Page 77 of Billionaire Unforgettable: Tanner

I needed to just ignore the reactions to my ineptitude.

“Does it ever make you uncomfortable that people treat you like a god?” I queried.

He shrugged. “It was definitely something I had to get used to in the beginning. I guess I don’t think about it much anymore. The people who care about me treat me the same way they always did.”

Of course. I supposed it was something one got used to after years of being treated this way.

Just the fact that Tanner had been able to simply stop and pick up my necklace and earrings without a hitch told me he could arrange almost anything with a snap of his fingers.

He was a very powerful man now, and I doubted that many people told him there was something theycouldn’tdo for him.

Really, it amazed me that Tanner was still…Tanner.

He’d obviously never let that power or the money get into his head.

Yes, he’d changed, but he’d changed for the better.

When he’d leveled with me in the suite about who he was and how he viewed life and his wealth, his explanation had just made me admire him more than I already did.

Did I object to his slightly old-fashioned attitude about providing for me and wanting to take care of me?

No, I really didn’t.

In fact, it felt incredible to have a man who cared about me that much.

I hadn’t quite gotten over wearing a jewelry set that I’d always admired but never dreamed of owning myself. But I was starting to get used to the fact that Tanner didn’t see gifts like that as expensive. He bought and gave things to people to try to please them.

He wasn’t a guy who ever had to worry about the cost.

I’d never had time to adjust to that fact in our earlier relationship. KTD had just been starting its meteoric rise when we’d separated. Yes, we’d been building an amazing home, but that home had been his first major purchase. He’d been too busy to think about the money in New York. He’d been too busy chasing the success of KTD when we’d lived here to spend any of that money he was accumulating.

Maybe I didn’t need his money, and maybe I could take care of myself. However, his honesty and clear acceptance of who he was now had touched my heart.

I could accept his protectiveness and his desire to make me happy and keep me safe because I realized that taking care of people had become an integral part of his nature.

It was a quality that I adored about him now.

“If you don’t like this place, we can blow it off and go get something else,” he said seriously.

I shot him an astonished glance.

“We can’t leave in the middle of a dinner like this,” I said, appalled at the thought.

“Of course we can,” he said nonchalantly. “As long as the dinner is paid for, we can do any damn thing we want.”

“I think our waiter would have heart failure,” I advised him.

“He won’t as long as he gets a good tip,” Tanner said with a grin. “Do you really think that rich people care what their waiter thinks? They don’t. Not when they’re paying for the services. It’sjust a restaurant, Hannah. If we want to leave, we leave. If you want to try that dessert they’re preparing right now, we stay. Your choice.”

Dessert? Okay, that made me relax. We were about to get the best part of this delicious meal.

I shook my head. “There’s no way I’m missing dessert,” I told him adamantly.

It might only be a bite or two, but it would probably be the best bite I’d ever had.

There was a mischievous look on Tanner’s face as he replied, “If it’s good, lick the spoon. If you really like it, ask for another one. This is your dinner, Hannah. Eat it however you want with whatever utensil you want. You don’t have to get hung up on etiquette. It’s not necessary.”

“You do all the right things,” I reminded him.

---