“It’s because I’m in love with you, Fiona.”
My heart did a double backflip. What?
“The only way I could see you is to call you in here and pretend the office needed cleaning. So I did. I found ways to make sure it needed to be cleaned daily. I struggled trying to decide if I should ask you out, but you’re Josh’s sister. That is not something I easily forget, believe it or not. I hate knowing that I’m in love with my friend’s sister, my best friend probably. So I called you into my office every day with the intention of asking you out—”
“You never did,” I stammered. I felt stupid the second I said it out loud. Really? Why did I even say that?
Adam smirked. “Of course I didn’t. No one in their right mind asks out their best friend’s sister. But when I needed someone to come to my parents … it was you I thought of. You I wanted to bring with me, so I came up with a way that I could spend time with you, even though I knew I couldn’t ask you out. I came up with the perfect excuse, for both of us, to spend time with you. And the perfect chance to get to know you.”
I stared blankly, processing what he had just said to me, and my mind raced. I tried to make heads or tails of it, but it was just … so unbelievable. I swallowed dryly.
His eyes locked on me. “I’ve been in love with you since the first time I saw you, Fiona.”
I knew what he wanted to hear from me. I knew what he was expecting, but I couldn’t. I didn’t. Did I?
No.
I wasn’t in love with him—I knew that. I knew there was no way I could be in love with him. I mean, that was just crazy—right?
I bit my lip, and he looked away from me.
“I get it. I don’t expect you to feel the same. You asked, I answered. That’s all. I’ll—”
“Are we still going to see your family this weekend?” It came out before I really thought about it, but I didn’t care. I wanted to go with him. And if he said he was in love with me … then … there is so much to talk about. So much that we needed to work out, and so many details to go over. This was crazy.
I mean, this kind of stuff sounded like it should be in a movie, not real life. I swept a hand across my brow. Am I making a mistake? I knew there was a very good chance I would be. Because I could get majorly hurt here if he was just fucking with me, but what else was I supposed to do? I mean … I want to spend time with him, I thought.
My heart skipped a beat.
“Yes, we are … If you’ve decided you are coming with me.”
“I am. Was there anything else you needed?”
“Yes. There is one more thing I need to talk to you about.” He looked away from me as if what he was about to say actually brought him pain.
Oh, crap. What was it now? We had just dealt with one thing. Couldn’t there be a couple seconds of normality?
“I know this is a lot to put on you, with everything going on with your parents … and now with what I just did to you, but I need your help. I really need you to be there for me.”
“What is this about?”
I crossed over to him and waited—my heart racing.
“Kurt emailed me.”
My jaw dropped. “What?”
The same Kurt he hated? The one who had,... well, I honestly had no clue what he had done to Adam or that girl. But I knew there was something there. Something that made Adam send Kurt to the hospital.
“What did he say?”
He wanted to let me know that he and his girlfriend were going to be at the dinner and that they were really looking forward to seeing me. He also mentioned wanting to get together for coffee so we could talk about …”
He trailed off, and I didn’t push it. I didn’t want him to get mad at me, and I’d already tried to push it before.
“Adam, you know if there was something Kurt did to you …”
“Really, you’re going to try to talk about this again?”
“Yes, it’s obviously been nagging at you. Why don’t you just tell people what he did? Whatever it was. You mom wants to know.”
“She didn’t. She doesn’t care what he did. None of them did.”
“I do.”
Adam turned to me, and his eyes locked on mine as he took a deep breath. “You clearly don’t realize how crappy my family is. They don’t care about outsiders. They care about keeping their family looking good. They care about how they look, and if they do something that could make them look bad, they will deal with it, either with money or threats.”
He hadn’t been happy when I tried to bring it up, and though he hadn’t been a total asshole in the past, I didn’t want to push my luck, not with everything going on right now.
“I’m sorry to do this to you; I know you’re probably going through a lot with your family right now but … I need you. I need you there with me.”
“I’ll be there.” I didn’t even know why it sounded like he was asking me. He should have known I would say I’d be there for him. I gave him a soft smile as I reached out and touched his hand gently. We’ll make it through this. Together.
He looked away from me, our fingers tangling together.
“Are you still mad at me?”
“No,” I confessed.
I wanted to be, but I wasn’t. I hated knowing that he had to face Kurt on the weekend and knowing that he would worry I was still mad at him, so I sucked it up and smiled, letting him know that there was nothing to worry about.
“I’ll make it up to you. I know what I did was wrong. I know I was an asshole.” He bit his lip, looking away from me.
I hated admitting even to myself how hard this was going to be. I needed her there, but I hated the idea that he would meet her. I hated knowing that he’d already heard all about her from family, and that my family didn’t care how much I didn’t want him there. None of them understood why I hated him, and none of them really cared. I knew that. I stared at the woman in front of me. She smiled, trying to reassure me that everything would be okay. But I still felt like a dick. I knew what I had done to her was totally unfair and knew that I’d hurt her more than she was willing to admit. Sucking in a deep breath, I stood and padded over to her.
My arms wrapped around her. “I’m sorry.”
I was not used to saying that I was sorry for things, and I was not used to having a girl sink into my embrace. “I’ll forgive you this time,” she said against my chest.
I pulled her closer, holding her tight. “Thank you.”
I still planned on doing everything I could to make up for this, though. I knew it was going to take a lot. I knew I was going to have to bust my ass to make sure she forgave me and prove to her how much I cared about her. My lips touched hers, and a soft moan passed through her lips. Her fingers reached up and tangled in my hair.
I pulled away before I lost control, and my eyes sparkled. “We should spend the weekend together, just the two of us.”
“Sounds fun.” Her eyes shone.
“Bring a bag with you to work on Friday. You can come home with me.”
“And what should I tell Josh?”
“Tell him whatever you want. If you want him to know the truth, feel free to tell him. But remember that he will be coming in check on us if you tell him that we’re staying at my place. He does know where I live, after all. If you don’t want him to know, yet, that is fine too. If you’d rather I talk to him …”
I didn’t really want to, but I could understand why she might not. Anyways, he had already told me he would be cool with it, so it’s not like I had too much to worry about.
“Are you sure?”
“Do whatever you feel is best.” My lips touched hers again. I closed my eyes, my hands tracing over the curves of her body. “Now get out, before I try to do something I shouldn’t in the office.”
77. Chapter Twenty-five
I lay in bed thinking about the day, and my heart skipped several beats. I couldn’t believe it.
He’s in love with me. I still hadn’t told Josh. I’d to
ld him that we had to do something with his family for the weekend, instead. He thought it was crazy how much time they wanted us to spend with them, and he was right if it had been the truth. But even still, his family seemed more than happy for us to do stuff with them as much as we could.
I was sure they weren’t used to Adam having girls around. I knew for sure that they had never met any of his other girlfriends. Maybe he hadn’t had any or maybe they just weren’t the type of girls you bring home to your mom. I had no clue. I didn’t want to know, honestly.
And now I was going to be able to spend a weekend alone with him. I’d get to see his place, which I had never seen before. It would be amazing. I thought about the single night we’d spent alone together last weekend.
His eyes locked on mine, but I couldn’t meet his gaze. “Fiona … how many guys have you been with?”
My cheeks burned, answering his question for me. I didn’t dare meet his gaze.
“Does it matter?”
He grabbed my wrist, pulling me down towards his chest. I gasped as he rolled me onto my stomach. “Yes.” He settled between my legs. I could feel his head against my folds.
“Why?” I snapped. “So you can gloat?”
He stood without a word. I watched as he walked away. My heart raced. I didn’t get it. I lay there utterly still, unable to think about what he was doing. He walked into the bedroom without a word to me.
Seconds later, he came out, holding a small blue foil package. Relief filled my body as it all made sense. He settled down between my legs again and tore into the package. I watched as he slipped the condom on. “I’m guessing it’s safe to assume you’re not on anything?” He raised an eyebrow but didn’t wait to get an answer. “Either way, this will make it easier, if you’re not used to it.” His hands traced over my thigh, towards my pussy. He slipped a single finger inside me. I gasped, my hips arching. “Though you shouldn’t need any extra lube,” his eyes sparkled as his finger slipped out of me, “and it does matter.”
He grabbed my hand, our fingers tangling together as he pinned my hand down softly against the wood floors. His head pressed against my folds again; this time, he slid into me softly.
A moan passed through my lips. It wasn’t as painful this time. More pleasure.
His lips touched my neck softly. “Everyone deserves to have a good first time. If I hadn’t known, I might have gotten too self-centered. Too rough with you.”
“Who says I mind rough?”
Despite my question, Adam had been nothing but gentle. He had been so sure to ensure it was about me. But that was my first time. Now … now if we were going to have sex, I wanted to try something new. I wanted to try everything we could.
I wanted to explore and see what I liked. But most of all, I wanted Adam to be the one to help me figure it out.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and brought up a website I never thought I would use. He has implied several times that he’d buy me whatever I wanted. I was sure he’d never think I would ask him to buy me this sort of stuff, but I was also sure he would get a huge thrill out of it. My eyes sparkled as I scrolled through all the items.
The week passed quickly, and I was thrilled when Friday arrived. I tried to hide it, but I was sure Josh saw through it.
“What’s the bag for?”
“Oh um, I’ve got to go spend the weekend with Adam’s family.”
“Again?”
I nodded.
I watched my brother’s brow furrow. He didn’t quite look pleased about it, but he didn’t say anything to make me think he was upset. “You guys seem to see his family a lot.”
“Yea … I’m not really sure why. I guess there is some company dinner that we need to be there for this weekend.”
“He has sisters, right? Do they like you?”
It was my turn to frown. I wasn’t quite sure why he was asking. I mean … oh. “I don’t think they mind me.” I shrugged. He was trying to hint at the fact that the girls were going to get attached to me. I knew that. I was worried about that, too. Maybe I don’t have to be anymore. Except, if this didn’t work then we would break up, and they would still be left broken-hearted. I bit my lip. I hated the idea of hurting them, but … At this point, it’s a risk we’re all going to have to take. Adam and I … there was more going on than us pretending to be together. There was, maybe, an actual relationship here now, and that wasn’t going to change. But it could last. We could make this work.
“Well, just call if you need anything, alright?”
“Yea, for sure,” I promised.
I slung my backpack over my shoulder and headed outside for the bus.
“Hey! Fiona!”
My head spun towards the man who had shouted at me, and my heart skipped a beat. I wasn’t sure if I could face him right now. He closed the distance between us.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I sucked in a deep breath. “Hi, Dad.”
We fell into an awkward silence as he came to a stop in front of me. “Hi.”
I swallowed dryly. “Um, I’ve got to get to work, so was there something you wanted to …” I trailed off.
“Your mom and I were just wondering if we could see you this weekend. I was going to stop by and see Josh; I thought you’d be at work by now.” His eyes sparkled as he stared at me, and a wide smile spread across his lips. “We’ve missed you two so much, but Josh doesn’t seem to be very welcoming. You … you’ve always tried to stay in contact with us.”
“Yea, well … I don’t blame him.” I said it before really thinking. Shit. I turned on my heel and headed for the bus stop. “But I don’t think this weekend is going to work—I’ve got plans that can’t be changed.” It wasn’t quite a lie, was it? I didn’t care either way.
“Oh. I see.” He sounded so disappointed.
Guilt tugged at me.
“I’m sure your mom will understand. I know things have been crazy for her, she’s been working a lot, too. Trying to get bills paid off.”
“Babe,” Adam’s voice made my heart miss several beats. I spun to face him. He smiled, standing to my left.
“What are you doing here?” I snapped.
“I thought I’d surprise you and pick you up so you don’t have to bus.” His eyes sparkled.
God, I was so happy to see him, I couldn’t even put it into words. “Oh … that was sweet. Thank you.” I turned to my dad. Giving him a soft smile I thought about what he had said. “Well, I’ll see you later.”
“Yea. If your plans free up at all this weekend—”
“I’ll let you know, for sure.”
I turned on my heel and headed for Adam’s car. His warm hand touched the small of my back as I pulled my phone out and sent my brother a text warning him not to open the door if someone knocked on it.
“I wasn’t sure if I should stop by today—I’m glad I did.”
“I’m glad you did, too,” I admitted. I bit my lip. “How long were you standing there?”
“Long enough to hear him imply he needed money.”
So he had the same thought, too? That made me feel a little better but a whole lot worse overall. If it wasn’t just me who thought it, maybe it was right. I didn’t want to think of my parents as those types of people.
“So …”
“I won’t give them money,” he said.
I turned to Adam. “I had no intention of asking you to.”
“Good. Don’t get me wrong, I care about you and Josh, but your parents … they’ve never been there for you, even you’ve said that.”
“Which is why I wouldn’t ask you to give the money. If they are looking for money from us, they will be gone soon. If that’s not the case, then they will stick around for a while. Right?”
Adam smiled as we headed for the car. “I’m glad you see it that way. It’s a very good way to see things.”
My cheeks flushed as he opened the door for me and I slid in. “That’s very gentlemanly of you,” I said just as he closed the do
or and circled around to the driver’s side.
His eyes sparkled as he slid in. “Believe it or not, I can be a bit of a gentleman.”
Oh, I believed it.
He gunned the engine and pulled away from my apartment. I thought about my first time with him.
His eyes locked on mine, but I couldn’t meet his gaze. “Fiona … how many guys have you been with?”
My cheeks burned, answering his question for me. I didn’t dare meet his gaze.
“Does it matter?”
He grabbed my wrist, pulling me down towards his chest. I gasped as he rolled me onto my stomach. “Yes.” He settled between my legs. I could feel his head against my folds.
I totally believed that he could be a gentleman. The way he had treated me … the way he had made it all about me that night told me enough to know that he had it in him. Whether or not he liked to act like it, that was another story altogether.
“I took the liberty of letting everyone know that you wouldn’t be into work today.”
My jaw dropped. “What?” I snapped. Why would he do that to me?
“I mean, if we’re going to go shopping, it only makes sense to do it today … or, well at least, that’s what I want.*
“That’s what you want?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Yup.”
His eyes shone, but he didn’t say another word as we made our way towards the mall.
I bit my lip. By now, I should be used to his willingness to spend money on me without batting an eyelash, but I wasn’t. Wait. He hadn’t said anything about the links I sent him last night. Should I mention it? I didn’t want to sound pushy about it.
If he didn’t want to buy it for us, then that was more than okay. I just thought it might be something he’d like doing, that was all.
We made our way downtown and pulled into a parking spot.
“Do you know where we’re going?” I asked. This was the rich part of the city. I didn’t have any clue about any of the stores, as I would never be able to afford them in my entire life.
“I have a basic idea. I talked to Kathrine and Becky, they gave a couple suggestions.”
Interview with a Billionaire: Billionaire Romance Box Set Page 51
