Falling For The Billionaire Playboy: Rivalry & Passion

JAKE'S POV

"You're all chirpy. What evil have you committed this fine morning?" Donna asks, swiveling around on her chair to see me while I walk pass her. I don't answer and she takes this as an avenue to follow me into my office.

"Are you excited because of the review that Business Hut wrote for JDR? I know I am."

"Donna, darling, you've worked for me for three years now. Have you ever seen me smile at something a magazine company wrote about me?" She frowns and bites her bottom lip, thinking deeply. My gaze lingers on her cherry pink lips as I relax back into my chair, wishing I were her teeth.

"You're pleased because they made Aiko Resorts look like a village motel compared to what you haven't even built yet." I wiggle my brows at her and she shakes her head at me, a smile on her face. I drum my fingers on my desk, basking in this little victory. My mind quickly goes to how he looked yesterday seeing me with his girl.

Gina.

Oh, how I enjoyed her company the night before. The feel of her glossy skin is still fresh in my memory and the taste of her lips is something I wasn't forgetting anytime soon – well, not until I go to the club again this night and hook up with another girl.

"Well, you have a board meeting tomorrow afternoon." She drops some files on my desk and pushes it closer to me, leaning over my desk in the process. I can see down her shirt and I love what I see.

"I thought that meeting was today?" I say prying my eyes away from her chest. I willingly looked away from her bra; that's how irritated I was by this new development.

"Well, it was supposed to be today, but you missed it. So now, it's tomorrow."

I look at my watch for the time. It is way past twelve and the meeting was supposed to be by nine. Shit.

"Why didn't you call me?"

"Do you wanna check my call history? I called everybody in charge of getting you ready in time for work but none of them seemed to know how to use their phones properly." She sneers at me and mutters, "Imagine a grown ass CEO not being able to wake up by himself and get to work on time."

"Think of it this way Donna, I'm creating job opportunities for people. If I fire my alarm clock, my blinds opener, the person who makes me breakfast, the person who serves me breakfast, the person who picks out my clothes, the person who styles my hair and all those other people involved in prepping me, there'll be about fifty more jobless people in the world. Now, the world may think of me as cold-hearted, promiscuous bastard, but I'm not that heartless darling."

"God, I want to be your mistress. It must be so good to have that much money." My eyes light up at her statement and I lean in, staring up at her with a mischievous glint in my eyes.

"You can be. I'll be the best lover you ever had and I promise I'll take care of you for the rest of your life. You wouldn't even have to work anymore. All day pampering and all-night sexy loving." My brows shoot up and down repeatedly in rapid motions and she crumples her face in distaste.

"So I can watch you bring home Sheila from London on Monday and then Athena from Greece the day after? No thanks."

"Oh, honey, you don't have to watch. You can join in the fun. The more the merrier, you'll love it!"

"I am surprised you don't have that many sexual harassment lawsuits against you by no. Or chlamydia."

"That's what Jason's here for." She groans and rolls her eyes before strutting out of my office. I bring out my phone and quickly open my chat with Gina. She sent me two red hearts attached to her good morning greeting. I laugh to myself thinking how truly great a morning it was when I woke up beside her a couple of hours earlier. I loved how she screamed my name while we were getting nasty in my game room.

 Gina: So, u r the infamous Jake D'Artagnan. It would have been nice to know I was shagging my fiancé's nemesis, you know.

Me: Well, I thought it was pretty obvious when we went to my mansion and the gate had JD written in bold, fine steel.

Gina: Yes, because anyone can easily guess that JD means Jacob D'Artagnan.

Me: Quick question. Why are you cheating on Mattie? Doesn't he satisfy you to the best of his tiny abilities?

Gina: I'll have you know, his ABILITIES are not tiny. He's a virgin and he wants to keep himself till after we're married.

In all my years on earth, I have never heard something this ridiculous, and I am friends with Jason so that's saying something. I stare at her text one more time and burst out in boisterous laughter, not being able to control myself anymore.

Matthew Declancey being a virgin was just as likely as me being gay. Back in college, he and I and competed for who could take the most girls home. I won that, obviously, but that didn't stop him from sleeping with half the girls in the science block. Matthew isn't a virgin, there is another reason why he doesn't want to sleep with his girlfriend and I am going to find out why.

Gina: You free tonight?

I stare at her text feeling a wave of contempt wash over me. She was cute and sexy as hell when we first met, but now she's just clingy and annoying.

Me: I'm afraid not. Business meeting. TTYL.

 ***

"Construction has commenced," Jason announces as he strolls into my office, slapping a file jacket on my table. "Crystal News covered the ground breaking ceremony by the way. Shocking how the CEO of a company doesn't show up for his own groundbreaking ceremony."

"What can I say? I had an emergency. Mary-Ann wasn't in a great mood. She hadn't had sex for weeks. I couldn't send out an unsatiated female out into the world, now, could I?"

"Look at the good work you're doing for society. How dare those suckers at the Daily Mail call you a lothario and promiscuous asshole? The outrage!" He moves over to where I am and sits on my desk so that he has a clear view of his woman.

"When is the launch party for this resort again?" he asks, not once taking his eyes off her.

"Em, lemme see, a month after it is completed, so let's say spring 2027?" He did a double take.

"You really want to build a luxury resort with over 700 rooms in under three years?"

"Aiko Resorts was built in five. My plan is to create better in less time. 'Sources close to D'Artagnan reveal a relentless commitment to innovation, exceptional service, and an unwavering passion for creating unforgettable experiences. "Jacob's vision is to redefine the art of relaxation," says an insider. "He's sparing no expense to ensure JDR Resorts becomes the gold standard." Key point there being the Gold Standard. The Business Hut never lies."

"Wow," he muses. "I cannot believe you memorized that but you somehow managed to forget about your groundbreaking ceremony. How conceited are you?"

I stand up and move over to my office closet as soon as the reminder I set to attend my groundbreaking ceremony goes off. Safe to say I should have checked whether it was set to 'AM' and not 'PM' before setting the reminder. Jason switches it off on my behalf and approaches me.

"Prepare yourself my good man. We are going to congratulate the future Mr. and Mrs. Declancey on their engagement."

"You seriously want to crash his engagement party?" he asks, watching me select the best attire for the occasion. I pride myself in being the most handsome man in any room I'm in, so I take extra care to select the best tux out of the best.

"I mean, I had asked him nicely for an invitation, but he never responded to it. I want to assume that it got lost in transition and that he's desperately waiting for me to show up so I can slow dance with his future bride." As the stuck-up man that he is, Jason didn't find that funny at all.

"Dude, you slept with Gina that night, didn't you?"

"Of course I did."

And also last night and this morning.

"But I didn't know then that she was engaged to him," I add quickly seeing his expression turn grim. Jason was also a strong believer in not helping someone cheat on their partner. But unlike him, he didn't have a nemesis he wanted to humiliate by besting him in pleasuring his fiancé.

I take off my jacket and move to the Balmain dress shirt I had on, stripping with such efficiency, I have Jason staring at me in amazement. Years and years of practice finally paying off.

"It's not my fault that he's marrying a whore. But what can I do? I go in there and expose her, suddenly I'm the bad guy. Besides, he wouldn't listen to me. He couldn't even be decent enough to send me an invite."

Jason studies me closely while I construct my bowtie. He could tell when I was lying and right now, it seems like he is picking up on my little fib.

"Did you really ask him to send you an invite?"

"Of course not! I'm not that clingy. Donna told me about it this morning. She heard it from his secretary and so I decided last minute to go." I wear my Brioni tux and look at my reflection in the full-length mirror. I look so good, I want to do me!

"What do you mean last minute?"

"When you came in here and started staring at my secretary's ass, I decided we would go out and find you a date, and where better to find desperate, single girls than at an engagement party?"

I assess myself one more time and, feeling satisfied with what I saw, turn around and grab a hold of Jason before he gets the chance to escape.

The party is at his hotel's banquet hall.

A majestic, 12-foot tall, crystal-encrusted entrance archway frames the doorway, adorned with fresh flower garlands and lush greenery. Soft golden lights emanate from the archway, setting the tone for luxury. The ballroom walls are draped with lavish silk fabrics in champagne and ivory hues.

Crystal chandeliers suspended from the ceiling, marble floors are polished to a high gloss, reflecting the vibrant colors of the decorations and all the guests who are present there.

I look up and see Gina smiling broadly with her friends, talking animatedly while occasionally flashing them the rock that sits on her finger. She looks happy and content – Mattie ought to be grateful for my role in this.

The man of the hour however is nowhere to be found. Taking a champagne flute off the trays as one of the waiters pass, I pull Jason deep into the crowd where I see a bevy of beauties standing by the round tables dressed in crisp white linens.

"You in that dress makes Catherine Aldridge look like vintage charm," I say to the lady wearing a pastel cocktail dress with spaghetti straps. She smiles at me, her face getting prettier as she does. I call dibs on her internally.

"Are you mocking me?" she asks, her voice as gentle as spring water. A nice voice is always a plus.

"Quite the opposite, really. I think Catherine Aldridge can't hold a candle to you."

From the corner of my eye, I see Gina approach me.

Shit. Now she's going to want to talk to me.

I am not in the mood for her today, which, come to think of it is absurd because today is about her and I am the one crashing her party. I decide I have had enough of the bride-to-be for one day and excuse myself from the table. I manage to maneuver myself away from her until I am in the safety of the bathroom hallway. Sensing her relentlessness, I inch further inside until I can hear male voices coming from the urinal.

"…I think you have a pretty face, too. That tux sure does make you look delicious." Laughter follows after this statement and I poke my head in to see who it is.

Standing there, clad in a custom-made Zegna tux, is Mattie, blushing his rouge off at the compliment meted to him. Despite myself, I can't help agreeing with the other guy about how good Mattie looks.

I clear my throat to make my presence known to the two of them. Mattie jumps, startled, and clutches his chest, breathing apprehensively. His eyes turn to slits when he sees me.

"Fancy seeing you here. Now, what the hell is the groom-to-be doing in a bathroom when his bride-to-be is out in the deep sea wading off the sharks all by herself?" The two men share a look and Mattie's companion clears his throat awkwardly.

"I'll see you later Steve," Mattie says. Steve nods, gives him a light pat on his shoulder and walks away. I can swear that Steve checked me out as he walks past me.

"What the hell are you doing here, Jacob?" I hate it when he calls me Jacob. It gives me PTSD from when my mom used to call my name like that each time I did something wrong.

"I came to congratulate my friend on getting hitched," I respond casually. He frowns, and moves closer to me.

"We're not friends Jacob. I know you're deluded but you can't possibly be that deluded." I chuckle softly. I'm three inches taller than Matthew and so I take a step closer to him to assert my height dominance over him. I know how much he hates that I'm taller and I make a show of looking down at him to piss him off even more.

"Pretty Face, I was talking about Gina. We're friends, you know." I can see directly into his ocean blue eyes. I never noticed before, but they are pretty.

I notice him stiffen. His pupils dilate and his cheeks flush.

"You okay there Mattie? You don't look too good." I place my hand on his forehead, but he quickly slaps my hand away before I can make out any difference in temperature.

"Don't touch me with that hand that you use to do disgusting things." He scurries away from me like I'm some kind of vermin. For a moment I felt truly concerned for him, but here he is acting like I am unworthy to breathe the same air as he. This behavior of his reminds me of why we aren't friends to begin with. Mattie has always hated me for reasons best known to him, and since he decided to be such a piece of shit, I decided two could play at that game.

With a reignited hatred for Matthew, I go back to the party, pinch a glass of wine – okay, five glasses of wine – and then locate Gina.

"I'm too drunk to drive home and I don't want to have to call my driver. I think I can get a room right now in this second-rate hotel. Care to join me?"

Her response is a smile, and after saying good bye to Jason, she telling the people that matter that she was going to make a call, we both head to the penthouse suite to make mad, ravishing love.

Suck on that, Matthew Declancey.