The Billionaire Secret 2 (Billionaire, BWWM, Interracial, Romance) (5 page)

Blake tried not to be nervous as he looped his tie around and thought of the steps he needed in order to get it straight. No matter how much he tried to get it to knot properly, it wouldn’t.

“Son of a-”

“You better keep your tongue when you’re in front of my mother,” Aiyana warned him with a small smile as she reached around him from behind. She stood on her tiptoes until he finally sat down on the chair and allowed her to tie it for him. Her warm fingers brushed over his neck and then her hands finally rested on his shoulders.

“I’ll probably fumble with everything until they finally think I’m either daft or having a stroke, and then you’ll be so embarrassed you’ll leave me on the curb still fumbling around like an idiot.” He wanted badly to impress her folks enough for them to
want
him to marry their daughter, but if he couldn’t do that, he’d at least like it if they didn’t object too much when he asked.

He knew he should have waited to ask her. This was how it was supposed to be done, and just because he was a billionaire hotshot in New York City didn’t mean he had the right to marry Aiyana without asking her father’s approval. He just wasn’t sure he would survive the actual event.

“You’ll do fine,” Aiyana whispered into his ear, her sensual voice sending shivers down his spine.

“You want to-”

“Nope,” she told him with a teasing smile before she stood up and patted him once on the shoulder. She left the dressing room of the private jet and took her seat by the window. She was getting used to flying now that they’d been to a few places using his jet, but she didn’t think she’d ever get used to the fact that they could go anywhere they wanted on the planet at the snap of a finger.

Blake took a deep breath, tensed his shoulders and then slowly relaxed them before he stood from his seat. He ran a hand through his hair and wondered if he’d messed it up, but figured it wasn’t going to help him much anyway. He didn’t know why he was so nervous. It wasn’t the first time he was meeting a woman’s parents, but it wasn’t every day he met the people who might be his in-laws in the future.

He just hoped he made a good impression.

“We’re landing in fifteen minutes. Settle down and get on some seat belts,” his pilot informed them via the intercom. His heart skipped a beat as he sat down next to the woman who still haunted his dreams. He reached out to grab her hand, for her comfort or for his, he wasn’t sure.

Then they both felt the slight decline as the jet banked and headed for the air strip. Whether he liked it or not, they were landing in a tiny, private airport outside of Millbrook, Alabama.

She had told him to wear something informal, something that would look nice but that wouldn’t scream that he had money. He’d put on a black suit with a black tie and plain, silver cufflinks. Blake couldn’t understand why she’d put her hand over her mouth and her eyes had danced with humor, but now he did. Getting off the plain, smelling the strange air of a different state, and seeing the few people who were manning the small airport that afternoon, he felt like he’d stepped into a time machine and gone back about a hundred years, been dumped off, and left to fend for himself.

Aiyana tightened her grip on his hand to let him know he wasn’t alone, and then she was suddenly gone as she grabbed her suit case and started to lug it across the airport strip by herself. She’d chosen a pair of heels that made her ass swing enticingly back and forth in her tight jeans. His mouth watered as he watched her a moment too long before he hurried after her with his suitcase in his hand. He deftly grabbed hers away from her and smiled at her before they headed into the airport.

Two African-American men waited with cell phones in their hands, laughing at something the one on the right had shared with the other. One of them was tall, with a round face, and sharp, calculating eyes that found Blake immediately when he looked up. The second was a little shorter, more robust, and with a kinder face. Yet there was still a look of distrust behind the warm facade.

“Allen, Row,” Aiyana said as she hurried toward them. Blake stood back as he watched her embrace both men and give them each kisses on the cheeks before she stepped away. He might have been wearing a suit and tie, but he could tell he wouldn’t have any special treatment where he was going.

“This is Blake Hanley,” Aiyana said as she stepped aside. Blake put down the suitcases gently and held out a hand to the men, but he received a curt nod from both before the taller one grabbed Aiyana’s bag and hurried off with it.

She put a hand on her hip and blew a strand of her dark hair out of her eyes as she watched after them. “Well, Momma will be making dinner soon and if we’re late for that, we’ll be stuck outside on the porch for the rest of the stay.” She tried to ignore the slight Blake had been given, but even the man standing idly off to the side who’d seen them in looked a little shocked.

“Yeah, wouldn’t want to be late for dinner,” Blake said warmly as he picked up his own suitcase and put his hand on the small of her back. He wanted the feel of her beneath him, anywhere in that moment, to reassure him that he was there with her, and he’d make sure this trip went well so that he’d have her family’s approval by the end of it.

Blake leaned down to kiss her cheek and she smiled up at him as they walked through the doors that led outside.

It was hot, sticky, and unlike any environment he’d been in before. Blake stuffed his suitcase into the back of the tall man's, Allen, car. Row was sitting in the front seat with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, unlit, and his eyes seemed to track their progress as Blake made his way to the back driver’s side door and opened it for Aiyana. She slid across and he followed her in.

“So you sell televisions,” Row stated. Unsure of how to respond, Blake snapped his seat belt.

“I do,” he finally answered. As if he’d been waiting for Blake to respond, Allen started the black sedan and turned on the radio.

The music, thumping and loud, erased any attempt to make conversation on the way to Aiyana’s family house. She reached across the back seat to hold his hand as they rode along; listening to music Blake had never even heard in the clubs. As they pulled into a cul-de-sac where the houses all looked the same, Aiyana turned to smile at him reassuringly before she opened her door and slid out of the sedan, and Blake swallow the uncanny fear that was trying to escape. He helped himself from the sedan and hurried to the back to help Aiyana with the suitcases, being sure to take hers before Row or Allen could get to it.

“It’ll be fine,” Aiyana whispered to him before she closed the trunk and hurried up the sidewalk to greet a thin woman in a gray pencil skirt and a white blouse. Blake wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but looking around at the neighborhood where every backyard had a pool and the woman, who was obviously Aiyana’s mother, standing in clothes that were much nicer than  expected, he felt thrown for a loop.

Row and Allen walked past the woman standing on the porch and sat down on the cushioned, wrought-iron chairs that surrounded a glass top, matching table. A man sat at the table with his eyes narrowed and his lips seemingly perpetually down-turned. He had one hand in his pocket where he fiddled with something and the other hand resting on the table, his fingers playing with a quarter that he ran across his knuckles and grabbed, repeating the process. Blake was immediately intimidated, but he didn’t think Aiyana’s father would appreciate a coward wanting to marry his daughter.

He squared his shoulders and carried the suitcases up the long walkway to the old-fashioned porch with white pillars. Aiyana was sliding away from her mother’s embrace and her father stood to meet her halfway as she flew into his arms. It was obvious the two had a loving relationship, so there weren’t any odds of him marrying her if he didn’t impress.

Blake kept the suitcases in his hands as if they were an anchor to reality and flashed his best smile to the woman in front of him. Aiyana, a little flustered, pulled her father over to her mother to introduce him to the new man in her life.

“Daddy, Momma, this is Blake Hanley, my-” she paused and he saw her finger run over the ring finder he’d try to claim. “Boyfriend,” she finished a little lamely. Was that regret he saw on her face for a second?

“It’s nice to meet you Blake. I’m Theresa and this is my husband, Richard.” Blake set down the bag in his right hand and shook hands with Theresa before he turned his attention to the man who looked like he would never smile.

“It’s nice to meet you Theresa, Richard,” he said as he held out his hand to Aiyana’s father. The man took stock of the billionaire standing before him pulled his hand out of his pocket, only to return it with a quarter in his grasp. He grunted once before he turned away to sit down with Aiyana’s entourage.

“He hasn’t had his afternoon nap,” Theresa tried to explain with a polite smile as she ushered Aiyana and Blake through the front door. The foyer had gleaming hardwood floors and the off-gray paint showcased the mahogany coat rack to his left. Blake didn’t notice much else as he was led up the stairs lined with family photographs and to the right where he was promptly told he would be staying, and then Aiyana was led away to her own room with her bag in hand.

Blake hadn’t expected separate bedrooms, but he wasn’t too shocked after meeting her father. He figured he’d be shot on sight if he was standing outside her bedroom door at two in the morning. With a heavy sigh and a hand wiped across his face, he sat down on the edge of the bed and wondered what he’d gotten himself into. It had been many years since he’d allowed himself to be dragged along to a woman’s parent’s home.

But she’s worth it and more,
he reminded himself as he pulled out his clothes and hang them in the closet.

“Bet you’re not used to hanging your own laundry,” a rough voice stated with a hint of derision. Blake turned to the voice, suspecting as much that it was Richard standing in the doorway.

“I tend to my own clothes,” Blake told him serenely as he unzipped the bag that held his toiletries. Richard pointed at the door on the opposite side of the bed and Blake disappeared into the bathroom to deposit his belongings. He wanted to make it well-known that he planned on staying the entire trip, and there was no amount of perpetual frowning that could get him to leave. He briefly noted the dual sinks and the jetted tub before he returned to the room.

“Dinner’s in ten,” Richard said before he disappeared from the doorway. Blake didn’t bother to close it as he zipped up the empty suitcase. He heard the sound of feet tiptoeing down the hallway and smiled when Aiyana peaked her head around the door frame. Her fingers gripped it as she looked him up and down.

“You should change,” she whispered sweetly.

“You should help,” he whispered back as he advanced on her, about to stake his claim on her in a house full of her kin. Besides, he needed the reassurance.

Aiyana pulled back and giggled as she jumped out of his reach. She put her finger to her lips to hush him, but he had her in one swoop of his arm and pulled her into the room. Blake had a second to close the door gently before he pushed her against the wall and ran his tongue over her upper lip. She shivered beneath his touch as his hands roamed down to pull at the button on her jeans. Aiyana tried to push him back playfully, but he wasn’t budging.

He silenced her futile protest with a long kiss, dipping his tongue in and out of her mouth as he pushed his hand up her shirt, gently pulling away the cup of her bra. Aiyana moaned into his mouth as his other hand pushed down into her pants, finding her hot and swollen. His palm slid across her clit as he dipped his finger into her, stroking her from the inside as his palm moved gently over her nub. He could feel her legs beginning to weaken and her breathing quickened as her tongue found his to dance.

Blake knew he should be walking a fine line in her parent’s home, but he couldn’t help the way it felt so good to stroke her until she shuddered against him. He pinned her against the wall to keep her from falling and milked her until she was breathless and her cheeks were crimson. A wisp of her hair clung to her forehead and she pulled it away with shaking hands as she buttoned her jeans and fixed her top.

“You’re going to be in so much trouble if they
ever
find out about that,” she whispered to him harshly, but the smile on her lips told him it was well worth it.

“Who’s ever going to tell?” he asked as he quietly opened the door and allowed her to slip through the crack. He heard her tiptoeing back to her room and assumed she was going to freshen up before she went down to the dinner table. Blake went back in to wash his hands and comb his hair. He took stock of his suit and figured it wouldn’t hurt to change into something more comfortable.

He pulled out a pair of dark green slacks and a gray shirt. It was the most colorful he’d gotten since he’d been with Aiyana. He only hoped her folks could appreciate the effort he was putting in. Blake took stock of himself in the mirror and put on a pair of dark brown shoes.

“Hanley, catch!” The football was whizzing directly for his face and for an instant he wondered if they thought of him as soft because he had money. He’d been reluctant to accept the invitation to the game because he hadn’t a pair of jeans in his wardrobe, but Row had been nice enough to lend him a pair that was too long for his taste. They actually fit pretty snug on Blake, and he noticed the way Aiyana kept staring at him as he played with her brothers.

The previous evening’s dinner had gone well, if well meant a few grunts from Richard and endless chattering about the neighborhood from Theresa. Aiyana’s sister hadn’t shown yet, and her third brother was still missing in action from the previous afternoon, but no one seemed too concerned about it. It must have been a common occurrence.

Blake caught the spiraling football and took off down the right side of their makeshift field, the back yard. He skirted the edge of the pool and heard the slap of his sneakers on the concrete as he leaped over one of the lawn chairs and tumbled on the other side. He almost lost his grip on the ball, but he knew he was safe as soon as he heard the cheering from the sidelines. Aiyana was smiling as her hands game together in front of her and Row was cheering about a touchdown as he helped Blake to his feet.

“You alright? You took a bit of a tumble there,” Row stated between chuckles. Allen leaned on his knees and tried to catch his breath. “You’d better let him get in the last touchdown,” Row said under his breath as he turned away from his brother and looked out at the hedge leading to the neighbor’s house. “Allen’s a bit competitive.”

“So am I,” Blake stated as he stood up and dusted the grass off his jeans. “Sorry about the pants. I’ll replace them.”

“It’s not a big deal. They’re just pants,” Row shrugged it off before loping off to see if his brother was up for another game.

Aiyana sashayed up to him while pulling her hair back with a hair tie. “You’d better watch your back,” she told him as she picked up the ball.

“You’re going to play?” he asked her skeptically. She looked at her fingernails with a raised eyebrow and shrugged a shoulder.

“I’m pretty quick on my feet.” He felt a fluttering in the pit of his stomach when she looked up from beneath her eye lashes and smiled at him.

Aiyana tossed the ball to her brother and they squared off in the center of the yard again. Blake was keenly aware of the way Theresa and Richard were watching them play, but he was more concerned about Allen standing in front of him with a sneer on his face. “Gonna take you down,” he said real low.

Aiyana called it and Allen tossed the ball between his legs back to his sister. Blake knew as soon as the ball left Allen’s fingertips that they were going to end up in a tussle, so he ducked to the left and prayed he was right in his assumption. Allen brushed past his right and fell to the ground, grunting as he did. Aiyana was already halfway across the yard, almost to her goal, but Row was right behind her. It seemed he had no qualms about tackling his sister as he took her down to the ground. Her hand reached out and she tried to tap the goal area with the ball, but she was too far away. She rolled over and came up laughing as Row helped her to her feet.

“Again,” she demanded as they took their positions. This time, Aiyana and Row square off in the center, taking their turns.

Blake prepared himself for a full contact hit to the chest, but he managed to duck, avoiding Allen’s groping. He caught Aiyana around the waist before she was able to get very far. He spun her around in a circle and felt her breasts push up against him as he pulled her in close. They stood with their faces mere inches apart, their breath intermingling as they stared at each other. He knew she’d missed him last night, but he wasn’t sure if she’d missed him half as much as he’d missed having her beside him.

Without a second thought, he let his lips find hers and they parted eagerly for him. Blake took the opportunity and tilted her chin up with his hand as he kissed her deeply. The world seemed to melt away and there was only Aiyana and her warm, heady lips. His hands found purchase on her hips as he pulled her closer, unaware of the young woman descending the stairs and hushing her father as she passed.

“Woo! I’d like to get me some of that!” The woman screeched as she put her hands on her hips and shook her head. She sucked on her teeth a moment before Aiyana quickly pulled away and cleared her throat. Blake couldn’t help the cocky grin that had spread across his face.

“Sasha,” Theresa reprimanded as she held up one of the corn cobs she was husking.

“What? I’m just saying’, that tall glass of milk could come make chocolate milk shakes with me anytime.” Sasha’s eyes twinkled and Blake felt his neck heat. He put his hand to it as if that would help cool it down.

“And that’s why no tall glass of milk is ever going to make you into a chocolate shake,” a tall man said as he walked through the back door and closed the screen. He sat down beside his mother and grabbed one of the ears of corn. They bumped shoulders and smiled at one another before they went back to work.

“Blake, this is Sasha, my sister, and Jackson, my other brother.” Aiyana made introductions and Blake reached out his hand. Sasha took it with enthusiasm.

“It’s nice to meet the billionaire who finally rescued my sister from her long, dry celibacy.” Aiyana rolled her eyes and looked over her sister’s shoulder to see if her father was paying attention. He was too busy staring down at the newspaper in front of him to listen to the banter of his children.

“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Blake allowed his hand to rest on the small of Aiyana’s back. He sensed a rivalry between the two sisters and decided he didn’t want to see what it would amount to.

“Dinner’s gonna be ready in another half an hour. You three better get cleaned up and ready,” Theresa called out as she held open the door for Jackson to take the pot of corn into the kitchen. He followed his mother inside and disappeared.

Row and Allen tossed the ball between the two of them for another two or three minutes as Aiyana asked Sasha about her new job. Aiyana followed her sister into the house, giving Blake a shy smile before she ducked past her father and through the doorway. Row and Allen followed her inside and shut the door behind them. Blake was left standing in the back yard with the ball in his hands as he stared after them.

He wasn’t sure if he should, but he sat down on the steps, not too far from where her father sat at the table with the paper still in front of him. They were both silent, one of them staring out at the pool and the other idly scanning the paper in front of him.

“Allen’s a tough one to beat,” Richard spoke quietly as he continued to stare at his paper. Blake didn’t turn around as he put his fingers on his chin and rested his elbow on his knee.

“He’s pretty good,” Blake admitted as he looked at the ball hanging limply in his other hand.

“He played on a college team years ago. Was going to go pro, but one thing led to another and he ended up dropping out before he could make it.” Blake didn’t ask what the one thing was that led to the other. He kept his mouth shut as he waited for Richard to say something more. “Aiyana loves you,” her father grumbled as he shifted in his chair. Blake finally turned to look at the man who had set his paper down and was intently staring at him.

“I know.” Blake allowed the ball to rest at his feet and let his fingers slide away from his chin as he sat up. “I love her,” he admitted as he stared out at the trees. A shiver crept up his spine as he looked up at the humid sky.

“That scares the shit out of you, doesn’t it?” Blake couldn’t pinpoint the emotion that was in her father’s tone.

“More than facing a den full of hungry lions,” Blake admitted. It had been the first time anyone had noticed.

“You asked her to marry you yet?” He knew they were at a crossroads. If he lied and Richard found out, then he’d ruin forever the chance at a son-in-law to father-in-law relationship.

With a small smile on his lips and a bashful glance at her father, he admitted he had. “New Year’s”. Wishing he hadn’t put the ball down, he felt himself shift under Richard’s gaze.

“And she said no.” It was obvious she had, considering she wasn’t wearing a ring, but Blake nodded his head once, almost imperceptibly. “But you’ll ask her again.” It wasn’t a question, but Blake didn’t want to allow it to hang in the air between them.

“With your permission,” Blake said as he stood up and sat down in a chair across from Richard. The man took stock of him silently.

“Good,” he said before he stood up, folding his paper, and then walked into the house.

Blake figured that was as much of an approval he was going to get from the stoic man, and felt the tension drain from his shoulders. He hurried in to wash up before it was   time to eat, and sat down to a late afternoon meal with Aiyana’s folks. They openly asked him questions about his business, and he felt refreshed by their candid remarks about his money. They weren’t threatened by him, and for that he was thankful.