Mikayla's Mistake: A One Night Stand with the Billionaire

"You absolutely have to go!" exclaimed the pretty black-haired girl in a doctor's coat.

Mikayla ran a hand over her face wearily. Her partner, Anna, was at it again.

Anna was her closest friend and confidant, and beyond that, she was her business partner.

They'd met in medical school. After graduation, they both got jobs at the same General Hospital.

Later on, they left together to open their own hospital, the MikAnna Hospital.

It was a combination of both their names, Mikayla and Anna; MikAnna.

"I don't want to, go" Mikayla complained. She didn't even care that she sounded whiny.

"But it is literally for a good cause," Anna said in a scandalized voice like she couldn't believe her friend.

Mikayla sighed. "It's always for a good cause," she reminded her.

Apparently, they'd been invited to a find raising event hosted by one of their investors.

This wasn't the first of such event. In fact, they were regularly invited to such events.

Every single event was to raise money for some big world and health issue, and every single time her friend made the same argument.

Sadly, attending them came with the territory. To appease their investors, she often had to put aside her personal feelings and attend.

But Anna was the opposite. She loved these events and basked in them.

"This one is for cancer," Anna said matter-of-factedly.

Mikayla eyed the invitation card that sat on her table sourly.

"My presence or absence at the event wouldn't make any difference in whether a cure is discovered for cancer or not," Mikayla argued.

This argument was nothing new. It was a dance they did every single time.

And just like she did every single time, Anna rolled her eyes. "Your presence won't hurt the cause either."

"Look, I'll rather just stay at home and watch reruns of Young Sheldon!"

Anna shook her head. "You know the investors like to see us at these things. This is our opportunity to give back to them."

Mikayla sighed. Was it that when you became rich, you were immediately forced to hold these kinds of events?

How many fundraisers could they possibly host a year? They were barely halfway through the year and she'd already attended six. Six!

Sadly, the set of people who could afford to dump millions of dollars into their Hospital were the same ones who hosted these events.

"With the way you're acting, one would think you actually care about raising money for..." She took a peek at the card, "... cancer research."

"Of course I am!" Anna exclaimed.

Mikayla scoffed. She knew her friend. Her motives weren't exactly pure. She wasn't doing this out of the goodness of her heart.

No, it was a result of her love of partying and rubbing shoulders with the rich and mighty; two things that Mikayla hated and wanted nothing to do with.

How many times had Anna kept Mikayla awake at night with wild imaginations of being swept away in a wave of romance and wealth?

Too many times to count! She always hoped to find a man at one of these things.

Sadly, it hadn't happened for her so far. The men that showed interest in her only wanted to f*ck her and go.

Mikayla didn't care for any of the things her friends wanted.

In fact, she made sure to stay out of situations where such a thing could occur.

But Mikayla had a soft spot for her friend so each and every time an invitation like this came up, Anna succeeded in dragging her along.

Even now, the smile on Anna's face said that she knew her friend was already getting tired of arguing and would give in soon.

As one final feeble attempt to get Anna to let her be, Mikayla tried one last tactic.

"Why don't you go by yourself this time? Maybe without me there holding you back, you'll have a better chance of finding the billionaire of your dream."

As expected, Anna simply rolled her eyes. "Nice try. You're coming with me!"

Beep! Beep!

Just then, there was a beeping sound and Anna and Mikayla both scrambled to find their pagers.

"It's mine." Anna waved her beeper in the air. "I have to go. Pick out something nice to wear," she called over her shoulder as she rushed out of Mikayla's office.

"Ugh," Mikayla groaned and flopped face down on her desk. Once again, she'd let Anna talk her into this.

Maybe she should have just continued working at the General Hospital instead.

Running a private Hospital was starting to feel like a pain in the ass.

"No, that's not true," Mikayla corrected herself. She loved her job. She loved treating her patients.

She loved making the Hospital a safe space for the workers and patients. She loved everything about her job.

She should be thankful. Most people didn't even get to do what they loved. She did.

Attending a few fundraisers here and there should be a small price to pay.

She just had to do as she had always done; not draw any attention to herself.

Pop in, shake a few hands, smile here and there, take some pictures and exit at the closest window of opportunity.

"I can do this," she psyched herself up. 'I can get through this. It's only for a couple of hours.'

Just as she was completing her affirmations, the door opened and Nurse Kim stuck her head in.

"Shall I call in the next patient, Dr. Wall?" She asked.

Mikayla had almost completely forgotten about her patients waiting outside.

All thanks to Anna who barged in earlier waving the invitation in the air like a winning lottery ticket.

Her partner must have given the order to hold all patients until she left.

Mikayla straightened in her chair and adjusted her white coat. It was time to work.

No time for dilly-dallying or worrying over the event. Her duty first and foremost was to her patients and she took that very seriously.

"Yes, Nurse Kim. Please let them in," she directed.

By the time Mikayla walked in, the party was in full swing.

She stood close to the entrance, mentally preparing herself to enter into the throng she was looking at.

She stretched her neck discreetly, looking for her friend in the crowd but there were so many people that she couldn't possibly spot her like this.

She would have to wade into the waters. She nodded from time to time to people she recognized.

She wasn't best friends with any of these people but at least she was acquainted with some of them.

It was also super helpful that she now knew who to avoid.

She knew the talkatives, the selazoids, the catty ones, the spoilt and rude ones, and the pretty chill ones.

It helped her to stay out of trouble and get through the events relatively unscathed.

Mikayla caught sight of a flash of hair up ahead and increased her pace. She reached the owner of the familiar black mane.

Anna's back was turned to Mikayla so she tapped her on the shoulder.

Anna squealed and pulled Mikayla into a hug. "Oh my gosh, Mikayla! You came!" She gushed.

"Of course, I came. I always do." She sighed.

"And I just lovey love love you for it!" Anna laughed loudly. She squeezed Mikayla tighter in the hug, almost crushing the poor girl's throat.

Mikayla groaned and slithered out of her grasp. "Started quite early on the drinks tonight," she noted, pointing at the half-empty glass of champagne in Anna's hand.

"Well," she drawled, "You were late!" She pouted. "So I started hanging out with these girls," she turned and pointed but the spot was empty.

She clapped her palm on her mouth. "Oops, they were here a second ago, I swear."

"I bet they were," Mikayla said.

"We all had a few glasses of champagne together. I'm telling the truth!"

"I know. I believe you." And she did truly believe that and she was pissed cause now after getting Anna all tipsy, they'd abandoned her to Mikayla.

It was now her problem. She needed to find a way to sober her up immediately.

Anna was a fun drunk kind of girl, the type that became the life of the party when they drank.

Mikayla didn't think anyone would appreciate her ripping off her top and climbing up on stage to twerk.

Mikayla took the glass of champagne out of Anna's hand and dropped it in the tray of a server passing them by.

She took Anna by the hand and began to lead her out.

On the outside, it would look like they were just casually holding hands.

But in truth, she had a strong grip on Anna's arm and was deliberately pulling her out and towards the ladies' bathroom.

She sprinkled some cold water on her face. Anna got sober fast after that.

"Ugh, why'd you do that!" Anna complained.

"You left me no choice, you drunkard."

Anna grinned. "I suppose I didn't. I was about to start busting out some moves in there."

"I could tell," Mikayla said, smiling too. Several memories of similar occurrences ran through her mind.

Thanks to Anna, medical school hadn't been a complete snooze. She ensured that they had a healthy amount of fun.

Back in college, she would have let Anna get drunk and then watched her pull the craziest antics.

"Look, I'd love to stay in here until the whole event is over but we should probably go back in if you're feeling better already," Mikayla prompted.

"Yeah, we should get back to it. I'm fine. My prince charming isn't going to find me in the ladies' room."

She touched up her makeup and smiled. "I'm ready to go." She paused. "Wait, are you wearing any makeup?"

Mikayla touched her face self-consciously. "Very minimal. Why? Is it obvious?"

Anna groaned and rolled her eyes. "How are you barely wearing any makeup and you're still this beautiful? I'm so jealous!"

Mikayla laughed. "Don't be silly! You literally look like a model 24/7."

"I don't know why you never seem to realize how incredibly hot you are. Like, insanely hot. Literally everyone can see it except you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mikayla rolled her eyes.

"Literally every man at these events is constantly tripping over themselves to talk to you."

"That's not true and you know it," Mikayla countered.

"It is! You're the one who never wants to talk to them. I've been trying to find a man for ages. You're turning them away like irritating flies."

"I don't know what your talking about," Mikayla countered.

"Ugh, if I didn't love you so damn much, I would hate you! You're so blind to your own beauty but one day you'll see it. For now, let's go back in there and set that party on fire!"

Mikayla groaned and mumbled something along the lines of, "I'd rather set myself on fire."

But she followed her friend out anyway and they made their way back to the party.

As soon as they got back in, they ran into a familiar face. "Mrs Smith, lovely to see you," Mikayla greeted.

"Oh hello girls, how do you do? It's lovely to see you too."

She presented her cheek first to Mikayla and then to Anna and they kissed it. Mrs Smith greeted everybody that way; always.

"How is the Hospital doing these days?" She asked.

Mrs Smith was one of their biggest investors in the Hospital.

She'd come into a lot of money after the death of her husband.

Word on the street was that he was a real bastard, and now that he was gone, she was using his money to the max, buying expensive things and investing in things like their Hospital.

You could hardly meet her without knowing her taste for expensive items.

Even now, she had a ring on each finger and none of them were cheap.

Anna started answering the question, briefly outlining the things they were doing at the Hospital.

Meanwhile, Mikayla felt a prickle at the back of her neck. That feeling you got when someone was watching you.

She turned around and quickly scanned to room to see what was causing her subconscious to shoot off.

At first, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary but just as she was about to turn back around, she spotted him, the source of her discomfort.

The brooding man standing in the back of the room.

His hand was wrapped around their host but his eyes were locked on hers with a shocking intensity.

His eyes didn't stray once, even when their eyes met and it was obvious that she knew he was watching her.

Mikayla's stomach dropped but it wasn't a feeling of discomfort or fear.

Oddly, it felt like a warm, glowing feelings in her stomach. She didn't understand it.

"Mikayla? What's wrong?" Anna asked.

She was pulled back from her reverie by Anna's concerned voice.

"What? Oh, it's nothing. It's just that--" she turned back to look at the man again. He was still right there, looking at her but making no move.

He looked relaxed like he didn't have a care in the world. So far, he seemed content to just watch her.

It was unnerving. Suddenly, she felt suffocated. It felt like his eyes were shooting laser beams into her skin and she could literally feel the burn.

She needed to get out here. She needed some air.

"I-I need to get some air. Excuse me," she said abruptly and pushed past Anna, making a bee line for the door.

Cael didn't like attending the social events that members of his class kept springing up.

They were monotonous, had the exact same faces and always ended with him parting with an outrageous sum of money for one cause or the other.

But when you belonged to the economic class that Cael belonged to, attendance was almost mandatory.

Tonight it was a fundraiser for cancer research. At least it was a worthy cause.

The sounds of high-pitched giggling carried over the music to his ears. The birds were swarming.

Cael kept his face straight and his eyes constantly moving so that an errant glance wouldn't be taken by the roosts as a signal to approach.

His disinterest wouldn't keep them away for long though, he could tell. Already the excitement was mounting.

The ladies in front of him were desperately trying to get his attention. There was a lot of hair twirling and so subtle sly looks thrown his way.

"Cael!"

He heard his name and turned to meet his friend and the host of this event.

"Armani," he said in a deep, low voice.

"I'm so glad you could come," Armani said pleasantly.

She opened her arms and he stepped forward to hug her, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

There were several eyes on them and most of them weren't pleasant.

Without turning around, he knew the source of the unhappy looks was 'the birds' as he liked to call them.

They needn't bother themselves because there had never been and there would never be anything between him and Armani.

They were childhood friends; practically brother and sister at this point. nothing else despite her exquisite, exotic beauty

"Of course, I came. It's your party," he said.

"Fundraiser," she corrected calmly, slipping her hand around his and gently leading him further into the room. "It's a fundraiser, not a party."

"It's a fundraiser party," he challenged. "More emphasis on the party too."

Armani laughed, her voice tinkering like a bell. He looked down at her by his side and took in her face.

He felt a swelling of pride and protectiveness. Armani was a gorgeous woman and the sweetest person he knew.

Many men would fall over for her beauty, if not her money.

He loved her like his own sister. Which was why even though he desperately wanted to leave, he continued to wait patiently by her side.

"Is Mr Rogers coming?" He asked about her father, his

"No," she answered, smiling and nodding to someone off at the side.

"He's out of the country on one of his business trips again." She sighed.

"I'm sure he wanted to be here," he assured her.

"Well, you're here with me so everything is fine." She smiled up at him briefly before turning her attention to the next guest.

He greeted the guest and mentally withdrew himself from the conversation.

Thankfully, they were too caught up in their conversation about cancer to bother with him.

Devlin allowed his mind, and his eyes to wander around the room.

His eyes fell on the birds who as always were circling not too far away from him.

He let his eyes sweep over the lazily. Perhaps he should give himself a treat.

If he was going to subject himself to more hours of this...

(which was looking likely now that Armani had picked him as her chaperone in the absence of her father)

... he might as well allow himself a reward. Any one of the birds would do. They were all pretty enough.

From the loaded looks they were giving him, they were very much interested.

Maybe he could even spring two, instead of one?

There were two who caught his fancy more than the others.

One of them was a blonde, the other a brunette. Call him predictable, but they were easy enough marks.

Having made his choice, he dismissed them from his mind and allowed his eyes to continue to scan the room casually.

He saw a lot of familiar faces. Some of them, he had even been intimate with at one time or the other.

If he happened to meet their eyes, he nodded briefly before continuing his scan.

At the far end of the room, his eyes fell on a beautiful girl with long black hair.

Oh, perhaps he would be changing his mind about the blonde and brunette after all. She would do nicely.

His eyes moved slightly to the side and that was the moment when he finally saw her.

Oh, she caught his attention immediately... the girl with the fiery Auburn hair.

He'd almost missed her standing there...almost. She was trying to hide but how could you hide when you looked like that?

Now that he'd seen her, he couldn't 'not' see her. He could only see her side profile from this angle.

He willed her to turn around, or at least for Armani to wrap up the mind-numbing conversation and move along so he could see her from the front.

Finally, the conversation ended. 'Thank goodness!'

She immediately moved towards another guest but Cael steered her unyielding in the other direction.

He didn't stop until he had a good view of the lady. Needless to say, he was not disappointed.

Armani gave him a look but he ignored it and she was soon distracted by another guest.

The lady was the epitome of beauty and desire. He couldn't take his eyes off her. She was gorgeous.

Even from this distance, her hair stood out like a curtain around her face. And her eyes...she had big, grey eyes like a cat.

As he watched, they were stopped by a woman he recognized, Mrs Smith. She was recently widowed. 'Good for her.'

She deserved the old bastard's money after putting up with him all those years.

His mysterious Beauty hugged and kissed Mrs Smith and sadly, turned so that her back was facing him how. He grunted impatiently and moved again, dragging Armani with him.

"Cael!" She exclaimed. "That was rude. I was talking to him."

"Sorry," he muttered distractedly, still watching her.

Maybe it was because of her choice of a sparkly knee-length dress with wrist-long sleeves...

Or the severe way she twisted her gorgeous auburn hair up...

Or maybe it was the slightly uncomfortable look that she was trying to hide...

But he could tell immediately tell that she didn't want to be here. He smiled to himself. That was one thing they had in common.

Suddenly, she looked around, scanning the room almost frantically. 'What was she looking for?'

She didn't seem to find what she was looking for. She turned around again and scanned the room.

Her eyes suddenly met with his. Her eyes widened. Him! He was the one she'd been looking for.

She turned away sharply and began to make her way towards the exit.

'Oh no, you don't get to escape,' Cael said to himself and stormed after her.