Page 264 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 1
"Penny. It's better this way."
I thought about the tickets he had given me to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. They hadn't really been tickets to meet his family. He had just said that I could meet them if I wanted to because I had asked.
"I'll have to meet them eventually."
"I know. How about you meet Rob first. Then you can decide if you want to meet the rest of my family."
"I think Rob sounds great. Does he know about me?"
"No, actually. He doesn't even know that my divorce is final."
"So he thinks that it's just going to be two single rich bachelors in a college town? He's going to hate me."
James laughed. "He's not going to hate you."
"He probably thinks you're going to go out every night and pick up girls."
"I'm sure he wishes that's what we would be doing. But he knows I wouldn't have done that whether I had a girlfriend or not."
"Why wouldn't you if you were single? Wasn't that kind of the point of inviting Rob to live with you in the first place? To get over me?"
"I don't go to bars and pick up women. I like to practice self-control, Penny."
Self-control.Was he referring to his addiction problem? I looked out the window. Maybe if he had sex with one college studentthat he picked up at a bar he wouldn't be able to stop until he had sex with all of them.
"So what made you give in to temptation with me?"
"You. I've never been so instantly attracted to someone in my life. You're different than other girls I've met. You chose option two."
I laughed. "Our day in New York was perfect. I'll always choose option two."
"I know. And I couldn't seem to control myself around you." He glanced at me again. "Not because I'm addicted to you."
"I don't care if you're addicted to me, you know. I'm addicted to you."
He pulled to a stop at a light. "That's different, Penny."
"Is it that different?"
"When I'm low I feel like I can't breathe. Even when I indulge in whatever it is I'm addicted to. It's just an escape. But with you, I feel like I can finally breathe for the first time. You're not an escape. You're a new way of living that I didn't even know was possible." His Adam's apple rose and fell.
That was a fine line. A very fine line. When he wasn't talking to me I felt like I couldn't breathe. Maybe I was the one who had an addiction problem.
"Shit."
I turned my attention to the road. The reporters were blocking the entrance to the parking garage. I had dealt with enough today. This whole thing was ridiculous. They couldn't sit outhere forever in their vans. This needed to end. I unbuckled my seatbelt.
"Penny, stay in the car."
I opened the door, ignoring him.
"Damn it, Penny!"
I slammed the car door. "What do you want to know? Why are you standing out here? Don't you have anything else to report on? This isn't news."
"Penny! How do you feel about the recent findings in the investigation?" One of the news reporters approached me, quickly followed by her cameraman. "Did you know that James was..."
"He wasn't. He hasn't done anything wrong. What is wrong with you people?"
