I had to laugh. I was really very lucky to be surrounded by so many good people in my office. It was a pleasure to work with them, and nothing I took for granted at all. As I got into my office, I noticed there was a notification from the Millionaire Matching website, and it was from Kristina. I quickly opened it to see what she had to say.
KRISTINA: I am eating a really juicy peach right now.
MERRICK: That picture will keep me happy all day long.
KRISTINA: I’m going to close this page, just wanted you to know so you didn’t think it was weird that my profile was gone.
MERRICK: What if some hot sexy millionaire wants to reach you, though?
KRISTINA: He’ll have to text my phone ;)
Just like that, the page went blank, and an error screen showed up. It was reassuring to know she didn’t need that profile to stay up and wasn’t using it as some sort of backup plan in case we didn’t work out.
MERRICK: Saturday still looks good for you?
KRISTINA: Yep. What time?
MERRICK: I’d like to come over early, maybe 7 a.m.?
KRISTINA: 7 in the morning! What kind of date starts at 7 in the morning? Geesh, I better cancel my date for Friday night then ;)
MERRICK: An awesome date. Wear something comfortable.
KRISTINA: Okay, but you better feed me breakfast. I will barely be able to crawl out of bed that early in the morning.
MERRICK: Deal. You know my office has a perfect view of the Statue of Liberty if you ever want to stop by.
There was a long pause as she didn’t respond. So long that I actually started reading the trend reports for the day and doing my actual work. It was getting difficult to concentrate with her on my mind, though, and I had a newfound appreciation for the guys who were newly dating. I hadn’t realized just how distracting a relationship could be to my productivity.
KRISTINA: Oh, that sounds like a bad idea. You’d never get any work done.
MERRICK: Nope I wouldn’t, but it’s a great idea. If you’re ever in the area, Stanley and Associates is right near the old World Trade Center.
KRISTINA: If I showed up at your work, I’d climb on that desk of yours and give you a distraction that would shake the financial markets ;)
Shit! This girl was great. She was combining flirting and finance talk. It took some serious skill to get those two markets to collide. I was impressed. Kristina was an all around impressive girl, though, so it didn’t surprise me that she could flirt like a pro.
MERRICK: Come show me
KRISTINA: I better keep working so I don’t lose my job earlier than I want to LOL. I will see you Saturday morning. Enjoy your day.
MERRICK: You too.
***
I did my best to concentrate on work for the rest of the week, with a few short texting conversations thrown in with Kristina. This girl had my mind wrapped around her little finger, though. I hadn’t found that one thing that would turn me off from her yet, and that surprised me. Typically, I’d found at least one flaw that I could pin my relationship ending on. Yet with Kristina, things were really good. She wasn’t too needy. She wasn’t too bossy.
Kristina had her own life and was content with it. She did talk about being stressed out about the end of year goals, but that was about all I heard from her regarding her work. I tried to mirror her and avoid talking about my work, but it was very difficult.
Finance and investing had been my passion my whole life. Although I did enjoy getting out and experiencing the world, I found it difficult to connect with women if they didn’t have at least a small understanding of my world. Of course, I could connect enough to land them in my bed, but any real connection was lost.
By Saturday morning, I was up early and had confirmed all my plans for the day. I drank a couple of cups of coffee as I tried to wake myself up before heading over to Kristina’s place to get her. There was a huge breakfast planned for the plane ride to California, so I skipped eating and made my way to get her.
Grand romantic gestures weren’t really my thing. Typically, the women I dated were happy enough with me for our short period of time together that I didn’t need to put any effort at all into the dates if we even bothered to go on a date. Much of my so-called dating life was more like a run of women in my bed and alcoholic drinks. This was a new experience for me, and my nerves were more fragile than I had remembered them being even on the first date with Kristina.
This time, instead of her hands shaking, it was mine. The two cups of coffee on an empty stomach had certainly contributed to the shakes, but it was still unnerving for me. I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment of relaxation before I went upstairs to grab Kristina.
“Nerves are a good thing,” my driver said as he noticed my deep breathing. “It means she’s a keeper.”
“Thanks, I think she just might be.”
“I dated a lot of women in my day, and I wasn’t nervous at all until I met my wife. Every time I’d go pick her up, I was close to passing out from holding my breath. She was the first woman that I desperately wanted to impress.”
“Well, you married her, so you must have done something right,” I said as I climbed out of the vehicle.
“I did everything wrong, but she kept me anyways,” he laughed.
Another deep breath as I waited to be buzzed in. Another one as I walked into the elevator. One last deep breath as I stood in anticipation of her opening her door. This wasn’t me; I wasn’t the guy who got nervous going to see a woman. Whatever was going on between us was new and exciting, and I wanted it to continue as long as possible.
“You look tired,” I said as she groggily opened the door in her pajamas. “It’s time to go.”
“Let’s just stay in; I’m so tired. We could curl up in my bed and sleep all day. Doesn’t that sound like a great date?”
“Sorry darling, we have people to see, and places to go. Pull your hair up, put on a pair of jeans, and let’s get going.”
“Really? You want me to go out like this?”
“You look beautiful, and yep.”
She let me inside the apartment as she stood looking at me like I was going to change my mind. Little did she know there was a whole flight crew waiting for us to arrive at the airport, and she needed to get moving so I could keep our schedule for the day.
“You’re serious aren’t you?”
“Yes, get going. We’re going to be late.”
I nudged her toward the hallway so she could get ready, and she reluctantly made her way to the bathroom. As I waited for her, I looked through the pictures on the walls and all the knick-knacks she had around the place. A Buddha held up some self-help books. There was a random baseball without any signatures on it but in a special case. Even a swarm of paperclips that were glued onto a board in the shape of a heart. I could tell these things were sentimental to her, and I couldn’t wait to hear the stories about them someday.
“I really don’t have time for makeup?”
“Five minutes,” I hollered back to her. “You have five minutes to do whatever is most important.”
She laughed, and I peaked down the hall as I watched her brushing her teeth while trying to put mascara on at the same time. I could have watched her for hours. Her smooth skin didn’t need makeup or any other products at all; she really was one of the most beautiful women I had dated. I watched as she struggled to get her hair pulled up and looked one last time in the mirror before turning to come out toward me. Quickly I went back to looking at the items on the shelf.
“One of the first girls that my program helped made that for me. It always reminds me of how awesome it is to work at a non-profit.”
“It’s beautiful. Now let’s get going.”
I grabbed her hand, and we rushed out the door and down to the waiting vehicle. Although the plane had no problem waiting for us to get there, I didn’t want to be late for our appointment at the vineyard. My friend’s family owned one of the biggest Moscato producing vineyards
in Sonoma, and I couldn’t wait to see Kristina’s face when we arrived there. We were going to taste all sorts of excellent wine combinations and even see how they were made. It was exciting, but mainly because I knew she was going to enjoy it so much.
“So where are we going?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“We are already on our way; you could just tell me now. It won’t ruin the surprise I promise. Just tell me,” she begged.
Her body moved close to mine, and I felt myself reacting to her. I could have taken her right there in the car, but I didn’t. There was so much planned for our day, and unfortunately, sex would just have to wait until later.
She started to move her hand up and down my leg as she inched closer and closer to my throbbing body. Her smile radiated up at me, and I couldn’t help smiling back as she teased me.
“You’re not going to convince me to tell you. Nope, not going to happen.”
“Oh, I think I could convince you if I really wanted to,” she said as her hand started to massage me through my jeans.
“Okay, I give; yes, you could convince me very easily. I shouldn’t have made such a statement. I retract my statement,” I joked.
“So where are we going?”
“To the airport,” I said truthfully while still not giving away where we were really going.
“The airport? Oh gosh, what are you doing?”
I just laughed and looked out the window as we pulled up to the private terminal. I pointed to our plane in the distance, and Kristina leaned over me to get a better look. The smell of her flowery shampoo rushed into my nose, and I took in an extra whiff before she returned to her spot. She smelled delicious and looked so beautiful. I enjoyed her natural look; I imagined I would enjoy any look that she decided to have, though.
“We just need to check in first, and then we can board the jet.”
“This is too much. I’ve never been on anything like this. Where are we going? How far away is it? Is it going to be warm or cold there? Come on … you have to tell me something,” she begged.
“What fun would that be?” I laughed. “I will tell you that we have a delicious breakfast on board so let’s hurry up; I’m starving.”
Within ten minutes, we had checked in and were sitting in two comfortable reclining chairs aboard the plane. There was a pilot, co-pilot, and stewardess aboard as well. In the back of the plane, there were two beds made up, although I didn’t intend on bringing Kristina back there until our trip home. Even then we might actually just sleep since we likely were going to be pretty tired after the day I had planned.
“Do you do this often?” Kristina asked as her hands stroked up and down the buttery leather seat.
“Take the jet?”
“No, take beautiful women out on your jet?”
“No. I definitely do not. This is usually used for business trips and trips with the guys. I don’t typically take women out like this.”
“Oh,” she said as she looked out the window and watched our plane move toward the runway. “You surprise me more and more as I get to know you.”
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
“So far it is. Now, where are we going?” she asked again playfully. “Am I allowed to get out of this seat yet and start convincing you?”
“No, absolutely not. We are just about to take off.”
“When it’s safe for me to get out of this chair, you better watch out; I’m going to go full on sexy dancer to convince you.”
I turned and looked at the attendant that was sitting only ten feet behind me near the cabin doors. I seriously doubted that Kristina would be doing any sexy dances with her sitting so near, but it was a fun thought to imagine.
“Oh, don’t look at her. I know she would make a disappearing act happen if you asked her too,” Kristina said playfully. “You keep your eyes right here and prepare yourself.”
“You are friggin adorable.”
She blushed and looked toward the ground, and it reminded me of our first date. She had seemed so confident, yet shy all at the same time. That was a pretty magical combination for me..
“Don’t sweet talk me, mister; I’ve got your number.”
“Look over there …” I pointed to one of the huge Saudi private jets that were old Boeing 777. “That’s also a private jet.
“No way! That thing looks like it could hold a whole city!”
“Probably could, but it usually just holds about a dozen people or so. It’s the Saudi royal family. They are always in town visiting with banks and doing other business.”
“Why do they need such a huge plane? It seems a little excessive.”
“Everything about their world is excessive. But I’m sure the size of the plane is partly necessary because they want to fly non-stop from Saudi Arabia to New York. Smaller planes can’t do that.”
“Wow, can you even imagine having that much …” she trailed off.
“Money?” I laughed. “No, I can’t imagine having that much money.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up.”
“Don’t look so mortified. I don’t mind talking about money. I actually really enjoy the topic. It is how I make a living and how I help others to earn more money from the money they already have. It’s one of my favorite topics.”
“I just didn’t want you to think I was dating you just for your money. My friend is friends with Patty; that was the only reason I ended up on this site. Your money, or any man’s money, isn’t a big deal to me. A hardworking man who loves me is all I’ve ever wanted; he doesn’t have to be rich.”
“Like I am?” I laughed.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant.”
“I think I know what you’re saying. You never struck me as the kind of woman who dated any guy for money if that puts you at ease at all? It really had not crossed my mind.”
“Can we change the subject?” Kristina winced at the ongoing conversation about my wealth. “How about you tell me where we are going?”
“Nope, but nice try,” I said as I unbuckled my seatbelt and flew across to her seat and kissed her quickly before returning to my seat and buckling back up.
“Stay seated please; we will let you know when it’s safe to unbuckle,” the attendant said.
“Sorry,” I replied, and then made a face at Kristina. “She made me do it,” I playfully pointed at her.
“No, I did not. I’m sitting here following all the rules. You’re the one being the rule breaker over there.”
We both sat back and watched out the window as the plane moved to the runway and readied itself for takeoff. I watched as Kristina’s hands clawed the leather fabric and wished we had sat more toward the back of the plane on the couch so I could have comforted her through the uncertainty of the takeoff.
The plane rumbled loudly as it picked up speed and hurtled down the runway. Within seconds, it was pushing up through the air and toward an altitude that it needed to steady itself. I kept my eyes on Kristina and tried to comfort her with my smile and relaxed demeanor. I’d taken off and landed thousands of times, and it only made me nervous when I saw new flyers and how much anxiety they had about the whole thing.
“She will be bringing us breakfast soon. Is there anything particular you would like?”
Kristina just shook her head back and forth as she looked at me and then back outside. She was so nervous I would have thought she had never actually been on an airplane before. Her knuckles were literally turning white as she gripped the seat for dear life.
“Just a couple more minutes, and we should level out. Take some deep breaths,” I said softly.
“Okay.”
“Are you doing all right?”
“Yep, just thinking of all the news updates where small planes have crashed. This better be one hell of a date you have planned.” She laughed.
Her face was pale, and I thought she might vomit soon. I looked back toward the attendant, and she also looked over at Kristina. The flight att
endant had probably seen many people get air sickness before, and she looked a little concerned. We both kept our eyes on Kristina, and the second the plane leveled off, the attendant was out of her seat and bringing a seltzer water over for Kristina to sip.
“This will help. And I’ll bring some fresh fruit out in a minute. Is there anything else?”
Kristina was visibly shaken and looked like she was going to be sick at any moment. There were beads of sweat on her temple and a grayish color to her skin. It was clear she did not share my affinity for flying.
“Tell me where we are going?” she asked with a small smile.
“Oh, I think it’s more fun to let Mr. Stanley have his surprise.”
Chapter 10
Kristina
I had been on planes before, just nothing so small. Motion sickness wasn’t my thing, and it took me a little bit to realize what exactly was going on. I was dizzy and shook my head a little as I tried to regain my composure. The last thing I wanted to do was vomit all over the beautiful aircraft that Merrick was taking me on a trip in, but I wasn’t so sure I was going to be able to stop myself.
The drink the flight attendant handed me helped a little, and I started to sip it while I looked straight into Merrick’s eyes. He was calm and smiling, and it relieved a lot of the fears I had been having. The anxiety certainly had something to do with how sick I felt. There was no doubt I had given myself this stomach ache by over thinking all the problems that could happen with a small plane.
The truth was that all my worries could have happened with a large plane as well. Hell, I was probably safer in a plane than I was walking across the street in New York, but the perception of fear was all encompassing for me at that moment.
My stomach was twisted still, but the dizziness had lessened as we leveled off for our flight. The nervousness over being on a private plane with Merrick was still there, though. I was used to dating guys who could barely make their rent; now, I was in an airplane worth more than I’d earned in my entire adult life. It was extremely surreal.
“Are you feeling any better yet?” Merrick asked. “We can move over and sit on the couch if you’d like? It might help if you aren’t looking directly out the windows. I can close the shades, and we could even turn the lights down if you thought it would help.”
Breaking the Rules: A Billionaire Romance Page 81