The Billion Dollar Contract: The Executive Collection (17 page)

Ethan leaned his elbow on the table and pondered Jasmine’s form for a while. She continued to eat, unfazed by this man who held so many cards, studying her as if she were a museum specimen. The only time he moved was when he refilled his wine glass. Without asking, he filled Jasmine’s glass halfway as well.

“Here’s the thing, Miss Bliss…”

“Jasmine, remember?”

Ethan faltered, almost spilling some of the wine on the tablecloth. “Jasmine.” He put the wine glass on the table and folded his hands beneath his chin. “I do like you. I wouldn’t have asked you out to a date first if I didn’t want to spend the time with you. Really, if it was only about sex, I would’ve taken you to my penthouse first. And last.”

“You know how to make a girl feel special.”

One hand now holding up his chin, Ethan slumped against the table and regarded his date with a simple smile. “You’re a funny woman. I’ve been with the humorous type before, but there’s something amusing about your attitude. Something freshly honest. I like it. If I didn’t, I’d pay you extra to walk around with a gag in your mouth.”

Jasmine answered him with her mouth full. “Scintillating.” A piece of lettuce fell from her teeth.

“It’s okay, Jasmine. I know where I stand in this relationship as well. The only reason why you put up with it is because of my money. I don’t blame you. I’d probably do the same thing if roles were reversed.”

Now there was a thought. Ethan Cole whoring himself out to Jasmine. No, there was another thought. Jasmine Bliss being a billionaire.
That one I really like.
“What a pair we make!”

“Indeed.” Ethan held up his wineglass. “Toast to it?”

Jasmine reached out for her glass as well, holding it up until it clinked against Ethan’s. “To money and fucking.”

They both took a sip of their wine, Ethan putting his glass down before Jasmine. “Does this mean you don’t want my present?”

Jasmine perked up. “You got me a present?”

“Of course. It’s Valentine’s Day. But if you don’t want it, I’ll take it back.”

“Now, now. That won’t be necessary. Let’s see what you got me.”

Rolling his eyes, Ethan reached into his front jacket pocket and extracted a small black box. Jasmine instantly recognized what it was.
Jewelry.
Her hand went straight to the ruby necklace adorning her chest.

Yet she was still surprised to open the box and find a pair of ruby and diamond earrings. The rubies were gorgeous, picking up the light as she moved the box. The tiny diamonds surrounded the gems, sparkling like beautiful waters. Ethan reached over and tucked back Jasmine’s hair and saw what lingered on her earlobe: a simple gold stud. “Good,” he said. “For a moment I was worried you didn’t have pierced ears. There was once… never mind.”

Jasmine didn’t ask what he wanted to say. She knew.
One of his exes.
She would’ve teased him about it, but for some reason Ethan withdrew. “Thank you,” she said instead. “They’re lovely.”

The only sound for another minute was Jasmine scraping up the last of her food on her plate. She wasn’t sure what she had eaten, but she knew it was delicious. Tangy and sweet on the tongue, with the slick finish in the sauce rolling around her mouth moments after she finished chewing. When she was about to ask Ethan what her dinner was, he said, “While I know that this is about sex, I don’t think it would be a bad idea if we got to know each other a bit better. I don’t just mean our favorite colors and where we went to college. I mean something deeper.”

Jasmine put down her utensils, wiped her fingers on her napkin, and looked at him even though her vision was distracted by the twinkling drops of earrings still shining on the table in front of her. “In what way?”

“Who knows? Whatever strikes our fancy to ask.”

“Oh, we’re asking questions? Do I get to go first?”

A twinge of another smile tugged at the corner of Ethan’s mouth. “Sure. Why don’t you have the honors?”

Jasmine sat up straight as her brain began to fester with questions. What should she ask? What kind of mischief could she get into with the things she asked Ethan Cole? Oh, there were so many things she wanted to know. How did he really get into business? How many women had he slept with? Did he really like her? There were so many possibilities, and so little time to choose. Eventually, she settled with, “Tell me a secret. Something that Page 6 doesn’t know about. Don’t worry, I remember that NDA I signed.” She gave him an exaggerated wink just in case she hadn’t driven the point home yet.

She expected him to think about it for a while. Plenty of time for her to down more wine.
God only knows what he expects from me tonight.
But Jasmine barely had her glass to her lips when she heard Ethan’s voice drift into her ear again. “I had a vasectomy three years ago.”

The wine glass hit the table. The first thing out of Jasmine’s mouth was, “You tell me this after all of that back in your office? About birth control?”

“Like I said, it’s a secret.”

“Why did you do that? Don’t want kids?”

Ethan flattened his jacket against his chest and sucked in his cheeks. “Let’s just say that a few years ago I realized what kind of situation I could easily be put into. I wanted to have control over that. You know me. I like to
control.
”

The word purred out of his throat. Jasmine lost the smarmy look on her face as that sound burrowed into her body. “Of course. So no kids then?”

“Maybe I’ll adopt one day.” Hastily Ethan downed his wine, but did not move to refill his glass again. “Or who knows. Maybe I’ll fall in love with a woman who has kids already.”

It was the first time Jasmine heard him talk about love like that. Even through the surface, most would have taken that sentence as sarcasm, Jasmine could tell from the way he avoided looking at her that he was thinking real thoughts. From the heart? That was something she couldn’t decide. “Either one of those would be good. I’m sure you could give any child a wonderful childhood.”

“Money doesn’t buy a great childhood.” That was all he was going to say about that. “Now it’s my turn. I get to ask you something, and you have to answer truthfully.”

“All right.” Jasmine had to prepare herself. Who knew what this man would ask her?

He leaned in, that no good twinkle back in his eye. “Tell me your biggest sexual fantasy.”

Okay, so Jasmine wasn’t quite prepared for that. “I beg your pardon?”

“Come on. We’ve been playing with my fantasies since this whole charade started. I’d like to hear what yours are now. Maybe I’ll get some ideas.”

“Why, it’s almost like you’re taking my pleasure into account. What a man!”

“Hmph. Deflecting, I see. Common tactic in the business world. But I’ll get an answer out of you sometime before the end of the night. Like right now.”

Jasmine shifted in her seat, as if it were catching on fire and she wasn’t sure if she sat on a bed of coals. “I don’t really have one.”

“Nonsense. Everyone has one. What, think it’s too kinky? Too vanilla? I won’t judge. I’m the last person in the world who should be judging that.”

Still, Jasmine wasn’t comfortable blurting out anything. Probably because she didn’t have an answer at the forefront of her mind. Of course she had fantasies. She had to have something to get off to when she was by herself. But they weren’t anything special. Perhaps they were too vanilla. Ethan Cole was probably the type of man who was offended by vanilla. Didn’t matter if he said that he wouldn’t judge. He totally would.

“I’m not into anything special in particular. Just give it to me good.”

At first Jasmine interpreted the silence as Ethan judging her. She had gathered over the weeks that he was a very judgmental man, even if he kept his opinions to himself.
I mean, if he’s going to be judgmental, he might as well keep them to himself, right?
Without any more wine to drink, Jasmine reached for a glass of water and used it to wet her lips.

“I’m not sure I would say that that’s a good enough answer. But I’ll let it slide for now. Maybe you come up with something better later. Maybe… when you are inspired?”

Jasmine didn’t respond. He could say whatever he wanted right now.

But he didn’t say anything. In his true fashion, Ethan took her hand, kissed it, gained her attention, and drew her in to a heavy kiss around the corner of the table.

For the briefest moment Jasmine deluded herself that this was a genuine kiss of passion. That the man on the other side of this kiss was in love with her, wanted to share his affections with her, and wanted to bring her some joy on her Valentine’s Day. But the grown-up part of her knew that it was a ruse. Even though she was okay with it in practice, in her heart she was a little hurt. It didn’t matter that this man was paying her three million dollars. He didn’t really love her. And on Valentine’s Day, that really sucked.

“Come on.” Ethan leaned out of the kiss, released her hand, and tucked something into his front pocket. “Let’s get out of here.”

He was the type of man who didn’t have to pay for his meal. It went straight to his tab. Some accountant somewhere was going to pay on his behalf, and he would never see a dent in his bank account. Jasmine would laugh, but Ethan was picking up his strides and expecting her to follow. They went to his limousine out front, which was already waiting as if the driver had mind-reading capabilities.
So that’s what he was doing in his pocket.
Probably pushing a button to summon the driver. Rich people.

Ethan opened the door for her, but didn’t say anything after he shut it behind her and got in on the other side of the limousine. The car pulled away, and within a few minutes they were already at his penthouse building.
So that’s how it is.
A part of her wished that they could have gone to his mansion in the hills. But the penthouse was nice, if a bit sterile.

She was offered another alcoholic drink but declined. Ethan poured himself a swig of bourbon, removing his jacket and tossing it over the back of the couch. Jasmine didn’t know what he wanted her to do, so she stood in the middle of the penthouse, staring at the pictures of flowers and remembering when this man first took her. It should have aroused her, but she was nervous for reasons she didn’t understand.

A sigh escaped Ethan’s lips as he sat on the couch with his glass. He patted the space beside him; Jasmine went to sit on the very edge of the couch.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he said. “Thanks for spending it with me.”

“Not like I had much choice,” Jasmine mumbled. “I mean, I should be thanking you for choosing to spend it with me. You could’ve gone on a date with any woman in the world probably. Instead you chose the woman you’re paying to give you blowjobs after lunch.”

“What can I say? I’m a man who likes the familiar, after he has something familiar to cling to.”

“You mean there isn’t any woman you would’ve rather spent today with?”

“There is nothing wrong with you.”

It was almost romantic. Too romantic. Having just wished for more romance only an hour before, Jasmine couldn’t stand it creeping up her skin now. “Want a blowjob?”

A surprised scoff blew past Ethan’s lips. “No thanks. Not that you don’t give great ones, but I was thinking of something else tonight.”

“Oh?” Of course Jasmine knew that they would probably have sex. But she wasn’t sure what to expect, especially now that they were back here. “Dare I ask?”

The glass went on the coffee table in front of the couch. Ethan’s other hand took Jasmine’s again, and soon enough she was drawn into his embrace, strong, alert, and full of unanticipated life as he pushed her against the couch and placed his lips upon hers.

At least they were getting right to it. Jasmine wasn’t sure how much longer she could stand Ethan pretending at romance with her. It wasn’t like she bought any of it for a minute…

Ethan pulled away from her and sat up. Jasmine remained lying on the couch, confused but not put off. “What’s wrong? Decided you want that blowjob after all?”

“No.” Ethan stood up, one hand on his face while the other rubbed the bottom of his back. “Let’s go to the bedroom.”

Definitely no romance now. Shrugging, Jasmine stood and smoothed out her purple dress. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she followed Ethan into the bedroom, not missing the fact that he was shutting off the lights in the living area.
Am I staying the night?
She was about to ask when she saw the newspaper on the dresser. It was the financial section, opened to a picture of the Jackson-Cole building, and featuring headshots of both Jackson and Cole. Ethan looked coolly into the camera, while Jackson grinned like a schoolboy about to get into trouble. Jasmine shivered.