Page 144 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10

Monday

I didn’t want pizza anymore. I wanted her. And even though Ian was watching us, no one else in the pizzeria was.

I tried to push the thought away. I was having fun getting to know her even better. And I already knew her body. I liked telling her all the reasons why I’d fallen for her. "And the way you're looking at me right now...it's sexy as hell."

Her throat made that adorable squeaking noise I loved.

"So if you refuse to see how beautiful you are, you'll just have to accept the fact that I'm attracted to you.

And for things that aren't physical." I paused and kissed her knuckles again.

"I love that you're down to earth. I love that you're shy.

It's refreshing that you don't seem to want to be the center of attention everywhere we go.

I like that you just want to be beside me instead, captivating me alone.

I love that you're open to second chances and quick to forgive.

Yet you're extremely stubborn as well, and I love how that challenges me.

I love how intelligent you are. I love that you like experiencing new things.

And I love that you're a hopeless romantic, or else we wouldn't be sitting here right now. "

Each thing I told her made her cheeks even rosier. "I'm a hopeless romantic because I chose you? Why is that hopeless?"

"I told you that I wasn't good for you, yet here you are. Besides, you had plenty of other options."

"I didn't."

"Tyler and Brendan?" Fucking assholes.

"I was always going to come back to you. I can't stop thinking about you. I can't and I won't."

We both remembered when I’d told her to stop thinking about me. I was glad she liked defying me. "See...hopeless romantic."

"I don't like that phrase. It makes it sound like we're doomed."

For some reason I thought about Isabella. I swallowed down the lump in my throat. The divorce would be behind me soon enough. Max was a professional. He’d get me the leverage I needed. "I think we've already been through the hardest things."

"I hope so."

I lowered my eyebrows as I stared at her. Was there something else bothering her? "So really, the question is why did you choose me?"

"You're joking, right?"

"I'm curious." I wanted to know why she wanted someone with tons of baggage instead of someone her own age. Although, if Tyler was her only option who was closer to her age, I didn’t have much competition.

"It seems as though you have plenty of self-confidence."

"Is that one of the things you like?"

"Yes. I like that you always seem so sure of what you want. Even if what you want scares you."

I put my other hand on top of hers, so that her hand was sandwiched between mine. I wanted her to keep going. The only person I ever heard analyze me was Dr. Clark. I’d much rather hear Penny’s opinion.

"You know how good looking you are. You're classically tall, dark, and handsome. When I see you I get butterflies in my stomach. And when you touch me I get chills." She suddenly looked nervous. "I've never been so attracted to someone in my life.”

"That's how I feel about you."

She laughed.

"Penny. I do."

Her eyes locked with mine. I hoped she could see how sincere I was being.

"You're also dark and brooding and mysterious. But when you let me in, when I get to see glimpses of the real you, I fall harder and harder. Like the juice box thing."

"You like that my parents didn't let me drink apple juice out of a box?"

"No, I like that you told me that. You're cute."

I lowered my eyebrows again. "I'm not cute." What the hell kind of description of me was that?

"Yes you are. You're being adorable right now."

I couldn’t help but smile. Adorable? Really? That was even worse than cute.

"And I love that you're..." her voice trailed off and she looked down at our hands, "...domineering."

I laughed. Now that was a much better way to describe me. "You mean in bed?"

She shook her head. "Yes, in bed. But in everything else too. I'm indecisive. I'm so bad at choosing things."

"You chose me."

"I did. But you saw all the stupid stuff I did along the way," she said.

"Which was my fault."

"No. It was because I'm a mess."

I smiled at her. Me too, baby. "Do you know what I am currently enjoying most of all?"

"About me?"

"Yes about you."

She gulped. "What are you enjoying most?"

"How insatiable you are."

"Insatiable? How so? By wanting to spend time with you?"

"In bed, mostly."

Her eyes grew round. "I don't think that's true."

I laughed. "If I wanted to, I could have you coming in the bathroom before our pizza arrived.

" All I needed to do was pull her away from prying eyes. She’d spread her legs for me whenever I told her to.

She loved almost getting caught. "Or maybe I could do it right here.

I believe I owe you an orgasm with an audience after the office blowjob incident. "

She gulped. "But you liked that."

"I did. And you'd like this." I brushed my foot against her leg. "Besides, I promised you I'd retaliate." I hitched my foot on a leg of her chair and pulled it closer to the table. The chair squeaked against the floor.

"I thought you were joking." She was saying one thing, but practically begging me with her bright blue eyes.

"I would never joke about pleasing you." One of my hands left hers and disappeared beneath the table. I placed it down on her knee and slid it up her thigh, higher and higher until her breath caught.

"Professor Hunter..."

My hand froze when the owner of the pizzeria, Marie, arrived with our pizza.

"James! It's so good to see you," she said. I’d missed her thick Italian accent. I had nothing against Grottos, but this right here was real pizza. She placed it down on the table.

I let my hand fall from Penny’s thigh and shook Marie’s hand. "It's been ages, Marie. I was in the city for the day and this was the first place I stopped."

"We all miss you here. And who is this?" She turned to Penny.

"This is my girlfriend, Penny."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Penny said. She reached out her hand to shake Marie’s.

"No, no, the pleasure is mine." Marie leaned down and hugged her.

"Every Monday James would come here and have lunch.

Always alone. Always glum. I'm so glad he has finally met someone.

You better make him happy," she said in a voice a little more serious than I expected.

When Marie released Penny from her hug, she smiled at me. "It's so good to see you, James."

"You too, Marie," I said. She gave me one last smile before walking way. I didn’t realize that I always looked glum when I was here. I put my hand back on Penny’s thigh for just a moment. "Another time then. I will get you."

Penny smiled. "Why did you eat lunch alone every Monday?"

"Just a habit." I grabbed a slice of pizza.

"Why did she think you were single? You still wore your ring when you lived here, didn't you?"

I exhaled slowly. "No, actually." I hated how all our conversations seemed to revert back to Isabella.

"Why?"

"I stopped wearing my wedding ring the first time I confronted Isabella about her infidelity. I thought she'd feel threatened and stop. I thought maybe the idea of me sleeping around would bother her. It didn't."

"Did you? Sleep around?"

Is that really what she thought of me? "No."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"It's okay. I want you to be able to ask me questions. But I don't want to talk about her.” For the love of God, I never wanted to talk about Isabella again. “I just want to focus on us."

"Okay." She stared at me for just a moment.

I wasn’t sure why I kept ruining moments like this. Breathe. We were just talking. It wasn’t like she was the paparazzi shoving a camera in my face. She wasn’t trying to get some inside scoop to flash on the front page of the paper. I took another deep breath.

"So this is the best pizza, huh?" She held up her slice.

"Fold it before you eat it. Trust me."

She followed my instructions and took a big bite. Her eyes immediately lit up.

"What's the verdict?" I asked.

"It's freaking fantastic."

I smiled.

She took a few more bites and then slowly swallowed. “What?” she asked. She rubbed the side of her mouth. “Do I have something on my face?” She wiped the other side. “Where is it?”

I hadn’t even realized that I’d been staring at her instead of eating. “Come here, I’ll get it for you.”

She stood up and walked around the table. She squealed as I grabbed her wrist and pulled her into my lap.

I silenced her with a kiss. “There’s nothing on your face.” I pressed my forehead against hers. “You’re perfect.”

“Hmm.” Her hands settled on my shoulders. “I think you’re the perfect one.”

I swallowed hard. There was still a lot she needed to learn about me.

Dr. Clark was right…I needed to tell Penny everything.

Isabella wasn’t the worst skeleton in my closet.

And that was really saying something. But it was easy to dismiss Dr. Clark’s words in the back of my head when Penny was in my lap.

I breathed in her exhales. For so long I hadn’t known what it meant to live in the present. Yoga certainly didn’t help. Telling myself every day that I was a worthless piece of shit didn’t do it either. But this right here? I could live in this present. With her.

She pulled back slightly to look at me. “What are we doing next?” she asked.

“Next? You mean, you want more than a two-hour drive for pizza? Huh.”

She laughed. “If this is all you have planned, that’s fine with me. But I don’t want to go home just yet. Can we stay a little longer?”

Did she seriously think I brought her all the way to New York just for a good slice? I wanted her to see my New York. I wanted to see if we could fit here. Because as easy as it was to be in the present with Penny, I knew that present was complicated.

One slip and we could easily be thrust into our future pretty quickly. And I didn’t know where that future would lead us. Here? Or would we stay in Delaware?

“What’s wrong?” she asked, her eyes searching mine.

“Nothing.” And there I went again…losing the present. I didn’t need to think about all that right now. Today was just for us to have fun. And to show her my hometown. “I was just trying to think of what I’m going to do with you.”

“Do with me?” She laughed. “You make it sound like I’m some animal that needs to be wrassled into a cage.”

Huh. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing her naked in a cage.

Honestly, it was easy picturing her anywhere naked.

My hands slid to her ass. “I think I have an idea.” I’d actually already planned out our day.

With the help of Ian of course. Hopefully he’d gotten it all done between spying on us and eating.

“If it involves the Central Park Zoo, I’m out. Because I didn’t love the way your eyes lit up at the idea of me in a cage.”

I laughed. No, my ideal date with Penny in New York was certainly not going to the zoo. What was I…five? “How about you finish your pizza and I’ll show you.”

“Deal. Are we going to the Empire State Building? Or the Statue of Liberty? Oh! Rockefeller Center?”

What? I also wasn’t some basic ass tour guide. “No. Better.”