A Billionaire for Christmas

“This is too much, isn’t it?” he asks me with that sadness reflected in his eyes. “I haven’t even known you for twenty-four hours, yet I’ve told you more personal things than I’ve told anyone else really.” He lets go of my hand to take a sip of his coffee.

“Why me?” I feel compelled to ask.

“I don’t know,” he says after a long moment. “Maybe it’s just the situation.” He pulls his hand away, nestling his back against the booth and I miss the warmth of his hand instantly. “I feel helpless about my brother. I’m alone for the first time in a very long time, and I’m only just now realizing how empty my life has been.” His confession makes my face crumple.

He gives me that sad smile again. “Being quiet and holding it in hasn’t worked well for me. When I saw you,” he says and his eyes burn into me, “I felt like you would understand somehow. Or at least that you would keep my secrets.”

“Maybe you feel safe with me because I’m leaving,” I offer and when I do, his expression changes. He straightens his shoulders, and it’s obvious he doesn’t like what I’ve said. “I mean that I’m not a threat to you in any way.” I try to lighten the weight of my words as he recoils right in front of me.

“You have no idea how much you threaten me. You make me feel weak, Lila.”

Every inch of my skin tingles with awareness. I lick my lips as his eyes heat.

I can’t breathe; I can’t even react. Just two weeks ago I was on the other side of the country, completely oblivious to this man’s existence.

He runs his hands through his hair again and turns to his left, looking out of his window. “I’m sorry,” he says before turning to look me in the eyes and adding, “I know it must sound crazy.”

“Someone asked me once if I believed in love at first sight,” I say without thinking, just speaking what’s on my mind. “I told them no, but I was lying.”

Alec huffs a small laugh, and it makes me smile. “Not that I’m saying it’s love, because it could be lust,” I say.

“There’s definitely lust,” Alec says in a low tone that vibrates through my body. My chest and cheeks warm and I take a sip of the lukewarm tea, feeling a mix of emotions. I keep thinking back to the tincture. How Alec drank it, how he stayed in a room all day and refused to see anyone. Maybe he delayed it? It’s naïve and childish to think of potions and magic, or rituals and séances. Those things don’t exist in real life.

I shake off the feeling and my eyes catch sight of a young girl staring at us. Her mother’s hand is on her shoulder and everyone else turns away when my gaze reaches them, but not the young girl.

I smile back at her and lift my hand to wave. With the motion, Alec looks behind him, and as the girl waves back he hesitates, but waves as well.

“You’re cute,” I tell him as I reach into my purse for my wallet.

“First, that’s my line. Second, don’t you even think about paying.” He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his wallet before I can reach mine at the bottom of my bag.

“Well, thank you; it was going to be a business expense though.”

“I think business is over, Lila,” Alec says with a look in his eyes that strums my desire to life. “We should get out of here.”Chapter SevenLila“I should go back to the cabin,” I tell Alec, but I don’t mean it. Every bit of me, down to my very soul, feels for him. In such a short period, he’s opened up to me, confided in me. He needs someone so desperately.

We drive in comfortable silence. Maybe he's thinking the same as me. Where is this going? What are we doing? How will this end?

The moment we stepped into his warm foyer and out of the cold, the questions seemed to fall silent, replaced by a desire I can’t contain.

I slip off my coat slowly, not looking at him, but watching in my periphery as he locks the front door.

“You should…” Alec starts to say as he tosses the keys onto the front entry table. “You definitely shouldn’t come upstairs with me,” he concludes as he takes two steps closer to me. He stops a foot away, but the proximity is suffocating.

“That would be bad, wouldn’t it?” I ask him, although it’s not really a question. It’s definitely a bad idea to give in to him. To set myself up knowing I’m going to fall hard for him.

My heart begs me to question him. To ask him what he’ll think of me after, and try to plan how this could possibly work.