The Billionaire's Agreement (The Billionaire's Proposal Book 2) Read online

  The Billionaire’s Agreement

  (The Billionaire’s Proposal, Book 1)

  By Reese Winters

  Copyright 2020 Reese Winters

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Click here for more books by Reese Winters: https://www.amazon.com/Reese-Winters/e/B07RFQ9V2D/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

  Chapter 1

  Sebastian

  The very last person Sebastian expected to see again was his ex-boyfriend, Benjamin Myers. However, there he was, standing on Sebastian's childhood front lawn, smiling up at him with a kindness Sebastian had never seen before.

  “You look good,” Benjamin prompted.

  Sebastian couldn't quite say the same for him, because he looked like he'd seen better days. His usually clean-cut style had been replaced with several days of stubble and shaggy hair well past due for a haircut.

  Sebastion squinted and exhaled in a slow sigh. “Do you want to come inside, Ben?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Sebastian nodded and led him to the front door, opening it and ushering him inside. Between Jude’s proposition, his broken-down truck, and his now-hospitalized mother, it had been a long and trying day, and Sebastian kicked off his shoes and grabbed a beer from the kitchen once he entered his place. He left Benjamin standing awkwardly in the living room as he popped the beer open and downed half of it.

  Benjamin laced his hands behind his back, surveying the living room and giving Sebastian an uninhibited view of him. He was still beautiful. Stunning, with pool blue eyes and a sharp jawline, but the physical beauty was where it began and ended for Sebastian. He knew the rest of Benjamin, the interior layers.

  “You want one?” he called into the living room, holding up his beer bottle to the other man.

  “No, thank you.”

  With another nod, Sebastian joined Benjamin in the living room again, fixing his attention on the shorter man. “So, uh, how you been?”

  “I've been better,” Benjamin replied. “I've missed you.”

  “Yeah?” Sebastian took a gulp of his drink, curling his teeth as it slid down his throat and settled in the pit of his stomach.

  For a while, he had missed Benjamin, too.

  “I have.” Benjamin wet his lips. “I know things were hard for us in the end, but I remember all the good times. I was wondering if it's worth trying to make things work again.”

  Sebastian glanced down at Benjamin's hopeful eyes and swallowed his response. It wasn't kind, and Benjamin deserved it, but he still didn’t want to hurt the other man’s feelings.

  Instead, he took another long gulp of his drink and glanced toward the kitchen, shifting the topic away from their failed relationship. “Can I make you something to eat?” Sebastian asked. “I can make your favorite.”

  Benjamin bit his lip over a smile and nodded. “Yes, please. I would like that.”

  “Cool.” Sebastian finished off his beer and moved into the kitchen with Benjamin following close behind him.

  “Have you thought about it?” he asked as he sat down in the seat Sebastian's mother usually occupied.

  “Thought about what?” Sebastian peered into the refrigerator, pulling out a block of cheddar cheese and another beer. He set both on the counter before grabbing the bread from on top of the refrigerator and a can of low-sodium tomato soup from the pantry on the other side of the room from the refrigerator. He poured the contents of the can into a pot and sliced the cheese into thick wedges.

  “Thought about us getting back together. Do you miss me?”

  Sebastian sucked his bottom lip and fixed his attention on his task. “It's been a long time, and I've gotten used to being alone,” Sebastian responded. Diplomatic. Neutral.

  “How?”

  Sebastian shrugged. “I just have.” He finished slicing the cheese and arranged the squares neatly on one piece of bread, covering it with another and slathering both sides with butter. He placed it in a skillet and let it sizzle until melted cheese oozed from the sides.

  Then he flipped it with a metal spatula and flattened it. He lingered over the sandwich, removing it from the heat when both sides were equally browned. He poured the soup into a bowl, sliced the sandwich, and placed it in front of Benjamin.

  He took the leftover soup for himself. “So, uh, you just stopping in or-” Sebastian swirled his spoon around in the soup. “It’s late, so if you want to stay here tonight, you can.”

  Benjamin smiled, dipping one triangle-shaped sandwich piece into the rich, candy-red liquid. “That would be nice, thank you.”

  Sebastian nodded. “I'll make up the couch for you.”

  A little frown passed across Benjamin's features, but he recovered quickly and offered Sebastian a teasing grin. “The couch? Are we strangers now?”

  “A little bit, yeah. It's been a couple of years, after all.”

  Benjamin pouted. “I guess. Tell me, though, have you thought about me?” Benjamin twirled his spoon in his bowl, studying his food before flicking bright blue eyes up to Sebastian.

  Sebastian fixed his attention on his soup as he warred with the correct answer. The truth was, he had thought about Benjamin, but not in the way Benjamin hoped. For the most part, his thoughts on Benjamin were only in comparison to Jude, and between the two, Jude was much more pleasant to think about.

  Jude lacked so many of Benjamin’s bad habits, such as fishing for compliments and reframing the truth. Sebastian was sure Jude had his own less-than-ideal habits, but they weren’t the same as Benjamin’s, and most importantly, Jude hadn’t led with his controlling demeanor.

  He had money, status, and the ability to use it all negatively, but so far, he had been sweet and shockingly kind. Perhaps in the beginning, Benjamin would’ve been the same way, but the honeymoon stage of their relationship had long sailed away, and it was never coming back.

  Sebastian sighed. “Yes, I’ve thought about you. Now, I think you need to get some rest.”

  With a triumphant smile, Benjamin finished his meal and moved into the living room as Sebastian pulled blankets from the closet and turned the lumpy, ten-year-old couch into a bed. Sebastian disappeared into his bedroom once Benjamin was settled for the night, closing the door behind him and crawling into bed. He fell asleep right as his head hit the pillow and woke up with the sun the next day.

  Ordinarily, his Sunday routine included listening to radio preachers with his mother, rolling his eyes while she fawned over their messages. He wasn't religious, but he wasn't going to stop his mother from finding comfort wherever she wanted it.

  This morning, however, he woke to silence and the reality of his ex-boyfriend being in his space. It took him longer than usual to roll out of bed, but once he did, he showered, dressed, and moved into the kitchen.

  Benjamin was still asleep, and Sebastian tiptoed around him after making himself a small glass of water. He slipped on a pair of loafers and stepped outside, using the quiet time to secure a rental car and contact his mechanic.

  An unknown number popped up on his phone just as he ended the call with the mechanic, and as always, he answered. A mechanical voice spoke through the receiver, asking him if he wanted to accept the fee for the call, and when he said yes, his brother’s voice filled the receiver.

  “Happy Sunday, little bro,” his brother, Micah, teased.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Sebastian chuckled, relax
ing into another conversation. After the type of Saturday he’d had, it was good to hear his brother’s raspy tenor voice. They went through the basic pleasantries. His brother updated him on the most interesting parts of being in prison, and then he passed the floor to Sebastian.

  “How are things on your end,” Micah prompted.

  “Well, Mom's in the hospital, and my work truck broke down.” To Sebastian, neither statement was pressing because Micah couldn't do anything about it. However, Micah felt differently, and Sebastian could hear his scowl through the phone.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about Mom first?”

  “Because it’s nothing serious. She fell and broke her hip, and she's on the most amazing painkillers you can imagine right now.”

  “Yeah, maybe so, but still, it’s Mom, and I want to know.”

  “Well, you know now.” Sebastian shrugged.

  “So, what’s going to happen to her?”

  “Well, she's healthy and strong, so she’ll have surgery pretty soon, and then I guess they'll just discharge her.”

  “Oh. Surgery, for real? On an old woman?”

  “She’s not an old woman, but yeah. It’s what they do. They try to do the surgery within forty-eight hours of the incident. I figure since it happened on Saturday, they’ll try to do it Monday.”

  “Hm,” Micah grunted.

  “I’ll keep you posted. But seriously, she’s going to be fine.”

  “If you say so.”

  “She will. Besides the dementia, she’s low-risk,” Sebastian insisted.

  Micah made another uncomfortable noise, but he let his protest go and twisted the conversation to something else. It stretched on for another fifteen minutes, and they mulled over all sorts of things. They discussed the news, current events, and Micah slipped in a few quips about Sebastian’s romantic life before their time was spent.

  As Sebastian ended the call with his brother, he moved back inside the house, and the smell of burning food greeted him. “Great,” he muttered under his breath and dashed into the kitchen, finding Benjamin standing over a flaming skillet. “What’s going on here?”

  “Oh, my God.” Benjamin jumped backwards as Sebastian entered the kitchen. “Oh, thank goodness you’re here. I just wanted to make you breakfast, and I've never done this before, and I think it's burnt.” His words tumbled out of his mouth in one breath.

  Sebastian clenched his jaws over a laugh and approached the stove, trading places with Benjamin and dousing the fire while turning off the heat. He ran cold water over the skillet, and the burnt food slid out of the pan and into the sink.

  “You were always my hero,” Benjamin teased as Sebastian ran hot water over the cast-iron skillet, flaking off charred bits of eggs.

  “Was I?” Sebastian frowned as Benjamin slid his hands from the small of Sebastian's back up to his shoulders. He kissed the back of Sebastian's neck and made a noise of assent.

  “You are.”

  Sebastian turned his head and glanced down at Benjamin. “What are you here for?” he asked, meeting Benjamin's blue eyes with his own.

  “I'm here for you.” Benjamin swept his lips along Sebastian's shoulders.

  Sebastian moved away from him after the skillet was clean. “I don't know if I want to try things again,” he confessed. “I have a lot going on with my mother being sick and my brother being incarcerated, and I don't think I can deal with a relationship right now.” He gripped the side of the kitchen sink, bracing himself for Benjamin's anger.

  It didn’t come.

  “I know,” Benjamin replied, tone deceptively soothing. “And I wish I had been more supportive in the beginning. I knew you were going through a hard time then, and I wasn't being the best partner.”

  Sebastian nodded as his stomach churned. “Yeah,” he grunted.

  “If we try again, things will be different. I promise.” Benjamin walked his hands down Sebastian’s spine and slid them around to the front of his body. They roamed over his stomach and traced the line of his jeans.

  Sebastian shuddered and slipped out of Benjamin’s grasp a second time. “I have to go to the hospital to meet my mother, and the rental car service will be here in a few minutes.”

  “What's wrong with your mother?” Benjamin tilted his head.

  “She is in the hospital with a broken hip, and I promised I would stay with her as much as possible.”

  “Ah. Well, we can take my car if you want.”

  “No, it's okay. I have insurance, and depending on how long I need the rental, my boss may help cover some of the cost.”

  “Nice boss, huh.” Benjamin smirked, one dimple piercing his pale cheeks.

  “He’s not bad.”

  “Do you want me to come with you?”

  “You can if you want.”

  “Okay. Let me shower, and then I will be ready to go.”

  “Cool.” Sebastian watched him leave the kitchen before starting a new meal. He cracked open the last four eggs, scrambled them, and spread them over toast as a chauffeur car pulled into the driveway.

  ***

  Chapter 2

  Sebastian

  Sebastian and Benjamin piled into the backseat of the chauffeur car, and it chauffeured them to the rental car location where Sebastian picked out a small utility truck and drove it to the hospital.

  Benjamin sat cross-legged on the passenger side, studying his cell phone with crunched features. The drive was short, and when they arrived at the hospital, Sebastian led his ex-boyfriend up to his mother's floor, knocking before easing into her room.

  “Hey, Ma,” Sebastian greeted her as he stepped into view, and she tore her eyes away from the overhead television, turning her attention to her son.

  “There you are. What took you so long?” she scowled, fixing her thin sheets over her lap. “The doctors have been asking when you would get here today. They want to talk to you about my surgery.”

  “Oh, sorry, Ma. I had to deal with getting a rental car.” He kissed her forehead with a light smile. “I also talked to Micah this morning, too.” He left out the kitchen fiasco because there was no need to send his mother into a panic attack.

  “Oh, my other favorite son! How's he doing?”

  “He’s fine. Don’t worry about him. So, Ma,” Sebastian drawled, “I brought a visitor for you.”

  The woman quirked her greyed eyebrows. “Did you?”

  “Yeah-” Sebastian started, but before more words left his mouth, Benjamin breezed from behind him and greeted her with a little wave.

  “Hello, Mrs. Ward. Do you remember me?” Benjamin put on his best, most dazzling smile as he leaned against her bedside.

  “Oh, Benjamin, I do indeed remember you.” She offered a pleasant smile to Benjamin after stealing a questioning glance towards Sebastian.

  He shrugged his shoulders, pressing his lips together in a tight, tense smile. “He’s here to visit for a bit.”

  Sebastian’s mother smiled a little more and turned back to Benjamin, placing one of her pale hands over his. “It's been such a long time. How have you been?”

  “I've been well, but lonely, which is why I came to visit your son. I arrived last night, and he told me you were in the hospital, so I had to come see you before I left town again.”

  “How sweet of you.”

  “It’s nothing. So,” Benjamin smoothed a few of her fly-away grey hairs, “how are you doing, Mrs. Ward?” After he pet her hair, he placed a hand on her shoulder, tilting his head and fixing soft eyes on her.

  An inexperienced on-looker would mistake Benjamin for someone with empathy and kindness.

  Sebastian, on the other hand, knew better.

  He turned away from them, tidying up her extra sheets before sitting down in the hard-cushioned guest chair. He laced his fingers over his lap, eying all of Benjamin’s subtle movements.

  He was a chameleon, but the worst kind, and right now, he was charming Sebastian’s mother, putting a smile on her face, filling her need for closen
ess and comfort.

  “Well, I have all the painkillers I want, and I can watch whatever I want on TV as well.” Her light brown eyes sparkled. “I’m doing just fine.”

  “That’s good to hear.” Benjamin chuckled. “What shows are you watching right now?”

  As they relaxed into a conversation about top-rated midday soap operas, the doctor strolled into the room and stole Sebastian's attention. It was a quick, down-to-earth conversation, where she explained his mother's condition in the fewest amount of words possible.

  His mother had fractured her hip, and it was a common injury for people her age. Old people. They had scheduled his mother for surgery early the next morning, and her last meal of the night would be at five in the afternoon. Afterwards, she couldn’t eat again until after her surgery.

  “We normally prefer to do these types of hip-replacement surgeries within twenty-four to forty-eight hours after the incident. I prefer within twenty-four hours, but sometimes the weekend can throw off a good momentum with call schedules and limited staff.” She adjusted a pair of black-rimmed, square glasses on her button nose. “Though I must say, your mother is full of visitors all the time. The man who brought her flowers this morning was absolutely adamant we make sure she was well-taken care of.”

  “The man who brought her flowers?”

  “Indeed.” The woman smiled. “Well, I have to finish my rounds. I will be by to check on you guys a little bit later.” She tipped her head to Sebastian and whispered goodbye to his mother and Benjamin.

  Sebastian peered around the room once they were alone again, studying the many monitors before glancing the other direction and spying a bouquet of flowers sitting on the counter. He squinted at them before approaching and searching them for a card. “Ma, who brought you these?”

  “Your friend Jude brought them. He stopped by this morning to see how I was, and he brought me those flowers and a pair of socks for my feet.”

  “Oh,” Sebastian replied.

  Benjamin tilted his head. “Who’s Jude?” First, he looked at Sebastian. Then he glanced toward Sebastian's mother with the same questioning expression.