Page 16 of Valentine's Day Daddy

“It sounds like you’ve got some baggage when it comes to rich people,” he notes. “Rich men, in particular.”

“Let’s just say that growing up, I was surrounded by them and they were all that way,” she says. “I guess you could say the whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth.”

“Clearly,” he says with a laugh. “But have I said or done anything to make you think I should be lumped in with these people you grew up with?”

“No,” I admit. “No, you haven’t.”

“So, you’ve just got an inherent bias against people of means.”

I gnaw on my bottom lip for a moment, taking a beat before I speak. “That’s a fair statement, I guess.”

“Interesting.”

“I know it’s not one of my better qualities.”

“Oh, you have better qualities?”

I feel my mouth fall open in shock and outrage. But when I see the smile flickering across his lips, I realize he’s just teasing me, and we share a laugh. We finish up our dessert and after-dinner drinks then he pays the check, and we head out. As we walk to his car, I half expect him to ask me to come home with him. He insisted on picking me up and against my better judgment, I agreed. But now that the evening is drawing to a close, I see the folly of my decision.

Ezra’s driver holds the back door of the black Cadillac Escalade open and assists me inside. Ezra follows me in and the door is closed behind him. The privacy window, separating the driver from the rear compartment is up, the smoked glass making it impossible to see. As the SUV starts off, I sit beside Ezra on the rear bench, my body stiff, every muscle inside of me tense.

“Can I ask you something?” I ask.

“Sure.”

“Why me? I mean, what made you want to go out with me when you can have your pick of women in this city?”

“Why not you? What do other women have that you don’t?” he asks.

“That’s not an answer.”

“It is though.”

“What about Mimi Hollins? I saw you two at the event and—”

His laughter stops and cuts me off, and I look at him blankly.

“Mimi is my oldest friend in the world. She’s family,” he tells me. “And at least, where I’m from, you don’t date family.”

A silence descends over us as I consider his answer. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some odd bit of relief washing over me since I could never compare with a woman like that. But then, I still haven’t decided if I want to compete with anybody for Ezra’s attention just yet.

He looks over at me. “Are you all right?”

“Fine. I’m fine,” I tell him.

“Are you sure?”

I nod. “I’m sure.”

He presses a button on the side console. “Aaron, let’s take Ms. Rodgers home.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Home?” I ask. “My home?”

Ezra looks at me with an amused smirk on his face. “Where else would I take you?”

No suggestion and no coercion to come home with him… and no pressure to have sex with him. It’s an unexpected answer, to say the least. As his words ring in my ears though, I’m shocked at the pang of disappointment that echoes through my heart. My stomach roils and I feel my face warm with an embarrassed heat. And it’s at that point that I realize I wanted him to ask me to go home with him.

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