The Billionaire's Accidental Sugar Mommy

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I tried to buy myself a boyfriend. Five grand a month, cash.

Turns out the broke college kid I was sponsoring is the one heir this entire city is terrified of.

And for weeks he just watched me play sugar mommy. Watched me boss him around and threaten to dock his allowance, cold as a walk-in freezer, and said nothing.

I even scolded him once. Told a kept man he had no business giving his sugar mommy attitude.

Then my parents dragged me to a matchmaking gala.

The whole room parted for one man. Waiters froze. Old money fell over itself to shake his hand.

My parents bowed.

To him.

He crossed the floor, leaned down until his mouth brushed my ear, and dropped his voice so low it stopped my heart.

"Such a big appetite," he murmured. "You want to keep me on the side, too?"

Chapter 1

I went to my brother's dorm to find him.

He wasn't there.

The guy who opened the door was.

Eight-pack abs. A face like something carved in a museum. Fresh out of the shower, no shirt, a pair of ridiculous floral shorts, leg hair for days.

He was drying his hair with a towel, lazy about it.

My pulse took off.

That was it. That was the moment. I was in love.

Those shorts were my brother's. So was the towel.

Right. My brother's dorm sleeps three. One's some old-money heir who never actually shows up. The other two: my brother, and a broke kid named Neil.

I hung up on my brother's call mid-ring.

"Who are you looking for?" the guy asked.

Great voice. Tall, easily six-three. Just standing there, he took up all the air in the room.

See, this is the thing about being hot. It just works.

"My brother. Tucker," I said, and slipped past him into the room.

He frowned from the doorway. "He's not here."

My brother had told me all about Neil. Broke, but proud. The prickly kind of proud. His mom was sick, so he pulled night shifts pouring drinks at a bar to cover her meds. My brother offered to lend him money once. Neil wouldn't take a handout.

My whole face went soft with pity.

"I came here for my brother," I said. "But now I'm here for you."

He shut the door. Toweled his hair. Then, calm as anything, opened my brother's closet, pulled out a printed shirt, and put it on.

Huh. Weird. For a guy too proud to take a handout, he sure helped himself to my brother's wardrobe.

I looked at the long legs. The cut of his back. All that muscle. I swallowed.

"What do you want with me?" he said.

"You're broke, right?" I said. "I'll fix that."

He turned around and watched me like I'd started speaking another language.

I did some fast math on my allowance.

My family's comfortable. Not yacht comfortable. My parents kept me and my brother on a short leash, a fixed sum every month, and my savings were, frankly, sad.

But this kid had probably never seen real money in his life.

So I laid it out. "I'll keep you. Don't tell my brother. Five grand a month. I heard your mom's sick. How much do you need? I'll front it and take it out of my future allowance."

My face went hot. I couldn't look at him. First time doing this. My fingers were actually shaking.

He let out a soft laugh. Then he sat on the edge of the table, right beside me, so he could look down at me.

Which, honestly, did nothing for my authority as the person holding the checkbook.

So I cleared my throat and lowered my voice. "Look. My allowance is tight right now. I've already handed you half of it. They bump it up later, I'll raise your rate."

I looked him dead in the eye, very sincere. "Deal?"

The second it left my mouth I wanted to slap myself.

I'm the buyer here. Why am I the one begging?

Whatever. Kings have burned down whole empires over a pretty face. Me bending a little for one gorgeous man is completely reasonable.

Besides, if some rich older woman got to him first, she'd outbid me in a heartbeat. My budget isn't deep. Least I could do was throw in emotional support.

Two long fingers caught my chin and tipped my face up.

His eyes were cold. Arctic.

I'd probably wounded his pride, bringing up how broke he was.

I got scared he might actually strangle me, so my hands flew up and grabbed his.

The second my skin touched his, we both flinched, like the contact carried a current.

My ears went red. My heart threw itself at my ribs.

This. This was the good stuff.

I wanted to keep holding on. Instead I made myself let go, because a boss does not get clingy with the help.

He studied me. "You know who I am?" A pause. "And you still want to keep me?"

I nodded. "I know. You're Neil, my brother's roommate. Your mom's sick and needs money, my brother wanted to lend you some, and you said you don't take handouts. Well. Now I'm keeping you. So you listen to me, and you take care of me, and it stops being charity."

I gave him my brightest smile.

"See? We both win."

Chapter 2

He laughed. Not a real laugh. The kind that means you've said something so stupid it looped all the way back around to funny.

Then he let go of my chin.

I wasn't ready to let go of his hand, though.

His hand was nice. Long fingers, warm, smooth. Once I had it, I did not want to give it back.

I used to think I was a good girl. Immune to men.

Turns out I'm immune right up until I'm not, and then I have no shame whatsoever.

He pulled his hand free, shook a cigarette out of a pack on the table, and lit it, taking his time. Watched me through the smoke.

The back of my neck prickled.

Okay. Note to self. Neil is not someone you push around.

I was already halfway into a grovel. No hard feelings, don't tell my brother, please, or my parents find out and I lose my allowance for a year.

But then he said, "Fine."

Oh.

We left together. Well. He walked behind me. I walked in front.

My parents had banned me from dating. I was in college and everything, and they'd still banned it. They said they'd find me someone appropriate, because clearly I couldn't be trusted to pick for myself.

So. Discretion.

We caught a cab at the campus gates. I don't even go there. My school's the next one over, fifteen minutes on foot.

We hit the mall first. Food.

Here's the thing about Neil. He's got this pride to him. I was the one keeping him, and somehow he still looked more expensive than I did. It was humiliating.

In the private booth, I pulled out my phone and added him.

I caught a look at his. "Ooh. You've got the newest iPhone?"

"Knockoff," he said.

Ah. That explained why he couldn't resist my offer.

Honestly, though, he made a fake look convincing. Boy knew how to stretch a dollar.

His profile picture was a dog. A hand rested on the dog's head. His hand, presumably. Good-looking hand.

"How much does your mom need?" I asked.

He took a sip of water. "However much you feel like."

I chewed my thumbnail and thought it over. "I'll start you at ten grand. That work?"

He crossed his arms and looked me over like I'd insulted three generations of his family. "Ten grand. You tipping a beggar?"

I scrunched my nose. "Excuse you. I'm your sugar mommy now."

The nerve. Beggars can't be choosers, apparently.

He just watched me, mouth tilted, not quite smiling.

Fine. Fine. I gritted my teeth and made it thirty. "There. You're mine now. You do what I say. I paid for you."

That money was supposed to be my summer trip with the girls. Now I'd have to go home and con my brother out of his.

Once the cash landed, he finally gave me a smile. "First time keeping a man?"

I nodded, sucking on my boba, and added, "Don't tell my brother. He will actually kill me."

"Obviously not," he said. "If you're dead, there goes my paycheck."

I got brave and reached across the table to touch his hand.

He didn't move. Just sat there, perfectly at ease, watching me make my sad little grab like some pot-bellied old creep copping a feel off a waitress.

He didn't pull away. I was thrilled.

Worth every penny.

I got two whole touches in before the waiter rolled the food in and I snatched my hand back.

After dinner, I dragged him to a movie. This time I laced my fingers through his in broad daylight, no shame at all.

God, money is wonderful.

Because here's how this would've gone if I'd done it the normal way. If I'd caught feelings for Neil and actually chased him.

We'd be looking at a whole three-season teen drama. Rich girl wants broke boy. Broke boy says no. Rich girl wears him down. They finally get together. Then the parents split them up, or his mom does, and there's crying in the rain and somebody's heart gets stomped flat, and it drags on for months, and I get put through the wringer before I so much as hold his hand.

But not me.

I skipped the line. Paid full price, cash.

First date, and I'd already locked down dinner, hand-holding, and a movie.

Chapter 3

Leaving the mall.

I had to get back to school. No afternoon classes, but freshmen had mandatory evening study hall.

I looked at Neil. I didn't want to go.

"Quit the bar job," I told him. "Those places aren't safe, and they're wrecking your grades. Focus on school. Win a scholarship or something."

He looked down at me and said nothing.

I pinched him. "Don't play dumb. I'm talking to you."

"Oh," he said. "Sure." Lazy about it.

We reached the fork in the road back to campus. "Okay, I'm heading back," I said.

He grunted.

That wasn't good enough. "You're supposed to walk me home. I just spent money on you. You have to keep me happy."

He patted his pockets. "Buy me a pack of cigarettes. Forgot mine."

I wanted to smack him. "You're this broke and you still smoke? No. Cut it out, or I'm docking your pay."

If he weren't a foot taller than me, I'd have grabbed him by the ear and set him straight.

"Fine, sugar mommy," he said. "I'll walk you back."

My kept man was giving me the cold shoulder. What was I supposed to do about that?

I typed the question into Google, word for word. Then I posted it on Reddit: how do I get the guy I'm sponsoring to actually like me back, asking for a friend. Then two more apps.

Nothing useful came back.

Two weeks in. Ten dinner invites. He showed up to three, ate, and left every time.

I'd been scammed. And I couldn't tell my parents, my brother, my professors, anyone. I just gritted my teeth and swallowed it.

Right when I was sure I'd lost the money and the man both, my parents bought my brother and me each an apartment near campus.

Turned out my brother had ranted at home that Neil came in so late he couldn't sleep. They'd gotten into a fistfight over it.

My grip tightened on my chopsticks. "Is he okay?" I blurted.

My brother stared at me, offended. "Is he your brother, or am I?"

So that explained the cold shoulder. Neil was clearly picking up shifts again. The money I gave him probably barely covered his mom's meds. And after fighting my brother, he was taking it out on me.

I made a quiet vow to nurse his fragile little heart. The poor guy was out here all alone, no family, carrying the whole weight of the world. How exhausting for him.

So the day my parents handed over the keys, I called Neil out and brought him to my new place.

I opened the door. Fully furnished. The last owner had barely used any of it before they moved abroad and sold.

Thank God my brother's building was across town.

I placed a key into Neil's palm like I was knighting him.

He swept a look across the empty living room, wearing that whole unbought-and-unbowed expression, and lifted a brow. "Oh? This is for me?"

My heart soared, then slammed to a stop. "D-do I have to give it to you?"

I wasn't that generous. I just meant he could live here. No more getting pushed around.

"So what are you saying. You're handing me a key."

I rubbed my nose. "My brother says you come in late and wake him up, that you two fought. If you live here, you won't have to deal with his attitude anymore."

Also, for all I knew, he had other sugar mommies on the side. I needed to keep eyes on him.

I lowered my voice. "Besides. We've been together a while now, and you keep letting me look but never touch. I'm getting shortchanged here."

He had me pinned to the wall in one move.

His whole presence crashed over me at once, and just like that I was the small animal that had wandered in front of the predator. I refused to look scared, so I glared right back.

He was close enough that the heat off his skin reached mine. My eyes dropped to his mouth. Neither of us moved for one very long second.

Then his lips, soft, were on mine.

Thank God I brushed my teeth before I left, I thought, delighted.

He pulled back and frowned. "Close your eyes. You don't even know how to kiss?"

Excuse me? I felt thoroughly insulted, so I lunged back in to do it properly.

When we finally broke apart, he wiped a smear of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Sabrina. Are you part pit bull?"

My face went scarlet. "Whose fault is it for underestimating me?"

He exhaled through his nose, somewhere between amused and murderous. I got a little embarrassed too.

Then he patted my head, and just like that I was a cat being smoothed the right way, and I launched into planning our future.

"So from now on, no more job. You stay here and date me. I'll throw in an extra two grand from my allowance." I announced it like a royal decree.

He raised one brow.

I finally understood what it felt like to be an emperor bumping a favorite up the ranks.

He lounged back on the couch. "From now on, when you're not in class, you come straight back here and wait for me. Got it?"

"And you?"

"Me?"

I wanted to be glued to him every waking second, but I couldn't let that show. He'd use it against me, run completely wild. And I was down to three grand a month now. I had nothing left to give. I couldn't afford his attitude.

This relationship of ours, gone fragile on the back of my empty wallet.

"Me? I'm fine, obviously. I'll come back too. I just have to go home sometimes to handle my parents. They keep me on a short leash."

Weekends I'd be home. Weekdays I lived on campus and could slip out to be with him.

I was, frankly, a genius.

Chapter 4

I couldn't wait to get started on the whole domestic-bliss thing, so I kicked him. "Go make me dinner. Now."

"I can't."

"You are not allowed to say can't. If you can't, you learn. From now on, in front of me, the phrase is 'I'll learn.' Understand?"

He gave me a flat, cold look. I glared right back, undaunted. "Oh, you can't? So you expect me to wait on you? I can't either! Go. Make. Dinner. The absolute nerve of you."

After a long moment, he took what looked like a steadying breath, picked up his phone, and turned for the kitchen.

I stretched out on the couch and turned on the TV.

Life was good.

I thought about my roommate, who got kept in real style. Fat monthly deposits. Actual presents. I had been a little cheap with Neil. His attitude was, honestly, fair.

But I wasn't some jowly old sugar daddy. I was a young, gorgeous college girl. All things considered, Neil was getting a bargain.

Reassured, I settled in to wait for my dinner.

Neil could not cook. I'd bought steaks, the kind you literally just sear, and he still managed to burn one side clean through.

He was probably too poor growing up to have ever seen a steak. I let it go.

After dinner, he set his bowl down and made for the couch, phone already out.

I snatched it out of his hand. "I've been meaning to bring this up. You're on this thing all day. Is it prettier than me? No more phone. Go wash the dishes."

I went to snoop through it. Black screen.

I handed it back. "Unlock it. I'm running an inspection."

He gave a short, disbelieving laugh. "Want to bet I call your brother?"

I deflated on the spot and scowled at him. "Are you a child? Tattling to a parent?"

He took the phone back. "Are you a child? Scared of a parent?"

He headed for the kitchen. I trailed after him. "Who said I'm scared. I'm not scared."

He set the bowl down. "I cooked. You wash. Or I call your brother right now."

I glared. "Don't forget who signs your checks."

He raised a brow, pulled out his phone, and started to dial.

"Okay! Fine! I'll wash the dishes. Not because I'm scared you'll tell my brother. Because I care about you and I don't want you getting all worn out!"

"Babe." He pinched my cheek. "You are a genuine piece of work."

When I came out from washing up, he was on the phone.

Whatever the person on the other end said, he answered it lazily. "Can't right now. Babysitting. Some other time."

I lunged for the phone. I wanted to see who it was.

He stopped me with a single look.

Exactly like my father. An alarming amount of authority.

I stomped back to my room, fuming. Babysitting who?

I could smell the kitchen on me, so I hurried off to shower.

When I came out, he was leaning in the doorway, all loose-limbed and insolent. "In a hurry? Straight to the shower?"

My face detonated.

I'd brought him here. Obviously that was the plan. Otherwise I'd blown all that cash to look and never touch, and where's the return on that?

Besides. A girl's first time should be with someone she actually likes.

And I liked Neil. Broke, sure. But he had that untouchable pride to him.

I huffed and yanked the curtains shut. "Let me show you exactly how much of a kid I am."

I turned around. His eyes were already on me, and the whole room seemed to tilt a few degrees warmer. He set his phone down, slow, and did not look away.

After that, cohabitation with Neil turned gloriously shameless, and life was very, very good.

Sure, my kept man was a bad kept man. Disobedient. Made me do half the chores. And in bed he had a distinct tendency to stop taking orders and start staging a coup.

But all in all? Money well spent. I floated through my days. I wanted to stay holed up with him forever. Eating, watching movies, falling into bed.

Until summer showed up.

I knew Neil was from Dayton. I was worried he'd go home to look after his mom.

"Where are you going for the summer?" I asked.

We were in that lazy, tangled-up afterglow. He was scrolling his phone. I was lying on his chest playing a game, running my fingers absently over his abs.

"Where should I go," he said.

Oh. He was asking my opinion now.

"Stay here with me, obviously. I'll sneak out to see you."

He glanced down at me with the faintest disdain. "What do you do all summer at home?"

Chapter 5

I sighed. Before college, my summers were nothing but cram sessions. Brutal, endless tutoring.

Otherwise a disaster like me never would've tested into a top-ten school.

This summer, my mother had announced she was taking me on the matchmaking circuit. Find a suitable guy from the right kind of family, date him, get engaged before I graduated. That whole track.

Old money marries young. The good ones get snapped up early.

None of which I could tell Neil.

"Nothing," I mumbled. "Just lying around at home."

Guilt needled at me. Like I was betraying him.

Because tonight my mother was taking me to a gala. Every name in the city would be there, apparently. She'd bought me a head-to-toe designer look with a price tag that made me lightheaded.

His eyes lifted off his phone and settled on me, reading me. "What did you do that you feel guilty about?"

I was about to tell him to stay in his lane when my mom's call saved me.

I shushed him and picked up. "Bree, where on earth are you? Get home and do your hair, the stylist is already here!"

I scrambled out a yes, threw on clothes, and bolted. On my way out I told him, "Be a good boy and wait here."

By the time I got home it was past three. Hair, makeup, the whole production. Then I headed out with my parents and my brother.

Neil had left marks on me, so I'd caked on powder to cover them.

The whole drive, my mother rattled off which families' sons were single and open to a match. Keep an open mind, she said.

I wanted to text Neil. But I didn't dare, not under their noses. I'd nearly blown it once. My brother had caught me beaming at my phone and asked if I was in love.

When she finished, my dad turned to my brother. "Stay close to the Ashford heir. If he hadn't tipped us off, we'd have lost our shirts on that deal."

"Yeah," my brother said. "He barely comes to campus, though. We crossed paths once over a pickup game, not much since. I heard he'll be here tonight. I'll go say hello."

"Yes, yes," my mom said. "Get a familiar face in front of him."

My brother turned to me. "Sabrina. You thirsty little disaster. Don't go falling for just anyone tonight. Some of these men are gorgeous and completely out of our league. Don't let a pretty face fry your brain."

I glared. "Who exactly are you calling shallow?"

The ballroom left me dizzy. A few of my favorite A-list actresses were right there in the room.

My parents worked the floor with my brother and me for a while.

Then a ripple went through the crowd. Whispers. A shift in the air. He's here, people were saying. He's here.

Who was here?

My mom was mid-introduction between me and Mrs. Calloway's son. At the words, the whole cluster went quiet and turned to look.

Dawson leaned in and murmured, "The Ashford one. Word is he's coming too."

In this city, there was only one family that name belonged to. You said it, and everyone knew.

So I turned to gawk with everyone else.

And there, at the dead center of the crowd, everyone orbiting him like he was the sun, stood a tall, unfairly beautiful man.

The Neil who was supposed to be home waiting for me.

Walking straight toward us.

He saw me.

And he saw exactly who was standing next to me.

Every drop of blood in my body stopped moving.

He crossed the floor in seconds. My parents, my brother, the Calloways, all of them lit up warm as old war buddies. He looked at my parents. "Oh? Are your two families...?"

My mom said, a little bashful, "Just letting the young people get acquainted."

Then she introduced me. "This is my daughter, Sabrina. She just started at one of the Ivies."

"So. A match," he concluded.

Funny thing. I'd never once noticed that when he talked, you couldn't tell if he was pleased or about to end your life. I'd always assumed he was just putting on airs for my benefit, and it always annoyed me. I was the sugar mommy. Where did he get off looking down on me?

I wanted to die.

A hand appeared in front of me. That same voice, cool and unhurried as ever.

"Hi. I'm Blaise Ashford."

Chapter 6

My brother once told me the heir had been a sickly kid, so his family gave him a soft, pretty name. Some old superstition that a delicate name would help a frail boy pull through.

I was still frozen.

My brother elbowed me. Then pinched me.

I shoved my hand out and shook.

Who could have guessed that at noon we'd been tangled up in bed, and tonight we'd stand here shaking hands like strangers meeting for the first time.

The ballroom lights dropped low. Music swelled. Couples drifted onto the floor.

One pull and he'd tugged me out of the cluster and into the crowd, and I was moving to his steps whether I liked it or not. Before he took me, he'd politely told my parents he was borrowing me for a moment.

I followed him stiff as a board. His hand settled at the small of my back. "One afternoon apart and you've lost your voice?"

I had no idea what to say.

Should I just drop to my knees and beg right here?

"Sabrina. I never did get my answer. You came here to find a husband. So where does that leave me?"

He leaned close to my ear. His voice went soft. Almost tender.

"Is your appetite really that big? You want to keep me on the side, too?"

My smile stayed nailed to my face. All around us people laughed and turned across the floor, glasses catching the light, and not one of them could hear the man murmuring my execution into my ear.

My brother's words came back to me. People who cross the Ashford heir do not end well. Best case, you go bankrupt. Worst case, your whole family gets wiped off the map.

My knees buckled