Rock Star Billionaire

She laughed. “Yeah, just two carat, no big deal. It’s not like that’s more than any valuable item I have ever owned. Seriously, though, it’s beautiful. But I can’t accept it. You need to stop buying me expensive presents.”

“It was nothing,” I said. It was just a couple of thousand dollars and that wasn’t much to me. “Just take it, Aria. Otherwise it’s just going to be thrown away.”

“I can’t. I don’t feel comfortable taking gifts from my boss.” She sighed.

“I’m not just your boss.”

“I know.” Her eyes widened. “That’s not what I meant to imply. You’re…” She started fidgeting with the pendant in her hand and flushed to match the color of her red shirt. “You’re... I think of you as… as…” It was like someone asked her to name every state in the U.S. alphabetically in descending order. “A friend,” she finished after a lot of struggle.

“Ah, so you let all your friends do what I did to you the other night?” I tried to look severe, although I was laughing inside at her struggle to speak.

“No! Of course not! You know that I had never – that I was a –“ She caught my eyes and realized I was just teasing her. “I’m going to kill you.”

“Great, then you can keep the pendant as memorabilia for when you miss me after my death.”

She grunted. “I feel bad, though!”

“If you really think of me as a friend, then please, take this small present from your friend.”

“Fine,” she finally said. “But one condition: no more presents, no more spending a single penny outside of our contract on me. Promise?”

“I promise,” I smiled. “Now start shelving and let me enjoy the view.”

“That’s okay. I’ve got to get back to work. Enjoy my underwear,” she said, laughing as she waltzed out of my office.

She was just as good as I was at this game.

Chapter 3

Aria

I was walking out of class, disgruntled again from the second encounter in a row with my Statistics professor. It was beginning to be an every class thing. Then I heard someone call my name.

Dick.

“Excuse me?” a blond guy of medium build said.

I may have said Dick out loud

. “That’s your name, isn’t it?”

“It’s Rick. But thanks,” my ex-boyfriend grinned. “I’ve been meaning to run into you, Aria.”

“Oh, that’s neat. You don’t even have any classes in the Econ and Finance building. I suppose this is a ‘run-in’ and not a stalking attempt. Go away, dick,” I said, walking on.

He ran after me. “Listen, I tried calling you a bunch of times.”

I turned around and snapped, “Right. And me completely not answering any of those gazillion phone calls over the last few months did not give you the slightest hint that I want nothing to do with you?”

“It did, but I am still here, doesn’t that say something?”

“Yes, it says it’s really late and I have to get out of here. You’re just a dirty scumbag who cheated on me on our anniversary and is now stalking me outside of evening class.”

“You never even gave me a chance to explain!” He was shouting now.

“Explain! What the hell is there to explain, Dick? I saw everything that needed to be seen. Do I care about your made-up sob story where you were doing a dying girl a favor or any kind of other bullshit that you can come up with? No.”

“But you still care about me! Or you wouldn’t be this angry,” he had the nerve to say.