My Sister Married My Ex, So I Became a Billionaire's Mistress novel · Chapter 3 of 32
Chapter 3: Next Mistress
Willa walks into the Silver Oak Grand and asks Jasper Quarles for the job of his next mistress, and he sends her to shower before she can change her mind.
The Silver Oak Grand was the biggest hotel in Aleshire.
The lobby had a purple carpet and crystal chandeliers three stories tall.
Willa rode the elevator to the top floor with her suitcase at her feet.
She had left it at the front desk, then taken it back, because she could not think where else to put it.
She wore her white dress and beige flats. Her face had no makeup on it.
She looked exactly as sad as she felt.
The doors opened on a hall with two doors in it.
She walked to the larger one and raised her hand to knock.
The door swung open before she touched it.
A woman came out, crying, one hand over her mouth and her handbag crushed against her chest.
Her hair was a mess and her lipstick was gone.
She went past Willa without a word and ran for the stairs.
Willa stood and watched her go.
Whoever she was, she had just failed at what Willa had come to do.
That should have been the moment to turn back.
Willa pushed the door open instead.
The suite was large and dim and smelled of soap.
Nobody was in the sitting room.
Water was running behind a closed door at the far end, a steady hard rush.
She set her bag on the sofa and sat very straight on the edge of a cushion.
Her heart was going so fast she could hear it in her ears.
The water stopped.
The bathroom door opened, and a man walked out with a white towel around his hips.
He was tall and broad, and his bare chest was still wet from the shower.
His hair was black and dripping. A drop fell from the ends onto his collarbone and ran slowly down his stomach until the towel stopped it.
Willa had seen the magazine photo, and it had not been fair to him.
Jasper Quarles stopped in the middle of the room and looked at her.
His eyes were so dark they were almost black.
"Get out," he said.
Heat came up into her face, and she coughed to cover it.
She stood. Her knees nearly gave out, and she hoped he did not see.
"Mr. Quarles. I came to ask for a job."
"I don't hire."
"Your next mistress," she said. "I'd like to be her."
For a moment he said nothing.
Then one corner of his mouth lifted. It was not a smile.
"Women knock on that door all the time," he said. "I don't open it for all of them."
"You didn't open it for her."
"Who?"
"The woman who just left. She was crying."
"That's her problem."
Willa made herself cross the room.
She stopped in front of him and put her arms around his waist, carefully, so that only her sleeves touched him.
His skin was warm through the thin cotton. He did not move.
"Would I do?" she said.
She tilted her head back to look at him.
He looked down at her arms, then at her face.
"Do you need money?"
"I need something," she said. "I'd rather not say what."
"That's a bad answer."
"You're a good-looking man, Mr. Quarles. I'm not going to lose anything by belonging to you for a while."
She smiled as she said it.
The smile cost her something, and she thought he could see it.
"Anything else?" he asked.
She thought about the cottage. The kitchen. The investor with his parking structure.
"No," she said. "Nothing else."
He kept looking at her.
She did not look away.
After a moment her eyes dropped to his mouth, because there was nowhere else safe to look.
She went up on her toes and kissed the corner of his lips.
It was a small, shy kiss, and it landed a little wrong.
His hand closed around her upper arm and set her back on her heels.
"Shower first," he said.
His voice had gone flat, not cold.
"All right."
She picked up her bag, walked into the bathroom, and shut the door.
She turned on the water and stood under it with her forehead against the tile.
What was she doing?
She was twenty-five years old, in a stranger's shower, with her sister's wedding photo still on her phone.
She had thought of Nolan the whole way in the elevator, and she was thinking of him now.
It still hurt, and she was angry that it still hurt.
She turned the water off.
She stood there a long time in the steam.
The only robe on the hook was his, thick and white, big enough to wrap around her twice.
She put it on and tied the belt tight, and then she opened the door.
Jasper was sitting up against the headboard of the bed, dressed in dark trousers, with his arms folded.
He watched her come out. Her face was pink from the steam, and the robe hung to her ankles.
His eyes moved over her slowly.
"If you want to leave," he said, "this is the last time I'll say it."
Willa put her hand on the belt.
Her fingers were not quite steady.
She pulled it loose.
← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend