Page 82 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10

Wednesday

I walked out of Lerner Hall and looked around for Ian’s old Jeep with terrible gas mileage. I’d been pestering him to trade it in for ages, but he always refused. Something about nostalgia. To me, that wasn’t a good enough excuse for the carbon footprint.

So when I spotted him leaning against a Tesla, I was more than a little surprised. “You finally upgraded?”

Ian lifted his gaze from the phone in his hand and smiled. “You like the haircut?”

I laughed and gestured to the car.

“Well, now I’m just insulted,” he said. “But the car is pretty sweet.”

“I thought for sure you’d just get another Jeep.”

He shrugged. “I’m bored and have lots of money to spend. Both your fault.”

Instead of giving me a handshake or a hug, he opened the passenger door for me.

Other than Rob and Ellen, he was the closest thing I had to a friend.

But Rob was my brother. Ellen was my housekeeper.

And Ian was the head of my security detail.

I didn’t have any friends left. The only reason Ian was here was because I was still paying his salary despite the fact that I didn’t need security in Delaware.

Eventually I’d go back to New York and I’d still be employing the best head of security in the state.

He was here out of obligation. Not because he missed me.

“You didn’t have to come all the way down here,” I said as I climbed into the car. He really didn’t. All of this could have been done over the phone.

“You’re still paying me. And I was bored, remember?” He smiled and closed the door.

“Does that mean you’re enjoying your time off?” I asked as he slid into the driver’s seat.

“If I was enjoying my time off do you think I’d jump at the chance to drive two and a half hours to see the likes of you?”

I laughed. “Fair point.”

“And since I was coming down anyway, I brought that background check you wanted.” He reached around to the back seat, grabbed a folder, and plopped it on my lap.

For a few minutes we were quiet as he put the car into drive and made his way through Main Street traffic.

“She’s young,” he finally said.

I looked down at the folder in my hands. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted it anymore. Knowing everything about Penny, even if there were some skeletons in her closet, wouldn’t change my mind about pursuing her. “Not that young.” I put the file into my satchel without opening it.

“Is she one of your students?” he asked.

Maybe he’d judge me. But probably less than my psychologist would. I wasn’t going to give up Penny. I wasn’t even sure I could if I wanted to. And at least with Ian I had his signature on a confidentiality agreement. “Yes.”

Ian whistled.

At least he didn’t shake his head. “Speaking of which, maybe you could dig around to see what the rules are regarding professor-student relationships at the University of New Castle?”

“Like…a relationship relationship?”

“What else would I mean?”

“I don’t know…a rebound short-term thing?”

“I’m not sure the dean will care about how serious we are either way.” And I didn’t have the answer for him. All I knew was that I hadn’t had enough of her. Yet.

Ian hit his turn signal. “You probably won’t like what I’ll find. I think most schools frown on that kind of thing.”

I didn’t respond. What was there to say?

“Does that mean you’re coming back to New York soon?”

“I have no idea.”

“I could move down here, you know. I know you don’t need as much security outside the city, but I could rent an apartment in your building and keep a low profile. I’d even be able to take care of stalkers.”

I laughed. He’d done a similar background check on Kristen Dwyer for me last year.

But it wasn’t because I liked her. It was because I wanted to make sure her mental state was sound.

I didn’t want her showing up naked in my apartment with a knife like a crazy person.

But she was clean. Certainly cleaner than me.

If someone did my background check they’d be a lot more concerned.

I eyed my satchel. Maybe there were some reasons to check out Penny’s file…

“How’s Jen?” I asked. It was better to change the topic than give him any false hope of moving here. I didn’t need any security on campus. And it was a breath of fresh air to have time to myself, even if it was a little lonely. Besides, Penny made it significantly less lonely.

“How would I know?”

“I know you give her rides sometimes…”

“Oh. Well. Yeah.” He looked a little flustered. “She’s fine, I guess. Why?”

Weird answer. “I haven’t spoken to her in a few months. She’s relentless with trying to get me to patch things up with my parents.”

“She may have mentioned that.”

Of course she had.

“Are you going to talk to them soon? Pretty sure it’s driving Jen crazy that you’re fighting with them.”

“You’re a lot nosier than I remember,” I said.

“You’re a lot happier than I remember.”

I laughed.

“It’s because of the girl, right? Penny?”

Dr. Clark had said something similar to me. That I smiled more now. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

“You don’t think the age difference will matter?”

Penny was 21. That wasn’t that young. She was an adult. She could make her own decisions. “It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Her parents are going to hate you.”

“It’s a little soon for that. I haven’t even taken her on a date yet.

” And I strongly doubted that her parents would hate me.

It’s not like I was a deadbeat. I had plenty to offer their daughter.

Although that background check of mine might be an issue.

It would be good to at least see if either of her parents were cops.

I was itching to open the folder, but I didn’t want to do it with Ian watching me.

At least he was only concerned about her age. That was probably a good thing.

“So this is going to be your first date?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Isn’t this a little extreme? Why don’t you just take her to a restaurant a few minutes outside town if you’re worried about getting caught?”

“That is what I’m doing.”

“No…that’s what a normal person would do. You’re planning on buying a place and making the entire staff sign confidentiality waivers.”

“I make everyone sign confidentiality waivers.”

“Has Penny signed one?”

“No.”

“Are you going to get her to sign one?”

I lowered my eyebrows. “No.”

“What if she’s trying to exploit you?”

“I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m a poor professor. She’s never asked me any questions about Blive Tech or anything else business related.” Which was refreshing.

He shook his head. “But you’re about to buy her a restaurant for your first date. If she doesn’t already know, she’s about to. This is why you need me here. I could tail her and figure out what her motivation is.”

“Is it so hard to believe that she actually just likes me?”

“Even if she does like you for you, there’s still the whole professor thing.

You’re in a position of power. There’s a whole other level of issues with that.

” He shook his head again. “There are countless opportunities for blackmail. I have to strongly advise you not to go through with this date. Cut things off before they escalate.”

“She’s not like that, Ian.”

“Then for my sake, at least confiscate her phone when she’s with you.”

“I can’t do that. She’s not a petulant child.”

“She’s a college student…so she pretty much is a kid. Just tell her no phones at dinner,” he said with a laugh.

I didn’t find it funny. “Did you find anything in her background check that was alarming?”

“No. Middle-class family. Only child. She grew up in a normal suburban neighborhood with two working parents. Average life.”

Penny was anything but average. “So nothing that screams blackmailer? Great. Can we drop this then?”

He pulled into the parking lot of the first restaurant on the list. “College is expensive, even for middle-class families. Maybe she’s being financially resourceful. Just be careful.”

The line between good mother and security detail felt blurred. “I’m not in New York anymore. Not as many people know who I am down here. Besides, I’m going to buy one of these restaurants. Which means you can set up security cameras to keep an eye on everything.”

That seemed to perk him up. “Consider it dropped. Let’s go find the place for your first date. Maybe we can test out the concept for that new security system you sent me the details of the other day. Did you hash out the surveillance issues?”

“I think I have it all set.” The security system was what I’d started designing the night after taking Penny in my office.

I had so much energy and so many ideas floating around in my head.

She inspired something in me. I didn’t know why or how, but she had.

It was the first good business idea I’d come up with in over a year.

And based off Ian’s excitement, it was a great idea.

He rubbed his hands together. “Can I spend the night to go over all the details? And then I can spend the day tomorrow setting up the system.”

“Only if you brought me a Totonno’s pizza.”

He laughed. “It’s in a cooler in the trunk. I wouldn’t have come without one.” We both climbed out of his new car. “But aren’t we doing food tastings at all these places?”

“There’s always room for Totonno’s.”

“True. And there’s a case of beer in the cooler too. And the Mets are playing tonight so we can catch the game later.”

It sounded like something I used to do with my friends.

I glanced at Ian as we walked across the parking lot.

Maybe giving him this paid time off had broken some barrier between us.

Because in a lot of ways, he was acting more like my friend than my employee.

He really didn’t need to come all the way down here.

I could have checked out these places myself.

New York City was a lonely place. Maybe he felt that as much as I did.

“That sounds great,” I said. “You can stay as long as you want.”

“I knew I could bribe you with pizza.”

We both laughed as we walked into the restaurant and looked around.

Unlike Penny, it was completely average.

And that wasn’t going to do. All the décor was even beige.

What had Ian been thinking? Penny had been dating boys like Tyler.

I needed to show her that she was out of his league. “Nope,” I said and turned around.

“But we have a meeting with the owner in just a minute,” Ian said.

“Give him my regards, but it’s a pass. What’s the nicest place on the list?”

Ian brought up the restaurant list on his phone. “There’s this old country club ten minutes from here. Definitely upscale. And they’re actually looking for a new owner. The current one is retiring. Plus, who are you going to find from the university at a country club?”

“Let’s go there next.”

“Our meeting there isn’t for another hour.”

“I hope the food is good then. Because we’ll be testing it out.”

When we arrived, a valet took Ian’s car keys.

Ian stared after it longingly, probably worried that it would get dinged.

But I had a feeling that the valet had it covered.

When we walked inside everything was elegant with gold trim.

The chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling completed the entrance.

“Hello. Are you here to dine with us this evening?” asked a well-dressed hostess.

“Yes,” Ian said. “And we have a meeting with…”

I elbowed him in his side. I wanted to see how they treated normal patrons. Not ones they were trying to sell the country club to. “A meeting with our bosses later,” I said. “So we’ll definitely need a round of shots.”

The hostess laughed. “Very well. We have top-shelf liquor, and I definitely recommend the tequila. I can grab those shots for you as soon as I get you seated.” She glanced at the seating chart.

“If you’ll follow me right this way.” She ushered us into the restaurant portion of the country club. “Is this table alright?” she asked.

“It’s perfect,” Ian said. “And that tequila sounds great too.”

“Wonderful. Here are your menus. Your waiter will be right over to tell you about our specials today. And I’ll go get you those shots. Enjoy your meal!” She hurried off to grab our drinks.

“Good service,” Ian said.

I looked around the room. The dining area was filled with mostly older patrons. Ian was right, there probably weren’t any people from the university here. It was far enough away from campus to be inconvenient and a little expensive for students and professors.

The hostess came back with two shots of tequila. I slid mine over to Ian. By the time dinner was over, I was hoping he’d let me take a spin in his Tesla. “Let’s go take a look at the golf course,” I said, trying to get him to down both of them.

“But we haven’t even ordered yet.”

“They’ll wait.” I stood up. “Aren’t you coming? You gotta check out where to put surveillance.”

“Rich people are so weird.”

“Says the guy who owns a Tesla.”

Ian laughed. “I like the new you,” he said. “You’re way more fun.”

Life was more fun when you didn’t want to jump out the window of your high rise.