The Billionaire's Pledge by Rachel Bond

but she could tell he was paying close attention. She hated it when people constantly nodded and said “Yeah” every few seconds. But he didn’t do that. Every once in a while he’d ask an insightful question, but only when she paused. He never tried to redirect the conversation back to himself, which was another pet peeve of hers.
    Later in the dining room, partway through eating the veggie stir-fry he’d prepared—which tasted better than any Chinese food she’d ever had in a restaurant—she asked if she was boring him.
    “Not at all,” he said. “It’s fascinating. When I’m attracted to a woman, I like to know everything about her.”
    WHAT did you just say?! When you’re attracted to a woman?
    “Umm…” she managed.
    “What?” he asked, popping a piece of broccoli into his mouth and chewing with a satisfied look on his face. She was starting to catch onto his pattern: he would let little things drop and then kind of pretend he hadn’t. It seemed to be a game. She decided to gather up all her courage and play along.
    She tilted her head down slightly and gave him a sultry look. “So you’re attracted to me.”
    “Did I say that?” he asked, clearly amused.
    “In point of fact, you just did.”
    “I said when I’m attracted to a woman.”
    “Then you want to find out all about her. Like you did with me.”
    “Then it’s settled,” he said.
    “How so?” she asked.
    “If point A implies point B , and you’ve proven A , then you’ve proven B . I must be attracted to you. You just said so yourself.”
    “Then it’s settled.”
    He paused and leaned back in his chair a bit, looking her over. She got a funny feeling from his expression. There seemed to be something he wanted to say, but he wasn’t saying it.
    She decided to switch topics. It was his turn to do the talking. “So tell me about yourself. Something I don’t already know from all the articles. When did you lose your virginity?”
    “Savannah! That’s personal, you know.”
    She shrugged. “When a woman is attracted to a man…”
    He caught her meaning and smiled. “I was a freshman—high school, mind you—she was a senior and a cheerleader. Her parents were out of town one weekend and we did it in their bed.”
    “Her parents’ bed? Eww.”
    “What? It was hot!”
    Again he quieted down and looked pensive. She hoped he might open up with a little push. “Zac, what aren’t you telling me right now? You seem…I don’t know, down. Quiet. Was it something I said?”
    He stared at the table for a long time, occasionally glancing at Savannah and then back down.
    Finally, he said, “All right. I may as well tell you. I didn’t come to Hood River to do these real-estate deals. That’s all just a cover. I mean, I’m doing the deals and everything, but they’re not the reason I’m here. I’m here because I had to get away from that lifestyle. The women, the sex, the parties, the cars, the drugs, blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada. It was crazy. That wasn’t me. I dropped a few million on all that stuff, and I was getting more and more depressed by the day.” 
    He took a sip of wine. “There were times I was fucking some woman—sorry—and the whole time just thinking, ‘What am I doing? Who is this person?’ Then the next night it would be somebody else. Sex lost its meaning for me. It started taking more and more kinky stuff to get me…you know. Pain. Bondage. Fetish stuff. Tying them up, being tied up. Younger women, two at a time, three, four, whatever. Eventually I had to take a pill just to do what I always used to be able to. I hated myself.”
    He paused again, this time watching Savannah’s reaction carefully. She made sure she looked interested and encouraging without betraying the fact that she was inwardly freaking out. His revelations were so intimate, it was almost terrifying. Apparently satisfied, he went on, “So I made a pledge. A year without—uh, away from San Francisco and temptation.