MR.BILLIONAIRE, I AM PREGNANT

CHAPTER 02

DAYS LATER

I just wanted to lose my mind a bit.

Years ago, I came to understand that even though my heart belonged to Hugo, I couldn't stop living. I needed to kiss. I needed to dance. I needed to meet other bodies.

He would be my fairy tale someday. And I knew that somehow, destiny would bind me to him. He was the right guy for me since I was fourteen, and after a decade, that hadn't changed. Even if he didn't see me that way.

Even though we hardly talked in recent years.

I knew it was in the blue of his eyes that I would drown.

I smiled at the cowboy sitting in the driver's seat and waited for him to put a hand on my thigh to squeeze it. That night, I just wanted someone's hot and beautiful body.

However, with each passing second inside the car, the desire I felt for the stranger faded away. I then placed my hand on his thigh and squeezed it, giving him a seductive smile. He looked at me, seeming uncomfortable, and I furrowed my brow.

Where was the hot guy I had danced with all night at the bar?

"Is something wrong?" I asked, and he immediately shook his head, removing my hand from his leg. "Dude, what's the problem?" I insisted because I wasn't the type to accept a silent response.

At least, there was only one person capable of giving me just that. Why the hell was I thinking about Ian?

"I don't think it's going to work," he replied, and I blinked several times, incredulous. "You seem too excited for..."

"To f**k?" I interrupted, looking at him as if he were an alien.

What was the problem with a casual night with some unknown guy?

Why did even the strangers in that small town seem unable to handle it?

Damn, the kind of countryside I loved!

"I am moving here, so I think..."

"Screw you," I replied in the end, rolling my eyes.

I adjusted my purse on my shoulder, and before he could say anything, I raised a finger. He seemed startled, and that's when I realized that we definitely wouldn't get along in bed. Maybe we'd be terrible.

What a shitty choice!

I got out of the pickup truck pissed off, and I couldn't help but slam the car door hard. I had been in a drought for months, and I just wanted, for a few minutes, to lose control with a strong and masculine body that knew how to drive me crazy, even if only for a few minutes.

In fact, I could only be with someone when I traveled to other cities. There was a certain modesty in the guys from that small town that drove me crazy. They were beautiful, strong, and hot cowboys, but in the end, they always seemed crazy about maintaining their reputation.

I couldn't care less about mine.

I walked to the 24-hour convenience store at the gas station, the only place open at that hour in town. I quickly checked my phone, and it was around three in the morning.

"Damn it," I complained, opening one of the fridges in the convenience store and grabbing a soda.

I just wanted to drink something other than alcohol and stay awake until I got home, which was about three kilometers away on foot.

"Good early morning, Serginho," I shouted, as I couldn't find him anywhere. As always, he must have been in the back.

"I am in the back, crazy girl," he shouted back at me when he heard me.

He must have been checking something in the stock. Knowing everyone in a small town had its advantages. Sergio was my schoolmate and had recently taken over his father's position at the gas station. He loved working there, and like me, no matter how much we complained about being country bumpkins, we loved the fact that we lived in that town.

"I am going to get a cheese bread," I shouted back, crossing the counter.

I practically knew the whole place. On many sleepless nights when I just wanted to sit and forget the world by writing, I found myself there. It had become a routine in recent times since I had lost my job, and the time devoted to what was just a hobby had become a part of me. Writing calmed my soul and made me believe that everything would work out at some point.

I heard the noise of the convenience store's front door being opened and rolled my eyes. It must be that guy Pablo, a great dancer but terrible at keeping any spark alive. I got up with the clean plate in hand and looked at him with as much mockery as I could muster.

However, when my blue eyes met the dark brown ones in front of me, I knew that the world could spin as much as it wanted, but it always seemed to stop in front of that brute.

"Kid," he tipped his cowboy hat, and I gave him the fakest smile I had. I saved it especially for him because I knew that at some point, that man who seemed to have been created to bring out the worst in me would show up.

"Old man," I retorted because there was something about that nickname he hated as much as I did.

I wasn't a kid, and he wasn't old.

Our ten-year age difference wasn't the real reason for that. In the end, the fact that I couldn't stand him, and the feeling was mutual, helped with that.

"Are you working here now?" he asked, and I furrowed my brow as I tried to carefully pick up the cheese bread from inside the warmer.

"Since when are you a gossip like us?" I retorted, and just when I thought the cheese bread would land perfectly on my plate, I saw it move an inch to the side and fall to the floor. "Oh, damn it!" I cursed, quickly bending down and picking up the food. "The three-second rule," I said, leaving the plate on the counter and grabbing the cheese bread with my hand and taking a bite.

Ian watched me, as always, with eyes as mysterious as the fact that I didn't know what was going on in his mind. The man was a fortress. I never really knew what he felt; I just knew that he was good at talking and showing how much he enjoyed driving me crazy.

"So?" he insisted, putting his cowboy hat on the counter and running his hands through his dark brown wavy hair. The man was handsome, and that old realization suddenly seemed too good.

No! I repeated internally.

I should calm my urges because Ian would never be the one to satisfy them. Or would he?

"I am not working here, and I don't know why you care," I smiled falsely and took another bite of the cheese bread. "What brings you here?"

"I come here whenever I am not traveling; it's a place I can stay where nobody gossips," he commented.

"The millionaire heir who needs a wife," I mocked, and he frowned, making me laugh. At the same time, I remembered that haunting proposal in the middle of the night. However, I wouldn't touch that topic. "That's what they said in the town's w******p group after someone saw you having lunch at Neta's and then took pictures of your muscles and talked about it all day."

"What do you think?" he asked, and I didn't understand, as I opened the can of Coke that I had left on the counter.

"A waste of time for a group where we could be talking about how hot Gabi's man is. The whole town saw him this week in the center, and they're talking about it," I added.

"And your fairy tale with the Avelar kid?" he asked, making me look at him differently. Why did we always end up at that point? "Did he ditch you and ignore you again, or..."

"Don't start!" I cut him off before he could talk about Hugo again.

"One day, you'll understand that fairy tales don't exist," he countered, looking at me deeply. "People want to have s*x and be happy, nothing more."

I simply couldn't see the truth in his words, and I didn't understand why.

"I wanted to have s*x with someone else tonight, and that doesn't stop me from having a fairy tale with Hugo," I replied finally, and blood rushed to my head. At least, I was still good at not letting him win an argument.

"Why are you here instead of having s*x?" his question made me freeze, and I knew I couldn't answer. It would just give him more ammunition to attack me.

"Why don't you go to hell?" I retorted and finished my Coke. I quickly opened my purse and put the money on the counter. "Serginho, one Coke and a cheese bread, and you can give me the change later!"

Sérgio didn't even respond to my shout, and he should have been in the bathroom.

I walked around the counter and held my head high. No one could bring me down from my pedestal. I had fought hard for it, and for my self-esteem, Ian Torres tried very hard, but it remained unshaken.

"Where are you going?" he asked, and I felt his hand on my forearm, pulling me.

I stopped a step and turned to face him. We were outside the convenience store, and I took a step forward, releasing myself. I gave him the middle finger just as I felt a raindrop on my nose.

Damn!

I focused on taking the nearest path home and hoped the rain would be just a drizzle. In the end, I took ten steps, and the storm unleashed.

Maybe that's why I hadn't been able to buy an iPhone last year — my mind considered. I imagined myself there with one of those phones in a bag without waterproof protection. I fixated on my panic about something I didn't even have and pushed aside the cold that would inevitably follow.

The dress I was wearing clung to my entire body, and the fact that I wasn't wearing a bra left me practically exposed.

"Bad luck at work, bad luck in bed, bad luck in love..." I cursed, thanking the heavens that there wasn't a soul on that road. I knew the place was so safe I could sleep there and wake up just fine the next day.

The problem would arise when I reached the end of the road and entered my street. The gossip-hungry neighbors had no schedule, and so the broke heiress of the Gonçalo family would be the talk of the day.

It had been a while since I was talked about, so I'd let them gossip about my boobs. At least that was better than having Ian as the subject. That damn old man who haunted my mind!

I heard the sound of a car stopping next to me and didn't even need to look to know it was him. I kept walking and completely ignored him, even when he rolled down the passenger side window and practically ordered me to get in. That man thought he could boss everyone around. But not me.

I heard the sound of the car stopping and then a door slamming shut abruptly. I jumped in place, and when I tried to turn around, I suddenly felt my body being lifted, and I ended up upside down.

It took me half a second to realize that Ian had put me on his back, and before I could punch him, he had already placed me on the plush seat of his Range Rover.

"Don't even think about it," he said as soon as I raised my gaze, trying to focus on what was happening.

He stared at me sternly, but there was something behind his brown eyes. For the first time, I saw something in him. It wasn't a connection, not even close. But it was like being a real woman seen by a real man. Without our usual banter, just a certain spark.

Then his gaze lowered and focused on my breasts, which were clearly outlined in the thin white fabric of the dress. Traitors, they stiffened and weighed heavily under his gaze, and I wondered if I was still drunk or trapped in a nightmare.

Since when did my body respond to Ian's?

Before I could say anything, he simply slammed the door in my face, and I blinked a few times, feeling awful. I was completely soaked, but suddenly, my body was incredibly warm.

Something inside me grew, and it seemed even stronger when he sat in the driver's seat and stared at me sternly. Yes, yes... he was incredibly handsome and attractive. I never denied that. But that beauty had never stirred me. Not until now.

He should have just called me a child, started the car, and driven me home. I should have just called him old, tried to open the car door, and in the end, hitched a ride home with him.

We should have just stuck to our standard protocol of hatred, but suddenly, we were crossing a line I never, ever, and under no circumstances, thought we could cross.

We should...

We should...

We should...

But we didn't.

His hand came to my nape, and at the same time, my body rose over his. And suddenly, I didn't feel cold anymore; I was burning, and it was with my enemy.