Romance: The Damaged Billionaire Read online

  “It’ll get better with time. I’m sure things will turn around for you soon,” he says. “Things can’t be bad forever.”

  “I hope so. I don’t think things can get much more worse than they already are but I don’t want to test the waters to see if they can get any worse either,” I say.

  “That’s the way to look at things. Don’t be so down in yourself. At least you didn’t get too drunk and fall out of a window and tear up your back muscles at your own party,” he says with a smirk.

  I laugh and look at him in his eyes.

  We stare at each other for a few moments and then I break away. I am starting to feel a connection with him.

  He seems to actually care about what I have to say.

  Most guys just nod their way through a conversation but Archer actually listens.

  Wow.

  Perhaps I judged him wrong from when he first came into the hospital. He was in pain and in shock so maybe that played a role in his behavior.

  This guy in front of me now seemed sweet and genuine.

  “Okay, now that we’ve gotten rid of some of the awkwardness, I need you to do a huge favor for me,” he says.

  “Okay what is it?” I ask him.

  “I need you to give me a bath.”

  Chapter 5

  As I walk into the bathroom, I am amazed again.

  Someone actually lives in a place like this?

  The world isn’t fair.

  He has a deep garden tub with a standoff shower beside it. The tiles light up every time you step on one and there are double sinks under a very long mirror. I would hate to think how much that mirror cost.

  His bathroom also keeps up with the black and white theme he has going on in his house. I run the water in the tub, careful to make sure that it’s hot, but not so hot that it would cause him pain. Once I’m satisfied with the amount of water in the tub and the warmth of it, I head back to the living room to help him into the bathroom.

  “The water is ready now. I want you to lift your back slowly off of the chair,” I say as I gently reach out to him.

  He lifts his body very carefully and winces.

  I place an arm under one of his shoulders to take some of the pressure off of his back and he leans into me, allowing me to feel his body.

  Oh wow…

  This is one very toned body.

  His body is warm and hard. Holding my arm on his back, all I can feel is muscle.

  We walk slowly to the bathroom and once in, I slowly take off his back brace.

  I stare at his body a while taking it all in.

  He’s even more handsome looking than he was in the hospital. Some of the cuts are beginning to heal and some of the bruises are starting to fade a little.

  As I undress him, I try to be as professional as possible.

  But my hands seem to have a mind all of their own. I gently run my hands over his skin as I remove his shirt…

  I drop his loose trousers to the floor and…

  “Oh…”

  The words just jump out of my mouth.

  It’s hard not to say something when a large cock jumps out at you and stands to attention.

  Archer doesn’t acknowledge his hard on, nor my little yelp of surprise.

  Instead, he stands leaning against the wall – his rock hard body naked and tanned before me.

  Wow…

  I try to be professional, and try not to stare at his exposed cock.

  Taking a deep breath, I ease the magnificent body into the bath – and still trying really hard not to stare at the giant cock in front of me.

  Gently, I help him slide into the bathtub, and as he becomes submerged, he lets out a low moan.

  “Aw… this is just what I needed,” he says, as he gets comfortable in the tub. “It’s perfect for soothing my muscles and these cuts and bruises.”

  “So I’m taking it that the water isn’t too hot?” I ask.

  He shakes his head. “No, it’s just right. I could sit in here forever.”

  I reach behind him and grab a washcloth off of the rack and place it in the tub. I lather it up with some soap and begin to wash his body off.

  As a nurse, I’ve done this a thousand times. I’ve washed old and young, skinny and large. This is just part of the job.

  Archer Phillips is no different.

  He is a patient. Nothing more.

  I start with his shoulders and then rub the cloth across his chest. I dip the cloth back into the water and rinse the soap off his body.

  I am about to put the cloth away when he catches my hand.

  “I need you to do another favor for me,” he says as he looks at me in my eyes.

  I raise my brow. “What is it?”

  “I need you to help me relieve some tension,” he says. “As a professional nurse, you understand that I am in pain and I need some relief from my pain.”

  Chapter 6

  I stare at him in disbelief.

  “You want me to do what?” I ask in shock.

  Surely, he couldn’t be asking what I think he is asking.

  “It doesn’t have to be anything special - a hand job will do just fine,” he says. “I’ll add an extra thousand to your paycheck, if it’ll make you more comfortable. I’m only asking you in a professional nature.”

  I look at him and look down in the tub and see his cock peeking out the top of the water.

  With his large hand still around mine, he guides my hand down to his cock.

  I don’t know why but I don’t resist.

  I place the washcloth on the edge on the tub and slide my hand further down into the water. I wrap my hand around his cock and slowly begin to slide it up and down.

  He moans deeply and removes his hand from mine.

  His head leans back in tub and his eyes shut as my hand slowly comes up his member.

  “Yes…” he moans.

  My hand goes back down again and then back up.

  His large cock is strong and solid, and I can’t wrap my hand around it.

  “Yes…” he moans again.

  My hand goes faster, splashing the bath water.

  “Yes…”

  I beat his large cock harder.

  “Yes.”

  His muscles begin to tense.

  I rub harder.

  He grips the side of the tub.

  I stare at his face, his eyes still closed, and a smile comes over his mouth.

  I rub harder.

  “Yes…”

  The splashing becomes bigger.

  And…

  He grips the sides of the tub tightly.

  His eyes open.

  His mouth falls wide.

  Every muscle in his body tenses.

  His hand grabs my arm. Tight.

  I rub harder.

  Faster.

  His fingers dig into me.

  He sits up.

  I rub!

  And…

  “Yes!”

  And…

  A white stream shoots out of the water.

  “Awww…” he moans.

  Every muscle relaxes and he lies back in the tub.

  I slow my rubbing as his large cock begins to loose its hardness.

  When Archer smiles at me and I hand him a washcloth.

  “Thank you,” he smiles mischievously.

  What the hell did I just do?

  I can’t believe that I just did that.

  “That was wonderful,” he says.

  I nod my head and lean down to help him stand out of the water, without replying to him.

  What would I say anyway?

  I grab a towel, dry him off and place the back brace around him. I wrap the towel around his waist and lead him out of the bathroom. He tells me where his room is, and still in silence, I help him inside.

  I let him sit on the edge of the bed and go into the drawer to get him some pajamas.

  Grabbing a pair, I help him put them on. As I remove the towel from around his waist, I see his cock resting a
gainst his leg.

  He catches me staring at his member, and smiles.

  Damn.

  What sort of impression am I giving here?

  Once he is fully clothed, I lay him down and pull the blanket over him.

  “Goodnight, Nurse Lara.”

  I don’t reply.

  Instead, I turn and head out of the room.

  I need to clear my head and to do that, I need to be as far away as I can right now.

  Chapter 7

  As I sit on the chair in the living room, I replay what happened over and over.

  I feel so dirty.

  I have never crossed a line with a patient - no matter how tempting it has been - and it has been tempting.

  Cute guys came in and out the ER all the time for doing one stupid thing or another but I’ve always remained professional.

  Something about Archer was just different.

  Or was it that he just made me feel different?

  No matter how good he looks, or how well he listens, I still can’t help the disgust that I feel.

  I get up off of the chair and walk into the guest room, falling across my bed. I pick up my cell phone and dial Paula. I know that she will still be up because, as nurses, we stay up all types of crazy hours. We never have a regular sleep schedule, and hoping for one was probably a miracle in itself.

  “Hello,” she says into the phone.

  “Hey, Paula,” I say.

  “Soooo, how’d your first day go? How’s the house? Is it big? Does he have a lot of maids and butlers?”

  “Well, the penthouse is massive… and actually quite nice. He has a black and white theme going on and there are maids everywhere. And it’s nothing like how’d you expect it to be decorated. He has little personal touches. I kind of expected it to be sterile. I never really expected it to be what it is.”

  “Nice. Now I know that you did more than check out the penthouse, so what else happened? I want all of the details. And I do mean all of the details because it’s almost midnight and you’re just now calling me.”

  “We got to know each other.”

  “How so?”

  “Archer said that he would like to know something about me, so that it wouldn’t be awkward to work around each other. I told him about my breakup with Jack and my financial situation,” I say.

  “Really? You just laid it all out there, huh?” she asks and I can hear the smile in her voice.

  “He asked, so it was only fair that I let him know. He was a really good listener.”

  “You’re forced to become a good listener when you can’t move!” she laughs.

  “He said he wants to feel comfortable with me and I didn’t want to lie to him, so I told him my life story,” I say.

  “Okay. Sure. Your life story. Exactly what every billionaire wants to hear,” I can hear her laughing, “So how is it working for him? Is he a jerk? A sweetheart? Is he anything like the magazines make him out to be?”

  “I’m not really sure because it’s only been a day. He seems like a sweetheart and… almost human. But… um…”

  “What happened?”

  Paula knows straight away that something is up.

  “I think I crossed a professional boundary and it’s just my first day. I can already tell that this job is going to test me.”

  She goes quiet for minute and I have to look at the phone to make sure that she’s still there, and when I see her picture still on the screen, I know that she is.

  She must be trying to figure out what I could have possibly done.

  “So what’d you do? I know that you’re all about the being professional, so I never would think of you as breaking the rules,” she says. “Me, on the other hand, now that’s a whole different story.”

  “Um…” I struggle to get the words out, “He needed help taking a bath because, well, you know that he can’t do much with his back injury. So I helped him into the tub and washed him off.”

  “Doesn’t sound bad.”

  “When I was almost done, he asked me to help him relieve some stress,” I say slowly, hoping that she would catch on without having to go into detail about the situation.

  “Relieve some stress?!” she yelps in surprise.

  “Shhh… I don’t want the whole city to hear you.”

  “Did you have sex with him?”

  “No.”

  “Because I wouldn’t blame you if you did, the guy is one fine specimen,” she says. “Matter of fact, I probably would still be having sex with him right now and we would be having this conversation in the morning.”

  “I said no.”

  “What happened then?”

  “I just gave him a hand job in the tub… that’s all. Nothing more and nothing less,” I say.

  “Just a hand job?!” she laughs.

  “Yes.”

  “So, you really mean to tell me that you had that man naked and in water, and all you did was jerk him off? What’s wrong with you?!”

  I roll my eyes.

  I should’ve known that she wouldn’t see anything wrong in what I did.

  “It’s unprofessional. He is a patient and I am his nurse. We don’t cross those lines because they are vulnerable.”

  “You’re his private nurse - it’s not like anyone is going to know what you’re doing except for you and him. I don’t see anything wrong with it because if he said that he was stressed then technically it’s your duty as his nurse to relieve it for him. It’s our ethical duty to make sure that our patients are comfortable and happy.”

  “You know you’re a mess, right?” I say with a laugh.

  “I’ve been told that a time or two but look, don’t beat yourself up over it. After all, it’s not like you had sex with him. You just jerked him off and you only did that because he asked. You’re really just beating yourself up over nothing as far as I’m concerned.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  “Yes, I am right but if given the chance again, I hope you take advantage of the situation. You could use a little stress relief yourself, you know. Two stressed out people deserve to relieve some stress together. It’s a law,” she says.

  I sigh. “That’s not what I’m here to do and you know that. I’m just here to make this money, start paying off my debt, and go on about my merry life.”

  “You’re there to take care of him and trust me, that will do his body some good… and yours. You’re a nurse - you know stress kills more and more people every day,” she says.

  I laugh and shake my head. “I’m going to go now. I have to get up early in the morning and I can’t deal with you all night. You’re not making the situation any better.”

  She laughs. “I’m serious though. If the chance comes, I would ride him like a cowgirl. All you have to do is make sure that his back is supported and you could have a whole lot of fun. Trust me I know these things.”

  “Bye Paula,” I say as I hang up the phone and look at the ceiling.

  Sigh…

  That wasn’t the reassuring conversation I was after.

  But maybe she was right.

  I have no reason to feel bad about something that he actually asked me to do.

  It’s not like I touched his cock without permission. Although when I saw it, it was my first instinct to do anyway.

  Lying down, I close my eyes and just let the sleep take over.

  I will deal with it in the morning - right now I need rest.

  Chapter 8

  I wake up the next morning and stretch out.

  It is a little weird to be waking up in a million dollar penthouse but I have to admit, it’s something that I can get used to. I open my suitcase and pick out an outfit to wear for the day. I decide on my pink and black scrubs with an owl on them. I go get in the shower and wash my body off trying to forget about what happened last night in the tub.

  Maybe that was just a one-time thing and I wouldn’t have to do it again.

  And I suppose Archer does this sort of thing all the
time… I wonder if he has asked the maids to ‘relieve’ him after a stressful day?

  It was very hard to sat no to him – it is almost like he has a power over me.

  And if he asked me again, I don’t know if I would be able to tell him no.

  I get out of the shower, throw my clothes on, brush my teeth, and pull my hair back into a ponytail. I examine myself in the mirror and I look professional enough.

  I decide against putting on makeup because I didn’t have on any yesterday and I don’t want him to think that because I gave him a hand job that I was trying to do anything more with him.

  Even if it was all that my mind thought about.

  I walk out of the bathroom and head to Archer’s bedroom. I see him sitting up in bed with a pillow behind his back and he’s looking at TV. I knock gently on the wall and he flashes his million-dollar smile.

  “Good morning,” his seductive voice sends shivers through me.

  “Good morning.”

  “Did you sleep well?” he asks with a raised brow.

  “Yes, that bed is amazing. I would lay in it all day if I could. But I know that I have to help you around the house, so I broke myself away from it with the promise to return later,” I say with a smile.

  He laughs. “All the beds here are soft. I paid a lot of money to make sure that they were comfortable. Can’t be lying in something that will give you restless nights. A person needs something that you can fall into and be asleep within minutes.”

  I smile. “You’re right about that. Are you ready to go eat breakfast?”

  He nods his head. “Yes, I’m ready. I already had put my request in with the cook so I’m sure that it’s done by now.”

  “You have a cook?” I ask but as soon as I do I immediately regret it.

  Of course, he has a cook.

  I mean the guy has numerous maids so I’m not sure why I didn’t think that he would have a cook as well.

  “I have someone to do pretty much everything around here. It’s what helps keep this place together because I’m never really here. Plus… I don’t know how to do much myself. Last time I tried to cook something I nearly burned the place down,” he smiles.

  There is a hint of vulnerability in his eyes.

  “If you’re hardly here then why do you need so many people working for you?” I ask. “Isn’t that kind of a waste of money?”