I Choose You: A Secret Billionaire Romance

by Krista Lakes

  Nancy made small talk with me while they were gone, but it seemed like she was enjoying just laying out in the sun as well. Fifteen minutes must have passed before Dad and James came back out. Dad had a box of six bottles of beer in his hand, which he sat down on the table. “Nancy, you and I are going to go out to get ice cream. We'll be back in a half hour.”

  Dad grabbed two beers out of the container, leaving the other four within reach of James. Nancy got up and smiled, walking into the house with Dad and leaving the two of us alone.

  “So, your dad tells me you're starting high school in the fall?” James asked me. It was the most he had ever said to me up until this point.

  “Um, yeah. Ninth grade.” I looked down at the ground, unable to make eye contact with those piercing green eyes of his. “Have you heard any teachers I should try to avoid?”

  “You'll want Ms. Patterson for English, but avoid Mr. Bennet for math,” he replied. I stared at him for a moment, unsure of what was happening. He was talking to me. The cute boy was talking to me.

  The conversation seemed great to my fourteen year old self. I wasn't sure what had just changed, but I wasn't about to complain about having a hot senior paying attention to me. He asked me what music I liked, what movies I liked, what my interests were. He mostly let me talk about myself, but he told me that he was learning the guitar. I heard a little brag in his voice when he said that he had mastered the solo to a song I had never heard, and I could tell he was proud of how far he had come.

  I was so engrossed in what he was saying that I hadn't even noticed that an hour had passed, or that James drank all four of those beers in front of him. When my dad and Nancy finally returned, he was leaning forward, definitely looking interested as I told him whatever story I wanted. I felt special. He made eye contact with my dad, nodded, and continued to listen as our parents had a seat with us.

  The conversation wrapped up shortly after that, as Nancy said they had to go. James had staggered to the driveway, obviously drunk. “Had a good time today, Frank,” he had said to my dad, slurring his words a little bit.

  “So did I. I got a feeling you and I are going to get along just fine, sir.” At the time, I had thought it was weird that Dad called James 'sir'. Later on, however, I found out that this was the first business deal that James had ever made.

  So now, the man who had bought me a conversation way back in the day would now have to buy me an expensive flight home because I had been irresponsible. Because James had left such an impression on me that day that I couldn't help but fall for guys that were aloof, full of themselves, and flaked out on me over a car ride home. I didn't even want to think of the car ride James had denied me right now. I just wanted to get home.

  Chapter 3

  You know what they say, I thought. You can never go home again.

  I looked up at the house I once called “home” and called my dad. I didn't have enough cash to pay the taxi driver, who stood next to me with his arms crossed. It was snowing out and we were both shivering. My rolling luggage was safely in his trunk, held hostage in case I didn't have enough money to pay.

  He answered on the first ring. “Allie!”

  I put the most charm that I could in my voice. “Hi, Dad! There was a change in plans, and I had to take a taxi from the airport. I need you to come out and pay him.”

  “Oh. But I thought that nice boy Jon was supposed to drive you home from the airport.”

  I sighed. Jon had been my first boyfriend when I moved to New York. He was a nice guy for sure. Too nice. My dad had met him when he came up to visit me at college, but by then I already felt no sexual attraction for him anymore. I had dumped him the day after my dad left.

  He had no idea about any of the other guys I had been with.

  “Things with Jon didn't work out. Can you come quick? I'm freezing out here,” I said, shivering in the snowy air.

  “Oh, okay. Let me just put some pants on.” Maybe some things about home never did change. On days when my dad didn't go to the office, he often just worked in his underwear and robe. It was a wonder he had managed to land a wife at all.

  I waited outside for him. When he finally arrived, he was still wearing the robe I remembered from high school, just with a pair of sweatpants and a ratty pair of tennis shoes. He looked absolutely ridiculous. Even the taxi driver had a quick laugh about it. Dad paid off the guy, and he released my bag from captivity. We trudged back through the snow and got inside the house.

  As soon as I was in the door, he wrapped me up in a big hug. “So good to see you, kiddo! How are things?”

  “Fine,” I said, sounding exhausted. I had already had a super long day and I didn't really feel like talking to him or anyone about it.

  “Sorry to hear about Jon, he seemed like a nice fella. Do I need to go break his leg or point a shotgun at him or anything?”

  I laughed. “No, Dad.” Though if he had asked last night, I would have sent him out after Danny.

  “Nancy is in the living room watching TV. Can I get you anything to drink? Hot cocoa?”

  “Actually, Dad, I'd rather just go upstairs and unpack. It's been a long day.”

  He looked at me with understanding, probably more understanding than I deserved considering the money I had just spent. “Of course, sweetie. We'll be down here if you need anything. Your room is all made up and ready for you.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” I grabbed my bag and started to head for the stairs. “Oh, and one more thing. I had to use my emergency credit card for a flight out here. Hope you're not mad.”

  For a moment, his eyes darkened and I thought he might be angry. Then he softened and said, “Of course. We can talk about what happened later. For now, just relax and unwind.”

  I smiled, then skipped back over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks a ton.” I knew he couldn't really stay mad at me for this. After all, I had made it home for Christmas, hadn't I?

  That was more than he could say about James. This would supposedly be his first Christmas home in forever, though I wasn't even sure he'd actually make it this year. They seemed to understand, since he had been busy in college and then, once he dropped out, busy making a billion dollars. Still, I could see that it had affected Nancy.

  “Dinner's in an hour,” Dad yelled up after me as I made my way up the stairs.

  “Okay, Dad,” I called back. I wondered if I'd even be able to stay up that long.

  “Hey,” he called. I turned back. “James said he's going to be here. I really need you to try and be nice to him. He deserves our congratulations and we want to make him feel like part of the family again.”

  I knew that my dad thought of James as the son he never had, and that did irk me a little bit. Still, he did deserve recognition for his achievements.

  I nodded, making an noncommittal promise and hurried upstairs.

  My room was exactly the way I had left it. Well, maybe a little bit neater than when I left.

  I immediately threw my suitcase on the bed and started to unpack. The clothes I brought were nothing like the wardrobe that I had left home with. Before school, I had been something of a tomboy. New York had changed me for the better. I wasn't sure that my roommate, Nicole, was the best influence on me, but she had definitely pushed me in the right direction when it came to fashion.

  I had thought about bringing home some of the clothes that I had used to wear, thinking that otherwise people wouldn't recognize me. “Sweetheart, you don't want people to recognize you,” Nicole had said when she caught me putting old clothes in my suitcase. “You never dress down to fit in with slobs. That's Fashion 101.”

  She was a fashion marketing major, and since 100-level classes were the only ones we could take as first semester freshmen, she may have actually had a class called Fashion 101. And, as I took out the little black dress that she had specifically picked out for me, I knew that she would be pretty good at fashion marketing.

  Of course, it looked better on her. All the boys t
urned their heads when we went to a party together. She had tried it on before handing it over to me, and I loved the way that it hugged her curves. I hoped that it looked as good on me. The four-inch black heels wouldn't hurt either, I thought as I pulled them out of the bag.

  Truthfully, I was looking forward to James' reaction. The thought of him salivating over me in this dress, not being able to do anything about it, made me giggle. Yes, it was a little petty to have that reaction, but after the way he treated me in high school, I thought turnabout would be fair play.

  In this dress, I'd no longer be Allie. I'd be Allison, sophisticated New York socialite.

  I giggled and hung the dress up. I started putting some of my other clothes in the dresser, when I remembered the secret compartment I had built into it. James was always a snoop, so I had to find some way to keep things secret from him. Sure enough, as I pulled the drawer out of my dresser and reached up into the frame, I felt the small jewelry box. I opened it up, wondering what forgotten treasures I had left in there.

  It was mostly faded photographs, movie ticket stubs, and notes from Tessa, my best friend in high school. I looked over the little snippets of love and encouragement, immediately feeling pangs of guilt as I realized how close we had been, and how far away we had drifted.

  Tessa wasn't born into a life of luxury. Her father was an immigrant from Mexico, and her mother only second-generation American herself. They were the hardest working family I knew, but they had nowhere near the money that mine did. She had to stay here in Springfield after graduation, while I went off to a fancy college in New York.

  As I looked over all the “Best Friends Forever” notes, I realized that, in this case, “Forever” had only lasted about four months without seeing each other every day.

  It was a real shame, and I meant to fix it. However, before I could get my phone to call her, I saw another piece of paper that I recognized. It was a hastily scribbled IOU. I had almost forgotten I had actually held on to it at all. I lifted out the wrinkled scrap of paper and read the whole thing.

  TO ALLIE

  FROM JAMES

  Merry Christmas!

  IOU one present

  It was typical James. Something sweet and playful about the gesture if you wanted to see it that way, but beneath it, the stink of his rotten selfishness and casual cruelty. His senior year of high school, he had gifts for dad and Nancy and even our maid, Maria. But not for me. He had forgotten, he said. So he scribbled this IOU on a scrap of paper and handed it to me when we opened presents.

  I was happy with my high school self for not throwing it away. Its value had to have increased a thousand fold, now that James was for all purposes an actual billionaire. Maybe I’d actually redeem it this year.

  I tucked it into the pouch inside my purse, texted Tessa, then finished putting away my panties and the rest of my underthings. When I finished, I checked my phone for messages. Tessa had responded:

  I'm working all night, but I'll see you tomorrow for some fun! Call later!

  I looked forward to seeing her. I wished I could see her tonight, but it was dinner with James and the family tonight. I put on a fresh blouse and skirt, something to tease his eyes but nothing too revealing to wear to dinner with my parents, then headed downstairs.

  When I got there, Nancy was setting out plates. “Allie! So nice to see you!” She ran up to me and gave me a hug, and I gave her a nice big hug back. Nancy had always been more of a friend than a stepmother to me, acting more like a teenager at times than a woman in her mid-40s.

  “Nice to see you too, Nancy,” I said, and I meant it. I did kind of miss having a mom up in college, someone to steer me away from the wrong guys, the wrong decisions. My dad was still in the living room, which was next to the dining room, so I plopped down next to him on the couch. He wrapped his arm around me, letting me snuggle against him as if I had never left. A few minutes later I heard Nancy's cell phone ringing.

  “Hello? James! Yes. Yes, of course. Yes, that's fine. Well, we'll see you then. Bye, sweetie.” I only heard one half of the conversation, but I knew what it meant. James wouldn't be coming for dinner. I definitely wondered if he'd even make it for Christmas.

  “Was that James?” Dad asked.

  “Uh huh,” Nancy said.

  “Business?”

  “Uh huh,” Nancy repeated, her voice falling slightly. It had the ring of familiarity that felt like they had done this a thousand times before.

  After that, Dad was excited to hear every little bit about my school in New York. As we sat down for dinner (chicken and mashed potatoes, James' favorite), Nancy seemed to love hearing every little detail of my city lifestyle. I realized that I'd love to have her hang out with me out there some time.

  Still, the 800 pound gorilla in the room was the empty chair where James should have been sitting.

  After dinner, I stripped down to my panties, socks and bra and grabbed an old pair of pajamas from my closet. I crawled in bed, thinking that nobody would bother me for the rest of the night.

  Just as I started to doze off, I heard the roar of an engine being revved in the driveway. My eyes shot open. I'd remember that sound anywhere.

  It was the first day of my freshman year. James was a senior at the time and one of the most popular boys with his handsome charm and easy athleticism.

  I was the opposite, of course. Awkward, petite, mousy, invisible.

  I had been terrified by the size of the school. Everyone looked and acted so old, and the aggressiveness of the boys disturbed me. I had spent my entire life at an all girls prep school up to that point, and James was the only soul I knew on the entire campus.

  I had to take the bus to school that first day. In the meantime, James had somehow sweet-talked my dad into getting him a mustang. I had heard my dad grumbling about the kid's negotiation skills even back then.

  I was hoping that James would do me a favor and let me be seen riding home with him in that beautiful car. It might have made it easier for me to make some friends, or at least avoid being tortured by the older girls. To be seen with him would be a sort of stamp of approval.

  It took all my courage to run out to the parking lot after the bell rang and ask him. But to my horror he shook me off, nearly knocking me over in the process, and laughed in my face. “Go take the bus, freshman.”

  I blushed, embarrassed, and hurried back into the building with my tail between my legs, but not before half the senior girls saw what happened.

  James had basically told the world it was open season on me as far as they were concerned, and the girls didn’t hesitate to take his cue. He was the top dog, so if he scorned me, then everyone else took it that they should too. While the girls at my old prep school had done some mean things to each other, these bitches didn’t stop at mean. They went straight for humiliating. Four years later and I still hadn’t gotten over some of the things they had put me through that first year.

  But that was the old Allison, I thought to myself as I looked out the window. Of course that old Mustang was long gone, wrapped around a tree his freshman year of college. Now he had a yellow Camaro, even more beautiful than that old Mustang had ever been.

  I heard the engine turn off and, a few moments later, the doorbell rang. From Nancy's delighted scream as the door opened, I could guess her boy was home. I was picturing James grabbing her and lifting her off her feet with one of his big bear hugs, usually reserved exclusively for Nancy. He might be a jerk with everyone else, but you didn’t dare touch his mother.

  As I heard the dark rumble of his voice echoing up the stairs, I tried to make out what they were talking about, but it was impossible. Especially once my dad finally made it over to welcome him and added his booming voice to the mix.

  I wondered if I should get up and go downstairs. My parents knew I was napping, so I didn’t have to, but I was curious to see him again. He had looked... I don't know, different on all the magazine covers. The change had shocked me. Give the boy a few million,
and suddenly he was a man.

  It still surprised me that James was an actual business man. He had hit it big after his little start up my dad had bankrolled was invested in by some big Wall Street firm. I didn’t really understand what he did, but it was some sort of software that did math things that stock traders could use to make a lot of money.

  Yeah, he was handsome and smart. And a total ass. Most of the time, anyway.

  I was getting up to go say hello when I saw myself in the mirror. The old Allie stared back at me in her silly pajamas.

  Hell no.

  Maybe I would just sneak a peak at him down the stairwell and wait until I was dressed in that little black dress to have our official reintroduction. When he saw me for the first time I wanted to make an impression.

  No, I corrected myself, slowly opening my door and tiptoeing to the edge of the stairs. You want to make him want you, you twisted girl.

  I saw James' laptop bag by the door and could hear their voices moving around downstairs. I waited until I heard his shoes on the wood floor and craned my neck further. Then I saw him.

  Tall, dark and handsome. Just like always.

  He reached down, grabbing his bag, and when he turned around, he looked straight up at me.

  “Well, hello, little sister.” He flashed his most charming smile. When he got a look at my outfit he raised his eyebrows, as if impressed. “Aren’t we looking good?”

  I gave him a sarcastic smile, flipped him off, and retreated to my room.

  So much for making that first impression.