Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
In which I’m frustrated because I still don’t understand the game we’re playing…and then Ocean surprises me with yet another move.
My existential crisis in the lavatory had at least one positive effect: my erection was gone. That solved my immediate problem, but the bigger issue still loomed. What the fuck was I going to do with Ocean?
The man himself gave me a scrutinizing look when I returned, the fact that I was wearing my jacket again not escaping his notice. “Did you…?”
He made a gesture that was easy enough to interpret. Should I lie? But what was the point?
“No.”
“Hmm.”
Was that a good hmm or a bad one? Jesus fuck, why did it even matter?
“Maybe I miscalculated,” Ocean said.
I swallowed. “In what way?”
He gave me another thorough inspection. “It doesn’t matter.”
“If it doesn’t matter, why bring it up in the first place?” I felt irritated, like I had sandpaper scraping against my skin, but from the inside. Wrong, that was how I felt, and I didn’t like it at all.
“Do you want me to find my original seat?”
“No.”
At least one question that was easy to answer.
“You seem irritated by me.”
“I am irritated. Doesn’t mean you’re the cause.”
Another thoughtful hmm. “You’re so hard to read.”
“So you told me.”
“It’s throwing me off my game. I thought I had you pegged, but something’s changed, and now I’m flying blind again.”
“What game? And why is it so important for you to know what I’m thinking or feeling?”
“You look tired,” he said as if it was a normal segue. He was giving me the mental equivalent of a whiplash.
“I did just fly to Australia from New York, so excuse me for not looking fresh.”
He frowned. “Today? You flew in today?”
“Today, yesterday, who the fuck knows with that crazy time difference?”
“Why didn’t you fly private?”
“How do you know that’s what I usually do?”
He rolled his eyes. “I know your net worth. There’s no way in hell you’re used to flying commercial.”
“And yet you are, and all the way back in economy, so what’s the story there?”
Ocean’s face tightened, sadness filling his eyes, and Jesus, I would do anything to take my words back and not make him feel this way.
“My father, or as I prefer to call him, The Bastard, cut me off.”
What? He couldn’t be serious. Why would Preston cut off his one and only son, his heir? “Why?”
“You know why.”
A profound sadness filled me, mixed with a good dose of fury. “Because of your sexuality.”
“Yep. He kicked me out and cut me off, all in one fell swoop.”
I didn’t know what to say. Nothing could even come close to capturing how sorry I was for him. “I can’t believe it. I know you’re not lying, but I can’t wrap my head around it.”
The shrug Ocean gave wasn’t quite as nonchalant as he’d likely intended. “If anyone knows what he’s capable of, it’s you.”
“Yes, but you’re his son. His only son. How can he reject you for who you are?”
“You were his best friend, and he betrayed you. I like to think it speaks volumes about him and says nothing about you or me.”
I let out a long sigh. So he was aware of what his father had done to me. In some way, that was a relief. At least I didn’t have to tell him. “Yeah. It’s profoundly sad, though, and I’m sorry for you. You deserved better.”
“So did you, but thank you.”
“What brings you to Melbourne?”
“Surfing lessons. I have a seasonal contract as a surfing instructor, though not in Melbourne specifically since the best surfing spots are outside of the city. I’ll be staying in Torquay.”
Surfing instructor? It explained the laid-back vibe, but I would’ve never guessed Preston’s son would choose that as a career. “What do you do in the off-season?”
“Teach surfing somewhere else. It’s always summer somewhere. I’ve worked all over the world, from Portugal to Hawaii, LA, Sydney.”
“You didn’t go to college?”
“I was a sophomore at Princeton when I came out. Involuntarily, I might add, since I had a hunch it wouldn’t go over well. But I was stupid and careless, and when someone posted pics of me with another guy online, my father found out. That was the end of my college aspirations, though my heart was never truly in it to begin with.”
All that because he was gay. Any hope I’d harbored that Preston regretted what he’d done to me, that he might want to make amends at some point, vanished. He was exactly the homophobic bastard he’d shown himself to be. Un-fucking-believable.
“You never told me what you’re doing on this flight,” Ocean said.
“My private jet was unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. Another one wasn’t available on such short notice, so I had to go commercial. I flew from New York to LA, then to Sydney, and now to Melbourne. It’s a real hardship, as you can imagine.”
He snorted. “Considering the level of luxury you’re used to, it would be. Have you gotten any sleep?”
“A few hours. At least they have those cubicles now on long haul flights, where you can put your seat flat and create a bed.”
“I’ve longingly stared at those from the back of the plane,” Ocean said dryly.
“It must’ve been a shock for you, adjusting to your new financial situation after your father cut you off.”
“No need to feel sorry for me. I’ve known I was gay since I was thirteen. I’ve also known my father would find out at some point and the consequences would be severe. Over the years, I managed to funnel money into accounts he knew nothing about. I wasn’t broke and destitute when he disowned me, but I also didn’t want to spend the financial reserves I had on a college degree I wasn’t passionate about to begin with. So I got a job and invested my savings wisely, and I’m doing okay.”
He’d been a smart, curious kid back in the day, and I was relieved to discover he’d done well for himself under the circumstances.
“What brings you to Melbourne?” he asked. “You said business, but what kind of business?”
“I’m considering buying a firm based here and wanted to be here in person.”
“So you’ll be here for a few days?”
“More like a few weeks. If the deal goes through, as I expect it to, it’ll mean I’m taking over this firm. I want to bring in new management and assure myself things are heading in the right direction before I leave.”
If Ocean thought it peculiar that the CEO of a company as big as mine would handle something like this himself rather than delegate, he didn’t say it. “Where will you be staying?”
“The Queen Victoria.”
He chuckled, those blue eyes of his sparkling. “I should’ve known. Let me guess, you’re in the presidential suite?”
“If I remember correctly, yes. Oliver, my personal assistant, who, by the way, is majorly peeved I didn’t ask him to accompany me, arranged it. But he knows what I want and has excellent taste, so I’m sure I won’t have any complaints.”
“Why didn’t you bring him with you?”
Oh Jesus, of course he would ask. I’d been a fool to bring it up. Not that I had anything to hide in that aspect. “He is the twinkiest twink that ever twinked with the most glorious bubble butt you’ve ever witnessed. He’s exceptionally good at his job, so I don’t want to fire him, but it’s a hard rule of mine never to sleep with my employees. But four weeks in proximity with Oliver would make a monk want to give up chastity, so no, he’s not coming.”
Ocean’s face broke open in a wide smile that lit up his eyes. “And he’s gay, I assume?”
“Oh yeah. Very gay. One hundred percent on the Kinsey scale. And single. Not that he’s interested in me, mind you. He made it crystal clear in the job interview that he would flat out refuse any sexual advances, which was a major reason for me to hire him.”
“So you’ll be here all by yourself for four weeks…”
“I’m sure I’ll be able to find some company, should I prefer it. Melbourne has quite the gay population, or so Oliver assured me. I checked my email while in LA, and he’d helpfully supplied me with a list of gay clubs and whatnot, as always anticipating my every whim.”
“I see your reputation as the rich bachelor playboy is warranted.”
I shrugged. “If the shoe fits…”
My reputation didn’t bother me, nor did all the stories in the tabloids. I’d been linked to pretty much every gay and bi celebrity on the planet, half of them not even single, but I didn’t care. I loved sex. I always had, and I was sick and tired of the heteronormative Puritan attitude toward anyone who dared to step outside the defined lines of normal. Yes, I had a lot of sex, but it was all consensual, I always made sure my partners were of age, and I didn’t fuck married men. So fucking sue me for enjoying life. Whatever.
“Who’s going to take care of you while you’re here?”
The unexpected question stopped me in my mental tracks. “Excuse me?”
“You need someone to take care of you.”
“I’m a grown-ass man, thank you very much, and I have been for a long time. Oliver arranges all practical things for me, so what else could I possibly need?”
“He’ll be in New York, I assume, with a sixteen-hour time difference, but that’s not what I meant. I’m talking about getting your groceries, doing your dry cleaning and laundry, arranging dinner for you, and whatnot. Ensuring you sleep and eat properly.”
He was delusional. No one had ever done that for me. Not since Victor. Oliver took care of a lot, but even he had lines he wouldn’t cross. But I had also never gone on a four-week solo trip abroad, so maybe I was in over my head. Oliver had certainly dropped some not-so-subtle clues that he had an opinion on my ability to manage on my own. But when Ocean described what he thought I needed, a deep longing had echoed inside me. Not that he needed to know that.
I cleared my throat. “Why? Are you applying for the job?”
He didn’t miss a beat. “I am, actually.”
My mouth dropped open. “What? What do you mean?”
“Okay, hear me out. Have you ever even been to Melbourne?”
I shook my head. What did that have to do with anything?
“I’ve been here three seasons in a row, so I know my way around. But my contract doesn’t start for another four weeks, and I have time on my hands. You need someone to take care of you, and I’m volunteering for the job. All I ask for in return is room and board.”
My head was spinning. “Room and board?”
“You put me up with you and cover all my meals so I don’t have living expenses.”
I had no idea what had come over Ocean, but this was insane on so many levels that I didn’t know where to start. “Even if I agreed to this harebrained scheme, why wouldn’t I pay you a normal salary? You said it yourself: you know what I’m worth.”
He leaned in, and my stomach fluttered at the intensity of his gaze. “Because paying me would make me an employee, and you don’t sleep with employees.”
“You seem awfully certain we’ll end up in bed together.”
He once again rolled his eyes at me. “Let’s not play dumb here. If we spend four weeks together, even if it’s only for a few hours a day, we will end up fucking each other’s brains out.”
Jesus fuck, why was that so hot? He said it so factually, not even remotely seductive, yet my cock hardened again.
With a slow move, Ocean put his hand on my cock again, and I sucked in a sharp breath. Arousal pulsed through me. I wanted him, and denying that was dumb indeed. In fact, I wanted him more than I had anything or anyone else in a long time. Even the thought of him breaking through that ennui, making me feel something again, was reason enough to agree to his crazy proposal.
“For four weeks, consider me your boyfriend, your boy toy, whose sole purpose is to take care of you and give you what you need.”
God help me, but even his voice turned me on now. “So you’ll be there to cater to my every whim?”
He chuckled, and the low, sexy sound vibrated through his hand. “I wouldn’t go quite that far, but I promise I’ll fulfill all your needs.”
I was missing some crucial piece of information because why would Ocean do this? What was he getting out of this? Surely, he could find a real job for these four weeks and make more than room and board.
“Trust me, Cash,” he said softly, so I did just that.
“Okay,” I heard myself say. “For the next four weeks, you’re mine.”
Ocean gave my cock a last squeeze, then let go. “Nah, that’s not how this is gonna work, but you’ll find that out soon enough.”
Wait, what ?