In the Billionaire's Lair

Chapter Six

ANNA

JUAT BECAUSE I agreed to go out with him didn’t mean the fight was over.

That night, when I heard the doorbell that announced his arrival, I went down the stairs in my gardening jeans and crappiest top, covered by one of my old jackets that I took out from under one of the boxes I hadn’t even unpacked yet since I moved here.

But when I opened the door, I was surprised.

There was no suit tonight.

He was wearing faded jeans, an off-white t-shirt with prints on the chest area, and an old jacket. His hair looked a little bit uncombed. I almost expected canvas shoes because of the tee, but he was wearing… black boots.

Huh.

Frowning, I looked up from those shoes to encounter amused eyes. “Good, you did casual,” he observed, because I also had t-shirt inside my jacket, and I was wearing jeans and canvas shoes. “I’m relieved to get out of my work clothes, too. Are we ready?” Then he winked at me.

My heart thudded a big thud, then started to race. No, please don’t act like the sexy guy next door. It’s not safe for my health. “What happened to your bodyguards?”

“Home with their families, I suppose. Or maybe out on dates. I really don’t know.”

“You can come out without them?”

“I don’t look like the boss anymore. Don’t worry, it’s safe.”

“Are you sure there’s not gonna be something like k********g and ransom and me getting entangled in all that drama when I step out the door?”

He laughed, loud. I stared at how handsome he looked, the kind of handsome I’d like to get my hands on. Then he sobered up and his lips turned into that sexy smile again. “Nah, nothing like that. I can protect you, don’t worry.”

“Who’s going to protect me from you?” I mumbled before I could stop myself.

He did not reply but his eyes melted into gooey softness as he watched me, grinning, whatever he wanted to say plain on his face.

My face felt very hot. “I’ll just go get something then we can go.”

“Okay.”

I left the door to get my phone and wallet. I slid them inside the pockets of my jacket. I had no intention of bringing any powder or make up in a purse like I wanted to prettify myself for him. Nuh-uh, nothing of that kind.

I sighed, then took a tube of lip balm that was on the bowl of coins and keys. The night could get cold and I didn’t want my lips to get too dry, I told myself as I slid it down another pocket before I returned to the door.

I was trying not to look too nervous as I came out and closed the door behind me, but I couldn’t suppress the shiver that went through my body in anticipation – and disbelief – that I was actually going out with the guy. There was a part of me that still couldn’t believe this was happening.

Alanzo Dumas.

I tried to look him up on my phone’s browser when I got back home from the café, but I chickened out as soon as I started on the first content I found. It was overwhelming to read about him, of whatever projects he was on, and see the kind of people with him on those pictures. Those people were power movers and shakers of the state. How could he want to be with me on even one night? How could he be waiting and watching me on a cheap café every day just to get me out on a date? I couldn’t even think of anything about me that could have been interesting to someone like him. F*ck that self-love or whatever that positivity affirmation stuff coaches teach. Everything about this was so f*cking suspicious.

So there was just one question left here.

What the hell was he up to?

“Hey,” his voice softly called to me, and I realized I was still standing there on the sidewalk after we’d gone down the stairs and I wasn’t moving. As if I was scared to walk away from the security of my house with him.

I was looking down on the pavement, to my canvas shoes.

Scared for some reason.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright.”

I raised my eyes to him. I wanted to tell him that I could never trust his words. Nothing good in my life could surpass the tragedy of my past. He didn’t even know me. How could he promise me something I have lost faith in ever happening?

I heard him call my name again. It was so soft… and painful.

I blinked and I realized there were tears in my eyes, so I had to blink a few more times. His face cleared. I noticed that he had shadows on his jaws because of stubble. But those weren’t the only ones. His eyes were dark, and there was an expression on his face I couldn’t read but for some reason, something in me was getting drawn to it. Like we had an affinity with each other. Two people in pain. I wanted to comfort him.

Crazy.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I said accusingly. “I really don’t wanna go out with you.”

He smiled. It wasn’t his normal, charming smile. This was sweet. And lonely. It was all over his face. It was mostly on his eyes.

He reached for my hand. I didn’t know why I didn’t move it away or why I didn’t step back. I watched his hand hold mine. He closed his palm around mine, and his fingers interlaced with my fingers. He brought it to his chest.

“Save me,” he said.

I stared up at him, shocked in my insides. It was the most absurd words I had ever heard from anyone. But his eyes… I couldn’t explain why I believed the sadness and the pain there.

“Don’t fight me. Don’t run away. Don’t be scared. Save me.”

“Are you pulling my leg?” I asked the normal question a normal person would ask. But I wasn’t normal. I had pain and loneliness in my core.

That’s when the smile came back. “I hope to do that one day, too. Pull your legs towards me and— just kidding!”

I tried pulling my hand from him but he was ready. Instead, he pulled at my hand as he turned towards the road. I found myself letting him. So we ended up walking side by side on the walkway towards where a car was parked.

It looked like an ordinary car that just anyone in the neighborhood would drive. It wasn’t even shiny. I didn’t know about cars. I just know it wasn’t like the expensive-looking car his driver drove to bring him to the café. “Yours?”

“Yes. It’s the first car I bought after I paid my student loan off.” He opened the passenger side door for me.

“Student… loan?” I said as I was getting in.

“Yes. I wasn’t rich before. I didn’t have any parents since I was young, so I was put into the system until I escaped. Anyway, I felt you would feel better in this car.”

I was looking up at him because he remained there saying all these things and I didn’t know what to say.

I was from the system, too. How come that was never mentioned about him? The I remembered I hadn’t really read anything.

“I’m sorry,” I finally managed to say. “I didn’t know anything about cars except they run when I drive them. But you’re right. I like this way better than the other car. Thank you.”

He sighed as if he felt my politeness his failure. “I’m glad,” he said before he closed the door.

I watched him round the front end of the car towards the side of the driver’s seat, opened the door, and get in. My heart was beating fast again. The interior of the car was small, and I smelled his subtle cologne as soon as he got in.

Nothing compared to his presence. It was overpowering.

“If you like this car, you can drive it. I noticed you don’t have a car.”

I opened my mouth to protest.

“I am not giving her to you. She’s my baby,” he said, holding the wheel in a way like he was caressing it. “She was there during the toughest times. But I feel she would want to take care of you, too. I’m sure you’ll take care of her the same way. I couldn’t give her the same attention I used to, and she is really getting pissed off.”

“How do you know she is getting—” I abruptly stopped, then sighed to calm myself. “Don’t talk about something like that. I’m broke. Don’t you think it’s awkward?”

“Oh, I mean to give you anything and everything, Anna,” he said in a somber tone as he reached for the keys of the car. “As soon as you will let me.”

Then he turned the engine on, and we were leaving for this crazy date.