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I knocked on my friend Casey’s door, waiting impatiently for her to answer it. When she did, she pushed it open and threw her arms around me, pulling me in for a tight hug.
“Why are you knocking?” she asked, tugging me by the arm into the house behind her. “You never knock.”
“I haven’t been here in a year,” I said, laughing. “I didn’t think I could just walk in.”
“You never have to knock,” she said, waving me off as I followed her through the front hallway and into her living room, where she had pizza and wine ready for us on the coffee table. I flopped down on her couch and took my shoes off, and she sat down next to me.
“I’m so excited that you’re here,” she said. She beamed at me as she took a bite of her pizza. Casey had a way of making you feel special just by looking at you, and I found myself settling into a familiar feeling of comfort and love with my friend within minutes, as if we hadn’t been apart for months.
“I am, too,” I said, looking around the place. Casey still lived in her childhood home, which she had gotten after her parents had died a couple of years back. As the oldest, it was actually given to her brother, but he had moved on to grow his own fortune and purchase several properties all over the world. He had left it to her, and being there again was like being transported back to my own childhood. I used to spend days here at a time—entire weekends going in and out of this house, playing around the neighborhood with Casey.
“So how have you been?” she asked. “You look great—tired, but great.”
“I am tired,” I said, leaning back against the couch and sinking into it. “I’m in my final year of school. I have endless work to do, and I feel like I never sleep.”
“I can’t believe you keep going through school,” my friend said. “And at an Ivy League. No wonder you have so much work to do.”
“I think it’ll be worth it, though,” I told her. I had been sure at one point—when I first took on all the loans I’d needed to go to Yale and live on campus, I had felt like there was nothing stopping me. Now, as I’d progressed through school, I’d only grown more and more unsure about my future. “I hope it’ll be worth it. With as much debt as I’m in—”
“You need to marry a rich man to take care of your loans,” Casey said, looking up at the ceiling, her voice dreamy. “That’s what I’m looking for.”
I laughed, but didn’t respond. The truth was, I’d had my eye on only one man my entire life and it was Casey’s brother, Travis, who was completely off-limits. He was also ridiculously rich, but I had fallen for him far before he had made his fortune, back when we were kids and he had given me my first kiss on prom night.
It was then that Casey’s phone went off, and she reached into her purse to pull it out and look at the screen. I glanced at it to see Travis’ face, waiting patiently for her to pick up a video call. I felt my heart flutter in my chest, something like panic course through me as I quickly snuck my hands up to my face and pushed my hair back, smoothing the front of my shirt down. I hadn’t seen Travis since that last night he’d kissed me, but I’d thought about him ever since.
Casey answered the called and the screen widened to show Travis, a grin on his handsome face. I kept myself out of view. I was nervous to talk to Travis, especially in front of Casey. Throughout high school, Casey always got extremely annoyed whenever any girl mentioned that they thought her brother was hot. She had been glad to make friends with me knowing that I didn’t have any interest in him, that I was her friend alone. I had kept my crush on him private for that reason, and wasn’t sure that I would be able to hide my feelings for him if I had to talk to him for the first time right in front of her.
“What’s up?” said Casey, her voice excited. She and her brother had always been close, and I knew that they had these video calls at least once a week while they were apart in separate cities.
“Hey, sis,” Travis said, and just the sound of his voice made something shift in my body, made my stomach feel light and fluttery. He was so handsome—his dark hair was pushed back from his face, his hazel eyes sparkling with light. Casey caught me off-guard by turning the camera toward me then, and I watched Travis’ face light up when he saw me. It made my heart do a flip in my chest and for a second I could only stare at him. I hoped to god that Casey didn’t notice the pause between us as we drank each other in for a moment.
“Hi,” I said to him finally, breaking the silence.
“Jenna,” he said. “Wow.”
“Um, I was just over here visiting Casey. How are you?”
“I’m good,” he said, looking over at Casey, then back at me. “How are you guys?”
“We’re good,” I said, my throat dry. I had to look away from the screen. I felt his eyes on me for an instant before Casey started to speak. He was studying my face intently, making me blush under his gaze. I only hoped that Casey didn’t notice my reaction; not only would it be embarrassing, but I was sure that she would be angry at me if she found out how I felt about her brother, that I had always carried a torch for him even when we were kids.
“So are you ready for this big family bash, Travis?” she asked. “It’s going to be crazy.”
“It is going to be interesting,” he said, rubbing his hand over his mouth. His eyes were still on me even as he spoke to his sister, and I prayed that he would look away from me before she noticed how focused he was. I knew then that he was remembering that kiss, too, the first one we’d had. It had been prom night and I hadn’t had a date; we’d gone home to Casey’s after the dance and she’d fallen asleep after a long night of dancing, but I had stayed up. Travis had been outside when I stepped out for some air and we had barely talked before he leaned his face down to kiss me, a kiss that was soft and sweet before he pulled away. He had left for college the next day.
“Why don’t you come, Jenna?” Travis asked. I blinked at him, looking over at Casey. I had zoned out and wasn’t sure what he was talking about anymore, hadn’t been focused on anything but the memory of our first kiss.
“Come where?”
“On vacation!” Casey said. “It’s my mom’s fiftieth birthday. She would love it if you were there.”
“I don’t know, I—”
“Come on,” said Travis. “It’s a private island in the Florida Keys. Beautiful place. You’ll love it.”
“You definitely need a rest,” Casey said. “You said you were exhausted.”
“I guess I could go,” I said, realizing that neither of them were going to let me say no anyway. A vacation did sound great, even if it meant being around Travis in person for a few days.
“Good,” said Travis, who was chewing on his lip as he looked at me. “Good girl. Case, make sure you bring suntan lotion this time, you know—”
“Okay, dad,” Casey said, rolling her eyes.
“I’m just saying,” he said with a grin. “I’d better go. I’ll send you the final details later today. See you later.”
“Bye, Travis,” I said softly, and he winked at us before he hung up. I was still feeling fidgety and warm as I had been while he was on screen. I looked at Casey, studying her face to find out if she noticed how I had been affected by Travis on the phone. She didn’t look like she noticed—she was smiling and bouncy, excited that I was going to go on the vacation with her. I was excited, too. It meant that our couple of days together was going to expand into the full week. It also meant that I would have to see Travis in person, which I imagined would be much more difficult than seeing him smiling on a phone screen.
I SAT BACK IN MY LEATHER office chair, spinning in a slow circle as I put the phone to my lips and thought of Jenna. I hadn’t seen her since we were in high school. I had just graduated, actually, and the next day I headed away to college for a year before dropping out and starting my business. I remembered vividly the kiss we had shared outside before I had left—it had been soft and sweet, perfect; I’d wanted it to go deeper, to taste her mouth, but she had been so young and delicate that I knew I couldn’t go that far with her. She wasn’t a young girl anymore, though, and she hadn’t looked remotely delicate to me on the screen. Her strawberry-blonde hair was full, thick, and curly around a heart-shaped face. Those green eyes had been focused on me more intently than my sister had probably realized, and I knew in an instant that she was thinking the same thing I was.
I stood up and left my office, going next door to see my business partner. His door was open, and I went inside and shut it behind me. My partner, Arthur Monroe, was also my best friend and my closest confidant, other than my sister. But this wasn’t something that I could talk to my sister about—I could never let on that I had feelings for Jenna. Casey would be heartbroken, I knew, and feel betrayed by the both of us. I couldn’t stand the thought of it being that way between Casey and I, not when she was one of the most important people in my life.
“What’s up?” Arthur asked, propping his feet up on the desk.
“I may have just done something really stupid,” I said.
“Again?” He was grinning. I nodded; I had to give him that—I was prone to making impulsive decisions that didn’t always lead to the best of consequences.
“Does it have anything to do with a girl?”
“Yep,” I said. He shook his head. “Always. That’s why I don’t date women.”
“Right. That’s why.”
He chuckled. “So what did you do? Who is she?”
“You know my sister Casey? It’s her best friend. We’ve known each other since we were kids. I saw her on a video call with my sister and I invited her to our family vacation next week.”
“Why’d you do that?”
“I want her,” I said. “Seeing her again brought it all back. I had the biggest crush on her in high school and now she’s even more perfect.”
“So what’s the big deal?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest. “She married? Got a kid?”
“Casey would never go for it. She would hate both of us.”
Arthur rolled his eyes. He had never been the type of person to care much about how other people felt about his decisions, which was why I had chosen him as my partner. He was a ruthless businessman, intent on getting what he wanted, and was the only person I’d met who matched me in terms of ambition and drive.
“She would get over it.”
“I can’t take the risk,” I said. “I just—the moment I saw her again, I knew I had to have her. I have to.”
“So do it,” Arthur shrugged. “Keep it a secret while you’re there. It’ll make for some killer sex.”
I knew that was true. I could only imagine Jenna’s body now since I hadn’t gotten to see it, but I imagined that it had filled out as she’d grown into it just as her face had. I wanted to touch her no matter how she had grown up—my main desire was to see that look in her eyes again, wide and caught off-guard, surprising her by showing her all the things I could do to her body. But it didn’t feel like it was just about sex; I wanted to talk to Jenna again. She had always been so funny and sweet that being around her as a teenager had been agonizing knowing that I had to keep a respective distance.
“Is she coming with your sister to the island? How are you going to make it work?”
“I have a private jet and property on the island with plenty of room, so it’s not like we’re going to have to squeeze her in.”
“That’s kind of too bad. It’d be nice if you had to share a room.”
I laughed. “Probably wouldn’t happen.”
“I think you should go for it. At least have some kind of fling. Feels good to get someone you’ve wanted for a long time.”
“I think I will,” I said. I had been meek back then, timid. But I wasn’t a teenager anymore—I had become a billionaire, built my business from the ground-up because I was capable and determined. I took what I wanted. And I wanted Jenna.
“I have to get back to work,” he said. “Let me know how it goes.”
“I will,” I told him. “Wish me luck.”
He gave me a thumbs-up and I stood up, leaving his office and going back into my own. I felt good now that I was determined I was going to make Jenna mine. It wasn’t just about the kiss or her body, but the fact that things had felt so pure between us before. I didn’t know how it was going to go over with Casey, but I tried not to think about it as I finished my day out excited for the upcoming vacation.
Keep reading the rest of The Forbidden Billionaire – it is available online, check Lexi Aurora’s author page for its availability.
