Paris With The Billionaire: An Instalove Possessive Age Gap Romance Read online

  “Um?” I chuckle. “Have I done the impossible, firecracker? Have I made you speechless?”

  She giggles, shaking her head, causing her luscious wavy hair to tousle around her shoulders.

  “This must have cost millions,” she whispers.

  “You’re worth every penny I have,” I say. “Don’t worry about the money. You never have to worry about money again.”

  The car stops at the foot of the tower.

  I step from the car and walk around to Fiona’s side, opening her door for her. She giggles when she sees I’ve had a red carpet laid out between the car and the elevator that will take us to the top of the tower. Rose petals cover the carpet and the surrounding concrete, hundreds and hundreds of them scattered everywhere.

  “Come on,” I say, offering her my hand. “Don’t you want to see how beautiful Paris looks from up there?”

  “I can’t believe you’ve done this,” she whispers. “I can’t believe you, Forrest.”

  “Well, you better start believing,” I smirk, squeezing onto her hand and hauling her to her feet.

  I smooth my hand down her shoulder, stopping at the small of her back as I lead her down the red carpet and toward the elevator. It takes everything I have not to move my hand lower and palm her ass.

  That’s for later.

  If there is a later.

  Am I moving things too quickly?

  But no—there’s no such thing as too quickly with me and Fiona.

  The elevator doors open and we step inside the large clear glass box. Fiona wraps her arms around my torso, hugging close to me, resting her cheek against my chest.

  “This is magical,” she murmurs as the elevator begins to move upward, the interlacing metal framework of the tower passing us by, the city growing smaller and further away beneath us.

  Up, up, up, we glide, as though the elevator is going to disconnect and start soaring toward the heavens.

  “You’re worth this and so much more,” I tell her, pulling her even closer to me.

  She gazes wide-eyed down at the city as we keep ascending as if we’re never going to stop.

  “I’m glad we waited until the evening,” she murmurs. “Look how pretty it is with the sun setting.”

  She’s right. The Seine glitters and the city seems to go on forever, a landscape of shining windows and faraway life.

  Finally, the elevator brings us to the top. I take her hand and lead her through the doors. A light wind brushes us as we walk onto the platform, where more red roses wait, almost covering the ground completely. A few of them have blown away in the wind, and a few more are still dancing in the whirling breeze.

  I take her up the metal staircase and to the balcony.

  Usually, this would be heaving with tourists, but I’ve had a table and chairs set out, silver platters resting upon the table and our favorite… non-alcoholic champagne, cooling in an ice bucket.

  Fiona walks ahead of me with slow footsteps, as though she thinks, if she moves too quickly, she’s going to shatter the illusion of this moment.

  She stops at the railing, gazing out upon the city.

  I study her from behind, my eyes moving over the cascading beauty of her hair down to her wide hips and her luscious ass, every inch of her made for pleasure and love and childrearing.

  She turns to me and frowns for a moment, wondering where I’ve gone.

  But I haven’t gone anywhere.

  I’ve just fallen to one knee, and now I stare up at her, sliding a hand into the inside of my suit jacket.

  “I love you, Fiona,” I growl passionately. “I loved you the first moment I saw you in the café window. I love you with everything I have, with everything I’ll ever have. I love you more than I knew a man like me was capable of loving.”

  I take out the ring box and open it, presenting a diamond that is just perfect for my lady. It’s full-bodied and elegant, shiny and subtle all at the same time. It’s Fiona in jewelry form.

  She stumbles over to me, her mouth falling open, tears glimmering in her eyes.

  “I love you too,” she says, her voice shaky.

  She stands over me, clasping her hands together.

  “I wanted to say it. But I wasn’t sure you felt the same.”

  “Of course I do,” I growl. “Fiona Yates, will you make me the happiest man alive? Will you marry me?”

  She gasps out a sob, as though the question has made this all real.

  “Yes,” she whispers, and then she raises her voice. “Yes, yes, yes.”

  I leap to my feet and pull her into a hug, both of us laughing as I clamber to find her right finger for the ring, but we’re kissing each other at the same time, messy clumsy magical kisses. I kiss her cheek and her forehead and the corner of her mouth, all while I grab her hand and slip the ring on.

  She holds it up in the setting Parisian sun, catching the light.

  “Do you like it?” I ask.

  “I love it,” she says, smiling up at me. “And I love you.”

  “I love you so damn much,” I growl.

  I pull her into an embrace and crush her lips with mine, and then break it off and hold my face close to hers.

  “You were right earlier when you said I was nervous,” I say. “It’s the most nervous I’ve ever been.”

  “I’d never dream of saying no,” she whispers. “I want this more than I’ve ever wanted anything. A life with you, a family with you... It’s—”

  “The perfect end to Snails for Breakfast?” I say, a bantering note in my voice.

  She giggles, wiping a tear from her eye.

  “It’s the perfect end to our story,” she says.

  “No, firecracker,” I murmur, kissing her forehead softly. “This is just the beginning.”

  EPILOGUE

  THREE WEEKS LATER

  Fiona

  My fingers fly across the keys like I’m a woman possessed.

  It’s so easy to sink into the writing flow from the balcony of our hotel suite.

  After Forrest proposed to me on the Eiffel Tower, we decided to stay in Paris for a month longer, exploring all the sights and smells and tastes – with fewer snails this time – at our leisure. It’s been so much more relaxing with Zack and his cronies hanging over our every move.

  A week after Forrest fought them off, we got word that Zack’s father had been arrested by the FBI, as well as all their top associates.

  Zack is going away for a long, long time, not just for the assault charge, but he has a litany of other charges against him as well.

  I pause in my writing, looking down as wonder cascades through me.

  First, my eye is drawn to the word count. I’ve written forty thousand words in three weeks, and it feels important, big, magical in a sense. I’ve never gotten this far in a project before.

  There’s something about spending my evenings and mornings with Forrest that fires me up for long writing sessions, our love fueling my need to create love-filled scenes.

  Then my gaze moves to the table, to the object that sits on the table next to my laptop.

  My breath catches when I hear the door to the suite open.

  I close my laptop and place it atop the object, my heart suddenly loud in my ears, hammering as though it’s trying to deafen me.

  Forrest is early. The sun is still a yellow penny a good few inches above the horizon, bathing the city in its golden glory.

  I stand up and turn to find my man – my fiancé – standing there in his steel suit.

  He smirks at me, his summer-sky eyes moving down to my hands clasped in front of me.

  “Any reason you’re standing so formally, firecracker?” he smiles, walking onto the balcony.

  I raise my hands with a giggle, gripping the back of his muscled neck and standing on my tiptoes. We kiss passionately, both of us making hungry sounds through the collision of our lips and bodies, both of us panting and moaning and desperate for more.

  I’ll never get bored of kissing my man.
>
  It ends naturally, and I rock back on my heels, gazing up into his face, at his captivating eyes and his strong jaw.

  “What is it, Fiona?” he asks, his voice a low growl even as he smiles.

  I’m still getting used to the sight of Forrest smiling, not smirking, not grinning like a beast. He smiles at me, beams as though all the love in him is trying to burst out through his lips.

  “What’s what?” I ask.

  He chuckles and his hands slide down my body, tickling my sides.

  I squirm against him, giggling.

  “Okay, okay,” I pant. “But I’m scared, Forrest.”

  “Scared, why?” he asks, concern shimmering in his voice.

  “Maybe the fantasy is better than reality. Maybe you don’t want me to get even curvier when we’re just starting to explore our sex life.”

  “Wait.”

  He steps back, holding onto my hips as though he wants to drink in all of me.

  “Don’t play games with me, Fiona. Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  I reach over to the table and push the laptop aside, revealing the pregnancy test.

  “It’s positive,” I murmur.

  “Yes, yes, yes,” he roars, darting forward and lifting me off the ground.

  We laugh together as he spins me around and around, giving me slices of Paris and then our hotel suite, over and over until my head feels like it’s going to helicopter away from my neck.

  “Okay,” I giggle. “You’re making me woozy.”

  He puts me down and cradles my face in his hands, and I turn toward him in the way he loves so much.

  “I love you,” he growls. “I love you so much, Fiona.”

  “I love you too,” I whisper.

  “I can’t wait to have a family with you,” he breathes huskily. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  I collapse against him, holding firmly onto his back, digging my fingernails into the taut, protective muscles.

  There’s no place I could ever feel safer and more cared-for than the arms of my husband-to-be.

  EXTENDED EPILOGUE

  ONE YEAR LATER

  Forrest

  I cradle Kaleigh to my chest and rock her softly as I gaze down from the balcony. I chose the balcony seating because it means I can easily dart out if Kaleigh starts to cry, and because it means all the attention will be on my woman for her novel reading.

  I don’t want anybody getting distracted by me. This is her day. She’s earned this.

  Anna and Kelly sit beside me, Anna gazing adoringly at her granddaughter as we wait for the lights to dim and for Fiona to walk out.

  “Do you want to hold her?” I whisper.

  “I don’t want to wake her,” Anna says, biting her lip.

  I smile, shaking my head. “She loves sleeping in your arms, Anna. It’s okay.”

  “Only if you’re sure…”

  I softly hold my daughter out to her.

  I remember how terrified I was the first time I held her, sitting next to the birthing bed, tears in my eyes as the nurse handed her to me. I was so proud of Fiona, of how she struggled and fought to bring our daughter into this world. And then there she was, this little fragile bundle, and I was sure I was going to hurt her.

  “She’s so small,” I whispered. “Fiona, I can’t.”

  Fiona smiled, tears glistening in her eyes, her cheeks sweaty and flushed. Her hair was sweaty and spiraled around her face. She’d never looked more beautiful.

  She glowed in that birthing bed, and she’s glowed every day since.

  I never would’ve believed Fiona could be more attractive to me, but that’s what Kaleigh’s birth has proven. She struts around the house in her loose-fitting PJs and her nightgowns, and I have to fight down carnal urges each time my gaze comes to rest on her.

  “I can’t believe you find me attractive like this,” she said to me last night when I moved up behind her in the kitchen and slid my hands over her belly and up to her milk-heavy tits.

  She shivered against me as I rubbed, letting out a moaning noise.

  “You’re beautiful,” I whispered in her ear. “You’re sexy. You’re strong. You’re curvy. You’re everything I could ever wish for, and I love you so damn much.”

  “Forrest,” Anna murmurs, calling me back to the present.

  “Sorry,” I grin, letting go of Kaleigh so that Anna can take her into her arms.

  “I was thinking about Fiona,” I tell them.

  Kelly smiles across her mother and her niece at me. It’s been a long road completely winning Kelly’s trust, but now we’ve reached a place where we both agree we want what’s best for Fiona, always.

  I’m so damn happy that Fiona – and now Kaleigh – and now me, have such supportive family members.

  “You know you’re making it really hard for me to hate you, right, bro?” she laughs quietly.

  I grin and shrug. “Don’t worry,” I joke. “I’ll think of something soon.”

  Anna rocks Kaleigh softly up and down, her tears glistening in the theatre’s lights. And then the lights fade and the spotlight illuminates the stage, coming to rest on the curtain.

  I lean forward eagerly, my heart hammering with the heat of a thousand suns in my chest.

  I always knew Fiona would make a name for herself in her writing career.

  And now she’s proved it.

  She decided to self-publish her first book and it became a bestseller, and now people travel from all over the East Coast to come and hear her read portions of her novel and to get sign copies for them.

  Soon, people will travel from all over the world to see just how talented she is.

  The curtains part and my woman steps forward, looking glorious and curvy and perfect in her jacket and suit pants.

  She stands in the light for a moment, staring up at our balcony.

  I blow her a kiss and a smile spreads brightly across her face.

  EXTENDED EPILOGUE

  TEN YEARS LATER

  Fiona

  I sit in the library with Ella on my knee, rocking her up and down as I look over her head at the best words a writer can ever see.

  The End.

  Those two words tell me that this latest project – the longest I’ve ever written – is finally done. And even if there will be edits and second drafts and corrections along the way, just like there are little corrections in life, the bulk of the work is done and now I’m free to spend the rest of the summer break with my family.

  I lean back in my computer chair, closing my eyes and listening to the sound of Ella’s soft breathing.

  Our house is large – six bedrooms on eighty acres – but I can hear Forrest and Kaleigh and Ryan and the little terror Max running around downstairs. If I listen very closely, I can even hear their voices.

  “Daddy, look,” Max is yelling. “I’m a knight. Look at my shield. Look at my sword.”

  “Yeah, but what’s your name?” Kaleigh says, always ready to indulge her little brother.

  “I’m Knightie-Knight of Sir-Knightness.”

  I giggle, keeping the sound quiet so I don’t disturb Ella. Of all my children, she’s been the loudest, most energetic baby. I just know she’s going to grow up to be the sort of woman who never takes any crap from anybody.

  Kaleigh is more like me, more naturally shy, but I’d bet our house and all the royalties from all my bestsellers that Ella’s going to be the Kelly of our family.

  “That’s a silly name,” Ryan giggles.

  He’s only two years older than Max, but he sounds like a proper little gentleman, wiser than his years.

  “Nah uh,” Max laughs. “It’s the best name in the world for a knight, isn’t it, Daddy?”

  “It’s up there, little man,” Forrest says, and I can hear the smile in his voice.

  I open my eyes and reach past Ella, turning off my computer screen. I know I’ll come up here later, once dinner is done and the children are all in bed, and read the
final sentence just to convince myself it’s really over.

  “Is Mommy coming down soon?” Ryan asks.

  I smile as I move across my office, cradling Ella to my chest.

  Hearing the word Mommy spoken in that brimming-with-love voice never gets old. I could hear it every day, all day, for the rest of my life and never get sick of it.

  “Yeah, she’s just finishing up her latest bestseller,” Forrest says. “Then she’ll be down.”

  “Mommy is so clever,” Max says. “Isn’t she, Daddy? Isn’t Mommy clever?”

  “Your mother is a thousand things,” Forrest says. “She’s beautiful, kind, loyal, and honest. She’s forgiving, understanding, patient, empathic, and talented, so talented. And yes, little man, she’s as clever as it gets.”

  I pause at the door, a starry smile on my face, as a tear of pure joy slides down my cheek and Ella makes a cooing sound that fills my heart with love.

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  A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS

  Book 1: Baby Lust

  Book 2: Veteran

  Book 3: Built

  Book 4: Bambino

  Book 5: Rescued

  Book 6: Leader

  Book 7: Professor

  Book 8: Burned

  Book 9: Worldly

  Book 10: Pistol

  Book 11: Policed

  Book 12: Driven

  Book 13: Lucky 13

  Book 14: Lumberjacked

  Book 15: Protector

  Book 16: Carpenter

  Book 17: Italian Stallion

  Book 18: Gardener

  Book 19: Budapest Billionaire’s Virgin

  Book 20: Billionaire’s Babysitter

  Book 21: Cocky CFO

  Book 22: Fireman’s Filthy 4th

  Book 23: Mechanic

  Book 24: SEAL’s Secret

  Book 25: Police, Pooch, and Smooch

  Book 26: Fireman’s Fake Fiancée

  Book 27: Billionaire’s Virgin Ballerina

  Book 28: Bitcoin Billionaire’s Babysitter