Page 8 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

Wednesday

I started buttoning my shirt as I turned toward Penny.

"I know that you're worried that I'm going to resent you because I had to stop teaching.

But it's the complete opposite. For the first time ever, I feel like I'm exactly where I should be.

Life is good here, with you. I'm in love with you.

" I paused. The words didn’t seem like they were enough to convey how I felt.

"I love you so much. I never knew what I was missing. "

"I'm so in love with you, James Hunter."

I leaned forward and ran the tip of my nose down the length of hers. "Now, we're going back to the apartment. You don't need to face everyone today alone. We'll deal with this together. We'll make our decisions together. Well...except for this one. Because I really want to take you home right now."

Penny laughed. "I'm sorry. I just lost it today. Everyone..."

"Don't. Don't apologize. I know you needed me.

That's why I was hiding in this closet in the first place.

" I smiled at her and pushed a strand of red hair behind her ear.

"I was prepared to resign today. I should have told you before we went into the meeting.

I wasn't going to stop seeing you. It was out of the question. "

"I know. I think you made the right choice."

I made a pretend shocked face. "I'm right? What?"

She nudged my shoulder. "So if you didn't want to break up with me, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Nothing." I picked her pants up off the ground and handed them to her. "We're okay."

"No, what was it?" She quickly got dressed as I stared at her.

I’d wanted to talk to her about a lot of things.

Skipping classes for the rest of the day.

Making sure she was okay. But… "Honestly, I was really mad at you.

I'm still mad at you. I told you to let me handle the situation this morning.

You shouldn't have interfered." I could hear Ellen’s voice in the back of my head reprimanding me for saying this.

But I was trying this whole telling the truth thing for once in my life.

"I know, but you also didn't tell me that you were planning to resign. How was I supposed to know what to do? If you don't talk to me, I can't know what you're thinking. I thought I was helping. Actually, I was mad at you too."

"I know. I'm still getting used to this." I reached out and cradled her cheek in my hand. "I'm not used to having someone on my side."

"Well maybe you should get used to it. Because I love you. I'm not going to run off. I want to be with you."

"It's hard for me to believe that."

"Why?" She put her hands on the sides of my face. "Why don't you feel worthy of love? Why don't you trust me?"

"I didn't mean that. I do trust you. I'm just not used to being...I don't know how to explain it..."

"Vulnerable?"

I frowned. "Vulnerable? I'm not sure if that's the word I was looking for."

"I just mean that you don't have to be strong around me all the time. I just want you to be you."

"This is me." I wasn’t vulnerable. I stared at her. But maybe she wanted me to try to be. I was always prepared. I always knew what I wanted. I was always in control. And that wasn’t necessarily a good thing for a relationship.

"I know. I just mean, you don't have to be scared of showing me every side of you."

"The only thing I'm scared of is losing you." But I’d try my best to be more open with her.

"You're not going to lose me. I'm sorry. I was upset that you made the decision to quit without me. And then I thought you were going to break up with me. And it was hard being in class without you. I don't know if I can do it."

I know, baby. "Let's forget all the noise for right now, okay? Let's just enjoy us. We finally get to be together, Penny." I found the light switch and flicked it so that I could see her better.

She had that ruffled sex hair that I loved so much. I finished buttoning my shirt as I stared down at her.

She looked around at the mess we’d made in the closet. A few bottles of cleaner had spilled from the shelves and I’d knocked a bunch of other stuff over too. "James, do you think maybe we should pick some of this up?"

"Eh, I don't work here anymore. Let's get the hell out of here before someone finds us.

" I grabbed her hand and opened the door a crack. The next classes for the day were already in session and the coast was clear. I pulled Penny out after me and we ran hand-in-hand through the hallway. It was strange holding her hand in the middle of this building. And I couldn’t hide the smile on my face if I even tried.

A few students walking along the green turned to look at us as we ran to my car. I opened the door for Penny and she quickly got in. I closed her door and ran around to my side. I turned my key in the ignition and leaned over and kissed her.

This was what I’d been waiting for. There had been so much stress in our relationship. It finally felt like we were allowed to be happy. We were acting like two teenagers in love. And that's how I felt. When I was next to her, I felt like anything was possible.

I looked over at her. "Truth or dare?" I asked. There was something we still needed to do before we could shut the world out for the rest of the day. We needed to tell her parents about us.

Her eyes met mine. She bit her lip as she pondered which to choose. "Dare."

That’s what I was hoping she would choose. This would be better to do in person than over the phone. Besides, I wanted to get as far away from here as possible.

Every mile we drove away from the University of New Castle, the more relaxed I felt.

Part of it was the scenery. The colorful autumn trees blurred together as we sped by.

But the better view was the smile on Penny’s face.

It was hard not to be relaxed when she looked so damn happy.

I kept stealing glances at her as I drove down the highway.

Each time I looked, she was already staring at me.

And I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. We were…free.

"What are you staring at?" I finally asked.

"You."

I rubbed my thumb against her palm.

"What now?" she asked.

I was waiting for her to ask where the hell we were going. "Well, do you have a passport?" I think we both needed a trip after this day was over.

"No. I've never needed one."

"You've never left the country?" I glanced at her again. Was she joking?

"I have. I've been to Canada. But I didn't need a passport."

"That's because going to Canada doesn't really count as leaving the country. So where have you been? I want to take you somewhere new."

She turned and looked out the window. "I haven't really been that many places.” She stared at the colorful trees for a moment before turning back to me.

“I've pretty much stayed on the east coast. Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.

Oh, I've been to North and South Carolina.

And New York of course." She squeezed my hand.

"And Florida a few times to go to Disneyworld. "

"Disneyworld?" Was that her idea of an exotic vacation?

"Yeah, I love Disneyworld. Everyone loves Disneyworld. Don't look at me like that."

I laughed and turned my attention back to the road. "I wouldn't know. I've never been."

"You've never been to Disneyworld?"

"No." I pressed my lips together. I hadn’t exactly had a normal childhood. Penny knew that and she was looking at me like she felt sad for me. But there wasn’t anything I could do about my past. And my future looked pretty damn bright with her next to me.

"Well, maybe you should let me take you to Disneyworld."

I laughed. Unless we were allowed to fuck in front of Mickey Mouse, that was a terrible idea. "This is my dare. I'm taking you somewhere. Not the other way around."

"So, where are we going then?"

In a few minutes, Penny was going to wish we were anywhere else in the world. But we needed to do this in person. Instead of responding to her, I put on my turn signal and took an exit off I-95.

"Aren't we going to the airport?" she asked.

"We are. I just wanted to make a quick stop first." I’d take her anywhere she wanted to go after we did this.

“I don't know. I haven't decided if I want to make that speech on Friday yet.

So we can't go anywhere that far I guess.

And I forgot that I really should be studying for my Stat test. You know what?

Let's just turn around. Let's spend the day in your apartment.

Don't we have to get stuff ready for your brother anyway? "

I was pretty sure she knew exactly where we were going. And she was trying to get out of it. "Ellen will get everything ready for Rob's visit."

"I forgot, I think I have a psychology test tomorrow too. Oh geez, we better get back."

"You chose dare, Penny. Who backs down from a dare?" I drove down Concord Pike and put my turn signal on again.

Penny looked completely panicked now. "You know what? I actually think I've been around here before. There's this cute little diner right down the street. I'm starving. Do you want to stop and eat?"

I think I’ve been around here before? I lowered my eyebrows. "Penny, you're a terrible liar."

"What? Psh. Professor Hunter..."

"You really should stop calling me that." I turned into Windy Park. It was a cute little neighborhood, a perfect display of suburbia.

Penny took a deep breath. "How do you know where I live?"

"Oh, is this your neighborhood?" I looked over at her and raised my left eyebrow.

"James, pull over."

Nope. I continued to drive down the street and stopped at the stop sign before turning onto Smith Lane.

"James!"

I turned the corner and pulled to a stop at the bottom of her street. "Penny, you'll be lucky if your parents don't already know. It'll be better if they hear it from you. You said you'd call them..."

"And I will call them. I can't do this in person."

"You can."

"James, I can't." She dropped her head back on the headrest in total despair.