I Choose You: A Secret Billionaire Romance

by Krista Lakes

  I was trying to contain my wonder, but as we followed our host to the table I couldn’t help but comment, “This place is really nice.”

  “You like it?” Jacob asked. He unconsciously pulled at his tie, revealing that he was more nervous than he appeared.

  “It’s beautiful,” I said. “I kind of can’t believe it.”

  I felt Jacob’s hand against my lower back, guiding me to my place at the table. I wanted to turn around and produce a smile crazy enough to match the butterflies in my stomach, but it just didn't feel right to do so in such a fancy place.

  “I wanted to take you somewhere really nice,” he said as took the chair directly across from me.

  “This is,” I paused to search for the right word, “this is… I don’t even know. This place is absolutely incredible.”

  He smiled back at me and held it as my eyes wandered about the interior.

  Inside, the restaurant didn’t lose any element of its charm. Massive chandeliers hung from the ceiling, illuminating the stone walls and the engraved designs throughout.

  “Have you ever been here before?” I asked after finding my way back to his gaze.

  “No, actually I haven’t. But I have a good friend that came here once to propose to his fiancée,” he said. “I guess it’ll be a first time for both of us.”

  “What a nice place to get proposed to,” I said. “Lucky girl.”

  “I’m lucky getting to take you here.”

  I knew I was blushing again and there was nothing I could do to stop it. He was so charming. I brought my smile into my menu as I lifted it up, immediately noting its clean and professional layout and the meal options. And the prices.

  I'd never even seen a menu this expensive. I was fairly sure just sitting at a table cost money.

  “Let’s split the bill,” I said more sheepishly than I’d intended. There was an uneasy feeling of guilt that I had been unable to push out from my chest since arriving at the fancy entrance and the menu had only heightened the sentiment to an uncomfortable level.

  Jacob shook his head. “Nope. Dinner’s on me.”

  “I don’t know if I feel right about that,” I said. “This place is, well, it’s beyond incredible. And the valet. It can’t be cheap.”

  “It doesn’t really matter either way, though,” he said, waving his hand like it was nothing. “It’s the place I wanted to take you.”

  “We could have gone to somewhere,” I paused again to pick my words carefully, “somewhere a little more normal.”

  “Or we could’ve come here,” he said. “And since I was the one picking the surprise, this is what I picked.”

  “I’m not going to let you surprise me anymore,” I said, regrettably realizing I sounded too much like my mother had when I left for dinner.

  “Oh yes you are,” he said with a grin and a glimmer in his eye. And I realized he sounded something like my father, his words nestling their way tenderly into my chest, soothing my concern. I could hear the phrase my father had spoken blending into the moment in my head; guy knows what he’s doing.

  The server arrived and after welcoming us to our first visit he pointed up and down the menu, eager to inform and delve into their many specialties.

  “What’s your favorite?” Jacob asked, frowning slightly at the menu. “Everything looks so good.”

  “I have too many to count,” the waiter replied with a laugh. “We make such great food here. But, my favorite would have to be the New York Sirloin with shredded lobster and lemon.”

  Jacob smiled and nodded back at him. “I’ll have to think about it.”

  “Of course. Can I start you both with some drinks for right now?” the waiter asked. “It will give you a little bit longer to look over the menu.”

  “That sounds perfect. How about your wines?” Jacob asked, flipping through the wine menu. It was several pages long.

  “What do you usually like?” the waiter asked and after a pause I realized he was looking at me.

  “Oh, I like reds,” I said, feeling slightly like I had to recover from my momentary hesitation.

  Jacob nodded, grinning at my awkwardness. “What’s your best red?” he asked.

  “I recommend this one,” the waiter replied, pointing to a French wine on the menu. “It’s not too sweet, but it isn't as strong as some reds can be. Really a great all around blend. And it pairs really well with the sirloin and shredded lobster,” he said, with a knowing smile.

  Jacob looked at me as if to subtly ask my approval. “Does that sound good to you?” he asked.

  “I’m sure it’s excellent,” I said, feeling a little overwhelmed. My wine selection skills were more of the twist cap variety.

  “We’ll start with that for now,” Jacob said. “A bottle, please.”

  “Yes, sir. You won’t be disappointed,” the waiter assured us. “And are you thinking about any appetizers this evening?”

  “How about one order of the pear bruschetta with pecans and blue cheese?” Jacob said while once again eyeing for my approval. I nodded.

  “Another great choice.” The waiter smiled and then hurried off to start our order.

  “Make sure you order exactly what you want,” Jacob told me. “Don't even look at the price. Pretend they’re made up numbers or something.”

  I chuckled nervously. The numbers next to the dishes were basically made up. Especially for an unemployed graduate. “I'll try.”

  “Please order what you'd like.” Jacob reached out and touched my hand. “I can afford it. I wouldn't have brought you here if I couldn't.”

  “So you're not just trying to show off?” I asked, smiling at him.

  He laughed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Well, maybe a little.”

  Our waiter returned after a moment, showing Jacob the bottle of wine before skillfully opening it and pouring just a taste into a glass. Jacob swirled the wine and took his time tasting it. I wondered if he actually knew what he was doing, or if he was just really good at pretending to know how to taste a wine.

  “It's very good,” Jacob announced. The waiter smiled and quickly took our orders before leaving the both of us with full glasses of the dark red wine.

  I waited until the waiter left to take a long taste of my wine, since I really didn't know what I was doing. It was really good, better than any wine I’d had in a long time.

  “Do you like it?” Jacob asked, carefully watching my reaction.

  “I love it,” I said. “It’s really good.” Subconsciously I lifted my glass again for another sip. It was starting to settle and warm my throat. The deep taste lingered on the edge of my tongue and I thought of Caroline. The wine was exceptionally better than anything we’d downed in school late at night while binge watching HGTV.

  “Good.” He grinned and leaned forward, placing his chin on his hands. “So, tell me about yourself.” A smirk in the corner of his lips told me he was joking before it became a full smile.

  I laughed, searching for a witty rebuttal. “As this is our first date, I'll tell you that I like long walks on the beach and getting caught in the rain.”

  “That sounds about right for first date conversation.” Jacob laughed. It was rich and comfortable, and something about it made my soul happy. “I’m glad I’m finally able to take you on a real date instead of a Monster GO walk or something.”

  “Thanks for taking me out,” I said. “I’m beyond happy to be here with you.”

  “I'm just glad you agreed to come,” he replied. “I was half afraid you wouldn't.”

  “Why wouldn't I?” I asked, puzzled.

  “Let's just say that the last time I was this excited about a date, it didn't go so well,” Jacob said, taking a sip of his wine.

  “You can't just leave me hanging with a story like that,” I told him. I was rather flattered that he was excited about our date.

  He blushed slightly. “The last time I was this excited about a date, I was thirteen and she was a year older than me a
nd on the cheerleading team.”

  “Sounds like you were batting above your league,” I remarked with a smile.

  “Way out of my league,” he agreed with a chuckle.

  I paused. “The last time you were this excited about a date you were thirteen?”

  “Yeah.” He looked down at his menu and then fixed his tie. “I've been excited about dates, but never this excited.”

  My heart melted.

  “I'm excited too,” I admitted. “But, are you as cute now as you were then?”

  “I was such a ridiculous looking kid,” he said with a laugh. “Crazy hair, huge glasses, braces, and terribly scrawny.”

  “Glasses and braces, huh?” I smiled at him. “But you’re like a solid six-foot now, so you probably weren’t really that short.”

  “Oh no, I was short,” he assured me. “I’m six-foot now, but I probably grew about three feet in college. I was tiny then.”

  “How short are we talking?” I said, muffling my giggle as I spoke.

  “I bet you I was probably five-five when I graduated. Maybe shorter,” he said with a shake of his head.

  “No way.” I took another sip of my wine, thoroughly enjoying myself. I liked hearing about his life. I wanted to know everything about him. I wanted to know where he came from and how he got here and everything in between.

  “Oh yeah. Better believe it,” he said. “And that was graduation. I was probably five-foot going into high school.”

  “Oh dear,” I said, trying to picture a more miniature Jacob. “I think even I was taller than that.”

  “I’m sure you were,” he said, amusement dancing on his face and in his eyes. “I think just about the whole school was.”

  “Wow. That’s kind of rough,” I said while trying to scale back the appearance of my delight, though if we weren’t in a nice restaurant I’d already be cracking up.

  “Yeah, it was a lot of fun,” he said, smiling but dripping with sarcasm. “It was a great confidence boost for little Jacob; new kid, coming into a big new school, trying out for the freshman basketball team feeling like the hoop was too tall for me to see.”

  “You tried out for basketball?” I said. “You couldn’t have thought that was a good idea.”

  “Oh, young Jacob had an abundance of ideas that he thought were good at one time that later proved to be disastrous. Basketball was one,” he said. “Swim team was another.”

  “Swim team, huh?” I asked.

  “Oh yes, swim team,” he said. “Good ol’ swim team. That lasted a little longer than basketball though. They actually let me pretend to participate with that for a little while.”

  “So you weren’t destined to be the next Michael Phelps?”

  “I remember thinking, yeah, I like swimming. Pools are fun. Maybe I can do this. Nope. Turns out I wasn’t real good at the whole, stroke, kick, hold-your-breath kind of thing. Or diving. Wasn’t great at that either. I liked cannonballs, but apparently diving required some level of skill above my threshold.” He paused and smiled. “So yeah, if you exclude that stuff then I was great at swimming.”

  We both laughed. It was the kind of laugh that makes the world brighter. It wasn't the polite conversation laugh, but the kind that only people who understand one another can share.

  It was then that our food arrived. We took a moment to each taste our meals before continuing the conversation as if we had never left off.

  “Young Jacob wasn’t exactly cut out for athletics,” he said. “Luckily, I realized that before giving the football team a go.”

  I laughed, imagining a small, five-foot Jacob running under the weight of his pads.

  “But why?” I said, smiling gently at him. “You could have been the next NFL star and now you’ll never know.”

  “Oh, I know,” he said. “Kind of like how I know that if I were to light myself on fire right now, it’d hurt like all hell. It’s one of those things you don’t really need to experience before you know.”

  “So now you’re comparing athletics to the pain of being lit on fire?” I teased.

  “Eh, I don’t know if that’s fair,” he said, thoughtfully. “Athletics might be worse.”

  I loved laughing with him and it was so easy. There was something about him that lifted my stomach into my chest until I was floating, propelled by his every word, his every syllable. He was beautiful, his eyes were enchanting, his style refined and his smile mesmerizing. But above all, he was authentic.

  Never had I met someone that could so comfortably make fun of himself while still maintaining a confident charisma. His authenticity coated every word he spoke and it pooled into a genuine personality that seemed almost tangible. Everything he said or did was him in his purest form.

  As we finished up, there was a bit of wine still left in the bottle.

  “Can I top you off?” he asked. “Guess we might as well finish this.”

  “Is there enough for both of us?” I asked, eyeing the bottle carefully. I was comfortably relaxed, but I didn't want to get into tipsy territory.

  “I guess we’ll see when I’m done pouring,” he said, and poured the remainder of the bottle into my glass. “Oh, bummer.”

  I smirked at him. “You did that on purpose.”

  “Maybe.” He grinned. “Take your time and enjoy it. I’m in good company.”

  I took a small sip. The wine was so good I was secretly glad I got to have more.

  “How’s the job search going?” he asked.

  “Oh, man. I’m glad you refilled my wine glass,” I said and let out a wry chuckle. “The job search is going about as fast as a dead horse.”

  “That well, huh?” he asked, sounding almost as disappointed as I did. “What about that internship? The one with ZephTech?”

  “I haven’t heard anything yet,” I told him. I was surprised, almost stunned that he’d remembered the name.

  “I wish you the best of luck,” he replied. He frowned slightly before speaking. “I've heard that ZephTech is intense and not for everyone.”

  “That's true,” I agreed. “But it's what I've wanted since I found out about the company. I like hard work, so I think I'll do okay. That is, if I even get it.”

  “I think you can do just about anything.” Jacob reached out and took my hand. “You just have to wait for the right job to come along. It'll happen. I promise.”

  I believed him. It was strange, but I believed him. When he said it, I felt like it might actually be true and not just a platitude that people would say to make me feel better. For the first time in weeks, I felt like I might be moving in the right direction.

  “Thank you,” I told him, meaning it completely. “If I get it, you'll have to show me around Silicon Valley, since you've been there.”

  Jacob's smile faltered.

  “What's wrong?” I asked. “Is something wrong with seeing me in Silicon Valley?”

  “I hate Silicon Valley. It's why I left.” He paused, carefully thinking before speaking. “I don't think I'll ever go back there. Not for a long time, at least.”

  “Oh.” My heart sank a little. I rather liked the idea of Jacob and me working together out there, but the tone of his voice made it very clear that wasn't going to happen.

  “But, I would happily meet you somewhere nearby,” he promised, reaching out for my hand. “Like San Francisco or Monterrey. Monterrey is beautiful.”

  I did my best to smile. “I probably won't get it anyway,” I said trying to shrug off my disappointment.

  “You're going to get something even better,” he promised. “I know it.”

  Jacob paid the bill. He made sure that I wasn't even able to sneak a peek at it, even though I could do the math well enough. This meal probably cost more than my groceries for two weeks did, but I had definitely enjoyed it.

  Together we walked hand in hand out the door to wait for his car to be valeted. The delivery of the bill had reintroduced my feelings of guilt, and I watched shamefully as Jacob slid his credit card int
o the leather folder. Again, I’d wanted to offer to pay, to contribute in some way, but he’d remained positive as he left the payment, almost as if he hardly even noticed the expense, and I didn’t want to change that by broaching the subject again.

  As we stood outside the night air was humid but cool and soft, a nice change from the controlled climate inside the restaurant. Jacob dropped my hand and reached to wrap his arm around me. I loved the way his heat wrapped around me, and even though the night air was cool, I barely noticed.

  I wanted anything but for the night to end. It had gone by way too fast. I didn’t even want to see his car pulled around again. Had it disappeared entirely and stranded us there at the restaurant, I wouldn’t have minded in the slightest.

  The car pulled up. The valet beat Jacob to opening the door for me this time, but I still felt pampered. I reluctantly got into the car, sad that even a portion of our evening was coming to a close.

  “You enjoy your dinner?” Jacob asked after a comfortable moment of silence as we drove.

  “It was amazing,” I said and returned his smile. “I think that was the nicest place I’ve ever eaten.”

  “I'm glad you liked it,” he replied. “I was afraid it might have been a little over the top.”

  I smiled. “Maybe a little bit. don’t even know what to say because ‘thank you’ doesn’t seem like enough.”

  “You don’t have to say anything,” he said. “The pleasure was all mine.”

  “Okay, I owe you then. My treat next time,” I said.

  “That’s a great segue into my next point,” he said, flashing me a quick smile as he drove. “Because I was hoping there would be a next time.”

  I was floating again, his words catching in my chest and bouncing around wildly, my body racing as fast as my heart.

  “Then that makes two of us,” I said with a smile twice as big as my face.

  “But this time,” he said, “I was also hoping I wouldn’t have to keep using Monster GO as an excuse.”

  “I think we did okay without it,” I said and for the first time I was reminded that my phone was still in the car’s center compartment.