Alpha Billionaire’s Bride, Part Two (BWWM Romance Serial) (2 page)

To Jada’s astonishment, Mrs. Best batted at Sasha’s arm in a
flirtatious way. “Oh you. Are you hungry? Never mind. I know you are. I’ll have
something ready in a few minutes.” She leaned out to the side, looking past
Sasha to Agatha. Mrs. Best’s geniality instantly morphed into distant
disapproval. “And I suppose
you’ll
want something to eat, as well?”

Agatha was unperturbed by Mrs. Best’s alteration. “Yes, I
would. I’m a little peckish and think a nice—”

“I’ll whip you up something,” Mrs. Best interrupted. And
Jada could have sworn she mumbled under her breath, “peckish,” and rolled her
eyes.

Mrs. Best’s sunny smile returned as she switched her
attention back to Sasha. “I’ll be right back with something yummy for you,
dear.”

Mrs. Best turned to leave and Sasha landed a few playful
swats on the cook’s well-padded behind.

“You’ve already got something yummy there,” Sasha quipped.

Jada half-choked on her wine. Ian sighed. Agatha made a face
ugly enough to crack a mirror.

But Mrs. Best? She giggled like a school girl and shook her
rump all the way to the hall.

“You’ve got to stop trying to steal my staff,” Ian said.
“And it’d be nice if you didn’t sexually harass them, either.”

Sasha shrugged. “I gotta be me.”

“You most certainly do not!” Agatha sent her a chilling
look. “Especially not when ...” she made a tiny motion with her head toward
Elly, who was still serving Jada and Ian, “... not when understaff is around.”

Sasha blew out a loud breath and dropped bonelessly into her
chair. She spoke to Jada in a confidential tone, as if everyone in the entire
room couldn’t hear her. “Agatha is upset because she doesn’t want it getting
around that I’m a lesbian.”

JADA DOWNED THE LAST OF her wine in one gulp. Elly nearly
dropped the plate she was holding, but Ian rescued her by grabbing it out of
her hand in the nick of time. Having already served Jada, Elly snatched up her
tray and rushed from the room.

Agatha’s face turned so red Jada feared the older woman
might pop a vessel in her sinewy neck. “That’s not funny, Sasha! You shouldn’t
joke about that. People might believe you.”

Having finished off Jada’s salad, Sasha gave Jada’s plate of
steaming mussels a covetous look. “I wish they would. Do you believe I’m gay,
Mrs. Buckley? Jada?”

Jada swiveled her head toward Sasha, fast enough to make her
slightly dizzy. Jada squinted and wondered why Sasha was moving around so much.
She should sit still so people could talk to her properly. “Should I believe
it?”

“Yes,” Sasha said.

At the same time, Agatha replied, “No!”

Ian mumbled, “Damn, I forgot to ask for another bottle.” He
went over to a com unit on the wall.

“Then I will,” Jada said. Upon seeing Agatha turn an
alarming shade of burgundy, Jada added, “I mean, I won’t. I don’t believe it.”

“I’ve had the best idea,” Sasha said, clapping her hands.
“This is the perfect time for me to come out. Think about it. We can blame it
all on Ian. Can’t you see how to spin it, Agatha? Poor Sasha, heart broken by
billionaire playboy’s desertion, finds passionate cure in the arms of ... wait
for it ...” she waved her slim hand in the air as if revealing a marquee “...
in the arms of another woman. Gasp! I’ll give lots of interviews about how I
can’t trust men anymore and how I only feel safe with women, blah blah blah.”

Jada thought she must be kidding, or demented. When the
supermodel reached out and, quick like a bunny, snatched a mussel from Jada’s
plate, hid it in her lap then looked up to the ceiling as if she hadn’t done
it, Jada decided Sasha was definitely demented.

Agatha, meanwhile, contemplated Sasha’s suggestion. Her high
color faded. “That’s not a bad idea. You could be onto something.” She pulled
out her phone, a heavily-rhinestoned affair, and worked it with thumbs as agile
and quick as a teenager’s.

Jada felt like someone needed to be the voice of reason in
the room, and since no one else was stepping up, she guessed the task was left
to her. “That’s ridiculous. It doesn’t work that way. Work that way. Work this
way? Isn’t that a song? No? Yeah. I think it’s a song about being a lesbian.”

Ian returned to his chair. “You’re thinking of ‘The Way We
Were.’ And it’s definitely not a song about lesbians.”

“Nope, nope, nope,” Jada said, rocking slightly and enjoying
the way the candlelight flickered on the gold filigree trimming her china
plate. “Work this way. Baby we should work this way. That’s it. A singer sings
it.”

Sasha laughed, a deep, throaty sound. “You’re thinking of
‘Born This Way.’ Lady Gaga.”

Jada pointed at her. “That’s it! Exactly. The lesbian song.
Lesbians are born, not made by players like Ian Buckley.”

“Damn, Ian,” Sasha said. “How much wine has she had,
anyway?”

“Three glasses, I think,” he said.

At the same time, Jada answered, “Not enough.”

Sasha snatched another mussel off Jada’s plate. “You
wouldn’t think three glasses would be enough, but it’s looking like it is.”

“Nope, nope,” Jada said.

“In her defense, she hasn’t eaten much today,” Ian said.
“And someone is stealing her dinner, which isn’t helping.”

Sasha pried the meat out of the mussel and popped it in her
mouth. “It’s not my fault. It’s like taking candy from a baby.”

“Something else I’ve seen you do.”

Sasha only smiled.

Jada couldn’t take her eyes off the madly-texting Agatha.
Her thumbs moved so fast it was mesmerizing. “Stop her, Sasha. She’s probably
telling everyone about your stupid idea.”

Sasha barked a laugh. “I like you, Mrs. Buckley.”

“I guess I like you, too. But I don’t want to. Makes me feel
even worse about
kissing
him
.”

“Oh, you two kissed, did you?” Sasha raised her
perfectly-shaped eyebrows. “Ian? Have you been kissing your pretend wife while
you were pretend-engaged to me?”

“As far as I know, Jada actually is my wife, legally
anyway,” Ian answered.

Jada whispered loud enough that someone in the hall could
have heard her. “I feel bad about it. Because I’m a man-sealing harlot. Wait.
That’s not right. Heehee! I mean, stealing. I steal men, I don’t seal them.
Heehee!”

“You look pretty straight-laced for a harlot,” Sasha said.
“And you shouldn’t listen to anything Agatha says. She hasn’t made sense in
like forever.”

“That’s too bad.”

Sasha nibbled on Jada’s garnish. “Yeah. I’d fire her if she
weren’t my mother.”

Jada goggled at her. Then at Agatha. Then at Ian.

Her mother?

She pushed her chair back and struggled to her feet. She was
going to pitch her napkin down on the table to illustrate her disgust, but she
couldn’t find it. Had it fallen to the floor? What was she doing, anyway?

She remembered and glared around the table. “That’s it. I’m
leaving. You’re all fruity ... like cakes. Fruitcake. And I don’t like
fruitcake. I have no idea why anyone would eat it.” She turned to make a
dramatic exit, but stumbled slightly on her way to the door. “Oops!”

Ian rushed up behind her and steadied her with a hand on her
waist and another on her arm. “I’m sorry, Jada. I should have gotten you out of
here sooner. I think I’ve had a bit much myself. I’ll help you upstairs.”

“Nope nope nope. You’re all nutty. Like ... well, not like
nut-cake, because that would be even grosser than fruitcake, and it’s probably
not even a thing.”

Sasha called from behind as Ian led Jada from the dining
room. “If it makes you feel any better, I was kidding about your marriage
turning me gay. I’ve always been gay.”

Agatha cried out in outrage. “Why don’t you shout it from
the rooftops? Are you—”

Jada blocked out the arguing mother and daughter as Ian
guided Jada toward the grand staircase.

She pulled on Ian’s arm and stopped him at the foot of the
stairs. He was so tall, and handsome, and ridiculously rich and successful. She
really did have fun with him and had enjoyed fantasizing about him.

Too bad he was crazy. She wondered if all super-wealthy
people were insane. She’d never know, since she’d never ask. She was way too
polite, unlike some people in this place.

“ARE ALL RICH PEOPLE CRAZY?” Jada asked.

Ian finished giving Elly instructions over the intercom then
guided Jada to a chair in her bedroom. She thumped down on the cushion hard
enough to bounce then looked up at him, her beautiful dark eyes sparkling.

Jada’s question amused Ian. “Seems that way, doesn’t it?”

She peered around the room. “I don’t see Ms. Kitty.”

“I’ll send someone to find her.”

“No, she’s probably getting another massage, or down in the
kitchen or who knows what. That cat has settled fast into the good life, let me
tell you. She got a massage and I still haven’t.”

Ian sat down on the settee. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“Yeah, but it’s okay. She’s a good cat. I love her.”

Ian warmed to Jada’s sincere expression. His grandfather
used to say that alcohol revealed a person’s true nature. Ian hadn’t been
convinced of it, but if his grandfather were correct, then Jada was purely
adorable.

“You know,” Jada said, “I feel bad about one thing, though.”

“What’s that?”

“About kissing you.”

Ian felt a pang in his chest. “I wish you wouldn’t. It was
only a kiss. And you have to realize by now that I wasn’t actually dating
Sasha. It was a deal we made a while back.”

The corners of her mouth drooped. “Yeah, but I didn’t know
that when we kissed.”

“It was nothing, Jada. You did nothing wrong.”

“I don’t know.”

“I do. I have no idea if you’ll remember this tomorrow, but
here’s the whole truth about Sasha. She’s the younger half-sister of one of my
best friends, Trey. He told me that Agatha was riding Sasha hard about being a
lesbian, and asked me if I’d be Sasha’s beard, basically. We sat down with Agatha
and worked out the details, how often Sasha and I would be seen together,
where, and so on.”

“Huh. Did Agatha get off her back then?”

“She did. As long as the press was convinced Sasha was
straight, Agatha didn’t complain anymore. Agatha’s not a homophobe, so much as
convinced Sasha’s sexuality might hurt her career.”

“So you lied to the world.”

“Pretty much.”

“I guess it was a good cause,” Jada said. “I saw that you
two were supposed to be engaged.”

“That didn’t come from our camps, and wasn’t part of the
agreement. We were going to date for six months or so, and then break up. The
story was probably created by the usual rumor mill.”

“Hmm, I wonder.” Jada propped her chin on her slender hand.
“Maybe Agatha leaked the rumor to the press. After watching her tonight, it
seems like something she’d do.”

“You might be right. I hadn’t considered it.”

Jada bolted upright and leaned forward, excited. “Agatha is
probably behind our mess, too! Did you see how she jumped on Sasha’s idea so
fast? Lemme think. Yeah. That’s probably it. Think about it.”

“I am.”

“Think. Think. Good, because I’m onto something here.
On-to-it! Agatha leaked the information about the engagement so she could turn
Sasha into a wronged woman when she leaked a fake marriage license with your name
on it to the press. Whew! That’s a lot. I bet she’s already got Sasha booked
everywhere to tell how she’s struggling to get through life without you!”

Ian considered the idea. Jada might be a few sheets to the
wind, but her theory wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Agatha was a hell
of schemer. “Might be. I wouldn’t put it past her.” He enjoyed the way Jada lit
up when he agreed with her. “Maybe we should think about it some more when we
haven’t been drinking.”

Jada laughed. “I’m only a little tipsy.”

“Me too.”

She laughed again. “I can’t see you as tipsy. You’re too ...
too ... not the kind of person I’d ever describe as tipsy.”

Ian grinned. “So it’s drunk or nothing for me, huh?”

“Nope. I bet you never get drunk either. You wouldn’t want
to lose control. You always have to be in control.”

Ian’s grin dimmed. She was right, of course. It was
disconcerting. He hardly knew the woman, yet she was growing on him at an
alarming rate. He wanted nothing more than to pick her up, toss her on the bed
and show her exactly how much he liked to be in control. Instead, he stood and
straightened his shirt.

“I think it’s time I get back down to Sasha and
that
woman
before they work Mrs. Best to death,” he said. “Elly will be up with
some food and will take care of you, okay?”

Jada blinked at him, her expression sober. “Mm-hmm. Okay.”

Was she hurt that he was leaving? Hell, he didn’t know what
to think or what to do. Doing the right thing was warring with doing whatever
he wanted. Jada was such a lovely person, and he didn’t meet many people like
that in his world.

He’d do the right thing by her, protect her. “I’ll probably
be gone tomorrow before you get up.”

Jada’s brows knitted. “Oh. Why?”

“I have to get back to the city. Work, you know.”

“I know. I work, work, work all the time, too. It’s never
done, is it ... work?”

“It’s not,” he said, and was jolted by the truth of the
statement in a painful, unaccustomed way. “So, I’m sure we’ll see each other
again once we get everything straightened out. In the meanwhile, I hope you’ll
enjoy your stay here and let the staff get a lot of pampering out of their
systems.”

“Okay. If you say so.”

His hand lifted of its own accord, the external expression
of an urge to stroke her silken cheek. He lowered his hand. “Good night then. Sleep
well.”

He forced himself to walk away and refused to dwell on the
disappointment in her eyes.

“Goodnight,” she said softly behind him.

He closed her door behind himself and took a few steps
before stopping in the middle of the hall. He was doing the right thing. Jada
wasn’t the kind of woman you had a fling with, and Ian wasn’t ready for more
than a fling.

Not wanting a serious relationship was one of the reasons
he’d gone along with pretending to date Sasha. It took him off the eligibility
market, only drawing the kind of women to him who understood he wouldn’t give
them more than a night or two of pleasure.

Jada wasn’t that kind of woman. She was the kind you waited
for, who you introduced to your parents. She’d want a simple engagement ring
and a small wedding with family and close friends. She was the rarely-found
girl next door.

She was dangerous.

Elly stepped into the hall and approached rapidly, carrying
a silver, covered tray.