The Billionaire's Bid (Mercury Billionaires Book 2) Read online

  “You’ll get your final salary as well as severance bonuses. This should give you enough until you’re able to find a new job.” Robert looked at me and forced a smile. “You’re what, twenty-four? You’re still really young, you’re smart and you’re a certified nurse. Any hospital, especially the bigger ones, will quickly pick you up. I’m sure about that.”

  At least they were paying me for letting me go.

  I shook his hand, thanked him for the opportunity and the three years of work. I departed and just sat in my car, stuck in the parking lot as I tried to process everything that just took place.

  “This has got to be some kind of sick joke,” I whispered to myself, finally allowing the streams of tears to flow down my face. I had debts to pay, my rent was piling up on me and now I had no job to stay afloat a while longer. What the fuck was I going to do?

  Dad might have a way to rescue me. He always had a backup plan.

  Not wanting to waste time, I started the car and drove over to my dad’s house, located just in the outskirts of town. He was a retired veteran who spent most of his days at home so I didn’t even bother calling him to let him know I was coming.

  When I got there, I found him on the porch, resting in his rocking chair playing video games on an iPad. That put a big smile on my face. At least my dad always had a sense of adventure and fun even in his old age.

  “Hey,” I greeted as soon as I got out of the car and up the porch. I gave him a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek and sat down on a nearby stool.

  “Oh, hey,” he greeted with a big smile. “Don’t you have work today, sweetie?”

  “I don’t have a job anymore, dad,” I told him straight. “They called me in today to tell me I’ve been laid off. They’re cutting costs and they can’t afford me.”

  He looked at me with those big, sad puppy eyes but even then he managed to smile and melt me inside. He reached forward and gave me a nice warm hug. “Don’t worry, baby. I can help you out if you need some money. You can always stay here if you can’t keep up with your apartment rent.”

  I shook my head and pointed to his house, “Dad, I don’t want to be a burden on you.”

  “You’re not,” he answered, even though we both knew he was financially struggling too. He never had to admit it, but one glance at his house and I knew he was cutting costs, too. It looked even emptier than before; he had been living all alone since my mom died ten years ago. He did hire a helper to clean and attend to his needs. Now he couldn’t even afford to keep her. Both our lives were going down the drain.

  I decided to let him have this one, “Okay, daddy. I promise to go straight to you if things get over my head… but you got to let me try and handle this by myself. I can go out there and find a new job. There are a lot of medical centers and hospitals. I’m sure I can land a spot somewhere.”

  That seemed satisfactory enough for him. We both weren’t really convinced though, knowing how hard the economy had fallen in recent years, but I was a nurse after all. It shouldn’t be that impossible to get a job.

  Content with the plan in mind, we headed inside for some snacks and to catch up with each other.

  Preston

  Trevor Wild was becoming a serious player in the field.

  Here I was, back at the Mercury Wild, seated at a VIP corner. I had nothing left to do for the whole month – I had my executive assistants and staff do my job – and I spent most of my free time here, getting drunk and flirting with girls left and right.

  It was during these lazy days that I learned Trevor was a force of nature that shouldn’t be toyed with. In just two months he and his girl have climbed the social ladder, befriending many of the elites and working their way into the upper circles. Everyone knew who he was now.

  As for me, I was just happy to be his friend. He reminded me of myself, in one way or another –

  “Hi, is this seat available?”

  I looked up and saw a beautiful redhead smiling down at me. I smiled back and welcomed her to sit by my side.

  “Care for a drink?” I asked as I handed her an empty glass of ice and poured some of my whiskey for her. She took it with no hesitation.

  “I’m Preston…” I started to introduce myself when she interrupted.

  “Preston Maxwell,” she said, never taking her eyes off me. “I’m Nicole. I hope I’m not bugging you or anything. I’m with a few friends and we’re all big fans of yours and…”

  Her voice faded into the background. I knew she was saying something but none of the words really sank into my head. All I could pay attention to was the gloss on her lips, the way her neck was so smooth and calling for my attention and how her dark green dress was so tight and fitting.

  “Oh, here are my friends,” her voice picked back up and I realized she called in four other girls to the table. One of them was actually quite cute, with dark short hair and hazel brown eyes. She seemed a little Asian too but I couldn’t tell what part of Asia she must be from.

  “Here’s Kim,” Nicole introduced the aforementioned Asian girl. “Then here’s Mary, Laura and Sabrina.”

  I’ve always had girls come to me. I can’t say I’m the most handsome man in the world but I did try my best to look clean and go to the gym regularly. Right now though, I wasn’t so sure if these girls were flocking to me because of my looks or because of my wallet.

  They didn’t waste time trying to get into my pants though. After just a few drinks and some small talk we were out of the seats and on the dance floor. Mercury Wild was primarily a bar and restaurant, but there was a dance floor and they did play some club tracks now and then. It wasn’t always a live band.

  While Nicole was the first one to come up to me, it was Kim that really got my attention. She was cute; she had this adorable accent and the way she moved her body – God, the way she moved! – It was like sex on a dance floor. When she looked at me, I could see the fires of a dragon ready to melt me away and I loved the excitement in her every action.

  “You’ve got a really devilish smile,” she told me when we did get back to our seats. Well, I sat down and she sat on my lap.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said as I pulled her in for a hug and pressed my lips against hers. The taste of whiskey and her succulent lips blended together into a smorgasbord of mind-blowing sensations. I pressed in deeper, parting her lips with my tongue and digging in deep. She was a playful, naughty little kitten.

  When our lips separated, she continued to land soft, playful pecks on my cheek and up to my ear. “I’ve got an itch…”

  I was having one heck of an erection and I knew she could feel it. I glanced over her for a second and saw her friends were busy on the dance floor. Nicole was by the bar getting a drink. I guessed they wouldn’t mind me “borrowing” Kim for a while.

  “Let me fix that for you,” I said with squinted eyes and bit down on her neck. When she moaned, I was so tempted to just fuck her right there. “Come with me.”

  She grinded her hips against mine to entice me even more. Only then did she get off and took my hand. I quickly followed her lead, leaving both her and my friends at Mercury Wild.

  Lyla

  “We should have gone to Mercury Wild,” Mikaela said as we sat in the club, sipping on our drinks.

  I was pretty happy with my margarita so I had no idea what her problem was. “Why? What’s wrong with this place?”

  “The music sucks,” Mikaela explained. “I want to dance with a stranger and get laid.”

  Karen rolled her eyes and said, “You’re just saying that because you’re still not getting over Jordan.”

  Mikaela looked hurt but surprisingly she nodded in agreement and said, “Yeah, I have to admit that much. He was sweet, he was responsible, he was funny and I have to say he was really good in the sack. I’d pay money just to get another round with that cock of his.”

  “Oh my fucking God,” I commented as I rolled my eyes.

  “Shut up,” Mikaela said to me but with a big
smile. “You’re just reacting that way because you’ve never slept with a guy. How in the world are you still a virgin? Well, besides being an uptight bitch.”

  Karen looked at me with such intensity and I realized I never really gave an explanation.

  My jaw dropped and I scowled at Mikaela. “I am not an uptight bitch.”

  “You are,” Karen pointed out and took a sip of her drink. “We’ve tried hooking you up a billion times and they all fucking crash and burn because you expect your boyfriends to not have sex with you. So what’s the deal? We all know you ain’t a saint. You’re not a nun. You are a single girl in a lame-ass club right now.”

  We all laughed and I figured I should at least give them some context.

  “I’m just usually too busy,” I stated. “My mom died when I was in middle school and it’s been really hard on me and my dad. He never lets it show but I can tell that he’s having a hard time. So you know, I couldn’t waste time flirting with boys. I had to work for me and my dad.”

  “I got an idea,” Mikaela then said. “You could sell your virginity to some rich playboy billionaire.”

  Both Karen’s and my faces twisted with confusion and wonder.

  “You can do that?” Karen asked. “Holy shit, if I knew I could do that I wouldn’t have slept with Ronnie back in senior high.”

  I giggled and shook my head, “What? No, I can’t possibly do that. Besides, other than my virginity, what else would a rich billionaire want from me? They already have all the money in the world to get all the pussy they want.”

  Mikaela grabbed me by the arm, “Trust me on this one! I visited an auction once and one girl even earned eight thousand dollars.”

  “Eight thousand, just for her virginity?” My eyes grew wide with amazement. I needed another drink so I flagged a waitress and ordered another glass. “That’s a shit ton of money just to be the first to have sex with someone.”

  I didn’t think too highly of it though. Sure, a guy who gets a girl’s virginity might have that claim but wouldn’t be worthwhile to build a relationship and keep sleeping with her? I didn’t care if I would be someone’s first as long as I would be their last.

  Mikaela opened her purse and showed us a brochure.

  “Here,” she pointed to the images of scantily-clad girls. “Look at this one. There’s going to be an auction soon. Only the richest men get to bid here and I bet you can sell yourself for a really high price. I mean, come on! What if you get someone who’ll pay five thousand for your virginity and another two thousand each time he wants to go out and fuck you?”

  “You’re oddly so nonchalant about me selling my pussy to complete strangers,” I told her with a slightly sarcastic tone.

  Karen shrugged, “I’d do it. Who knows, the winner might be handsome. That means I’d get money and a handsome boy-toy.”

  We all laughed but I knew I couldn’t resort to this kind of thing. It just wasn’t in me.

  “Hey, I got to hit the bathroom then I have to go,” I told them with a heavy heart. “I wish I could stay longer but I got to get up early tomorrow and continue job-hunting.”

  Karen grabbed my bag, “Sure. We’ll watch your things.”

  Mikaela looked at Karen and they shared a suspicious smile. I just ignored it and let them have their fun. I then headed to the bathroom and fixed myself up to leave and head back home to rest.

  ***

  About fifteen minutes after leaving the club, I found myself taking a detour on my way back home. I couldn’t even remember why I took that left turn. I was just so caught up thinking about my expenses when I realized I was nowhere near where I had to be. Now I had to waste time going through this countryside dirt road in order to get back to the main highway.

  “I can’t auction off my virginity,” I reminded myself as I drove in the darkness of the night. “That’s just fucking ridiculous. What kind of guy would even buy me? I… I can’t be that low right now, right? I can still get a job and pay all these stupid bills. Nothing more can happen. The worst has already passed.”

  Just as I said that, my car freaking broke down.

  Preston

  It was nearly one in the morning when I finally left Kim. We really took a detour – I got too anxious to get between her legs I claimed her right in my car. She was such a kinky little girl too and gave me an amazing blowjob while I drove us to her place. I never thought a girl so cute and so small could have such a sexual appetite.

  To be completely honest, I was exhausted. I thought I’d had enough sex this one night that I might be good for a week… ah, who the fuck was I kidding? By tomorrow I’d be anxious to screw around with another girl yet again. Mercury Wild would be the proper place to go to pick up a decent chick.

  Bump!

  “Huh?” I looked around and out the window. Where the heck was I? Damn it, I was too busy thinking about Kim that I completely ignored where I was going. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. Ugh… this was frustrating.

  I drove around for a few minutes. Turned out I was on some back road in the countryside. I wondered how long this stretch of dirt would go on until I could find myself back at an intersection that would lead me back into the city.

  “What the hell?” I told myself when I saw a car stopped ahead of me. It had all its lights on and I saw a woman standing out, waving for help. “Looks like I’m not the only sad idiot who got lost this way. Maybe she’ll know where the fuck we are.”

  I stopped the car just a few feet ahead of hers. I stepped out and turned to look at her. I quickly had to shield my eyes with a hand due to her bright headlights.

  “Hey, you okay here miss?” I asked as I got closer.

  “Oh thank God someone passed by,” the young woman exclaimed. I didn’t get to see her face yet but I noticed she had gorgeous long hair as black as night and a firm little body. She must have stood around five-feet-two, only up to my chest.

  I smiled and finally got close enough to see her face. She had a cute pair of eyes, crystal blue, which seemed to look at me with such analytical prowess it almost felt like she was studying me like a wild specimen.

  “O-oh,” she suddenly stammered as soon as she got a better look at me. “What I meant was that I’m happy I don’t have to w-wait here all by myself.”

  What a weird thing to say. I leaned against her car, standing right next to her, and tried to get an even better look at her. One thing I was sure of was that she had one amazing body. As petite as she was, she had a beautiful arching back, firm perky tits and a nice ass. I looked at her in her mini-skirt and black blouse but in my mind I was already trying to picture her naked.

  “Waiting?” I tried to piece all this together.

  “Y-yeah,” she stammered again. “My car broke down a few minutes ago but I already got a friend coming here to pick me up. You can leave though; I bet you’re in a hurry.”

  I raised an eyebrow in suspicion and asked her flat out, “Why are you in such a rush to shoo me off? Have we met somewhere before?”

  Suddenly she turned and looked at me hard and cold, like it was a cardinal sin that I forgot who she was.

  Then it hit me.

  “No freaking way,” was all I could say as I clapped my hands and shook my head in disbelief. “Wow. I thought nurses were all snarky smart-asses but I had to end up stranded here with the worst of them all.”

  That guaranteed a punch and she did hit me, right in the shoulder.

  “Ow!”

  “You asshole,” she shot back. “Now get out of here. I don’t want weird ideas popping into my friends’ heads.”

  I doubted she really had anyone coming to get her. I waited around another ten minutes and not once did she open her little purse to check her phone. She didn’t say another word to me and I could see her fidget a bit, maybe hoping I would leave her alone.

  Of course I didn’t. Even if she was a pain in the ass with her smart-ass mouth I didn’t want to just leave a girl like this in the dark.

  �
��No one’s coming,” I finally told her but careful enough to not insult her. I didn’t want her to know I figured she didn’t really call anyone. “Let me take you home.”

  She shook her head and shoved her finger at my face, “No way.”

  “It’s freezing cold,” I tried to reason with her. “Besides, I got here by accident. I got no clue as to where we are. You can help me get back to the city and I can get you home.”

  For a long while she just looked at me and I could see her think about every option she had. It was like I could picture all the thought bubbles above her head, each of them popping like a balloon as she quickly realized I was the only help she had right now.

  “C-can you call a towing company first?” she finally gave in and asked. “My phone’s dead; I forgot to bring my charger.”

  That was easy to arrange. I called in a towing company and let her talk to the guy on the other end. They said they’d pick it up in an hour but we could already go.

  She then walked up to me, the phone still in her hand, and asked, “C-can I bug you for one more favor? They’re asking for a down payment via credit card and I left my wallet at home.”

  Seriously? Even I didn’t really buy that excuse but I agreed anyway and handed her my card. She was the one who talked to the towing company. I guessed they accepted my card because she gave it back to me with a glimmer of a smile on her face.

  When we were ready to go she finally hopped into my car and we got on our way.

  “You know who I am,” I told her as we began on our way, “but I still don’t know your name.”

  “It’s Lyla,” she finally caved in and told me. She never looked my way, however, and always just stared out the window. “Lyla Bishop.”

  As we drove, she explained to me the general vicinity and helped me figure out where we were, how to get to her place and how I could drive back to the city from there. We did try to initiate some small talk but every topic ended after just a sentence or two. Talking to her was like talking to a brick wall.