Page 41 of Seduced By a Billionaire

“You don’t give up do you? Yes, more than likely. I’ll warn her ahead of time since I can’t count on you to behave.”

“Whatever became of the wild-ass ladies’ man I used to know?”

“He grew up,” Kyle said, chuckling.

“Damn shame. It’s lonely here at the bottom. See ya Friday.”

“Thanks Pete. You’re a good friend. I appreciate all that you’ve been carrying.”

“We’re in this together. Always have been chief.” He saluted then left Kyle sifting through the files, already engrossed in work.

14

Ella needed to pick up a few basic toiletries, so they stopped at a Family Dollar on their way home from the park. As she and Finn perused the aisle full of tacky cheap toys, she found herself thinking that Kyle had probably never stepped foot in a dollar store his entire life, therefore neither had Finn.

“This is the greatest!” Finn exclaimed; eyes wide as he touched every bright object on the toy shelves.

“Pick out what you want, my treat.”

“Really? Can I have these swimming goggles and another noodle? Mine’s old and disgusting.”

“Sure. Why don’t we get this kick ball and we can play in the backyard when we get home?”

“Ella?”

“Yes?”

He held up a tennis ball, “Can I get this ball for my puppy?”

Her brow furrowed, “But you don’t have a puppy.”

“Yet,” he corrected her grinning from ear to ear.

“You are something else, do you know that?”

“Is that a yes?”

“It’s a yes. Just don’t tell your dad it’s for your dog or I’ll have some splainin’ to do,” she said.

“It’ll be our secret. I’ll bet they have dog bowls here,” he said jumping up and down excitedly.

“Finn, no. When the time comes, we’ll go to a pet store, they’ll have more to choose from. Okay?” She hated to see his little face wrinkle in disappointment. “We can buy a basket that you can put that ball in though. You can keep adding to the collection and by the time you get your pup, he’ll have lots of toys. A tennis ball is a tennis ball, but you’ll want to get quality toys that are safe for your buddy. You’ll find those at pet stores. Do you have a name picked out?”

“I’ve been thinking. I like the name Charlie if it’s a boy and Lucy for a girl.”

“Those are great names, now we just have to work on your dad.”

Finn was bouncing the plastic ball against the floor his face scrunched up in concentration, “Does this mean you’ll help me talk dad into it?”

“I don’t want to get your hopes up any higher, but I’ll work on him.”

“Cool! Thanks Ella,” he dropped the ball and threw his arms around her waist hugging her tight.

She ruffled his hair and squeezed back. “Let’s pay for our booty and get home. Your dad will be wondering where we’ve gone.”

A man approached holding the bright orange ball Finn had been playing with, “Lose something kiddo?”

Ella looked on as Finn nodded his head yes reaching his arms out for the ball. The stranger gave Ella the creeps, his smile didn’t quite reach his cold eyes. And there was something about him that niggled the back of her mind, like she should know him or had seen him somewhere before. He squatted down to be at eye level with Finn. “I heard you say you were getting a dog.”

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