Page 5 of Falling for the Hot Billionaire

“Right now?” I looked to the sky. It was still dark. I remembered the hug that he had given me, and I decided that going off with him and checking it out right now wasn’t a good idea. He hadn’t really given me much to go on.

“I can’t. I have to get to work soon.”

“Right, saving lives,” Tyrell said with a smile. He was looking at me as if I had saved him, but I hadn’t. I was just support, and I was uncomfortable with him looking like that toward me. I wasn’t a saint or anything like it. I thought about him too much and in a context that wasn’t right. I knew it and still couldn’t stop it.

“Sorry, I am sure that as neighbors, we will see each other around,” I commented. Tyrell’s face fell and he asked me if I would come by that evening when I got off around seven.

“I could have dinner ready by then.”

He knew my schedule somehow, but I guess he had been there a while and could have remembered. Since he knew, there was no sense in lying. I had to accept. It was just an informal gathering after all, no big deal.

“Yeah, sure. I can pop over after work, but you don’t have to cook for me.”

“After what you did for me, Justine, I want to do so much more than make you a meal.”

I looked away. The intensity of his gaze was not the look that a married man should be giving me. I didn’t respond the way that I should either.

“Okay, sure, but you really don’t have to do anything, Tyrell. It’s my job to take care of patients at the hospital. I am so glad that you are doing better. I have to go.”

I was practically running away, and I hoped that he didn’t see it for what it was. I had fantasized about Tyrell, still after all this time. Why couldn’t I just figure it out and forget about him? It was going to be even harder to know that he lived next door. I didn’t see Monica, but I was sure she was lurking around somewhere. She had made my life at work hell, on purpose, and lied about me. I didn’t need that living next door to me.

At first, I was just worried about Tyrell, but now I was worried about Monica as well. The devil had just moved in next door, and there was nothing good that I could see coming from that.

I closed my blinds and took a shower. I couldn’t believe that this was my new reality. Out of all the places that Tyrell could live, the sky was the limit, why did he pick my neighborhood? It just didn’t make any sense. What were the chances of that?

5

Tyrell

Iwatched Justine run off and I had to admit, I had mixed feelings about it. There was obviously some anxiety on her part and granted, that wasn’t what I was going for, but any strong emotion was a good one in my book. It meant that she was thinking about me as I had about her the last few months. A lot had changed in my life, dropped some dead weight that had been holding me back. I was ready for something new, a new step that was going to make everything just as it was supposed to be.

Going back in the house, I looked around and decided that I would get someone over to unpack. I didn’t want it to look like I wasn’t invested in living here. I was. It hadn’t been easy to be Justine’s next-door neighbor, but now I had all the access to her that I needed. I always got what I wanted and now, I wanted Justine.

Since the accident, my life had taken a turn that I hadn’t expected it to. When I first woke up, I had a lot on my mind, my business and my wife. By the way she was acting, or had always acted, I couldn’t pretend anymore. Life was too short to pretend, and it hadn’t been more than a couple of weeks before I had to file divorce papers.

She wasn’t surprised, said that I was just trying to steal her youth, though she wasn’t that young. The prenup held up and when she wanted more, I gave her the house that we had bought together. It was worth a couple of million and I could have fought it, but I didn’t want it. It shut Monica up, got me the divorce that I was looking for, and now I wouldn’t have to pay alimony or anything else to her. I was free and for the paltry price of the house, it was worth it.

That had gotten me rethinking all aspects of my life, and the next thing on my agenda was to fix the business. It had gone sideways while I was gone, purchases bought that weren’t wise. It made me fire my CEO, and it made me realize that begging the board for everything I was going to do next wasn’t for me. So, I sold most of my stock in my own company and walked away. I didn’t want to make money buying and taking down failed businesses to strip for parts later. I wanted to make something, build something. I didn’t know what yet, but after dropping the LLC in my name and the wife that had my last name as well, I felt better about my prospects.

Justine had been the next thing on my list to do. I thought about her all the time and even though I knew close to nothing about her, I found out where she lived and moved in next door. It was a bit much, I can admit that, but I didn’t care. She didn’t need to know the lengths that I’d gone to for her. She never had to know as far as I was concerned.

I watched her leave a while later. Jacob came to unpack some things for me. He’d been my PA for years and he was looking at me like everyone else, wondering if I had lost my mind or something. I hadn’t, of course, but that didn’t mean that it didn’t look that way on the outside. He didn’t ask me anything, and I didn’t offer. My mind was on Justine and our date. I was nervous to see her, the first time I’d felt that way in a long time. It was like I got a second chance at the world, and it seemed stupid to waste any more time like I had before. It was a new day, and I was excited for it.

* * *

I hearda knock at the door a while later and I knew that it was Justine. She said she would be there, and she was always right on time. I took a deep breath before I opened the door and invited her in. Justine hadn’t been home from work for more than five minutes, but she was wearing something other than her scrubs, and I wasn’t sure where she had changed. It had the effect that I imagined she was going for in that dark red dress that was short and tight. She had my attention all the way and I wondered if she had changed her mind. Before, it was like she didn’t even want to entertain the idea of it. Now, she was dressed to impress and damn it, she was impressive.

Her red hair was like fire, her green eyes flashed up to mine, and she took my breath away. I could only smile in response, though I did have to move. That dress, it haunted me from the jump and Justine knew. Her eyes were smokey and she batted them at me. Justine didn’t want me to see her as a nurse and I didn’t feel that way at all.

“Wow, you look…” There were no words.

“Thanks. I had a quick coffee with someone after work and I didn’t want to look a mess like I do in the hospital. Different, right?”

I faltered because I hadn’t thought about another guy. Here I was thinking that she had dressed up for me. Salivating as I was, and it wasn’t for me at all. It was for someone else. I tried not to show my disappointment, but Justine lost her spark in that moment. I wanted her to be mine, and that wasn’t going to happen if she had some other guy she was dating. I knew that it would be a possibility. She was a beautiful woman after all and didn’t wear a wedding ring. Still didn’t. That meant that many men could be vying for her attention. I would believe that, more than I would believe that she was waiting around for me.

“Yeah, definitely different.” I faked a smile and shut the door. “So, how did it go?”

Justine shrugged. “It was okay. Not really my type, I guess.”

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