Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 160(@200wpm)___ 128(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 160(@200wpm)___ 128(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Ella chews her lip and I’m momentarily distracted because her pout is already lush and rosy, and the added movement makes her mouth even more so. I have an urge to lean forward and press a kiss to those delectable lips, but I know the time isn’t right because the beautiful girl still looks perturbed.
“But what about our child?” she asks in a slow tone. “Are you going to take him or her from me after they’re born?” she asks, her eyes slightly glassy now. “I wouldn’t be able to handle that, Nick. This is my child as much as yours, and I can’t be separated from them.”
Suddenly, I realize that the baby is what Ella cares about, first and foremost. She wants this child and has been doing her best by the unborn baby, and my heart swoops and falls because this isn’t a woman after fame, money, or fortune. This is a woman who just wants a stable life for her child, and it strengthens my resolve to give that to her.
“No one’s taking the baby from you,” I intone in a low voice. “Least of all me. We’ll find something that works for both of us, I promise. But I’m begging you, Ella – let me take care of you during your pregnancy. I want to do this. I need to do it.”
What the hell? Where are these heartfelt words coming from? Yet, I speak the truth because something about the bedraggled young woman touches me at the deepest levels. She’s clearly in need, and likely panicking about her future. She doesn’t have a cent to her name, and appears to be alone in the world, whereas I have more money than God, in addition to every resource at my fingertips. I want Ella under my protection, and don’t give a fuck that I’ve become a sap in the process.
“Please, Ella,” I say in a low tone. “Let me take care of you and our child.”
She lets out a big exhale as her shoulders sag, and that’s when I know I’ve won. The young woman looks down at her folded hands, her blonde hair smooth and bright in the setting sun, and my heart flips over in my chest. There’s something about Ella that touches me deep to my core, whether it’s her determination to be independent, or her very obvious need for support. Funny, because those things appear paradoxical, and yet they’re not. I merely have a young woman on my hands who’s fiercely committed to standing on her own two feet and yet clearly as poor as a church mouse.
With that, I stand and hold out my hand to her. She looks up, her chin held high and blue eyes steady. Then, her narrow shoulders straighten, and my heart squeezes tight again. The young woman makes me burst with pride, even in her darkest moments. But it’s when Ella places her small hand in mine that a surge of possession rushes through my chest so powerfully that my knees wobble as my head grows faint. I’m caring for this woman now … because she’s mine.
6
Ella
I look at Nick with confusion when the black car speeds past the airport terminal and continues down a long drive.
“But aren’t we getting on a plane?” I ask. “I think we missed Terminal B.”
The handsome man chuckles low in his chest.
“We haven’t missed anything, sweetheart, because we’re not flying commercial. We’re taking my private jet.”
I stare at him in the darkness of the backseat.
“You have your own jet?” I manage in a choked voice.
He smirks a bit, so handsome that my heart flutters.
“Yeah, I decided to splurge and get a G6 last year. Like I said, I travel a lot, so it was an investment of sorts. Of course, having your own plane is ginormous waste of jet fuel in the environmental sense because of the excessive carbon emissions. But when you’re a busy man, flying private saves a lot of time, especially when you have your own G6, and aren’t doing one of those idiotic shares that Warren Buffett sells. The Oracle of Omaha is frugal down to the very last bone in his body,” Nick adds in a sardonic tone. “Too frugal in my opinion.”
With those words, I turn back to look out the window because I shouldn’t be surprised that Nick has his own air transport. He’s the CEO of a rocket company after all, so it probably wasn’t a difficult decision to buy a jet when you literally work in aviation. But everything’s happened at light speed and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the changes because after I agreed to move to New York with the billionaire, Nick took control of my life. That’s the only way to describe it. Within twenty minutes, we were back at the resort and he was telling my manager that I wouldn’t be coming back.