Never Give Up (A Billionaire Love Story) Read online

  “I like this Barbie!” she told me, coming up with what was evidently her new favourite present, and I entertained her for a few minutes. Finally, Kelsey came up and took Charlotte into her arms.

  “Thanks for everything, Nick,” she told me, the grateful look in her eyes being all I needed. We had enough money that we could hire one nanny per child, but I knew Kelsey preferred raising her children herself, depending on family more than hired help. She insisted it gave her children a better upbringing, and I had to agree with her.

  “Sorry the ladies here today were a bit young, even for you,” Kelsey teased, poking me in the side. Marissa had been twenty one when we met, five years younger. Not the biggest difference ever, but Kelsey always liked to bug me about it, probably because she was six months older than her husband.

  “Oh stop it,” I replied, laughing. “I don’t think I’m ready to hit the market for one of those super immature twenty four year olds yet anyway.”

  I meant it as more of a joke about how five years is even less of an age difference now, but Kelsey’s expression immediately softened.

  “Oh Nick. Are you speaking with somebody about this?”

  I shook my head. “No, I’m just dealing with it my own way.”

  “I can recommend someone if you’d like. I really think you should speak with a professional.”

  “Thanks, Kelsey. I’ll let you know if I change my mind, but I don’t actually think I’m crazy. I just don’t think she’s dead.”

  My sister shook her head, then said her goodbyes and left. I thought about hailing a cab to take me back to my apartment, then figured it was only a twenty minute walk, I could use the fresh air to clear my head. I had a bunch of work to do when I got back home, so this would be my last real chance to relax for the rest of the day, I may as well take advantage of it.

  I strode down the sidewalk, a light breeze running over my face. An empty can of coke rolled past me as my thoughts invariably turned back to Marissa, and that first date we ever had. It was the best first date of my life.

  * * *

  I asked Marissa to meet me at that warehouse coffee shop I liked so much, the creatively-named Warehouse Espresso, and a little bit to my surprise, she agreed. I had half expected her to try and recommend somewhere herself. I was notorious for running late for things, but I made an effort to be on time for this date. I showed up two minutes early, walking in just behind Marissa.

  Deciding to be cheeky, I greeted her with a soft kiss on the cheek, which she didn’t back away from. That had to be a good sign, right? I decided to take it as one. I had to have this woman, and the more I saw her, the more I knew that as a fact.

  We ordered our coffees – she had a skim milk caramel latte and I had a regular latte – and sat towards the back, facing each other in two antique style armchairs that were far more comfortable than they looked from the outside.

  “So I looked you up, the other day. I hope that’s ok. I think there’s a lot more about you on the internet than there is about me, which isn’t exactly fair, but at the same time I have no idea if what’s written about you is a lie or not.”

  I had to laugh at her opening. “I don’t know, it depends if it was good or bad.”

  Marissa smiled at that one. “No one really seems to know. From what I’ve gathered you’re the wunderkind, eldest son of Adam Kerry, business mogul extraordinaire. The east coast’s Steve Jobs.”

  I burst out laughing at that description. “Which site had the east coast Steve Jobs? Whoever it was apparently doesn’t know the difference between hardware and software.”

  “Dunno, they all seemed to blend in with one another. But so I’ll ask you: what’s your story? Straight from the horse’s mouth, but I swear I don’t have any contacts at business magazines that’ll try to pry this info from me later.”

  I grinned. “Basically dad wants the company to stay in the family, and I’m the only one of the kids who actually cares about it, so I’ve won myself a super stressful job running an enormous company instead of doing the smart thing like my brother did and just becoming a lawyer and charging people ridiculous sums of money to speak at them, or listen to them speak. Or do what my sister did, which was become a doctor, though she works a lot harder than any of us.”

  Marissa seemed to like my answer.

  “I figured you’d be one of those super old fashioned families where the eldest son has to take over the family business.”

  I shook my head, laughing. “Nah, definitely not. But I’m not going to lie, I’m not actually good at this stuff right now. I have my bachelor’s degree in business, but I’ve only been working at the company for a couple of months, and there’s a lot to get my head around. I’m nowhere near running it, more like learning the very basics. I’m pretty much an intern, I feel like I’m better at getting coffee than anything else. How about you, what’s your story?”

  For the first time, it was like I saw a curtain go up behind those beautiful green eyes of hers. For a while I didn’t think she was going to answer me. But then, she did.

  “I grew up in Florida, in a small town you definitely would never have heard of. Population 300 people sort of place. I had your standard small town upbringing, with one school for the town, an elementary school. When I got to high school I had to take a bus for an hour and a half each way down to Orlando. I graduated, then went back home. I worked as a cashier at the local grocery store for a while, but I wasn’t happy. Eventually I realized I had to get out of there, so I got out. I did what every other girl with a dream does: saved up all my money, bought a bus ticket to New York City and figured I’d figure out the rest when I got here. I stayed in a youth hostel for a few days, found my job and a cheap studio apartment on the fifth floor of a walk up, and here I am.”

  “Why New York, specifically?”

  “The bus ride was shorter than to California,” she replied with a grin. “I prefer warm weather, but I also figured New York would have better job options. I’m not looking to become a Hollywood star or anything like that, so LA isn’t quite as good a fit. Hopefully at some point I’ll be able to take courses in something and start a real career.”

  I really liked this girl. I admired her. Those beautiful green eyes had seen some hardship, that much was obvious. But she was overcoming it in the best possible way.

  We made small talk for another little while. Our lives were so different, and yet I felt like I knew Marissa. I couldn’t stop staring at her beautiful red lips. I wanted to kiss them so badly, I wanted to run my hand through her hair, I wanted to take her right here in the coffee shop.

  Eventually, as we finished our second cups of coffee, I knew this date was starting to wind down. “So,” I asked her with a grin. “Regretting saying yes to this?”

  She smiled. She had been getting more and more open with me as the date went on.

  “I guess you’re not really the stuck up, snobby rich kid I had expected. Not as much as I thought, anyway.”

  “I keep that behaviour for the hired help. Maids, and all that.”

  Marissa gave me a look and I held my hands up in surrender.

  “Kidding! Kidding, I don’t even really have hired help. Just a maid that comes in once a week to clean up after me, but only because my mom refuses to do it anymore. And I swear I’m really nice to her, too.”

  Marissa laughed. “I guess I watched too much TV as a kid. When the richest person in your town lives in an actual house and not just a mobile home, you start to believe that people like you are like the guys on Entourage or something.”

  “Don’t worry, you’re not too far off, I know a hell of a lot of people that would fit that description perfectly. But luckily, I’m not one of them.”

  We got up to leave then, exciting the warehouse and stopping outside the front. It was getting to be mid-afternoon now, the coffee loving crowd was starting to dissipate and we were alone, outside a warehouse in the middle of Manhattan. I could hear the cars on the street around the other side
of the building, but couldn’t see them.

  As I looked into Marissa’s green eyes, like perfect emeralds, I couldn’t resist. I knew I had to have her, I had to taste her. Before I knew what I was doing I had leaned down and my lips were on hers. She tasted better than I could have possibly imagined. The faintest hint of her strawberry chapstick lingered on my lips as I pulled away after a minute, far enough to get what I wanted, but not so far that she would be uncomfortable with it.

  I looked to gauge her reaction. Her mouth was slightly open, her face a bit flushed, but I could see the desire in her eyes. She wanted more, she just didn’t necessarily want to ask for it. I went back in, kissing her harder this time, more passionately. I heard Marissa moan slightly as my lips pressed against hers, and my hands moved to her hips. She was so perfectly curvy, my hands rested there as if they belonged there and nowhere else.

  I closed my eyes as I kissed her more and more, and my hands began to roam. Slowly, at first, I began to slide them up her shirt until I found her breasts, cupping them in my hands gently. I couldn’t help myself, I moved Marissa up against the wall of the warehouse, and pinned her hands against the wall, leaving her helpless to do anything but accept what I was giving her.

  She moaned with pleasure, throwing her head back, and I knew she was enjoying what I was giving her.

  “Oh Marissa, I’ve wanted to do this since the first time I laid eyes on you,” I whispered into her ear as I moved my hands from her wrists and down to the hem of her skirt.

  Her eyes widened as my hands slid slowly up her thighs and she realized what I was doing.

  “Oh my God, what if someone sees us?” she whispered, but I didn’t care.

  “No one’s going to come down this alley, we’re fine,” I murmured back. “Besides, isn’t that just part of the fun?”

  My fingers reached the light fabric of her panties and slid them down her legs, allowing them to fall to the ground. Marissa wrapped her arms around my neck as my fingers made their way towards the soft, wet flesh of her sex. She was soaking wet already, and I knew she wanted me. God, I was already getting hard. I could feel her pressing against me, wanting me inside of her, wanting me to give her more.

  I would have spent hours teasing her if I could, lying in bed with her forever, taking our time, but even I knew we were exposed in public, and as exciting as that was, the quicker this was over the better our chances of getting out of here without being seen.

  Working quickly, I unzipped my pants and allowed my erection to spring out. I grabbed Marissa’s hips and hoisted her up, her legs instinctively wrapping around my hips.

  Seconds later I was inside of her, slowly pressing my hardness into her and sliding in and out. She began to moan quietly, clutching at my hair as I moved in and out of her at a faster and faster pace. We were going nuts together, here in this random alley outside a coffee shop, at the end of our first date.

  I could feel Marissa tensing against me, I could practically feel the pleasure running inside of her as I stretched her wide. It didn’t take long before she came, shaking, trembling in my arms, her cries as loud as she dared. A minute later I came as well, shooting my seed deep inside of her.

  “Oh my God, I can’t believe we just did that!” Marissa exclaimed as she grabbed her panties from the ground and threw them into a nearby dumpster.

  Then, all of a sudden, she burst out laughing. “That was hands down the craziest thing I’ve ever done. You?”

  I had to laugh as well. “Yeah, I’ve never done anything like this either. Definitely new territory for me too.”

  “Well, seeing as you didn’t buy me dinner first, the least you could do is walk me home.”

  I held out my arm and she took it, smiling, her face still flushed. We headed down towards the road, arm in arm, none of the people passing by on the street having any idea what had happened there only minutes earlier.

  * * *

  Before I knew it I was back at my apartment, a night of business reports and excel sheets in my immediate future. I made a pit stop to a Thai restaurant down the street and waited the ten minutes for my yellow curry and steamed rice to be ready for takeaway. Marissa had loved Thai food, she had never tried it before.

  * * *

  As I walked her home, I told her I could make up for the lack of a romantic first time with dinner, if she was interested. It didn’t take too much prompting before I got her to say yes, and I took her to the same Thai restaurant that I was sitting in then. Perhaps that’s why I decided to go with Thai that night, after spending the walk thinking about that first date.

  Marissa admitted to me she hadn’t eaten anywhere better than McDonalds since coming to the city, she just found it cheaper to buy produce at a market and eat at home.

  “Well, we have to fix that. There’s way too much awesome restaurant food in this city for you to live here without experiencing it. Do you like Thai?”

  Marissa blushed and turned away.

  “You’re going to think I’m a country hick, but I’ve never had Thai food.”

  “Seriously?” I had grown up with a lot of different people, and they weren’t all as rich as my family, but I had never, ever met anyone who hadn’t tried Thai food before.

  “How many Thai restaurants do you think there were in my town of 300?”

  “Fair point. Well, your life starts tonight, Marissa, because you haven’t lived if you haven’t tried Thai food, and luckily, I know a great place.”

  We detoured back the way we came to get to the restaurant, and twenty minutes later we were seated among the lovely gold and purple décor that I’d seen more often than I’d seen my own kitchen.

  As we devoured Pad Thai and yellow curry with steamed rice, Marissa and I got closer together. We laughed (and Marissa cried) as she bit into a red chilli before I could warn her, tears immediately streaming down her face as she bit into the spice.

  “Oh my God, I can’t stop these tears,” she laughed, hiccupping from the heat.

  “Eat some of the plain rice, we should have ordered milk!” I replied, and a few minutes later the tears stopped flowing and Marissa was able to eat again.

  “Wow, I’ve never had anything so spicy before that I just started crying!” she exclaimed, laughing. We sat there for hours, eventually completely stuffed but still talking, until finally the owners told us they were ready to close and politely asked if we wouldn’t mind leaving.

  When I finally dropped Marissa off at her apartment, I wanted to see her again. I absolutely did. She was electrifying in the best possible way. Every time my hand brushed hers, I felt a jolt running through me. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before in my life.

  “So, that wasn’t too bad, was it?” I asked when we got to her door, standing out there in the cold night air.

  “I guess not,” she replied with a grin. I was thrilled beyond words that Marissa seemed to like me, and that she was as cool a person in real life as when she was working.

  “Should we do it again sometime? Like, say, tomorrow?”

  I saw the grin get wider.

  “Well tomorrow I’m working, but how about Thursday night? I’m free then if you want to take me for dinner.”

  I knew I probably had some dumb meeting scheduled, likely with someone in a different time zone, in Australia or Hong Kong. Still, I couldn’t have cared any less. I’d get my assistant to change all those appointments in the morning.

  “Thursday sounds great. I’ll pick you up at seven. Can I take you somewhere nice?”

  “You can, but I’m warning you, my entire wardrobe basically comes from the JC Penny clearance rack.”

  I considered this for a second. Obviously, I didn’t care what Marissa wore. As far as I was concerned, she looked amazing in anything. But I wanted to take her to Tartare, one of the top steak restaurants in New York, recently opened by celebrity chef Alain Delardau. She could have been wearing a paper bag and I’d still be happy to take her there, but I wanted the night to be special for
her. Plus I figured there was likely a part of her that would be uncomfortable among the crowd that frequented the restaurant to begin with, and women tended to notice things like their clothes being completely inappropriate compared to others. Before I knew it, I had taken out my wallet and handed her my black card.

  “Here. Go down to Sacks tomorrow or Thursday sometime, they’ll be expecting you. Use this, get yourself something amazing.”

  Marissa stared at me for a minute with her head cocked to one side, almost like she didn’t believe me.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. I want to take you somewhere nice, and I want you to feel like a million dollars.”

  “This isn’t some sort of charity case thing?”

  I had to laugh at that. “Not at all. I want to give you a nice night out, and I want you to have the full experience.”

  Eventually Marissa took the card. I liked that she didn’t pounce on it, like most of my exes would have. I liked that she looked like she was still going to try and be frugal about what she bought.

  “Seriously, there’s no limit on that card. Buy yourself a dress, shoes, jewellery, whatever you want to look good.”

  “Why? Where are you going to take me?”

  “I have to keep some surprises, don’t I?”

  Eventually Marissa smiled, kissed me lightly on the lips and went up to her door, still holding my black card.

  “Pick me up here at seven on Thursday then!” she exclaimed as she waved goodbye. I waved back and watched from the sidewalk as her silhouette disappeared further and further back into the apartment complex, then turned around and walked home. By the time I got into my apartment, I realized my face hurt from smiling so much, and I knew I had someone special. I knew she wasn’t like the girls I normally dated, and I think I already knew then that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.

  Almost two years later, I knew for sure that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this woman. But I also knew she was special, and I wanted to make my proposal worthy of such a wonderful person.