Sweet Emotion (East Coast Sugar Daddies Book 1) Read online

  SWEET EMOTION

  EAST COAST SUGAR DADDIES: BOOK 1

  AUSTIN BATES

  CONTENTS

  1. Harrison

  2. Kade

  3. Harrison

  4. Kade

  5. Harrison

  6. Kade

  7. Harrison

  8. Kade

  9. Harrison

  10. Kade

  11. Harrison

  12. Kade

  13. Harrison

  14. Kade

  15. Harrison

  Epilogue – Kade

  A Sneak Peek at Book 2…

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  Sweet Emotion

  1

  Harrison

  After all I had done in my life, all I had accomplished, there shouldn’t have been anything that scared me. So why, as I listened to the phone ring, was my heart beating faster? Excitement? I hoped that was it. Looking for help wasn’t a bad thing. Just… unfamiliar.

  The phone stopped ringing, a young man’s voice replacing the incessant tone. “Mr. Carr! I’m so glad you called.”

  I chuckled, ignoring the discomfort stirring in my stomach. “I’ve told you, Aaron, call me Harrison. I can’t do this if you talk to me like I’m your teacher.”

  Aaron laughed a little too, the sound wavering. He was nervous too, I realized. We were both new to this. “I’m sorry. It’s habit. Anyway, thank you for doing this. It’s really going to help.”

  “It’s my pleasure,” I said. Placing my free hand down on my wheel, I turned enough to look out my office’s large window. Pale golden rays of early morning sunlight cast Manhattan in an ethereal glow. “Thank you for accepting my request. I’ve been interested ever since I heard of the app.”

  The app in question was called East Coast Sugar Daddies and I had heard of it from a business acquaintance, who was the investor behind its development. ECSD had come to the east coast from Seattle, where it was a dating app known as Almega. Aaron was in charge of changing it to fit local demand, which had less to do with dating and more to do with convenience. Wealthy alphas, like myself, were to be matched with omegas looking to be pampered and doted on.

  I was one of the first to sign up. The data Aaron received in return for my cooperation would be integral to shaping the future of the app. I was eager to help him.

  And eager to be paired.

  “I didn’t expect to get attention from someone such as yourself,” Aaron said. “It’s an honor.”

  “And now you’re treating me like the President.” I smiled, feeling myself start to relax. My shoulders loosened up. False accolades never had an effect on me, but it was clear Aaron meant what he said. I had no doubt he would do the best he could for me.

  “We should get started. In order to get detailed results to create the algorithm for the app, I need to interview you. Are you ready?”

  Looking out at the sparkling gold-and-silver city skyline, I took a deep breath and nodded. “I am.”

  “What’s your intention for the app?” Aaron asked.

  No holding back, I see. I like that.

  Aaron elaborated. “By that, I mean, what do you want to get out of it? What sort of relationship do you want? Are you more interested in a continued, beneficial connection with one omega, or several? Not at the same time,” he added hastily, “unless that’s what you want. What was it about the app that you heard and made you think ‘This is for me?’”

  “I have a charity gala coming up soon,” I said, starting with the question that was easiest to answer. I closed my eyes. There were so many more things I wanted to say, but I would never be caught speaking them to someone I hadn’t even met in person. I would never be caught saying those things out loud to anyone; I even hid those thoughts from myself, as much as that was possible.

  “Harrison? Are you still there?”

  I opened my eyes again. “Only thinking. I would like to have a date to come to the gala with me. Someone I can come to trust, who is kind and understanding, and intelligent. I’d prefer a constant relationship with only one omega, if possible, though I understand it might take a few tries before I find the right one.”

  “Okay…” I heard frantic scribbling from the other end of the call. “What about specifics? What do you look for in a partner? Physical preferences?”

  “I want someone who can become a companion to me, who understands the magnitude of what I do. Someone with their wits about them.”

  There was a pause, pregnant with meaning I couldn’t decipher. I hadn’t answered the questions asked. There were no answers for them, not where I was concerned. What did I want? What did I prefer? A person who breathed and wasn’t entirely self-obsessed. I would take literally anyone offered to me as long as they matched that description. I had no other options.

  “You sound like you’re looking for an assistant more than a date.” Aaron spoke doubtfully when he finally replied. “Can you give me anything else?”

  “This is easier than hiring an assistant,” I said, and laughed to disguise the truth as a joke.

  Aaron laughed, too. I liked his kind, easygoing nature, his willingness to assist. It reminded me a little of myself. If I could get him to take my responses seriously, I had no doubt he would deliver exactly who I wanted.

  “Are you looking for an athletic type? Or do you like twinks? Any interests you want them to have? Physical attributes?” He put extra emphasis on his last inquiry, letting me know he had picked up on my earlier avoidance.

  “Someone who likes files in alphabetical order and knows how to make an appointment,” I teased. “But, really, intelligence. I want to be able to have a conversation with them. Perhaps someone with prior experience with fundraising? But, even if they don’t, a willingness to be open-minded is just as good.”

  “Well, okay. If that’s what you want....”

  “When will I know the results?” I asked.

  “Oh, it won’t take long. I’ll need to review our conversation and then I’ll see how you match up with the omegas in the database. When I find your best match, I’ll get in touch with them and see if they’re interested. If they are, I’ll text you.”

  “And if they aren’t?”

  “Well, not many people are signed up right now. I’d have to see if I could find someone else, or wait for more omegas to sign-up.”

  I couldn’t wait. I didn’t mean that in the impatiently-excited sort of way. It was a statement of fact. The gala was only a week away. There wasn’t enough time for Aaron to get more omegas in the app, not with the careful vetting process he had in place to prevent thieves and other shady opportunists from preying on the other members. He had to pick one now from the assortment already available.

  I opened my mouth to remind him of this, the immovable date of my request, when the door to my office opened without warning and a man stepped inside. I recognized him in an instant and felt a brief flash of impatience, which I quickly suppressed.

  I held up a finger in his direction, telling him to give me a moment, and turned to look out the window again to keep a modicum of privacy. “Aaron, I’m going to have to call you back.”

  “That’s okay. I have all the information I need. Next time you hear from me, I should have your match.”

  “Oh!” I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten the most important part. “Do you think you could tell whoever it is that I’d like the… arrangement to be discreet?”

  I didn’t want to have to explain myself with Charlie watching. Luckily, Aaron understood my meaning. I didn’t want word getting around that I, of all people, was on a sugar dad
dy app. “Of course.”

  “Thank you.”

  I ended the call without saying anything else, not wanting to reveal who I was talking to or why. I’d become a laughing stock if anyone caught wind of the fact I was using a hookup app to get a date for my own fundraiser.

  Placing both hands down on the wheels of my chair, I turned myself around again and moved away from the window. “Charles,” I said, approaching him from behind my desk. “What did you need?”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Charles said. His suit was immaculate, his tie a crisp, dark line against the white of his shirt; despite his perfect dress, he looked rather unprofessional right then. His eyes were wide and he wrung his hands together from nervousness, fingers churning together over chapped skin and dry knuckles. He was one of the younger board members for the charity I headed and often seemed out of his element. That was never more apparent than when he spoke to me, as if I represented some sort of godly figure instead of being an ordinary alpha.

  “That’s fine. I was almost done, anyway. What is it?” I didn’t want to deal with this right now, but I knew I couldn’t take it out on him. Charles was kind and smart as a whip -too smart for his own good, his intelligence pushing common sense and etiquette to the side in many situations. The work he did for the charity was more than satisfactory enough to make up for his lapses.

  “It’s just that you’re late for the meeting. We tried phoning your secretary, but she said you weren’t taking calls. We decided I should check on you to remind you.”

  I rubbed my forehead and sighed. “Yes, I wasn’t taking calls. I was busy. Next time, please knock.”

  “Of course, sir.” His face fell, shoulders slumping. My heart went out to him in the face of his dejection. “I’m sorry that I forgot.”

  “No harm done,” I said, restraining another sigh. When he looked at me like that, I couldn’t be mad at him. I knew more than anyone how unfair the world could be when it came to those who didn’t fit the mold. That was why I had created this charity, why I worked so hard to provide opportunities for those who would otherwise be passed over. I couldn’t help that I was in a wheelchair, and Charles couldn’t help that he had no room in his head for useless societal norms. We were more than what we lacked.

  “I’ll come to the meeting now. Walk with me and remind me what we’ll be discussing.”

  I didn’t need reminding, but he did need to be reminded of his own importance after I was short with him. We made our way together to the elevator and I listened while he talked about the meeting, reciting information in his precise way. Various employees and board members from different departments were coming together to speculate on the results of the gala charity fundraiser and how the procured funds would be distributed. He had the name of every person present and what their ideas were going to be centered around.

  I didn’t like what I was hearing. Not at all.

  Charles knocked on the door to the meeting room, and I smiled at him. He held the door open for me and I made my way inside.

  A hush fell over the gathered members, as if they were children caught being disobedient instead of professionals. There were more than 20 of them seated all around the table, each one with files in front of them and a bottle of water at their elbow. Each one wore a tastefully expensive suit or dress, most of them looking as natural as if they were sitting in pajamas.

  “Don’t stop on my account,” I said. Charles shut the door behind me and I made my way around the ring of chairs until I reached my spot at the head of the table. “Let’s get some ideas flowing.”

  No one mentioned my tardiness.

  No one mentioned anything at all for the next several seconds, board members glancing back and forth between each other with a secret furtiveness I didn’t like at all. My guard went up and I braced myself to hear more of what I’d been exposed to while talking to Charles.

  “Anyone?” I prompted.

  A chair creaked. Everyone, including myself, looked around to find the source. A woman in a feminine suit, her shoulders padded, stood up and placed her hands on top of the table. Her name was Cecelia, and she was in charge of Communications. If there was news to be spread, she and her department made it happen by way of advertisements and newspaper articles. “We all know this year has been one of the most successful yet. Limitless Foundation is becoming a name everyone knows across the state. I propose we extend our reach further. We should increase our advertising funds. Not only will we get our name out there more, but we’ll have a wider selection of locations to choose from if we ever decide to physically expand.”

  There were murmurs of approval from around the table. I wasn’t so convinced, however. Having the Limitless Foundation become limitless in terms of who we could help and where was a long-term goal I held close to heart. The issue was in the phrasing. I didn’t like it. I was currently more concerned with our reputation and the quality of our work than I was with expanding. It was a delicate balance and not something to be taken lightly.

  Cecelia sat down and a man across from her stood. Robert, from Finances. “Ms. Burgess is right about our success this year. However, I propose we keep operations as they are. We need to prepare for hard times. In this economy, those times are coming. What can we do if we go broke ourselves?”

  “Why not combine the two?” someone else suggested. “We focus on improving the foundation. There are definitely improvements to be made.”

  “No.”

  Everyone turned to look at me. If I could have stood up, I would have. Instead, I looked out at them all, meeting their eyes with a steady gaze as they stared. “We are not some heartless business. We are a charity, and I don’t care for the soulless way in which matters are being discussed. We don’t need more locations. We don’t need to hold back in fear of something that may never happen.” I held out my arm, gesturing out at the city beyond the confining walls of the meeting room. “We should be concerned with what we can do for our community, here and now. Not five years down the line, but now. We need to focus on what will happen, what we can make happen.

  “I want to use our funds to sponsor a youth wheelchair basketball team. These are children who deserve more than what life has handed them. They need new chairs, better chairs, and a better gym. With exercised bodies comes an exercised mind. They will grow up to become teachers and doctors, politicians, mothers, fathers. They are our future. They are who we should be looking to in terms of what happens in five or ten years, not ourselves. We have what we need. Let’s make sure they do.”

  I looked around the room in the aftermath of my speech. A few board members nodded and smiled, clearly inspired by what I’d said. Charles was among them, and he was even clapping softly. As for everyone else, they held as still as if I’d dropped some sort of unprecedented bomb on them, their expressions impassive.

  My heart sank.

  “Harrison, we can definitely sponsor whatever team you have in mind,” Robert said. He looked around the room and, seeing that he had all eyes trained on him, kept going. “But if we go under, nothing will ever be accomplished. And there are so many more avenues to consider before we can even begin to make decisions.”

  More murmurs and nods. Amir, the head of Research, pushed to his feet, leaning heavily on his cane. “Do you think you might be too close to the issue to be impartial?” he asked, his voice kind and soft. “You make these grand speeches every year. We all want to make a difference, but we all know we can’t change the world overnight. Charity is a business. We’re useless unless we’re critical about how we invest our hard work.”

  I moved back from the table, trying to hide my disgust. “If I’m too close to the event, why am I even here?”

  “We can’t exactly kick the boss out of his own meeting,” Robert murmured. Laughter spread around the table.

  I laughed too, forcing myself to do it. This entire situation was just too absurd. They sent Charles to fetch me, only to refuse to hear me out. Suddenly, I didn’t
want to be here anymore. I backed out further, out from between the members sitting at either side of me. “You won’t have to kick me out. I can go somewhere else.”

  “That’s not…”

  I waved my hand, rolling toward the door. “Go on. Discuss without me. Just remember the gala hasn’t actually happened and that I am the one who makes all the executive decisions. Have fun.”

  Charles got up and opened the door for me, though he didn’t need to. I thanked him and went down the hallway, pushing hard on the wheels to get away from that room as fast as possible. I didn’t really need to be there while they talked about the company. I could be out in the world helping the people this company was supposed to provide for, first and foremost out of all other things.

  I guess sitting up in the top of the tower can make a person forget why they made their way there in the first place. With or without this building, without the money or the foundation, I would still be doing what I could to make the world a better place for people like myself. That’s the difference between us.

  The last thing I wanted right then was to coop myself up in my office again, cornering myself in a room I wasn’t so sure I wanted to have anymore. Instead, I took the elevator and went only as far as my secretary’s desk. “Redirect all my calls for the next few hours, please.”

  “Of course, Mr. Carr. Is everything okay?”

  “I just need some fresh air,” I said.

  She nodded understandingly. A bit condescending. Or was I reading too much into it, my irritation coloring my perception? “Some days are so overwhelming from the start, aren’t they?”