Page 23 of Desirable
Once we’re thoroughly sated and cleaned, he wraps me in a lush robe.
“How does one become a billionaire?” I ask.
"Do you want the long answer or the short answer?"
"Give me both."
"The short answer is, I was one of the original backers of PickMeUp! The long answer is that my grandfather was an oil tycoon. He sent my dad to public school and made him jump through hoops anytime he wanted money for something. I was happy to jump through those hoops, so when I had investment ideas when I was in college, I had to present them to my grandfather like I was presenting to a board. Some of my decisions were sound, others were less so, but I learned with each call I made.
"While I was in undergrad, I thought that the company papers he was bringing me were fake, but he had set up a company based on each decision I made, and it slowly grew. He gave me more capital than I asked for. When he passed, he left trusts for my family, including my sister who wasn't even his granddaughter, and he made me the trustee for all of them. He left me in charge of this company he set up and his oil business. So, while I get to live in the lap of luxury, my father has to ask me any time he wants money, which is way more often than he should. He expected that he was the heir apparent, and he wasn't."
We've made our way into the living room as he's told me this, pausing only to order room service.
"Do you talk to your dad?" I ask. I thread my fingers with his, and he stares at them, like holding hands is novel.
"Not much, but that’s not something you have to worry about. Not if I can help it."
It’s clear he has no interest in elaborating, so I let it rest for now. “Sounds to me like money isn’t everything.”
Parker brings our joined hands to his lips and kisses them. “Sometimes, it’s everything. Sometimes, it’s not. What is your family like? I know you have a sister out there doing some truly good work. Tell me about your parents.”
I lean back and away from him, reclining on the couch. Parker doesn’t miss the chance to keep touching me, so he hauls my legs onto his lap and massages my feet.
“You don’t know everything there is to know about me just by reading the dossier you pulled?” There is a bitter edge in my tone that stills Parker’s hands for a millisecond before he continues.
“I want to learn it organically. I might have background checks run on all my employees, but I want them to tell me about their dustups with the law or ask for help when they need it.”
I want to keep our conversation going and tell him about my family, but I pull my legs back and tuck them under me, unable to stop from poking the elephant in the room. Parker watches me warily, and it’s probably smart. “Employee? Do you fuck any of them too?”
The words are out before I can think better of them, and I push away from the couch to pace back to my room.
“Holly,” he calls, but there is a knock at the door. “Stay, please.”
It might be the first time I’ve heard him useplease, so I stay where I am while he gets our room service.
It was dumb of me to think that this would be anything more than just a onetime thing, and even then, it shouldn’t have been that much. I said we wouldn’t have sex, and I folded on that like a damp piece of paper. I fully acknowledge that I’m the one that’s throwing a bomb into the middle of our nice day, especially after him opening up, but I need to remember that he isn’t mine to keep.
He returns, pushing the cart, unable to meet my eye. We’re silent as he places the plates and drinks in front of us, making mimosas from the bottle of Dom that came with our order.
Parker seems to be struggling with where to start on this, so I decide, for the moment, to take pity on him. “My parents are good people. They did a lot of humanitarian work. I’m really the oddball, not doing something for the betterment of society.”
“What would you do? What would be your humanitarian cause?”
“I always wanted to be a teacher. I actually went to school for it originally, but our education system is so broken. We hurt children with testing for no reason. We tell them they don’t know their own minds but expect them to have the weight of the future on their shoulders. It was bleak looking at pursuing education long term, so I stopped.”
“That still doesn’t answer the question. What would your cause be?”
I sip my drink before meeting his eye. “I don’t know. It’s not something I’ve considered. Maybe a lobbyist, the good kind advocating for educational reform. Why would I consider it when it wasn’t ever going to be a tangible future?”
“Because it could be. At the very least, you could quit your job to figure out what you really want.”
“It’s a fantastical dream, Parker, but I live in the real world, even when you’re paying me to sleep with you.” I’m not brave enough to keep his eye when I say that, so I focus on loading fresh fruit into my yogurt.
“Would you rather I not pay you for this event? Would it make you feel better to know that you affect me in a way no one else has? If we didn’t both need food, I would have you on your back right now or bent over this couch.”
“Wow, you really know how to make a woman feel special, Parker.” I throw the spoon down and stand up.
“What is it that you want me to say to you, Holly?” He runs his hand through his hair, smoothing it to the side, the only sign of his frustration.