Admit You Want Me (Irresistible Billionaires 3)

“What the hell is this?”

“This is phase one. I could’ve asked you to meet me at the airport, but who wants to sit around in traffic?”

“I don’t know what you’re onto, but so far I am impressed.” We went to the helicopter and got settled in. I knew it was not her first-time in a helicopter, so I did not ask. When we were ready, we rose into the air. “Are you going to tell me where we're going?”

The answer was not yet. I wasn’t afraid that she would say no once she found out that we were not heading to a five-star hotel somewhere. Some exclusive villa on a private beach or private island. No, that would be something that she expected, and I didn’t want to give her the same old crap that everybody else had given her. I wanted to be honest with her in every way possible, and that meant showing her real me. She knew where I lived, but she had no idea where I had come from. That was actually an important part of the equation even though it was in the past.

I wasn’t taking her to my childhood home necessarily, but just outside the town where I was born About fifteen or twenty minutes into the woods, I had a cabin. I went there from time to time to escape the city and to get in touch with the comforts of my youth. I was still that guy, no matter how much money I made or how much time I spent away from that lifestyle. It was what had raised me into the person I was now, and I had never brought another person there before. At the airport, we took the company jet and flew into Mcghee Tyson. A car was waiting for us when we got there, but this time I was driving.

“Any guesses yet?” I asked. We had to stop by the store to actually buy supplies since the cabin wasn’t inhabited year-round.

“I’ve been guessing since we were still in New York, just tell me.” I didn’t tell her. At the store, she peppered me with guesses, actually getting it right, but I still refused to tell her. I knew that she had a very different idea in her head when it came to cabins in the woods. It was rustic, your usual log cabin, but with the modern fittings that were necessary for comfort. When we finally drove up and parked in front of it, I asked her what she thought.

“If any man had asked me to follow him to his cabin in the woods, the answer would’ve been no. You realize that this is the part of the story where you kill me and my body is found after being eaten by coyotes, right?”

“Don’t worry, no coyotes here. Maybe just bobcats. A bear or two if you are unlucky.”

“What?” she asked. I laughed, opening the door.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.” I let us in and carried the bags inside, including our luggage. Missy looked around, taking it in. I had homey furnishings with some rugged touches, a mounted stag head, and some antique guns. The living and kitchen spaces were

open and connected and there was a bathroom downstairs. Upstairs was a bedroom and another bathroom. The patio wrapped all the way around and behind the house was a little clearing where deer frequently grazed.

“So, what do you think?” I asked, unpacking our groceries.

“Surprisingly nice,” she said. “I don’t think you’d kill me somewhere, so it’s pretty. Is it yours?”

“All mine. I bought the land and built it. I grew up not far from here. I thought it would be a better date idea than dinner and a suite at yet another Marriot.”

She smiled, nodding. “I like it.” I sighed in relief. She was a princess, I didn’t know how much of a risk I was taking with this until I knew she was happy. I told her to go freshen up while I got dinner ready. She came back down as I was taking the food out of the oven, chicken and potatoes with veggies. A gravy was bubbling on top of the stove.

“Something smells amazing,” she said.

“I hope you're hungry. We’re eating on the porch out back.” She offered to set the table and in minutes, we were eating outside, listening to the sounds of nature as the sky slowly darkened.

“I can't believe you planned this. Props for originality.”

“I wanted to make sure you got what you paid for,” I said. She laughed. “To be fair, I would have given this to you for free too.”

“Thanks, I suppose. This is nice.” I should have been thanking her. Something unfamiliar was bubbling in my chest. It felt strangely domestic even though neither of us were at home really. It was just so comfortable being there with her. I could see this as a part of my lifestyle. Being with her in the same space felt nice. I could get used to being with her all the time.

After eating, we washed the dishes together. I built a fire and we hung out in the living room, comfortable as the television played in the background. We were here for the weekend and it had just begun so the feeling might dissipate the more time we spent together, but I had a good feeling that it wouldn’t.

28

Artemis

“You know, I never knew how peaceful this stuff was.” I saw Easton peer over at me out of the corner of my eye.

“Peaceful?” he asked. I was somewhere in a forest by a stream after Easton had flown me out of New York City yesterday. Things could have been far worse if we were being honest. I hadn’t had any expectations once I figured out where we were going and what we were doing for the weekend. Easton had a log cabin in the woods not far from where he had grown up. I thought we were just coming out here to escape the city for a couple of days. Lie around the house, fall asleep in front of the fireplace, that sort of thing before going back. Nothing too out of the ordinary. Earlier this morning over breakfast, Easton had asked me whether I wanted to go hunting or fishing, two of his favorite pastimes from when he was a child.

Obviously, hunting was out of the question, even though fishing was basically the same thing, just a lot less bloody and there were no guns involved, so here we were. I used to do this when I was a child, not the actual fishing part, but routinely escaping the city for one of our properties in the countryside. Rural Tennessee, however, was very different from the English countryside and nobody had ever flown me out on a helicopter for a date.

“Yeah, peaceful. Gives you plenty of time to think.” That morning, after gathering all our gear, we had walked ten minutes and found a stream. The water was clear and we could see all the way to the streambed, covered in smooth rocks. We had set up our chairs and gotten to work, trying to catch our lunch. So far, only Easton had been successful, catching a few fish which he ended up returning because they were too small.

I was having fun believe it or not. This had to be the most thoughtful date that I had ever been on. He had taken me completely out of my comfort zone, brought me to a fucking cabin in the woods for the love of God, but he was showing me how he used to live. It was strangely intimate that way. He had told me what his life had been like growing up, but I never knew what to expect when he said it. I was not used to working for my meals or sleeping in any establishment under four stars, but this was nice.

“Not sure how peaceful it was when we used to wake up at four in the morning to do it,” he said.