Page 15 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

Wednesday

“Where the hell are you?” Ian asked after one ring.

“You know where I am. There’s a tracking device on my car.”

“You know what I meant! Seriously, you can’t just drive off on a whim. You have to tell me. I thought Isabella kidnapped you or something.”

“Honestly that might have been equally as terrible as the conversation I just had with Penny’s parents.”

There was an awkward pause. “So you told her parents?”

“Mhm.”

“And how did that go?”

“Bad. Really fucking bad.” Now that I was outside by myself, I felt worse about snapping. The outcome had been…decent. But getting there had been pretty messy. And I was still pissed about all that shit Penny’s dad had said about me.

I was more concerned about what they were saying about me right now behind my back though. They were obviously talking about me in there. Or else they wouldn’t have asked me to leave…

“Was it the age thing or the professor thing that really ticked them off?”

“Both,” I said with a sigh. “And the fact that I just got divorced.”

“Why the hell did you even talk about that?”

I groaned. “I don’t know. It just slipped out. It was probably good it did though. I’m sure they’ll read the article in the Delaware Post after this, and it’s better that they heard it from me.”

“True.” There was some noise on the other end. “Ellen says you should have told her you were visiting Penny’s parents and she would have sent you some brownies or something.”

“Yeah, that probably would have been a good gesture. But it was a spur of the moment trip.”

Ian relayed the information to Ellen.

“Does Ellen want to talk to me?”

“No, she’s cleaning. Ow!” Ian said.

Ellen must have hit him.

I laughed.

And then I must have made some kind of strange noise when Penny’s cat ran over to me, because Ian said: “You okay, man?”

“Yeah. Penny has this cat.” That looks exactly like her . “It just surprised me is all.” I petted the top of Teddy’s head.

He meowed.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around an animal before,” Ian said.

“I really don’t like pets.”

“What if Penny wants to bring him home with you?”

“No.”

Ian laughed. “Really? You’d just tell her no?”

I stared at Teddy. He rubbed against my leg. Maybe he wasn’t that bad. “I’d probably say yes, but I really hate the idea of this furball being in my apartment.”

Ian laughed again. “Fair.”

“Can you buy me a T.V.?”

“That was a weird segue,” Ian said.

I shook my head. “Yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking about the fact that Penny likes to watch T.V. And maybe if I buy her a nice one she’ll be entertained and not want to take this creature home with us.

” Besides, classes were going to be hard the next few days.

She needed an escape. And as much as I wished I could have sex with her for hours every night…

my dick wouldn’t be able to handle that. This was how she liked to relax.

Plus when Penny and I were on a break, I’d measured one of my walls one night, thinking that if I bought her a big T.V. she’d forgive me. I’d been really drunk. And I think I’d dropped a hammer on my foot. I had no idea why I’d even had a hammer out. But Ian didn’t need to hear all that.

Ian laughed. “One T.V. Got it. Wait, what size?”

“I’ll email you the one I want. Hold on a sec.” I quickly found the link and shot him the email.

“Got it.”

“Thank you. Oh and there’s a wrapped box in the drawer of my nightstand. Can you put that and the T.V. in the living room?” It was another thing I’d done when I was drunk and missing Penny. But sometimes drunken actions were useful later.

“It’s not like…a dildo or something, right?”

“Why would I have a dildo in my nightstand?”

“I don’t know what you’re into.”

Lies. He knew everything I was into because there were security cameras in my bedroom. “It’s not a dildo.”

“Great. I’ll put that with the T.V. Okay, so you’re going to start watching T.V. You quit your job. Came clean to her parents. What’s next? Are you going to tell her about the cameras?”

“I think that’s enough excitement for one day.”

“Agreed.”

“Tell her about the cameras, James!” Ellen yelled in the background.

I’d tell her. Eventually. I heard the front door start to open. “I gotta go.”

“Later,” Ian said.

I hung up and petted the top of Teddy’s head again.

"I see you two are getting along now," Penny said and smiled down at me sitting on the steps

"Yeah, I think he actually likes me." Unlike your parents. I turned around. I saw her parents standing next to her. I was really glad I hadn’t said that last thing out loud. I quickly stood up.

"I'm really sorry that you two can't stay,” Mrs. Taylor said. “I hope you come visit us again soon. I promise that we're not usually this hostile."

I’d hope not.

She leaned in and hugged me.

"Thank you for being so understanding,” I said.

Her mom laughed. "Were we? I feel like we weren't. But I do understand. And I'm so glad that you make our daughter happy."

She pulled away and gave Penny a quick hug too.

"James." Mr. Taylor stuck out his hand.

"Mr. Taylor." I shook his hand.

"You can call me Peter." Her dad nodded at me and then walked over to Penny. He gave her a big hug. "Don't you ever think that you've disappointed us, Pen. We love you so much." He kissed the top of her head and released her from his hug.

I had no idea what it would feel like to be told that. I was the epitome of a disappointment to my parents. My mother had said those exact words to me once.

"Thanks, Dad." Penny teared up at her father’s words.

Actually, I knew how I’d react if my parents had ever said that to me.

I’d laugh. Because that would have been an April Fool’s Day prank.

I wondered how they’d react to the news about me dating Penny.

But I’d never find out. Because I had no intention of telling either of them.

They could read about it in the tabloids like every other stranger.

Penny and I climbed back into my car. We waved to Penny’s parents as they drove off back to work. And for some reason, I didn’t start the car. I just stared out the windshield.

Penny turned toward me. "That went well, right?"

"In the end, yeah. Your dad...well, he surprised me."

"I'm sorry about what he said. I've never seen him make snap judgments like that before. He's usually really nice. He didn't mean any of that. He was just upset."

"At least he didn't try to punch me in the face." I smiled at her. "What did your parents say to you after I left?"

"They grounded me."

"Wait, what?" I lowered my eyebrows. When I thought they’d do that, I’d been half joking. How could they ground her when she wasn’t living under their roof? But if they required her to be spanked, I could definitely arrange that…

"I'm just kidding. They can't ground me, I'm an adult."

"So if they didn't ground you, what did they say?"

“They just wanted to make sure you didn't sexually harass me or anything."

"Oh God." I put my forehead down on the top of the steering wheel and started laughing. What a fucking day. All you could do was laugh it off.

Penny started laughing too.

I sighed and lifted my head back up. "That must have been awkward."

"Well, they didn't actually put it like that." She put her hand on my knee. "I think they phrased it by asking how rapey you were on a scale of one to Michael Jackson."

"What?!"

"Just kidding. They said something like pressuring me, or something."

I put my hand on top of hers and ran my thumb across her knuckles. I mean…I was older than her by several years. I was her professor. And I could be pretty demanding. "I haven't, have I? Pressured you?"

"No. James, I love you. I want to be with you. I'm not sure what else I can do to make you believe me."

I lifted up her hand and kissed her palm. "I do believe you. I'm sorry that I lost it in there. It almost felt like I was lecturing your father. I didn't mean to do that."

"Well, you were a professor." She shrugged. "It kind of goes with the territory I think."

"Yeah. I just feel like I kind of threw my money in his face. And that wasn't what I meant to do at all. I feel like a dick." Dr. Clark was not going to be impressed when he heard about this. I was supposed to be able to control my anger now. And…clearly I couldn’t.

"He certainly pushed enough of your buttons. James, I don't think my dad is mad at you. He seemed embarrassed about how he acted. Please don't over think this. We told them. It's over. Let's just be happy."

I smiled. That sounded like a good plan. And I’d promised her a trip. I’d have to text Ian when I got to the airport though, because he was definitely going to freak out when he saw my car parked there. And he’d want to tag along. "Just tell me where you want to go." I put my key into the ignition.

"Actually, I think I just want to go home."

"Home?" I raised my eyebrow. God, I really loved the sound of that.

"Mhm."

"Penny Taylor, are you referring to my apartment as home?" I couldn’t stop smiling.

"It's where I feel most comfortable. And of course, it's where you are. So, yes, I consider it home." She smiled back at me.

"You know, I'll take you wherever you want to go. Well, anywhere in the U.S. We really need to get you a passport."

"All I want to do is snuggle up in your bed with you."

"Okay. Home it is." Home. I pulled the car away from the curb. I think it had been a long time since anywhere had felt like home. But I was pretty sure that anywhere we went would feel like home. As long as she was beside me.

***

When we pulled up to my apartment building, there were even more news vans parked outside. My hands tightened on the wheel. Why couldn’t they just leave us in peace?

People with microphones jumped out of the vans as I turned into the parking garage. I sped up to the third floor and pulled my car into an empty spot.

"Maybe we should've gone somewhere else," I said. I really didn’t want her to be subjected to all this. But we’d be recognized together anywhere now.