A Billionaire With Benefits

“Do you women need a ride?”

“We’re good, thank you Mr. Henderson.”

“Have a pleasant night,” he told them.

He didn’t call them girls. It was women. He didn’t refer to females as girls. It was always women. He saw them as equals, didn’t he? She saw the look on his face. It didn’t express disappointment over her leaving. It was calm and collected. Mikaela didn’t look back. She didn’t want him to see her face. She felt like it was her first date in high school and she was in high spirits but she didn’t want it to show.

She checked her phone. It was past ten in the evening and her shift started at six in the morning. Good thing Lynne wasn’t drunk or she didn’t snag a guy to take her home. She’d have been stranded, then she could have asked Justin for a ride… She shook her head and sighed, hoping Lynne didn’t hear.

As she and Lynne drove home, Mikaela received a text from Justin.

“Is it him?” Lynne asked, stopping for a red light.

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nbsp; “Mmhmm.”

“I knew it. He liked you,” Lynne said excitedly. “Did he ask you out already?”

“For dinner, tomorrow.”

“Say yes.”

“I just met the guy,” Mikaela scoffed.

“You don’t know who he is?” Lynne gasped. “I can’t believe you don’t.”

“Uh, earth to Lynne, I don’t work in a bank. And if he’s no athlete or actor or something, I wouldn’t know him.”

“Well, Justin Henderson is a steel honcho. He’s worth billions, not kidding,” Lynne told her. “His company makes and supplies like sixty percent of all the steel in the world. His account is a bit disappointing with us, we’ve been trying to bump it up to at least thirty million dollars from a measly twenty.”

Measley? Jesus, how much was he really worth, anyway? She had assumed he was just another of those businessmen with their usual quirks and personalities, but suddenly, he had even more reason to have that ego. Billions of dough wasn’t built on niceties, it was built on ego.

“So why are you still thinking twice about saying yes?” Lynne continued, “It’s just dinner, my dear Mikaela.”

“I don’t know the guy.”

“Some of us do.”

“Not personally. He seems like an asshole.”

“Sweetie, people like that are always assholes. It’s just a matter of handling the assholes the way they should be handled. Why do you think I’m in this industry?” Lynne grinned as she drove down the street. “I say, give him a chance.”

“Too late. I said no,” Mikael told her.

“Oh you shouldn’t have. That’s a way to nursing school. He could get you connections, a scholarship!”

Mikaela sighed. A scholarship would be great. She wasn’t a genius or anything, but she graduated seventh in her high school class with sheer determination and wit.

“Oh my god,” Lynne said, “you’re totally playing hard to get.”

“I am not.”

“Yes you are. You haven’t had a date in years. Why are you doing this to yourself? He’s like the best potential date ever. He gave you the time of the day; two weeks ago he was dating some other model, and now he chooses you.”

Mikaela shook her head. “I’m giving it time. It could fizzle out in a heartbeat.”

“Not too much time. You shouldn’t really do this to yourself. I think you deserve a bright ray of sunshine in your life—”