Page 143 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10

Monday

I could barely even see through the huge bouquet as I made my way back into my apartment. I set the vase down on the kitchen counter and turned to look at Penny.

"Are these from you?" she asked.

"No, Penny. I don't know who they're from." But I certainly had a guess.

"Probably my parents." She walked over and grabbed the envelope.

"Probably." I tried to keep my voice even. I stared at her as she opened the card.

What had she said that asshole said to her? Something about how if things are so hard between us maybe we're not meant to work things out. Fuck him.

Penny looked up at me, like she was trying to gauge my reaction to this.

But I wasn’t giving her anything.

She slid the card back into the envelope and set it down on the counter. "They're from Brendan."

No shit. "A friendship rose kind of thing?" I raised my eyebrow. Wishful thinking.

Penny sighed. "No. He likes me. I'll talk to him..."

Fuck no you’re not going to go talk to him. "Get dressed."

"What?"

"We're going out." I needed to get her out of this apartment before Brendan showed up. Because if he did, there was a high probability that I’d assault him.

"Okay."

I grabbed our dishes from breakfast. If I didn’t do something useful with my hands I was worried I might throw the vase against the wall. Breathe.

"James?"

I ignored her as I washed the dishes. I just needed a minute to calm down. And to think about where I wanted to take her.

She retreated into my bedroom.

I wanted to take her somewhere far away from here. Away from freaking Tyler and Brendan and anyone else who had a death wish. Somewhere we could go unnoticed. Somewhere we could just be us instead of a professor and his student.

I placed the last dish in the dishwasher. I knew exactly where to take Penny. I pulled out my phone and shot Ian a text: “I’m going to New York for the day.”

My phone immediately buzzed with his response. “Great, I’ll drive.”

“You can stay here.”

“Oh, right. Incognito. I’ll take a separate car and follow you there.”

“Or you can just stay here,” I typed back.

“Not if you’re going to New York. We both know what happened last time you were there.”

Actually I had no idea what the fuck had happened the last time I was there. But I was pretty sure that was his point. “Don’t be an obvious tail, Ian.”

“Me? Never.”

I looked up from my phone when I heard footsteps. Penny reappeared in a pair of jeans, a sweater, and some brown leather boots. She looked beautiful, if a little apprehensive of me.

I slid my phone into my pocket and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"I'm sorry,” she said as she approached me.

But I could feel the distance between us. I ran my hand through my hair. I just needed to fix this. "Let's go."

"James."

I forced a smile onto my face. "I feel like when you call me by my first name I'm in trouble. I don't want to fight."

"I don't want to fight either."

"Good." I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the elevator. As soon as her hand was in mine, it felt a little easier to breathe. "I need to pick up some things."

"What kind of things?" she asked as we stepped onto the elevator.

"Well, my girlfriend needs her own toothbrush."

She laughed. "Sorry, I didn't know what to do."

I pulled her against me as the elevator doors slid closed.

"I don't want to go back to reality tomorrow.”

I smiled down at her. "Me either."

"Let's just run away together."

"Just name the place." I wasn’t sure if she meant it, but I did.

She sighed and pressed the side of her face against my chest. I ran my hands down her back and stopped when they were on the small of her back. I wanted to freeze time. Just like this. Everything was better when we were in our own little bubble.

"Let's do something fun today,” she said. “I don't want to go shopping."

I was happy to hear that she didn’t want to go shopping. I’m not sure I’d ever dated anyone who liked me more than my Amex. "Good, because we're not just going shopping."

She looked back up at me. "But you just said we were going to go buy toothbrushes."

"Yeah." I tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I lied."

The elevator doors dinged and opened. I grabbed her hand and led her toward my cars.

Ian was wearing a baseball cap and was just climbing into his Tesla. His whole deal screamed security detail that was trying but failing to blend in. But Penny was just staring up at me.

"Wait, then what are we doing?" she asked.

"It's a surprise." I opened up the car door for her. She smiled and climbed in. I closed the door behind her. Today was going to be fun. I wouldn’t go anywhere near Isabella’s favorite spots. Which was easy, because I’d made a habit of that years ago.

Penny and I would be able to blend into a sea of people.

We could just be a normal couple for once.

I climbed into the car and started the engine.

"Am I at least dressed okay?" Penny asked.

"Not at all." Really, she was. But I loved messing with her. The flush spread across her cheeks.

"What? Let me go change then. What should I be wearing?"

"That would kind of take away from the surprise." We drove in silence for a few minutes. Once we turned onto the highway, she finally broke the silence.

"Can I at least have a hint?"

I pressed my lips together, trying to think of a good one. "I'm hoping to change your mind about something."

"About what?"

"I already gave you your hint."

She smiled at me and turned to look out the window.

I did want to change her mind about New York.

When I left the city, I swore I’d never go back.

But I’d meant what I said to Matt on the phone.

I wanted to go back to how things used to be.

The four of us. My friends were in New York.

I wanted to be able to go back to the city and feel like I could breathe.

I glanced at Penny. If she was with me, I knew I’d be able to.

She snored lightly and I smiled.

I looked in my rearview mirror to see Ian’s car still a respectful two cars back. I pressed my foot down on the gas. Ian would like the challenge.

Penny didn’t like when I sped. But if she was sleeping…I could get to the city in record time and have fun while doing it. I pressed my foot down harder on the gas.

***

I pulled into an empty spot and cut the engine. Penny was still fast asleep, which gave me a few minutes to plan out the rest of our day. I shot off a few texts to Ian on things I needed him to arrange.

My phone was on silent, but I saw his response come through. “You’re lucky neither of us got a ticket.”

“I would have paid for your ticket,” I texted back. “Don’t pretend you weren’t happy to properly test out your new car.”

“I’m more excited for pizza.”

I frowned at the text. “You’re coming in? I just gave you a bunch of stuff to do.”

“I’ll blend in and handle everything while I’m eating. Speeding makes me hungry.”

I laughed and slid my phone back into my pocket. I knew he’d handle it. He always did.

I turned to Penny. She looked so peaceful while she was sleeping. I almost didn’t want to disturb her. But she’d asked for a fun day. And I knew exactly how to give that to her.

"Hey," I whispered. I placed my hand on her cheek.

Penny slowly opened her eyes. She stared at me for a moment and then looked out the window. "Where are we? Philly?"

I laughed. "No, not Philly."

"Are we in New York?"

"I don't think you've experienced it the same way that I have."

"Because I'm not rich?"

I shrugged. "I want to show you my New York."

She glanced at the clock on my dashboard. "You like speeding."

"I tend to do everything efficiently."

"You mean fast."

I bit the inside of my lip. What did she mean by that?

I thought about what Brendan had said to her again.

He was dead wrong. He was just trying to get into her pants.

What she and I had was more than that. "Penny.” I grabbed her hand.

"I know what I want. I want you. All of you.

I know that I'm older than you. And I may be ready for something more serious than. .."

"I didn't mean anything by it."

I wasn’t so sure about that. "Still."

"I'm running just as fast beside you." She squeezed my hand.

Maybe I was just overthinking her words because of those stupid flowers. I wanted to believe that we were good. I leaned toward her until my lips were an inch from hers. "Okay," I whispered. But instead of kissing her, I opened her car door from the inside and then got out.

The city was loud. When I’d moved away last year, I’d told myself I wouldn’t come back. I’d hated the city. I’d hated everyone here. I’d hated the way I was when I was here.

But with Penny beside me?

I couldn’t really explain it. It just…it felt like maybe it could be home again. Maybe I could be okay here. As long as she was beside me.

She joined me on the sidewalk and clasped her hands behind my neck. She looked so happy. How could I not smile when we were together?

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me.

Yeah, I could definitely get used to New York again with her by my side. Even if all we ever did was visit.

“I like New York better already,” she said.

"Well you're about to like it even more." I pointed to the building we were standing next to. "Because Totonno's Pizzeria is the best pizza."

She laughed. "You brought me all the way to New York to prove a point?"

"One of the reasons." Mostly I just wanted to be away from campus with her. I opened the door to the pizzeria.

The checkerboard floor and walls covered in frames of newspaper clippings, awards, and black and white family photos…

it all felt so homey. Honestly I felt more comfortable here than I had in the apartment I’d shared with Isabella.

Isabella refused to step foot in this quaint shop. But Penny seemed perfectly content.

"This is your favorite pizza place?" she asked.

"Yes. Grab us a seat." I walked up to the counter in the back while Penny sat down. Ian was at a corner table. He lowered the newspaper that was covering his face and winked at me.

I remembered him being more subtle than this.

But…in his defense, I actually remembered very little of my adult life in New York. Ian was good at his job. Or else I wouldn’t still be alive standing here.

I quickly ordered and then joined Penny at the table she’d chosen by the window.

"This place doesn't really seem like you," she said as I sat down across from her.

"What do you mean?"

"You tend to be kind of…extravagant."

I smiled. "Not always. I used to come here to eat all the time."

"What was your favorite part about living here?" She put her hand in the center of the table.

I immediately grabbed it. "There's always something to do."

"So you've been pretty bored in a college town?"

"Hardly. You're very entertaining." I smiled at her, but she was looking at someone over my shoulder. Fuck, she wasn’t suspicious of the creep in a baseball hat in the corner, right? I forced myself not to follow her line of sight. It had been a while since I’d had Ian following me around. We were both off our game.

"You know that women stare at you everywhere we go, right?"

Oh. That’s what she was looking at? "Is that so? I haven't noticed."

"You must have noticed. Everyone drools over you. I mean, look at you."

"I'm too busy looking at you."

Her cheeks flushed. "You're out of my league."

"You're out of your mind." If anyone was staring over here, they were probably looking at her, not me.

She bit her lip. "Why me?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you wanted to date a student..."

"I didn't want to date a student." Not at all. I’d tried so hard to stay away. I lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. "Are you asking why I'm attracted to you? Or why I love your personality?"

"Both I guess."

"You don't have much self-confidence. It's rather curious."

"Why would I? No one's ever looked at me the way that you're looking at me right now."

"I know you don't see it. But you are always the most beautiful girl in the room. I enjoy that you don't see it. It's intriguing how naive you are. You're very alluring."

"Alluring?" She laughed.

"Yes. I find you unbelievably sexy." I stared into her eyes. "Every inch of you."

Her cheeks flushed even more.

"Did you want more intimate details? Because I could go on for days describing the blue of your eyes with the small flecks of green in the sunshine.

Or the freckles on your shoulders. Or that birthmark on the inside of your ankle.

Or how your ass jiggles just the right amount when you walk.

Or how your breasts fit perfectly in my hands.

Or how you get a cute little wrinkle in your forehead when you frown at me.

Or how it makes me feel when you bite your lip when you look at me.

Or the intoxicating smell of you. And the taste of you.

" I swallowed hard. Maybe I should taste her right now.