Page 197 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol 4

Hailey barely spoke during breakfast. And now I had been watching her knee bounce up and down nonstop for three hours in the car.

This morning I had thought she was worried about going to Pasadena and applying for the loan she needed. But now it seemed like she was just mad at me. And as the minutes ticked by and I got closer to saying goodbye, it was starting to feel like I couldn't breathe. I didn't want to walk away on a bad note. I didn't want to remember our time together like this.

I cleared my throat. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"No. Not really." Her eyes stayed glued to the map in her lap.

"I need you to know how much this past week has meant to me. How much you..."

"Not everything is about you, Tyler." She was gripping the map so tightly that it was starting to tear under her hands.

"Okay." Neither one of us said anything for a few minutes. I cleared my throat again. "There's plenty of places to get loans."

She shook her head. "Not when you owe as much money as we do." Her knee continued to bounce up and down.

I placed my hand on it. "It's going to be okay."

"Why do you keep saying that?" She pulled her knee away from my hand. "Take a right up here."

I followed her directions.

"How about I come in with you? I'm good at negotiating..."

"Tyler, please stop. Take a left here."

"Well, how about I wait for you outside then?" I turned left. "We talked about seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time together. We can walk around the beach and get lunch. I don't have to report to basic training until tomorrow."

"Why are you making this harder than it needs to be?"

"I don't want to just leave you in Pasadena alone. We can hang out for the rest of the day and I can drop you off at LAX on my way to San Diego."

"Turn right, into that neighborhood."

Why the hell are we going into a neighborhood?But I turned right and started driving past the fanciest houses. They reminded me of Josh's, only even bigger. The only word I could think of to describe them was ostentatious. No one needed a house this big unless they had ten children and their in-laws living with them.

"Stop right here." She pointed to a house on the right.

I pulled up out front of the long driveway that led to what I would classify as a mansion. But all I could focus on was her knee bouncing up and down. We sat there for a moment in silence, the engine still running. I felt like I was going to be sick.

Hailey sighed. "I don't really know what to say, Tyler. You know how I feel about you. And I understand where you're coming from with your decision." She shrugged her shoulders. "So, I guess this is it. I really appreciate the ride." She stuck out her hand to me.

"Hails..."

"Tyler, please don't make this harder than it has to be." She lowered her hand.

"I'll just wait right here and when you're done we..."

"I don't want you to wait," she said, throwing back the words I had said to her last night.

I swallowed hard.

"Can you respect that or not?"

"Yeah, Hails. Of course."

She opened the car door and grabbed her duffel bag out of the back seat. "You know where to find me after you get out," she said as her fingers wrapped around the passenger's side door. "If you want to."

"I know where to find you."