One Night with the Billionaire (A BWWM Romance) Read online

  One Night with the Billionaire

  Published By Tiana Cole, 2016

  ©2016 Tiana Cole

  All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination.

  Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Epilogue

  The Accidental Bride

  Also from Tiana Cole:

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  The beat of the club pulsated all around, vibrating glasses on tables and making conversation impossible. Bodies shook, voluntarily and against their will, as the hypnotic beat played endlessly. One song to the next sounded the same with a few variations. It was all familiar to Ebony since she spent six nights a week inside these four walls trying to pay her bills. Correction, to barely pay her bills. The tips were nice for the waitresses at Club Escape, but everyone knew the girls on the stage made the real cash. Ebony wasn’t interested in dancing on stage; it was bad enough she had to wear leather hot pants and a bustier as her work uniform, it would be worse to take it all off for guys she’d grown up with.

  I shouldn’t complain, she reminded herself as she sauntered between the tables, swinging her hips seductively to increase her tips. She knew there were girls out on the streets outside the club selling more than a good view to make ends meet. Compared to them, she had it good. She had it alright.

  Even though Club Escape was in a bad neighborhood, one overrun by gangs, it was a decent place to work. Most of the regulars were nice older guys who came in to enjoy a drink and look at pretty young girls for a few hours after work. They were harmless and they weren’t looking to do more than look at scantily clad girls gyrating to a hip hop beat. Those guys always offered her a smile and a kind word, making her work feel just a little less demeaning. “Hey, Roger, looking good. Hot date tonight?”

  Roger put out his cigarette and straightened his deep purple tie with a smile. “Yep. My old lady plans to take advantage of me getting all riled up from looking at you young girls jiggle around.” He laughed and she swatted his arm playfully.

  “Another Remy?”

  He nodded and she took the drink orders from the rest of the table, sidestepping a few grabby hands as she went.

  “Thanks sugar,” Roger told her, and winked as she walked off.

  If only every customer in the club was like Roger, her job would be much easier. As it stood now she had to leave the apartment she shared with her mother an hour earlier than normal so she could get dressed and dolled up in the tiny dressing room reserved for the dancers. If she dared wear her skimpy outfit out on the streets in her neighborhood, she’d be borrowing more trouble than she could handle. So she came to work early, sexified herself for her shift and removed it all before she set foot outside Escape.

  Sure there were plenty of guys out there willing to help her out of a jam, but their help came at too high a price. With all the bills she had stacking up, she couldn’t afford to add that kind of debt to her tab. “Here you go guys.” She set the drinks in front of each man, giving them a friendly smile as they stuffed tips inside her bustier. “Thanks, boys.” She winked and moved on to the next table.

  “Hey, baby, looking fine as hell tonight. Why don’t you come sit on my lap?”

  She stiffened at Lexington’s touch and steeled herself for his nightly attempt. Lex Michaels was a hardcore gangbanger and that was not something she was interested in. Not now. Not ever. For the past two years he’d been trying to get in her panties, growing more persistent with every rejection. “Lexington,” she said coolly.

  He smiled wide and licked his lips in what she supposed was meant to be a sexy manner, but came off as a guy with chapped lips. “You should be nicer to me, Ebony. One of these days you’ll need my help. Eventually everyone does.” That was because Lex fulfilled another role in the neighborhood—loan shark. He offered as little as fifty bucks to those in need, only requesting triple that in return. Attractive females could pay him back in flesh.

  “That’s doubtful. Can I get you anything to drink?” It was best not to indulge Lexington in any type of conversation. He would take the smallest amount of friendship or kindness and twist it into something more.

  “We’ll take a bottle of Remy. The XO if you’ve got it.” He reached for her as she turned away.

  “Let me go,” she growled. His touch disgusted her; she knew he was all kindness now because he wanted her. But she’d seen the shape his last two women ended up in—busted lips, black eyes and a few broken ribs—and she was in no hurry to join their ranks. No matter how much of his ill gotten money he flung around, she would never be his.

  “Oh, someone’s feelin’ feisty tonight.” He laughed, his rough-looking crew joining in. “Just remember, Ebony, if you come to me now, I’ll be real nice.”

  She heard the unspoken threat but she was unmoved. “No, thanks. I’ll be back with your drinks.” Hurrying away, she took a moment for herself in the office behind the bar. Lex was bad news and she wanted nothing to do with him. She’d spent the last two years paying down her bills from her two years of community college, as well as her mom’s credit card debt. In another year she might be back to zero. If she survived Club Escape.

  ~

  David watched Ebony as she moved around the club, her movements graceful and efficient. He’d been transfixed by her for weeks and only came back to Club Escape for her. She was beautiful in a way few women in this part of town were, with her high cheek bones and pouty upper lip, her smooth butterscotch skin was flawless. Instead of marring her skin with tattoos, she kept it luminescent with shimmery powders that made every man in the building want to lean in close. Golden brown eyes smiled as she greeted the regulars, who leered at her in her skimpy outfit. He was more interested in her long silky legs, preferably wrapped around his waist while he thrust into her, and those luscious cocoa breasts spilling over the corset she wore. His dick was hard just thinking about her.

  But it wasn’t just her body, even though that was fantastic. It was the way she carried herself. She was all light and sunshine, lightening up the cesspool of this poor downtrodden area. It was clear to David she would rather be anywhere but slinging booze at the club, but she had a smile for everyone.

  Except the sleazy guy he’d pegged weeks ago as a gangster. The guy constantly hit on her and every time she turned him down. He hid it well, but David could see his anger rising. He was a man unused to being rejected, but he only had one way to deal with it. Violence.

  So he kept an eye on his girl. Because that was how he’d begun to think of her. She’d just finished up with the gangster when he cau
ght her eye. “Hello.”

  She paused and turned in his direction. A smile crossed her face as she drank in his features. “Hi. What can I get you?”

  David held a hundred dollar bill between two fingers. “Stimulating conversation. To start.”

  She was wary of him, but her need for money outweighed all other concerns. It was what he loved and hated about this part of town. Ebony slid into the seat across from him with the fake smile she gave only to customers. “Sure. What would you like to talk about?”

  “Nothing. Anything. You.”

  She shrugged, completely unconscious of the way her breasts rose and fell with that simple movement. “I’m not all that interesting. What about you, what’s your name?”

  “David.”

  “I’m Ebony.”

  “I know.” David knew he was making a horrible impression, but with money like his, it didn’t really matter. “Why is such a beautiful woman working at a place like this?”

  “Decent tips to pay off some bills, close enough to home. It’s temporary."

  That brought a smile to his face. Her beauty would be wasted by a lifetime in a place like Club Escape. He hoped she never looked like some of the other waitresses and dancers who were her age but looked a decade or more older. “What’s next?”

  “When I’m debt free I plan to go deeper into debt to finish my degree.” She sighed, thinking about how far off that dream was. “Now it’s your turn, David. You’re not from around here.”

  It wasn’t a question. “I’m not. But I fit in here.”

  “Are you a gangbanger or a wannabe?”

  That pulled a laugh from him. “Not even a little bit. But there’s something here that’s real.”

  “And in your real life you’re surrounded by people who kiss your ass?”

  David was impressed. “Is it that obvious?”

  She shook her head. “Not really, but your clothes aren’t just expensive, they’re quality, and you have an air about you, confidence or authority. It emanates and people take notice.”

  “What did you notice?” He waited for her to mention his Rolex or the diamonds in his cufflinks.

  “Your eyes. They’re a swirl of green and gold, like a marble almost. Hard to forget.”

  “And?”

  Her smile was shy this time. “You don’t look like the other white guys who frequent this place.”

  His blond eyebrows almost disappeared behind his shag of hair. “That’s it?”

  “That’s it. Was there something else?”

  “My wealth.”

  She shrugged. “That’s your money, not mine. It has nothing to do with me.”

  David sat up straighter in the small booth and leaned in. “It could be yours.”

  She frowned. “Are you offering me a job?”

  “Of sorts,” he said cryptically. “I like you, Ebony.”

  Her laugh was bitter and cold. “I doubt that. Why don’t you tell me what you’re really after here?”

  David gave her his most charming smile. “I like you. I think you’re beautiful and I think,” his hand circled her wrists so he could feel the affect he was having on her, “we should go some place a little more private.”

  Ebony yanked free of his grasp and stood. “Listen, David, there are plenty of girls here more than happy to play that game with you. I’m not one of them. Good night.”

  Now he was intrigued, and women so rarely intrigued him. “But, Ebony, I can make it worth your while. Extremely so.”

  Fire blazed in her burnt honey eyes. “I am not for sale!”

  He chuckled low and deep. “Allow me to test that theory with a game.” Pretty much everyone had a price, a cynical thought he knew was a stone cold fact, and he knew just enough about Ebony to know she too had hers too.

  “No, thank you. It was nice talking to you, David, but I need to check on my section.” She stared at him for a long moment, disappointment and disgust shining bright in her eyes. “Goodbye.”

  “Ten thousand dollars.” For most women that was enough to get them in the mood. But not Ebony. She walked away without another word and David smiled, found himself looking forward to her next circuit. “Fifty thousand dollars.”

  This time she paused and glared at him over her shoulder. But she kept walking, bringing another smile to his face. He liked a woman with moxie.

  “Two hundred thousand,” he said when she set his third drink down.

  “No, thank you.” He wasn’t fooled at all by the sweet smile she wore. The woman was mad enough to fight, she practically steamed she was so angry. But David Henderson was not a man who backed down.

  “Five hundred thousand dollars.”

  Ebony froze and turned back to him. “Just because you have a ton of money doesn’t give you the right to be an asshole. I am not a whore and I am not interested!”

  David was surprised to see she was genuinely offended by his offer. “I didn’t mean to offend you, Ebony, but we are all whores to one degree or another. You work this shit job with your lingerie uniform to pay the bills, I work eighty-hour weeks and deal with over privileged assholes for the money I make. We do what we must.”

  “At least you are among your people,” she shot at him, biting back a smile.

  “Ouch,” he said, not bothering to hide his own amusement. “Then please accept this tip.” He slid ten one hundred dollar bills across the table and folded them into her hand. “Think about my offer, but keep this no matter what you decide.” David stood and kissed her cheek. “Please say yes.”

  ~

  Ebony couldn’t think about anything other than David’s offer the rest of her shift. A half million dollars was a life changing amount of money for her and her mama. It would allow them to pay off all their debts and sock away a tidy sum for a rainy day. For the past twenty-three years of Ebony’s life, it had always been raining. That kind of money meant she could move out of the shitty neighborhood she’d grown up in where it wasn’t safe to be outside after dark. She could buy a small house for her and her mama, far away from the red and blue lights, sirens and gunshots.

  But she had a feeling the price she would have to pay for one night with a handsome man like David would be too steep. He was a skilled seducer and no doubt, a master lover. One night with him would likely ruin her for all other men, and then where would she be? Somewhat wealthy and alone aside from mama, that’s where.

  Wherever she went in the club David’s gaze was on her. She didn’t see him but she felt him, those wild green and gold eyes touched her body like a lover’s caress making her nipples pucker and her pussy clench with need. Those feelings presented another problem. She wanted to sleep with David, have a man like him look at her as a beautiful and intelligent woman. Not a hole to be rented for an evening. Why couldn’t he have just asked her on a date? Because guys like him don’t go for black girls from the hood. She knew it was true the moment the thought struck and it pissed her off.

  As her shift drew to a close it was all she could think about. The money and the difference it would make in her life.

  “Ebony, baby. How about we go in the bathroom and you take care of me?” Lex looked from her to the bulge in his pants and back to her again.

  “Sorry, but I’m not interested.”

  His expression changed, morphed into something ugly. “Bitch, you think you’re too good for me? I will have you, Ebony. Sooner or later you will be my bitch.”

  She shuddered at his words, knowing he thought it was true. Arguing with him was dangerous because rumor had it that Lexington was dipping into his own product. “I don’t think that, I’m just not interested.”

  “If you were my bitch, you wouldn’t have to work here.”

  True. “I’m not in the market for being anyone’s bitch.” Before she could blink again he grabbed her arm tight. “Let me go, Lexington.”

  “Ain’t so tough now, are you, bitch?” He leaned in close enough that she could smell the booze and cigarettes on his breath, see his bl
oodshot eyes. “I could fuck you right now up against this wall and no one would say a thing about it.”

  Ebony spotted LeRoy, the biggest bouncer in the club headed her way, and sagged slightly in relief. “I think a few people might have something to say,” she told him just as LeRoy yanked him back and stuck a fist in his gut.

  “Don’t touch the girls, man. We gonna have a problem?”

  Lex looked LeRoy over, making a snap decision not to press his luck. Since he was out on his own and Escape didn’t allow weapons, he knew the odds weren’t in his favor. “Fine.” He turned an angry glare at Ebony. “This ain’t over, bitch.”

  She knew it. It wouldn’t ever be over with Lexington unless she gave in to him. And even then it would be rough sex, beatings and maybe a round or two with his homies. Shit. She knew what she had to do.

  David.

  He was looking at her. Wherever he was inside the club, his eyes were on her, tracking her. Scanning the dark club, she spotted him in a dark corner where he was practically invisible. She gave him a quick nod towards the door.

  His smile was smug but Ebony knew he’d earned the right to be smug. He was right. Everyone did have a price. And for one night only, hers was half a million dollars.

  Tonight she knew she wouldn’t change her clothes before leaving the club.

  Chapter Two

  Nerves settled in as soon as Ebony slid into the buttery leather seats of his luxury sedan. No matter how much money David proclaimed to have, she knew it was not safe to let him take her anywhere. He could be anyone, take her anywhere, and it would be hours before her mama would miss her. She released a long breath as the car stopped in front of a hotel. A pretty shitty hotel along the lines of Holiday Inn or some other budget place. Not the kind of establishment that screams big money.

  A sinking sensation settled in her stomach. He’d lied to her. This man who she should have known was lying, because who in their right mind would pay anyone half a million dollars for sex? Especially a man as sinfully handsome and well built as David. None of it made any sense. When he returned to the car, she glared at him, waiting for him to say something. Anything.