Would he fight for me? When he found out I wasn't what I had claimed to be, I knew he wouldn't. Yet, that didn't diminish what I felt for him. How much I ached for his body and just wanted to talk to him for hours.
My hands fell to my sides when Kathryn released them. Without Kathryn as my anchor, my world was spinning out of control with new information. I just wanted to go take a shower and sit by myself to think things out for a bit. I just needed to think.
“Make sure if you pursue him when we are no longer in the safety of the Caribbean that he will fight for you.” Kathryn stepped back, opening up the path for me. “I can only protect you so much. Gerald Hayes has more influence than I do.”
I nodded slowly. “I understand. Thank you, Kathryn.”
Kathryn leaned forward as if she were going to hug me, but stopped short. She was a lawyer and being touchy wasn't her strong suit. I had never seen her give anyone more than a polite handshake. She skipped the hug and just patted my shoulder instead. “Of course,” she said and then quickly turned and headed for the gym.
I walked to my room in a daze. The door beeped open and cold air rushed out into the tropical morning as I arrived. I stood in the doorway, letting the air escape. I didn't move until the air conditioner kicked on and surprised me with the new noise. Stepping inside, I closed the door and leaned against it, listening to the electrical whine of the motor cool the room. My mind bounced from thought to thought, but kept coming to settle back on one.
Aiden was a billionaire.
Chapter 18
I sat outside on the resort's restaurant patio, staring at the melting ice at the bottom of my cup. Lunch had been hours ago, but I hadn't moved yet and had no intention of doing so. My plate was only half eaten, but as long as I pretended to keep munching, the busboy left me alone. It was quiet here with the other diners all off exploring the resort. I needed to think.
Kathryn's big meeting had gone well, and despite my brain being elsewhere I had managed to take decent notes for her. I couldn't say exactly what the meeting had even been about, but I had three typed pages of information. I'd figure it out when I typed up the minutes later.
Instead of paying attention to if the current measures to prevent litigation were working, I had been thinking of Aiden and the fact that he was a billionaire and what that meant for us as a couple.
All the signs that he was more than just an assistant had been there, but I had just been too enamored to see them. His clothes and shoes were nicer than even the things Kathryn had bought me for work, but I had just thought he had worked at his job longer and had earned better clothes. I had excused his renting a boat and the ability to drive it as quirks. Even his super swanky suite I had let myself believe was his boss's. All the facts had been there. I had just been blind and stupid.
He never said he was an assistant. I had assumed that. Granted, he hadn't done anything to change that opinion by telling me all the expensive activities were comped. I shook my head, feeling like an idiot. I had told him the romantic dinner on the beach had been too much. That had been pocket change.
A billionaire. I couldn't get my head around it. That much money just didn't seem even possible to me. He never had to worry about rent or the price of gas, or even if he had to pick between the sale toilet paper and the brand name. Hell, he probably had chinchilla fur toilet paper. I was having trouble just trying to imagine what kind of opulence he must be used to. He was so far out of my league, we weren't even playing the same sport anymore.
If he had chinchilla fur toilet paper, what did he see in me? No wonder he wanted me to be a lawyer. A lawyer could understand his world. What hope did a nearly broke paralegal have of understanding the life of a billionaire? It was like a fish trying to understand the life of a bird.
I shook the ice in my cup. It would be completely melted soon. Did his money change the way I felt about him? That was an easy question to answer. No, it didn't. I had fallen for him long before I knew he had money. Just thinking of those hazel eyes and the way his whole face lit up when he smiled, I knew I loved him. I had thought he walked on water back when I was sure we were in the same tax bracket.
My eyes widened as I realized what I just admitted to myself. I loved him. I had loved him from the minute he had taken my books and walked me upstairs. It didn't matter to me if he was a billionaire or a hundredaire.
My hand shook as I set the cup down. I loved him. I had never been in love like this before and that scared me more than his money. I felt so deeply for him that it made my whole body ache. The fact that he had a history of abandoning women like me was terrifying. If he left me, I would shatter. I needed him in my life like I needed the sun.
But he was a billionaire and I was close to broke. He probably spent more money on that chinchilla fur toilet paper than I made in a year. He deserved someone better than a girl just struggling to make rent and working like crazy for a scholarship. It didn't matter to me what the size of his bank account was, but I wondered if the size of mine mattered to him.
“Is this seat taken?” Aiden's voice cut through my thoughts like a hot knife through butter. I looked up to see him haloed in the sunlight.
“As long as the guy I'm dating doesn't see you,” I replied. I couldn't help but smile when I saw him. With him in front of me, I could almost forget what he was. “But you look stronger than him, so you can probably take him in a fight.”
“It's just because I ate my Wheaties this morning,” he explained taking the seat across from me. Sunlight still highlighted his hair, turning it to honey gold. “How'd your meeting go?”
“Fine.” I chewed on my lower lip. I needed to confess to him and get the billionaire issue out in the open. It was the only way I was going to stay sane for the next three days on the island with him. “I ran into Kathryn when I came out of your room this morning.”
“Okay...” He shrugged like running into my boss was nothing and popped one of the fries from my plate into his mouth. His nose wrinkled up in disgust at the cold, soggy fry. “How long have you been sitting here?”
“She informed me that I had just come out of Mr. Hayes' room. The Mr. Hayes that run Travel, Inc. and is worth billions.” I picked at the cuticle on my thumb, nervous at what was going to happen next. “It kind of gave me a surprise this morning.”
Aiden put down the second french fry that was on its way to his mouth . “And?”
“I thought
you were an assistant,” I admitted, feeling exponentially more stupid with every word that left my mouth. “I thought Ben the bodyguard was your boss.”
Aiden's eyes focused completely on me as he settled into his chair. “I wasn't completely sure you didn't know until this moment, but I suspected.” He paused and then smiled. “It was actually refreshingly wonderful that you didn't know.”
“Wonderful? How could not knowing who you are be wonderful? I didn't know the one thing that everyone else knows does.” I looked up at him, feeling lost. Everyone else on this island knew who Aiden was and gave him the respect he deserved. I told him that he spent too much on dinner.