I nod again.
He walks up to me and kneels down in front of me. His hand tilts my chin until I'm looking into his eyes.
"Tell me." He whispers, his eyes searching mine.
"When my mom got sick, she lost her job and her insurance. The medical bills piled up and her doctor was sure she’d recovered because she was doing so well. So, we used my college fund and took a second mortgage on the house to pay for her treatment and we had a plan to pay it off. The plan was for me to go to school later. Then she took a turn for the worse and within a week was gone. I have a stack of medical bills and I am about to lose my house. You should have seen my mom the day we moved in there. She worked so hard as a single mom to buy that place. I just couldn't bear to lose it."
He wipes a tear away with his thumb as I take a few deep breaths to steady myself.
"You could have come to me, baby girl, though I will say I think I like this option much better."
Chapter 4
Evan
She looks so damn beautiful sitting here in my jacket in the dim light. Her makeup is all done up, and she doesn't quite look like the girl that I've fallen for. With all the makeup on, she looks older, and maybe that's why my guard is down more than it should be.
My brain is saying give her the money and walk away. But my heart and body want her more than I ever thought possible, and they aren't letting me get up and walk away.
"Why didn't you come to me?" I whisper without thinking. My mind is racing with the things I could have done differently. If I’d only let her know, she could have come to me for money, instead of resorting to this drastic measure. Maybe I shouldn't have kept my distance after she and my son broke up, and especially not after her mom's funeral.
"Outside of my mom's funeral, we haven't seen each other in a year. It didn't occur to me to ask my ex’s dad."
Of course, she didn't think about it because she didn't know my feelings for her. All because I thought that keeping my distance was the right thing to do. Maybe if I hadn't, she would have felt she could come talk to me and she wouldn't have had to resort to this.
I thought keeping my feelings to myself was the right thing to do because I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize my relationship with my son regardless of what my feelings were Aspen are.
But if it means stopping her from making decisions like this and having to do something so outside of her character to take care of herself, then the risk with Brett is just something I'm going to have to take.
When that other asshole was bidding on her earlier, I wanted to kill him, and I'm not usually someone who is so violent. Yet the thought of any other man putting their hands on her was just more than I could take.
"Should I get on the bed now?" she asks in such an innocent voice.
"Fuck"
Standing up, I take a few steps away from her, because just that question alone and the thought of her on the bed has my dick hard as nails. I want her. There's no question about it and after just spending five million, there's nothing in the way to stop me from having her. But not here and not like this.
"I have an entire week with you. I'm not going to fuck you here, baby girl. Get dressed. We’re going to go back to my place."
"Okay." She stands, taking a deep breath, and moves towards the door.
"But make no mistake. Your virginity is mine." Though I didn't plan on saying it, much less saying it in my deep commanding voice, but now it's out there. A sexy as hell pink stain coats her cheeks, and she nods her head before going out the door. As I’m following her, she turns right down the hallway instead of left towards the front door.
"Where are you going?" She stops and turns around.
"My things are in a locker in the back room. I'll be right back." She continues walking down the hall.
"I'm not letting you out of my sight. At least, not here. I will come with you."
"Oh, I don't think you'll be allowed in the back."
"You let me worry about that." I wrap a protective arm around her waist and follow her back down the hallway and downstairs to the locker room.
Leaving on the barely there number she wore on stage, she slips her jeans and a T-shirt on over it. Although she tries to hand me my jacket, I place it back over her since I know it's going to be colder outside, and she doesn't seem to have a coat with her.
In my car on the way back to my place, she’s nervous. Constantly, she's fidgeting and every so often looks over at me before looking back out the window. Before tonight, things were so easy with us and she was always relaxed around me, and I want that back. But I know right now it's not going to happen.
I make a mental note that I need to call the office and tell them that I'm not going to be in this week. There's absolutely no way I'm going to miss any time with her. Not even one minute, if I can help it. Being as I own the company, taking time off isn't going to be an issue. But I will shock some people because I haven't taken time off of work for more than a day in many years.