The Billionaire's Obsession by Ryan Penelope

Author:Ryan, Penelope [Ryan, Penelope]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-16T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Lilly

When we finish dinner, we get into Aiden’s car, heading back toward the foundation. But when Aiden pulls out into the road, traffic eastward looks like a nightmare. A line of red taillights shows cars backed up for seemingly miles.

He huffs in mild frustration. “Traffic here is so unpredictable.”

I nod, staring out the window. “You know, my place isn’t far from here. You could just drop me off at home, and I can get an Uber to work in the morning,” I suggest.

He glances over at me. “You sure?”

I nod.

He manages to pull off onto a side road and turn around, and I tell him which direction to head in.

“And don’t worry about calling your own Uber in the morning, I’ll set one up for you,” he says offhandedly.

I chuckle in surprise. “You don’t have to do that,” I protest.

He holds up a hand. “I took you on a date and wasn’t able to get you back to your car. I’ll call your Uber in the morning.” He says it in a way that assertively ends the conversation.

“Thank you,” I finally say with a soft smile.

I continue to give Aiden directions as we near my apartment. When he finally pulls into the complex parking lot, he parks in front of my building.

“I’ll walk you to your door,” he says, hopping out of the car.

I shoot him a shy smile as we make our way up the steps to my apartment door. We stand awkwardly for a few heartbeats, neither of us seemingly wanting to say goodbye. I glance at the time on my phone. It isn’t all that late. And I’ve had a wonderful time with him so far. Would it be weird to invite him inside?

“Do you want to see my apartment?” I finally blurt out.

He smiles. “See where Lilly Richards spends her evenings? I’d love to.”

I laugh, unlocking my door and stepping over the threshold. I flip the lights on, stepping aside so Aiden can enter and then closing the door behind him.

He walks farther in, looking around. The apartment is small. The main room constitutes as a living room and kitchen space with nice, large windows over the couch on the far wall. My bedroom and bathroom are off to the right through two doors.

Aiden quickly zeroes in on a painting on the wall. He approaches it, glancing over his shoulder at me. “You did this.” It isn’t really a question, more of a statement.

“How’d you know?” I laugh.

“It’s like your other ones at the foundation,” he says, turning back to it. “You use similar colors. Similar … ways of expressing things.”

I walk up beside him, looking at the painting as well. “I did it in college. It’s of the fields by my parents’ house where I grew up.”

Aiden cocks his head. “It’s beautiful.”

I can feel myself blushing, and I hope he doesn’t notice. “Thank you.”

We stand like that, side by side, our arms barely touching, for a few heavy minutes, silence hanging around us. I keep glancing sideways at him.

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