The Billionaire Secret 2
Alicia Beckton
Chapter One
"More wine?" Blake started pouring before Aiyana could answer him.
"Don't you think we've had enough?" she asked with a hint of a slur in her words. She had pulled her dark hair back and tied it at the nape of her neck. Her dark eyes were heavy-lidded as she took a sip from the third glass of Sauvignon Blake had offered her since they'd gotten into the limo to go to the airport. Now that they were on the plane, she hoped he wouldn't be able to pour her a fourth before the plane landed.
Blake smiled at her with a sultry glimmer in his eyes, but there was something in his posture that told her something was wrong. "I'm just hoping to erase the memory of that terrible stuffing before you realize you might have to eat that every Christmas of your life if you decide to stay with me."
"It wasn't that bad."
"It tasted like someone stomped on it with a dirty boot before they put it on the table." She frowned and leaned forward as she set her glass on the tabletop in front of. She caught Blake glancing down her dress before hastily red-directing his eyes back to her face. It was too late; she'd already adopted a wry grin.
"Yep, I'm up here," she told him huskily before she turned serious. "Something's bothering you," she accused as she put a finger to her moist lips.
"Only that you're over there and not over here." His voice was lower than it had been and she knew he was going to use his charm to distract her from the worry between his brows.
"And if I come over there, will you tell me what's bothering you?" She knew before he answered he was lying, but she didn't mind. Blake was a terrible liar, or she'd learned how to see his tells.
"Nothing's bothering me, but if you don't come over here, I'm going to be over there in a second. You've got to come somewhere." The twinkle was back and she saw the worry dissipating.
"Nice try, handsome." Just as she was about to get up and sit next to him, her cell phone rang in her purse. Aiyana was about to ignore it when she realized it was the special ring for her sister's number. "It's my sister," she said automatically as she pulled out the phone.
"You'd better get it then," Blake told with a hint of disappointment in his tone.
"You weren't getting any anyway," she told him teasingly before she slid the green answer button.
"Aiyana," her sister blared, dragging out her name. "It's getting pretty close to midnight and momma thought you were never going to call!" Aiyana didn't think she'd call until the following day either, but apparently she was dragged into the familiar obligation.
"Well, I'm on a plane right now and I didn't know I could even get phone calls." She looked at Blake and mouthed a sorry as she set the phone down on the table, switching it to speaker.
"You're on a plane? Headed where?" Aiyana hadn't really told her family about having to get on a private jet to visit her new live-in boyfriend's mother. She'd wanted to keep his financial status a secret for a little longer, but it looked like the cat might be out of the bag.
"Home to New York," she took a deep breath and plowed on without a second's hesitation. "Did momma get the package I sent? It was red and had green bows all over it. She should have gotten it Wednesday," she trailed off as she hoped her sister would take the bait. She'd gotten her mother a brand new mixer for the kitchen and she'd bought one for her sister, too. Blake had insisted on pitching in for the cost, and she'd let him after a little cajoling.
"Wait, if you're on a plane, shouldn't your phone just not work," her sister, the eternally dogged woman, wasn't going to let it go.
"I guess on jets they do."
"No," her sister paused a moment, "And I can tell by the sound of your voice that you have me on speaker, and you're slurring sis, are you drunk?" Aiyana felt her face turn a little red and she inadvertently reached for the wine glass before she realized what she was doing. She took a sip and sighed as she figured she might as well come clean.
"I'm on a private jet on my way back to New York, okay? Now did momma get the package?"
"She's on a private jet?" There was some commotion before Aiyana's mother was hushed.
"So, I'm on speaker too!" Blake silently chuckled and tried to hide it behind a sip of his brandy. The stuff was a little too strong for Aiyana, but he'd stocked some just the same.
"I got the package. How was your Christmas, honey?" Her mother didn't bother trying to be quiet any longer. There was some coughing and shuffling, which let Aiyana know her brother was standing somewhere near the phone, too.
"It was good, Momma. Tell everyone I say hi. I think we're going to land soon, so I've got to go. I don't want the phone to interfere with the pilot or anything."
"It won't," Blake interjected with a small smile. Aiyana stuck up a hand to hush him, but it was too late.
"Oh, is that him? He's there?" There was some hushing on the other end of the line and Aiyana sighed rolling her eyes.
"Yes, Blake's here," she told them with defeat as she leaned back in her seat. She might as well come completely clean now. "We're on his jet back to New York after we went to see his mother. Don't worry, we'll be out soon to visit." She looked at Blake as she said the words and he shrugged with a small nod to let her know it was okay.
"A private jet stocked with wine huh? So, how loaded are you?" The question was obviously aimed toward Blake, but Aiyana felt the need to defend him from probing, rude questions.
"He's a business owner. Don't be rude, Sasha."
"We have to go, Sasha. It's almost midnight and the kids have to go to bed." Jackson, Aiyana's brother, sounded a little off-put by the fact that they were talking to someone who had a private jet. It was what Aiyana worried about. Her family wasn't the poorest from where she came from, but they weren't the wealthiest, either.
"I'll talk to you guys in a few days," Aiyana said her goodbyes and heard everyone shouting theirs at the phone. She grimaced with a small smile and hit the end call bar. "You should have stayed quiet. Now I'm going to have to truss you up and drag you out there like some kind of offering," she joked as she finished off her glass of wine. She put her hand over it when Blake tried to pour her more. "We're going to land soon," she chastised him teasingly.
"I know, and you're not near drunk enough for my Christmas present," he told her as he swiped her glass out from under her hand and poured more.
"You gave me my present already," she told him as she furrowed her brows and couldn't help herself, she took another sip. It had been one stressful day, despite Blake's family being warm and comforting. Well, almost all of them were. She'd had suspicions about his mother, but she didn't want to bring it up just yet.
"We're landing, seat belts on please," the pilot said over the intercom. They both pulled the seat belts around their waists and Aiyana hung onto her glass of wine as she watched Blake down the rest of his brandy. She was glad they had a driver that would take them home because he was too drunk to drive, and she wasn't sure she was sober enough to even walk. She'd need to take off her shoes if she wanted to make it to the car without stumbling.
"So when are we visiting your parents?" he asked her as a way of distraction. She knew it, but she didn't call him on it.
"I don't know. When do you want to go?"
"Easter?" he asked casually, but she saw a flicker of something on his face. What was it about Easter that made him so tense?
"I guess we can do Easter. My momma's a religious woman, so you might want to be prepared for a church gathering." Her cheeks heated as she looked at the table and tried to look comfortable. Inside, she was squirming.
"Hey, look at me." Blake waited until she looked up at him and they both felt the plane descending while locking eyes. "That's nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. I'm surprised we haven't talked about it yet."
Aiyana felt relief that he wasn't turned off from potentially having to go to church. She didn't want him to think her family was the typical African American family, but they were leaning toward it. Her mother was old-school, and she knew her mother would be upset if she knew Blake and Aiyana were already living together.
"So what did you get me?" she asked to change the subject.
"You'll see," he told her as they felt the plane touching down. There were a few moments where they waited for the pilot to tell them it was okay before they took off their seat belts, and then they were descending the stairs. Aiyana held her shoes in one hand and Blake held the other while he helped her down the stairs.
She fell into him at the bottom and giggled uncontrollably before she abruptly stopped and looked up at him. Blake's lips were on hers before she could start laughing again. His solid arms were warm and strong around her while his lips were gentle and teasing. Heat began to build in her body and she felt her fingers loosen on the heels of her shoes, almost allowing them to drop to the pavement. Just as she was forgetting where they were both standing, there was a gentle clearing of the throat to her left and Blake eased away from her. They made it ten feet before he was kissing her again, this time out of the pilot's way as he ascended the stairs to close up the plane.