THE BILLIONAIRE'S SURROGATE

CHAPTER THREE: SECOND IMPRESSIONS

As expected, Cassie had been more than delighted to be Levi’s wife even if it was for a specified period of time. She had nearly been unable to control her enthusiasm and excitement. Yet as Levi sat stiffly in his office a month after the ‘engagement’ he did not feel fulfilled in the least. He had successfully added a new flavour into the latest Beer production and he was going into a simple and uncomplicated marriage in a matter of weeks. Why then did he feel no ounce of fulfilment? That sweet soft voice had haunted him for days after his visit with Lucas. It seemed to whisper at him almost every moment, when he was working, when he was asleep, when he awoke. It was a blissful taunt that he needed to get rid of. What was it about the voice that made him so restless? He Levi Carter, LA’s favourite Cassanova been taunted by a woman’s mere voice. The whole thing was absolutely ridiculous. He hadn’t been with a woman for a while, that was it. He had ended things with Daisy and had left his bed cold for too long. He needed to bury himself in a woman as quickly as possible, get this increasingly burdensome voice out of his mind. Before he could think further on his next line of action, a knock sounded from the other side of the door. Before he could respond, Lucas strolled in and made himself comfortable on the chair opposite him.

“I have plans to redesign my place”, Levi said to Lucas puffing on his cheroot. “I intend to leave the penthouse and pack into the Mansion on my estate’s left wing”. “Are you certain you are ready for this”, Lucas asked worry filling his eyes for his friend. “It’s been years, do you want me to come along, you may need the company”? “No thank you, I’ll have the designer, I won’t be alone”, Levi replied his blue eyes darkening to the shade of a rainy afternoon sky. His nostrils flared as his thoughts drifted away to that long ago night. It would be torture going back into the Carter mansion. Redesigning the place would mean he would have to go into every room, relive every moment of that horrible day. It could tear his soul apart bit by bit until there was nothing left but an empty hole. Levi chuckled dryly at the thought, his soul had been empty for ages. The damage had been done. He would go through the redesigning. “Speaking of redesigning do you have a designer in mind, Lucas asked”. “No I do not, I’ve asked Miss Sophie my secretary to draw up some contacts for me”. “It will interest you to know that my house has been undergoing some redesign as well, Lucas said. “My interior designer is excellent, you may wish to schedule an appointment with her. “I can vouch for her work”. “Drop off the details with Miss Sophie; I have pressing matters to attend to, Levi said dropping his pipe on the ash tray on his table. “I will drop by at your place to see this excellent work you speak of should the opportunity present itself”. Levi proceeded to stand up and walked towards the door. “Do see yourself out pal”, was all he said before marching away. “Arrogant piece of s**t, Lucas shouted at Levi’s retreating form”.

“Levi you’ve been so off tonight”, the prostitute slurred. “You’re always so exciting in bed, have I done something wrong”. Levi looked down at Madeline’s face. She always appeared so flush after their sessions of love making, her face red with both excitement and exhaustion and her mouth full and swollen with the evidence of passion. Tonight she appeared bored and unsated. She was looking at him with a cute pout on her lips, a slight frown plastered on her face. Levi sighed as he came off her. Madeline was his favourite of all his girls. She was a delightful French beauty with the curves of a goddess and a voice that would soothe a dying man. Tonight however, Maddy’s voice could have very well sounded like the sound of screeching tyres; nothing like the voice taunting his mind. He hadn’t even been able to c*m after three rounds. Something was indeed off with him and he damn well couldn’t place it. “Nothing’s wrong Maddy, see you soon”, Levi said picking up his clothes from the ground and throwing them on in swift movements. He took out his wallet from the pocket of his trouser and removed some cash placing it on the bed just besides Maddy’s knee. Without saying another word he stormed out of the room and into the dense atmosphere of the Casino.

Levi knew he would get no peace if he remained at the casino today. The place was full with human bodies and the stench of sweat and s*x was almost unbearable. He needed to clear his head. His mind had been restless all day for no particular reason. He was more grumpy than usual. “I should head to Lucas’s and have a drink”, Levi muttered to himself as he picked of his phone to dial Johnny.

On entering Lucas’s, Levi knew something was off. He hadn’t a clue what but he felt it in his gut. Cassie welcomed him with one of her billion dollar smiles, latching herself onto him like a wall gecko on a wall. “Are you here to see me or my boss honey”, Cassie drawled in her funny south American accent. “I’m here for Lucas Cassie, I’ll see you in two days’ time like we planned. “The boss is busy but I’ll let him know you’re here”, Cassie said dragging him to God knew where”. “I insist that the tiles be replaced, they do not compliment the new paintings at all”, came a voice, soft but strong. Levi turned sharply, carefully extricating himself from Cassies’s grip. It was the voice, the one that had haunted him for weeks. He could recognize it anywhere. It was her. She was here, at Lucas’s again. Was she his lover or something? He had to see who she was. He immediately began walking towards the direction from where the voice had come. “Sir, Mr Lucas is busy”, Cassie yelled from behind, worry evident in her voice. Levi did not stop. He could hear the voice, it was closer. Were they f*****g? It didn’t sound like it. People did not talk about tiles and paintings during the act, well except they were a bunch of weird ninnies. He reached the door to the room where the sound was coming from. He didn’t think to knock first, knocking wasn’t in his habit. It wasted time and made it looked like he was giving an option. He flung the door open without a thought and stepped in. The sweet scent of vanilla and apples hit him with a force that nearly had his eyes watering. His nostrils flared and he swung his head to the direction of the smell. He spotted her immediately. He hadn’t known what to expect but he certainly didn’t expect her to be scantily dressed. He fixed his gaze on her face. She wore spectacles which did nothing to hide her striking eyes, the color of warmed chocolate or coffee, a compelling mixture of different shades of brown, almost golden. It was the first thing one could notice about her. He dropped his gaze to her nose but didn’t have enough time to complete his full perusal of face before Lucas spoke sharply, his voice startling him. “Levi what a pleasant surprise”, Lucas said his eyes shooting daggers at Levi. “To what do I owe you barging into my bedroom”? It took Levi a moment to compose himself. This was indeed Lucas’s bedroom, but it looked nothing like the last time he saw it. The walls were a rich blue instead of the pale green they had once been. Exotic paintings that drew ones attention hung on the walls and the dull black cushions were replaced with cool grey ones. “I see you’re as awed as I am of Ariel’s work”, Lucas said grinning. “She is the designer I told you about”. Ariel, that was her name. It was as unique as her voice and the rich brown of her eyes, quite a befitting name. He returned his attention back to her. For the first time, he let his gaze trail her body. She was a sight for sore eyes. She was no voluptuous beauty for sure but her shape was cut to such moderate perfection he nearly drooled at the image she presented. Her bosom was full, the ridiculous oversized shirt she wore did nothing to hide it. Her waist was extremely small and it gave way to generously sized hips. Her figure was flattering to say the least but her voice was the most fascinating thing about her. He returned his eyes to the shirt. It was the only thing she was wearing. What were these two up to?

Ariel sized the giant briefly. He was the one she had bumped into a month ago. He looked the exact same way he did that day, shiny black coat covering a white dress shirt and grey waist coat. He still had a hat placed firmly on his head and he held an elegant black walking stick. Her gaze stuck on the hand holding the walking stick, it was large, larger than a hand should be and he was gripping it with so much force she wondered how it had not cracked under the force. She imagined how skilful that hand could be at touching other things and immediately groaned inwardly at the thought. She couldn’t be painting unholy pictures of a stranger. It was simply not done.

She knew he was staring at her and she couldn’t for the life of her guess why. She was pretty yes, but not in a jaw dropping kind of way. He stood looking at her for nearly two full minutes, the awkwardness of it all was becoming unbearable. When she thought she would explode from the silence his voice cut through sharply. “I believe I would like to hire you as my interior designer Miss Ariel, your work is truly astounding”. He walked to where she stood next to Lucas, his steps sure and firm radiating dominance yet the designer in her couldn’t help but notice the limp he tried so well to hide. He reached her and handed an elegant lemon business card to her, their hands touching briefly. She gasped softly at the unexpected feel of his hands, tingles running all over her body. Levi heard the sound, it was soft but still audible, extremely tantalizing. Blood rushed to his groin as thoughts of what he could do to release more of those sounds clouded his brain. He swiped his thumb gently on her palm and she made the sound again, a bit louder this time. His gaze drifted from where their hands where touching slightly back to her face. Her eyes had changed again, this time to some darker shade of brown bordering on black. She was affected by him. These were the eyes of a woman trying her best to keep her lust on a tight leash. He could nearly drown in them. “Eh em”, Lucas said coughing dramatically. “Are you going to say something or not”? “It’s a huge mansion that hasn’t been touched in over a decade, if you’re up for the job, see me at the address 2:00 PM tomorrow”.