Page 18 of Falling for the Hot Billionaire

When I got over there, Tyrell was standing by the door, like he was waiting for me, and his eyes changed as I started to walk up. He was following my every move and it was hard not to look at him with worry and desire. I wanted to be a woman, in all ways, and I was standing in front of the man that was going to change everything. It was a lot to think about, even though I knew that it was time. It’d been time for a while, but no man was worth it to me, not for this. Tyrell was the first guy that I really felt that way towards. The way he was looking at me though, as if I was his prey again, made me lose my nerve.

“You look…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but I guess that he didn’t have to. His mouth didn’t have to say what his eyes were telling me. All I had to do was pay attention. I was too. I walked past Tyrell into the house and then he walked me right back out to the backyard.

“It’s nice out tonight and I thought it would be a good place to eat.”

I looked around the setup and could tell he had put in an effort. It was nice, secluded, lit up with outside lamps that I had never seen before. I kept forgetting who Tyrell was, what he had, and what he was capable of. This wasn’t just some guy. He was the richest person in the state, maybe the top ten in the country. He could do and make whatever he wanted because he had all those resources. Why then, was he spending them on me?

It was hard not to second-guess myself from the get-go. Tyrell was by far richer, and he could have anyone. So why was he spending all his time and energy on me? There were tons of women, they all wanted him, so why me?

“It is nice. It looks great.”

“There is also music, so if you want to dance again.” The music started to fill the air around me and I swear it was the perfect sound to make me want him. Was that a thing? Could he do that, because I swear between the gardenia’s smell from the table and the music coming out of hidden speakers, I was primed for something. It was easy to forget where I was and who I was with when it was just the two of us. Tyrell grabbed me into his arms and started to sweep me around in a dance. I couldn’t think of anything else but of the man when he did that. I wasn’t thinking about money or anything else. I was just thinking about Tyrell and what came next. I was still undecided how much I invited it into my life.

The closeness of Tyrell didn’t help anything. His hand was snaked around my waist, and I couldn’t believe how good he felt against me. His entire body was hard, and it shouldn’t have felt so good against the softness of my own form, but it did. It was like we were supposed to be like that, touching everywhere. My whole body felt like it was on fire from the close proximity. I looked up and Tyrell was watching me, judging my reaction, and he was smiling. Did he know what I was thinking? I thought I was just here for dinner, but I should have known better. Sometimes it felt like Tyrell was on a campaign to be perfect and he was doing a damn good job of it right now. I think he was the sort of man that any woman would swoon from, and I was no different.

I was the one who pulled away moments later because I didn’t think that I would be able to handle what was going on between us. Tyrell let me, always the gentleman, and asked if I was hungry. I wasn’t, I was light-headed and something more basic and primal. It wasn’t hunger though, not in the slightest. It was something far more sinister.

Nodding my head that I was, he pulled out the chair for me to sit down and scooched me up to the table. It felt strange for him to be over me like that, so close. I closed my eyes and only reopened them when I heard him coming around to sit on his side. The table was small, and he was still so close. I was having second thoughts about all of it, especially how I would personally handle such a thing. I could see that Tyrell was ready to go. His eyes were dark and even though I hadn’t done anything with a man, it didn’t mean that I hadn’t seen that look many times in the past and knew what it meant. Tyrell wanted me. Did I want him, or a better question was, could I handle him?

I didn’t have the answer.

“You seem even quieter than usual, Justine.”

I agreed but didn’t offer any reason for it. He was smart, he should see what was happening and know. I think he did. Tyrell seemed to know more than I wanted him to, and this moment would be no different.

“You don’t have to be nervous around me.”

I scoffed. “It’s kind of hard not to be.”

“I am not going to jump you, Justine. You don’t have to worry about it.”

I met his eyes, and I knew that he wanted to, whether he did it or not. I was thinking about it as well and it wasn’t good for my head. I had never wanted a man so badly but feared him just the same. When he was in the hospital, I could think about him in whatever way I wanted. It was a lot harder to do so when he was right in front of me.

Dinner was good, and it was just what was needed to keep the conversation in the tank. I didn’t know why he messed with me so much, but I was so bothered that I shook. Finally, his hand covered mine and he asked me what was wrong. I started to turn pink with the reason. I couldn’t help my mind going back there.

“You know why I am so nervous.”

He frowned. “I told you that I wouldn’t do anything that would make you uncomfortable. I am not going to push you into anything, Justine. You don’t have to worry about it.”

He kept saying it, like I had a way to stop it. Just talking about it was making it worse, and I started to wonder if I would be able to do this. I knew that I wanted to, but how would it be possible, if just being around him was so devastating?

His hand felt good on mine, squeezing it with assurance to make me feel better. He was what I was afraid of though, even though he was being so sweet about it. No guy that knew had ever tried so hard to make me comfortable, but the problem was that Tyrell was more man than anyone else I had ever known before. That made it hard when it should have been easy.

“I am sorry, I just don’t know how to act.”

“It’s just a date. Haven’t you ever been on a date before?”

I agreed that I had, obviously, but this wasn’t like any date that I had been on before. It wasn’t like the ones I’d been on at all. A guy wouldn’t know that I was a virgin when we first went out and by the time I’d told him, he would decide that he didn’t want to wait. I’d never had a man be willing to wait, so I really didn’t know what that was supposed to look like. It wasn’t scary, but it was my own mind that was making it that way. He wanted me, I wanted him. It didn’t have to be complicated.

“Nothing like this.”

“What’s different about it?” Tyrell asked, honestly not understanding what I was saying. How did I say it, without embarrassing myself further?

“This is the first date that I want to say yes,” I concluded, barely looking at him. Had I really just said that out loud? With the sharp intake of breath coming from Tyrell, I knew that I had said it and he had definitely heard me.

15

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