Dirk: A Stepbrother Romance(48)
He can often be found pursuing his top three interests: driving fast cars, buying stakes in notable businesses, and sleeping with the most notable women in Hollywood.
Storm has not been in a long term relationship for the entire time that he has appeared on the Forbes Billionaires List, on which he is ranked a healthy forty-fifth, above such notable names as 21st Century FOX CEO Rupert Murdoch (77th) and makeup mogul Leonard Lauder (137th). Of Californian residents, he is behind only former Oracle CEO Larry Ellison (5th), Facebook kingpin Mark Zuckerberg (16th), and Google magnates Larry Page and Sergey Brin (19th and 20th respectively). This has resulted in him also being included in this publication’s list of the ‘Top 10 Richest Californian Men’ for each of the last five years. (See the exclusive interview with Houston Storm on pg. 51)”
“Well,” Amy said when she finished reading the article, “I guess I just went on a date with a billionaire.”
“Wait, dear…there’s more,” Alice said. “He’s a playboy. He is seen every other week with a different actress from down in Hollywood.”
“I was asked out on a date by a billionaire…” Amy said, clearly not listening.
“Look!” Alice said, snapping her young colleague out of her reverie. Taking the younger woman by the shoulders, Alice said, “I just don’t want to see you get hurt. Please, please be careful, okay?”
The next day, when Amy arrived in the office, she was surprised to find twelve dozen long-stemmed red roses, and a very solemn Alice. “Morning,” her boss said to her, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and a card in the other. “They’re for you,” she said, handing Amy the handwritten card.
As she took the card, Amy couldn’t help but wonder what in the world was going on. Silently, she read, Amy…I haven’t been able to stop thinking of you since we parted yesterday. If you would, please come to my office on the seventeenth floor today at noon. Your supervisor told me that you will have one hour for lunch today, and I would love for you to spend it with me. Love, Houston.
Amy did not know what to think. The day before, she had thought that she had simply caught the ardor of a notable businessman who wanted company for lunch. Afterwards, she was even more confused by the article in The Californian and the things that Alice had said. That night, she had looked up “Houston Storm playboy” on Google, and found a positive treasure trove of pictures and stories linking him to various women. Models, athletes, actresses, and the slutty daughters of hotel magnates…they were all there! The one glaring absence from the pictures was that of a woman who looked anything like she did.
And then, she came in to work, only to become more confused than ever, because Houston had given her 144 red, long-stemmed roses! Everything she could find on the man hinted that he simply did not show affection to the women he was with. Was she any different? Was he just trying to add her to his list of trophies conquered? Did he actually see a potential future with the twenty-eight year old grief counselor who hadn’t had a steady boyfriend in almost seven years?
And most importantly, would Amy be able to tame him before he burned her?
Chapter 5
Houston was sitting in his office, anxiously awaiting Amy when his direct telephone line rang. Quickly glancing at his watch, he saw that he had at least a half-hour until she was due to arrive, and so he answered.
“Houston Storm,” he said.
“Hello, Huey,” came his mother’s voice on the other end of the line.
“Hey, Mom!” he said, leaning back in his executive chair. “How’s it been?”
“It’s been fine, honey. What about you? Are you still seeing that girl you told me about? Jessica? Jennifer? What was it? And when is she going to give me grandchildren?”
“Genevieve, mom?”
“That’s the one!”
“No mom…I told you that she was a date to a fundraiser. I wasn’t ‘seeing’ her!”
“Then how is she going to give me grandchildren?”
“She isn’t mom…she was just a one-time date. We weren’t right for each other.”
“Well, I guess I’ll probably have better luck with your sister, then, won’t I?”
“Mom! I’m an only child!”
“Well! Maybe if I had another baby, they would grow up to give me grandchildren! You need to get a move on, Huey, or they’ll all be taken!”
“Believe me, mom, finding women who would have a child with me isn’t the problem. You know that I just want a good one…like you.”
“Well, you’ll never get a good one if you keep running around with the whores that I always see in pictures of you!”
“Mom!” Houston said, surprised.
“Well they are!”
“Well, I have found a good girl, I think…Mom, you would love her!” he said, and he began telling his mother all about Amy and their lunch date the day before.
“When will I get to meet her?” she asked, over twenty minutes later.
“When I am sure things are working out, Mom.”
“Well, you’d better get moving, Huey…I’m not getting any younger, and I want grandchildren!”
“Well, hopefully, we’ll have a second date today.”