Page 210 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10
“What? No!”
“Phew.” She put her hand on her chest. “You scared me for a moment, dear. Why do you want us to eat with you? Has someone died?” She grabbed Ian’s arm. “Is Robert okay?”
“No, I…” I shook my head. “I mean, yes, Rob’s fine, it’s not that. He’s safely out of prison.” Wow, I was a terrible boss. Whenever I was nice my staff thought they were being fired or that someone had died. Geez.
“He was in prison?! What happened?”
“He’s fine. It was nothing. We’re getting way off track here. I just thought eating together would be…nice. And we can all catch up. It’ll be fun.”
Ellen looked at Ian.
Ian shrugged. “Don’t look at me. He’s clearly lost his mind because he’s in love.”
Ellen put her hand to her chest again. I was getting concerned that she might faint. “Oh. This has to do with why I was buying women’s clothing all afternoon? I assumed it was for Jen’s birthday.”
“Why would I have you unpack a bunch of clothing for Jen in my closet?”
“I don’t know, I like when Jen visits.”
“Me too,” Ian said.
I just stared at both of them.
“I didn’t realize Ellen didn’t know yet,” Ian said. He whistled and started to fill up his plate.
“I was going to tell her during dinner.”
“Well, that’s wonderful. But it’s not that much of a surprise,” Ellen said. “It’s clear that you’re dating someone. I prepped that cooler for your beach date. And I just filled the closet with clothes that wouldn’t fit you even if you were a cross dresser.”
I wasn’t sure whether or not I should be offended by that statement. “But you just said you thought the clothes were for Jen.”
She waved her hand through the air. “I was busy all day running errands for you. I just needed a second to put it all together. Especially since you were in such a foul mood after that beach date. I thought it might be over.” She shook her head. “I’m getting sidetracked. So you’re dating again? That’s wonderful, James. But hardly a reason to almost give me a heart attack.”
Ian laughed as he handed Ellen a plate and made himself another. “He’s definitely dating someone. But it’s a little juicier than that.”
“Oh, is it a colleague?” Ellen asked as we all sat down.
Ian laughed again.
“Not exactly,” I said and glared at him. I honestly didn’t know how Ellen was going to react to this. I knew her husbandhad been older than her but I doubted they met under these circumstances. But she’d find out eventually. “Penny’s my student.”
Ellen took a big bite of her taco. “That’s nice.”
What now?“I’m dating my student. I’m going to ask her to move in with me.”
“Well I figured that with all the stuff I bought for her today. I hope she likes blue, it’s Jen’s favorite color.”
Ian and I stared at each other for a moment before I looked back at Ellen. “That was not the reaction I was expecting, Ellen.”
“Does she make you happy?”
“Yeah, she does.”
“Well that’s wonderful. Isn’t that all that matters? What, did you want me to reprimand you for dating a student? How could I possibly? My husband is ten years older than me and I…” She cleared her throat. “Wasten years older.” She gave me a weak smile and then looked down at her plate.
I knew slip ups like that were the hardest for her. She’d lost her husband a few months before I decided to move here. I reached out and grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Ellen really was the best. I wasn’t sure why I’d been worried about telling her in the first place. She was the kindest person I knew. She’d never judge me.
“I’m fine, James.” She patted my hand on top of hers and then pulled away. “Now eat before it gets cold.”
