Billionaire BWWM Romance 1: The Billionaire's Arranged Marriage (12 page)

Jillian and Anderson walked out of the room and the door closed behind them. She didn’t speak. She had no desire to say anything. Her mind was an explosion of chaos, anger, frustration, hurt and loss. Anderson stayed close to her and when the elevator doors closed, leaving them alone, he lifted his hand to her shoulder in comfort.

She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip, holding in all her pain and anger. She took a deep breath and let it out, hoping it would take all the negativity in her out of her and release it from her.

They walked out of the hotel and climbed into the limo. As they drove back to the airport, she looked out the window silently, trying to sort things out in her mind. She had broken the engagement. She had called off the wedding and now she would have to answer to her mother. There was no way she could marry a man like Reed. How could she live with a man like that; share her life with him and have absolutely no chance at love.

Not that she expected it, far from it, but somewhere in the recesses of her heart, over the weeks since they had become engaged, she let herself believe somehow that it might be possible someday to develop some caring feelings for each other.

Anderson said nothing to her, he only stayed beside her, his hand at the small of her back, guiding her and reassuring her as they got onto the plane and he told Gina to bring a drink for them both. They took off and when they were at altitude, he walked over to her chair and held out his hand.

“Come with me, please. Let’s go talk.”

She looked up at him and sighed, taking his hand and standing up. He walked her back to the bedroom and closed the door behind them, handing her the drink that Gina had made for her. She shook her head at first for a moment, but then as she looked at it, she closed her eyes and shook her head and then took it from his hand and tilted it back, swallowing most of it fairly quickly.

Anderson smiled as she tilted it back again and emptied it. He handed her his glass. “Here. One more for the road,” he said softly.

She took a little more time with the second one, but it too was gone in a few gulps.  When her second glass was empty, she hiccupped and he laughed at her and took her hand in his, leading her to the bed and sat her down at the edge of it, then he sat beside her.

“I know you must be holding in a great deal of emotion, Jillian. I’m here for you. You can trust me. You can lean on me. Let me comfort you. I feel totally responsible for the situation. I should never have taken you to see him.” He reached up and rubbed her shoulder, reaching his hand slowly toward her neck and her back, massaging her gently.

She shook her head, but then as he rubbed his hand over her back, she closed her eyes and let the walls fall down. She hadn’t cried around anyone but her father and for the first time, she couldn’t hold the pain in because she knew he wouldn’t be home to hold her. He was still in Japan, and it was apparent that he would be staying there a little longer. She had no one to go to, no one to trust, to hold her and comfort her, and here was someone she barely knew but whom she felt she could trust and confide in.

Tears streamed down her cheeks and Anderson pulled her close to him, holding her snugly in his arms and wiping away her tears. “It’s okay, Jillian, let it go, let it all go. Come here,” he whispered to her as he pressed her face to his chest and rubbed her back.

“What am I going to do? I trusted him! I thought he was going to marry me and mean it! I thought he was going to be a real husband to me. I’m such a naïve fool,” she wept and he rocked her a little as she cried on his shirt, wetting it with her tears. “I called off the wedding! My mother is going to kill me. She isn’t giving me a choice, I don’t have a choice in this!” She wept more and he leaned down to her ear, his lips close to her cheek.

“Yes, Jillian, you do have a choice,” he whispered.

She couldn’t stop the tears. “What choice? To marry a man who is constantly out sleeping with other women? What kind of a marriage is that?” Her tears fell heavy on his chest.

“Jillian,” he whispered, placing his finger under her chin and lifting her face close to his, “You do have another choice, another option.”

She looked at him in confusion, her dark eyes gazing up at him through her wet eyelashes and she remembered what he had said in the bedroom at the house earlier, something about another option.

She sat up and tilted her head, looking at him curiously. She sniffled and he reached up and gently brushed the tears from her wet cheeks. She blinked and reached up to get the last of her tears and he looked down at his shirt and smiled. “Would you look at me, I’m soaked.”

“Oh no!” she whispered, “I’m so sorry!”

He only smiled at her and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, Jillian. You haven’t done anything wrong at all, no need to apologize.” He stood up and began unbuttoning his shirt slowly, his eyes on hers. “I’m so glad to do anything I can to help you.”

When she realized he was taking his shirt off, she looked away and he chuckled at her. “Now, Jillian, you can’t possibly be shy about seeing me without my shirt on,” he said softly. “Not after you’ve seen my brother like you have.”

She closed her eyes to hold in tears that threatened to spill again and Anderson put his finger under her chin, lifting it gently as he stood before her. She opened her eyes and looked up past his stocky muscular chest and arms to his eyes. He smiled at her.

“That’s my girl,” he whispered softly and sat close to her on the bed, reaching his hand up and brushing a stray tear from her eyelashes. He traced his fingers over her cheek and leaned closer to her. “Now, would you like me to explain about your other option?” he asked silkily.

Jillian nodded. Her head was growing very light. She shouldn’t have had anything to drink, let alone two drinks, especially one right after the other. His hand felt warm on her cheek and it distracted her a little. “Yes, please,” she whispered.

“Your parents are insisting that you marry Reed because they want to be in business with my family. Right?” he spoke gently, stroking her cheek with a feather soft touch.

She nodded. “Yes.”

He shook his head. “My brother doesn’t deserve a girl like you, Jillian. Someone so kind, so sweet and tender.” He reached his hand up to the back of her head and pulled the pin from her hair and the long black satin curtain fell all around her shoulders.  “So… beautiful…” he said, running his fingers down the length of her hair, looking at it shine in his hands and then raising his eyes to meet hers again. “I wonder if you realize what a profound effect you have on… people,”  he said, reaching to stroke her hair again, petting her gently.

Jillian felt comforted, but there was something else… something, she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Some feeling she was completely unfamiliar with.

“You see, the truth is that Reed has been having an affair with the stripper you saw for a long time, and he’s not going to give that up, not for you, not for anyone. He wouldn’t give up any of his girlfriends, not even for marriage.” Anderson slipped his hand behind Jillian’s neck and began to massage her shoulder. She felt the stress there start to slip away, and a light dizziness begin to swim through her head.

“That’s why our father told him to marry you; it was either that or be disinherited. He was going to lose everything, and his only chance to keep it was by marrying you. You don’t know though, what the plan was if Reed didn’t marry you, do you?” His voice had become quite soft and he was near enough to her that she could feel his breath on her skin.

“If Reed didn’t marry you, I was going to have to assume his responsibilities and manage the business, which I have already been doing for years.” His hand moved from the back of her neck to the side of her face.

“Now you have made a choice, you have decided that you can’t live a life with Reed, that he isn’t good enough for you, and you’re right, Jillian,” he stroked his thumb over her chin and she felt its warmth, “but you don’t have to anger your parents and break your vow to them. You can still keep your word, help your family and connect our two families, by marrying me.”

Her eyes grew wide in surprise and he smiled at her. “I know, it’s a shock… it’s a truly far fetched idea, but think about it carefully, Jillian. You’ll be accomplishing the same promise you made to your parents,” he was whispering, so close to her face, “you’ll be fulfilling their wishes, and you will bring the families and businesses together, but you won’t be trapped in a loveless marriage with a man who has an insatiable hunger for other women. You won’t be locked into knowing that you would never be enough for Reed, and that he would always seek love in the arms of other women.”

He continued to stroke her chin and the shock of the idea seemed to wear off as his words came slowly into focus.

“You would be with a man who admires you, who knows how special you are inside, who knows you and wants you, beautiful Jillian. You’ll have a husband who will give you everything you want. Just… choose me, Jillian.”

He leaned his mouth close to hers and the heat from him made her close her eyes to try to keep her focus even a little.

“Marry me, choose me…” he whispered, his lips barely touching hers as he spoke. She gasped slightly at the feel of them, and she had no time to think or react as his hand on her cheek held her to him and he closed his mouth over hers in a soft kiss, his lips pressing lightly against hers, feeling her, learning the curve of her mouth.

His lips parted and he touched his tongue to her lips as delicately as warm sunlight, barely grazing it, tracing the lines and swells, and then tentatively tasting her tongue, and pulling her close to him, holding her against his bare chest.

Jillian felt the dizziness swirling all throughout her and strange feelings flowing in her body. His arms held her so close to him that she could feel the heat of his body on hers and it made her heart pound.

He moved his hand from her cheek and combed his fingers through her long black hair. “You deserve to be wanted,” he whispered, kissing her slowly, moving his lips over hers, “…I want you, Jillian.”

She did want to be wanted, and Reed had made it clear that he wanted other women.

“You deserve to be loved all of your life…” He trailed his lips over her cheek to her neck and electricity followed his tongue and his lips as they canvassed her dark skin. He kissed her just below her ear. “I can give you that, Jillian,” he whispered, moving his lips over her skin like he was breathing her in. “I can give you everything.”

Her head was swimming and her body was warmer than she could ever remember it being. She reached her hands up his chest and held on to his shoulders, trying to stop the lightness in her head by anchoring herself to him.

“Have you made love with Reed?” he asked quietly.

“No,” she whispered. Her answer made him smile.

He laid her back on the bed and she shook her head a little. “I’m not tired…” she tried to say, but his mouth closed over hers and he kissed her deeply, drawing up a fire in her belly she had never felt, and making her moan softly.

“That’s it… let it happen…” he whispered, his lips kissing hers gently, opening her mouth with his. “That’s my girl. Can you feel it?” He kissed her again, so very slowly, lingering on her lips and running his tongue over hers. “That’s what you need. That’s what you want, isn’t it? This is what I want. I want you, Jillian. So much. Let me give you what you need, everything you need, all of your life, starting right now.”

She forgot about the pain and anger that had seemed to saturate her whole being at the hotel and found herself getting lost in feelings Anderson was bringing up in her. He might be right, she reasoned. He might be an option, she thought as his words echoed through her mind and his mouth moved softly over hers.

If she married him, she would still be bringing their families together. Did it really matter which brother she was with? She began to wonder if he wasn’t right about it after all.

Anderson moved his lips to her cheek and kissed her lightly as his fingers traced trails over her neck. “Would you like a lifetime of this?” His mouth closed on her neck, kissing and sucking gently and she drew her breath in quickly and closed her hand over his arm.