The Billionaire's Prescription: BWWM Interracial Billionaire Romance

BOOK: The Billionaire's Prescription: BWWM Interracial Billionaire Romance
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The Billionaire’s Prescription

 

by

 

Imani King

 

 

 

© 2015  Imani King

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 for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.

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Excerpt from
THE BILLIONAIRE’S PRESCRIPTION

 

Doubts plagued Naomi from the moment he inserted the key card and they entered his room. Actually, it wasn’t so much a room as it was a suite ─ a master suite at that. Easily four or five times the size of her own hotel room, Naomi looked around the spacious quarters, taking note of the separate living and dining areas, both tastefully and expensively furnished. The floor-to-ceiling windows showed off the stars twinkling in the sky above as well as the lights from the buildings and houses below.

Before she could ask him how exactly he scored a suite as luxurious as this, he caressed her lower back. His touch sent tingles throughout her body that made her forget what she wanted to say.

He pulled her closer and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re so beautiful, you know that?”

She shook her head, not trusting herself to talk but managing to say, “This probably isn’t a good idea, maybe we shouldn’t ─”

The lowering of his mouth on to hers cut her off. His tongue swiped over the corners of her mouth and traced an outline around her lips, as if memorizing their form. Though his lips looked full and pillowy, they crushed against hers with a hard insistence. She responded by opening her mouth, allowing his tongue inside to duel with hers.

He pulled her closer as his tongue swirled inside her mouth, causing a rush of erotic sensations that made her grow dizzy with desire. The headiness went into overdrive as he pressed his erection against her stomach. A hardness that left no doubt as to what his intentions were and what he wanted to do.

Who are you kidding?
Naomi asked herself.
You knew all along you were coming up here to fuck. Don’t act all coy now.

But she had to admit she was acting anything but coy as she pressed her body closer to the man’s to feel the full weight of his erection. She also opened her mouth wider to deepen their kiss. A deep groan floated into the air but she couldn’t if it came from him or her.

They broke apart as quickly as they’d come together. Naomi wondered if her eyes burned as brightly with lust as his did. Although he hadn’t turned on any lights in the suite, the glimmer from the stars outside illuminated the desire on his face.

A knowing smile curled the corners of his mouth. “Now what were you saying about this not being a good idea?”

Chapter One

 

From where she sat on a velvet covered stool at the bar, Naomi Redford raised her glass, signaling to the bartender for another refill on her vodka tonic. Although white wine was her usual alcoholic drink of choice, tonight she wanted something stronger. Perhaps the bar’s masculine vibe, with its dark paneled walls and mahogany tables at the center of the room made her crave something different, something more potent.

Oh, who are you kidding?
Her subconscious nagged her.
You’re nervous about your speech to a room full of doctors and hospital administrators tomorrow. You ordered the vodka tonic to calm your anxiety. How’s that working out for ya?

Not well, Naomi had to admit. She felt just as anxious and edgy now after having downed two vodka tonics as she did when she first sat down at the bar. At least she didn’t have to worry about getting home since her hotel room was a mere ten floors above her current location. Surely, she wouldn’t drink enough so much she couldn’t even manage to press an elevator button or insert a key card into the door?

It will probably take just that much alcohol for me to stop feeling so uptight, Naomi thought bitterly. For the hundredth time, she wondered how she got talked into attending this conference, the Mid-Atlantic Alliance of Physicians, Surgeons, and Administrators. She didn’t belong here with the medical elite. This wasn’t her world, she didn’t fit in. Unfortunately, Staci Watson, her friend and the administrator of Philadelphia County Memorial, the hospital where Naomi also worked as an emergency room physician, gave her little choice.

“I’m caught up with the budget crisis here and can’t attend the conference,” Staci had told her last week. “I’ve already spent hundreds of dollars on the conference fees and hotel reservations and don’t want that money to go to waste. Please take my place and give a speech about the emergency room’s needs.”

“You know I’m no good at networking events and even worse at giving speeches,” Naomi had argued. “Can’t you find someone else? Besides, I don’t think the ER can spare me for even a couple of days. Doug left the department over three months ago and we still haven’t hired another doctor to replace him.”

“That’s because we can’t make room in the budget for the kind of salary a doctor with Doug’s experience commands. It’s why I need to stay here and negotiate with the board of directors and the department heads. It’s also why I need you to go to Durham and attend the conference in my place.”

“Why me?” Naomi asked, hating the whiny tone she heard in her voice. Damn it, she really hated attending boring conferences, almost as much as she hated giving public speeches. And here, Staci was asking her to do both.

“Gilbert needs to stay here to deal with the budget talks,” Staci said, referring to the head of the emergency room department. “And you’re one of the most senior people in the ER so you can truly explain how diminished resources have impacted our ability to provide care.”

Naomi had to admit, she could definitely speak to that point. While Philadelphia County Memorial wasn’t a public hospital, it did receive significant funding from the local, state and federal governments. However, the money giving wasn’t nearly enough to meet the healthcare demands of the general public. As a rule, PCM didn’t turn anyone in need away from its doors, but it came at the price of severely taxing the hospital’s resources. Each year, demand grew but the money to provide the healthcare supply decreased. Now, PCM had reached a crisis point where closing its doors became a real possibility.

“The conference is not only attended by medical professionals, but also a few business and foundation types. You know, do-gooders who might be interested in giving a five- or six-figure donation,” Staci continued. “I’m sure you’ll be able to give a heartwarming speech about the good work we do here and will make some of those wealthy conference attendees open up their wallets.”

It was only for that reason, helping PCM’s underfunded ER get some much needed cash, Naomi agreed to take Staci’s place. But now that she was here in Durham, North Carolina, it seemed like she’d made a huge mistake.

There were other doctors from PCM here at the conference, but Naomi was the sole representative from the ER. The doctors, from PCM’s highly regarded research center, had been courteous enough. However, Naomi didn’t get the impression they regarded her as a peer. In fact, they seemed just as bewildered as she was by her presence at the conference.

“Will you be attending the pre-conference cocktail party tonight?” Lily, one of the PCM doctors, asked Naomi on the ride in the shuttle from the airport. “I know you haven’t been to one of these types of events before so I’d be happy to show you around and introduce you to the right folks.”

“That would be lovely,” Naomi said in a tone just as cloying as Lily’s and returning a smile just as fake.

But as the bartender placed a fresh vodka tonic in front of her, she found she had no inclination to move from her spot at the bar. Meeting some of the other attendees ahead of tomorrow’s events probably would have been a smart thing to do. But Naomi had never been comfortable mingling with people she didn’t know. And tagging along with Lily and the other PCM doctors, she doubted she’d get treated better than a poor relation.

If Staci wanted a schmoozing networker, then she shouldn’t have sent me in her place
, Naomi told herself, trying to tamp down on the guilt she felt at her anti-social tendencies. Okay, maybe after she finished this drink, she’d head over to the meet-and-greet being held in the ballroom on the other side of the hotel.

Stiff from sitting in the same position on the stool for so long, Naomi adjusted her stance while also rotating her head and neck. In doing so, she got a look at one of the most stunningly gorgeous men she’d ever seen in her life.

Who is that?
The question flashed through her brain before Naomi could remind herself she was here on business, not to hook up.

But with her curiosity now piqued, she couldn’t help but speculate on the man’s identity. Though he sat on a stool, Naomi could still tell he had a muscular physique, with a broad chest tapering to a narrow waist. His chiseled features included a square jaw, a particular weakness of hers. She briefly imagined herself stroking it, kissing it.

Whoa, take it easy with those vodka tonics
, her subconscious warned.
Just because you’re not in Philly doesn’t mean you have to act like a thot
.

He turned his head in her direction and their eyes met. Naomi was struck by the intensity of his blue-eyed gaze, almost as powerful as an actual touch. Startled, she lowered her chin, focusing on the drink in front of her.

What the hell was that?
She’d never experienced a reaction like that to a man before, especially a white man. Normally, they didn’t hold any attraction for her, with black men, the darker the better, being her preference. Maybe the potency of the drinks, along with her unease over giving the speech at the conference tomorrow had her brain scrambled.

It had been a while ─ a loooong while ─ since she’d been with a man, or even out on a date. The demanding work schedule of her emergency room physician duties at PCM left little room for a social life. And Naomi had witnessed too many romantic entanglements between co-workers at the hospital end badly to consider getting involved with a colleague.

Her last serious romance had been almost two years ago with a surgeon who worked at another Philadelphia hospital. Naomi had thought things were going well between them, and might even lead to marriage and starting a family. That particular dream came to an end when Sean announced he’d accepted a new job at a hospital in Los Angeles. She gave up hope of making it work long distance when Sean had been slow to return voice mails and texts, and didn’t give even the slightest indication he wanted her to visit him in L.A. A few months back, she overheard a couple of nurses saying they’d seen his engagement announcement on Facebook.

The news didn’t leave Naomi all that heartbroken. She’d already come to learn she didn’t love Sean so much as the idea of them together as a couple, and husband-and-wife doctor team. While those dreams hadn’t totally died with Sean’s departure, Naomi had been focusing more on her work and less on her love life over the last few months.

That changes when I get back to Philly
, she vowed to herself. But first, she had to make this speech about the impact of under-funded emergency rooms had on the larger community as a whole. Naomi grimaced as she took another swallow of her drink. She wished there was such a thing as a time machine so she could zoom forward two or three days to when the speech would be a thing of the past.

“Don’t do it.”

Naomi jumped in her seat, startled by the deep baritone voice. She looked up to find the handsome stranger she’d locked glances with earlier sitting on the stool next to hers. He was even more stunning up close, with his aquiline nose giving him a patrician air that should have been intimidating, but wasn’t. Perhaps because his full, lush lips softened the effect, making him seem accessible, kissable even.

While she could have stared into the stranger’s clear, sapphire blue eyes all night, Naomi forced herself to ask, “Don’t do what?”

“Don’t sink back into whatever funk that was I noticed when I first walked in. I know people who sit at bars by themselves aren’t the most cheerful souls in the world, but you lightened up when you saw me. Then when you looked away, you reverted back to the dark mood. Don’t go there. Your beauty is enhanced when you don’t think about whatever it is that’s troubling you.”

Naomi didn’t know whether to laugh or be outraged at the man’s presumption. She eyed him coolly and said, “So you’ve been checking me out, huh?”

He nodded. “Yes, and you were checking me out too. We had a connection there for a moment. Why did you break it by looking down at your glass?”

“Maybe because I’m not used to responding to flirtation from lounge lizards. It’s something I assume you have a lot of practice at.”

He threw his head back and laughed, a deep rumble that made Naomi want to join in, or at least smile. But she forced herself to maintain a solemn expression as he said, “Do I look like a lounge lizard to you?”

She had to admit he didn’t. Though his blond hair was close cropped, she could still tell it was expensively styled, no ten dollar quickie haircuts for him. And while she didn’t know much about men’s wear, the meticulous tailoring of his navy suit screamed
expensive!
Naomi had gone shopping with Sean once when he had to buy a suit for a hospital function. Sean had griped about having to pay eight hundred dollars for it, but this man’s suit easily cost ten to twelve times that much. The silk tie and chunky stainless steel watch ─ Rolex? Omega? ─ completed the GQ look.

“Okay, maybe lounge lizard is a bit harsh,” she said, “but I still don’t make a habit of flirting with people I don’t know. I’m not some easy pick-up.”

“I didn’t mean to imply you were.” He signaled the bartender. “Let me buy the next round to make up for the entirely unintentional insult.”

“That’s really not necessary,” Naomi said, but a fresh drink was in front of her before she could even finish her sentence. Though the bar grew more and more crowded, the bartender seemed to give the man extra attention. Probably because the man looked like he had the money to tip generously.

He lifted up his glass filled with a clear amber liquid that looked like scotch. “Shall we toast?”

“To what?”

His brow furrowed for a moment and then he smiled, showing off even white teeth that any Hollywood star would envy. “Making new friends.”

“We just met and I’m going to be leaving shortly so it’s unlikely any friendship will develop here.”

“You’re going to finish your drink, aren’t you?”

“Well, yes.” Only an idiot would turn down a free vodka tonic, especially as strong as the way this bartender made them.

“So, I’ve got at least ten or fifteen minutes to convince you to be my friend.” He clinked his glass against hers which remained on the table.

“I don’t make friends easily,” she warned.

“Neither do I, but I like a challenge.” He took a gulp of his drink. “I’m guessing you’re here at this hotel because you’re attending one of the conferences in the area.”

Naomi nodded and sipped her vodka tonic as he continued. “I know this hotel is hosting attendees for some kind of CPA tax update conference as well a conference for a bunch of medical types. Which one are you?”

Doctor
was on the tip of Naomi’s tongue. But she decided not to reveal the information to the nosy man, no matter how friendly and good-looking he was. “I’m here for the accounting conference.”

“Ah, no wonder you looked so down. A career of number crunching would depress anyone.”

Naomi agreed, but knew she needed to defend her ‘profession.’ “If the numbers don’t get crunched, then no business gets done. Without business taking place, you wouldn’t be able to afford that fancy suit or watch you’re wearing.”

“Ha! I knew you were checking me out.” The man’s smile broadened, lighting up his face. “What else did you notice about me?”

You’re the handsomest guy in the room, by far. And the sexiest.
Naomi bit her tongue to keep the thoughts from escaping her lips. “I don’t know. I just happened to notice your clothes and accessories. Guess I’m just shallow like that.”

BOOK: The Billionaire's Prescription: BWWM Interracial Billionaire Romance
10.32Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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