms wrapped around my legs. He pulled me close to him, his hot breath teasing my wet pussy folds.

  Then, I felt his tongue fall to my slit.

  “Oh, shit,” I moaned.

  “Mmmm, so good,” Gram groaned.

  His tongue parted my folds, and he found my clit. I arched into him, rocking against his tongue and digging my heels into his back. I felt his muscles undulating for me, rippling and moving underneath his taut skin for nothing more than my pleasure. It brought tears to my eyes. Fire burned my skin as that coil tightened in my stomach.

  And when his tongue sank into my throbbing entrance, I fell over the edge.

  “Gram! Yes! Oh… fuck!”

  He rushed up my body and crashed his lips to mine. I felt his cock fall between my pussy folds as he thrusted, stroking the wet tip of his cock against my swollen nub. I shivered for him and gasped for air. I choked on my own pleasure as I licked my essence off his skin. Our fingers threaded together as he pinned my hands above me. He kissed my lips, my cheeks, my neck, my tits.

  He filled me to the brim with every inch of him as my walls gave way.

  “I love you, Nia. I’ve always loved you.”

  I gasped as he thrusted into me. Once. Twice. Three times, and more. I wrapped my legs around him, locking my ankles and pulling him deeper. He pounded into me, our lips intertwined and our tongues dancing along one another’s. I gazed into his hazel eyes. Sweat dripped from his jet-black hair. I felt my curves pouring into the divots of his muscles as he rocked against me. Protected me.

  Made love to me.

  Our movements grew faster, ragged, rigid. My body tightened and my thighs clenched while his hips stuttered against me. I lost control of my faculties. My eyes rolled back as my hips jittered against his body.

  “Gram—I—it—yes—right—shit!”

  I exploded around him, spraying him with my mark as his cock sheathed itself in my warmth. I felt his arousal painting my walls with thread after thread of come. He buried his face into my neck as I moaned and whimpered out into my small apartment. He released my hands, allowing me to wrap my arms around his neck and hold on to him for dear life.

  “I love you. I love you so much,” I whispered.

  We collapsed to the carpeted floor in nothing but a pile of sweat and sex. Our scent wafted around us as Gram held me close to him. I nestled myself against his chest, slipped my leg between his, and laid my head on the strong pillow of his bicep.

  Then, my eyes met his.

  “Come with me,” Gram said.

  My jaw fell open as he smiled.

  “It’s like we always planned. I love you. You love me. Come with me and let me take care of you,” he said.

  “Gram, I can’t just—I can’t just leave this place. It’s my home now. My place of refuge,” I said.

  His fingertips danced along my lips before he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

  “I’m leaving tomorrow morning on my jet from Palm Beach International. I’m telling my pilot to be ready at ten. The decision is up to you if you want to come, but I’ll be waiting for you,” he said.

  “Gram,” I whispered.

  He pressed his finger against my lips, silencing my words.

  “Ten o’clock tomorrow morning. Palm Beach International. If you don’t show up, I won’t come after you,” he said.

  I grinned. “You know that’s a lie.”

  “Fine. I’ll try not to come after you,” he said.

  Then, he removed his finger and kissed my lips as my mind swirled with what to do about his offer.

  Chapter 19

  Gram

  I stood at the base of the stairs leading up to my jet. I tapped my foot and kept checking my watch. I had five minutes before my arranged takeoff, and I hadn’t seen any sign of Nia. Not that beautiful blonde hair or those bright green eyes. Not those swaying hips or that bright smile. I hadn’t heard her voice call out to me or heard that giggle before she rushed into my arms.

  I was worried she wouldn’t show.

  “Sir, we have to prepare for takeoff,” my pilot said.

  “We’ll leave when I say we leave,” I said.

  “But Mr. Oden. The itinerary.”

  “Change it to fit our needs. I’m going and checking one place,” I said.

  I started back into the airport, weaving my way to the bar. I needed to find a way to buy some time. I needed a way to track Nia down without actually going to her place. I spotted the lobby and went to go sit down. I needed to get off my feet and think this through. I pulled my cell phone out and cursed myself. I really should have given her my fucking number, or at least gotten hers.

  “Look, my flight leaves in five minutes. Do you really have to open every single—hey! Those are tampons!”

  I heard Nia’s voice and my head whipped around. I walked away from the bar, shoving my phone into my pocket.

  “Come on, really? My lotion? I have dry skin!”

  “You are not sifting through my panties, you pervert.”

  “Really? You’re questioning my shampoo now.”

  I turned the corner and found her standing there. She had four separate bags with her, each of them fuller and thicker than the last. I smiled as she argued with a man who was clearly going through her stuff more than he needed to.

  I walked up to the b
oth of them and placed my hand on the small of her back.

  “Whatever you have an issue with, take it. But if I find out you’re holding up this beautiful woman because of her pretty smile, you’ll have me to answer to,” I said, grinning.

  “I’m so sorry, Gram. But he’s digging through everything,” Nia said flatly.

  “What seems to be the problem?” I asked.

  “All of her toiletries are more than what—”

  I held up my hand before I pushed all of her dumped-out toiletries to the security agent.

  “Hey, what’s all that about?” Nia asked.

  “We will get you more toiletries. Better toiletries, once we land. But right now, the two of us have a plane to catch,” I said.

  And when her eyes sparkled with happiness, my heart skipped a beat.

  I helped her get through security before we hauled her stuff to the plane. My staff was more than accommodating, taking her things to stow and ushering us into the cabin. I sat down next to her before we buckled in, and then I took her hand and kissed it.

  “You came,” I said.

  “Of course I came. I’m not an idiot,” Nia said, grinning.

  But when I looked into her beautiful green eyes, I saw a question running around behind her stare.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  She paused. “Did you really mean it?”

  “You’ll have to be more specific.”

  “When you said you loved me. Did you mean it?”

  I brought her hand to my lips to kiss. I traced my lips along every knuckle, giving each of them the attention they deserved. I put her hand against my thigh before I leaned in, capturing her lips in a soft, sensual kiss.

  “I meant those words more than any other words I’ve ever spoken to you. And I will tell you every day we’re together to make sure it sinks in,” I said.

  Epilogue