9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Claire

It's early evening and I'm still regretting the choices I made last night. Drinking all that champagne wasn't a wise decision.

Most importantly, I didn't get to say goodbye to Zach, and now we're over. I hate myself right now. Clearly he stayed with me for a while since I had a remedy on my nightstand, my reading chair pulled by my bed, and a note informing me he had to go to work.

Sad and disappointed, I moved my pity party from the bed to the couch binging useless reality tv all day, while I try to indulge in copious amounts of comfort food, which happens not to be a lot since I don't keep a lot in my apartment. A girl never knows when a binge is about to come on, so better be prepared not to have it at the ready.

Around three, I become alive enough to jump in the shower, wash away the last of the hangover fog, and make myself more alive. Only to zombie crawl back to the sofa. I break and order a pizza to be delivered.

So that's what I'm doing now, munching on my pizza as a knock sounds on my door.

Groaning, I get up, hobble over to the door, look through the peephole, and gasp.

Zach, freshly showered and looking tastier than the pizza. I throw the slice of pizza I carried with me back to the open pizza box, not even looking where the slice landed, hopefully inside the box. I run my hands over my face and mouth, hoping to catch any stray pizza sauce. Pat down my frizzy hair I left to air dry. Idiot, now I'm a fuzzball. And stroke my hands down my clothes, which is an oversized Van Halen t-shirt that belonged to my dad, and oversized gray sweats.

Zach knocks again and I groan as I spot pizza stains on my shirt. Which happens when you lounge and eat, but no time to change. Or is there?

Another knock.

Nope. Shit.

I open the door, Zach smiles wide and locks his gaze with mine. "Hello, sweetheart. I brought dinner." He lifts his hand up as the smell of Chinese food wafts around us. My mouth waters, but not for the food.

"Um, hi. What are you doing here?" Crap. I didn't mean to sound rude, but I'm surprised to see him again.

His smile drops and he sets his shoulders as his body tenses.

"I was hoping we could have dinner together. Did you get my note?"

"Yeah, but isn't our deal over?"

Zach clenches his jaw. "Do you want it to be?"

"Of course not, but I assumed you wouldn't want to see me again."

His forehead wrinkles as he looks lost. "Why would you assume that? I wrote ‘I'd see you later'."

"Well, most people say that and don't mean it." I shrug. It's a common parting. When no specifics are made, then it becomes open-ended or a way to say goodbye without actually saying goodbye.

"Sweetheart, I mean what I say. I didn't know when I'd finish and didn't want to give a time only to disappoint you if I didn't come back by then." He looks over my shoulder, which isn't hard for him to do with our height difference. He frowns further and his eyes swipe around my living room.

"Sweetheart, looks like I upset you, anyway. I'm sorry. I had to deal with a busted pipe at one of my properties. It turned into a fiasco, but I thought about you all day and kept trying to get back to you as soon as I could."

"You wanted to come back?"

I don't know where the neediness comes from. It's potent and annoying, but I want everything with this man and it's hard figuring where I stand since we had an arrangement. Both ends of the deal have been accommodated.

"Yes. I want you to be mine. From the moment I met you, it's all about you now. You consume every thought and decision I make. I've never fallen this hard or this fast in my life, but with you, it's easy. I don't care about how we met, our age difference, or about what anybody else will say. You make me happy and I want to find out where this can go."

I probably come off as stupid because I stare, dumbfounded and confused. There's little sense how a billionaire with everything at the tip of his fingers could want somebody like me. What can I offer him?

Zach steps in close forcing me to lift my head to look at his face.

"Stop, right now. Whatever's playing through your head. It's wrong. You're amazing, exactly the woman I need in my life. A true partner. You're the woman for me, as I'm the man for you. I know you feel it too. So please take a chance on me. On us. It'll be a wild ride, but I don't want anybody else by my side."

I take a moment to let his words sink in and they're perfect. They're what I've wanted to hear all my life. The warm feelings he brings out of me build stronger as I comprehend him wanting a relationship with me. It's surreal and thrilling.

He cups my cheek, lowers his face close to mine where our noses are about to touch, and we share the same breath.

"What do you say, sweetheart? Are you mine?"