Page 382 of Billionaire Temptations

“Well, my friends and family are in New York, and I miss them, but so far, L.A. is working for me.” I smiled.

“Have you made friends here?”

“Some.”

“Are you currently seeing anyone?”

Okay, now this was getting weird as far as I was concerned.

“No,” I replied in confusion.

He chuckled. “Okay, I’ll get right to the point. I can see you’re getting a little irritated with all my questions. How would you like to move back to New York?”

I was stunned by his question. “Are you serious?” I asked with a hint of excitement.

“Yes. I’m opening up a new art gallery. It's much bigger than the one you interned at and way bigger than this one. I offered you this position here because I didn’t want to let you go, but at the time, I didn’t have anything available in New York. You’re an excellent employee, Chloe, and Ellery and I would love for you to manage the new gallery. Your passion for art and history is exactly what this new gallery needs. You did such a great job when you interned for us, and to be honest, Ellery was quite pissed at me for not creating a position for you in New York. I thought it would be best for you to work here for a while. You passed the test. You’ve done an outstanding job helping out, but you aren’t developing your full potential being an assistant.”

I sat there in shock as I listened to his praise. Words wouldn’t escape my lips. I felt like I was dreaming, and at any moment, I’d wake up in my bed.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” He smiled.

“I would be honored to run your gallery back in New York. I’m sorry, Connor, but this is such a shock to me. I wasn’t expecting this.”

“A good shock, I hope.”

“Of course. New York is my home, and I’d love to move back there.”

“Good. I was hoping you’d say that. Ellery will be extremely pleased. How soon can you move back?”

“I don’t know. I still have my lease here for another three months on my apartment.”

He waved his hand in front of his face. “Don’t worry about your lease. I’ll take care of it. I would like you back in New York as soon as possible. Even as early as next week. I will hire a moving company to move your belongings, so you don’t have to worry about that. You’ll be on a salary with health benefits, vacation time, sick time, and a 401k plan.”

“Wow. I don’t know what to say. Thank you, Connor. Something like this has always been my dream.”

“You’re welcome, Chloe. I have the gallery scheduled to open in a couple of months. That should give you plenty of time to get settled and get everything set up. I want the opening of this gallery to be the biggest and best, so the work involved is going to be quite intense.”

“I know, and I promise you that I can handle it.”

“I know you can.” He smiled. “That’s why I offered you the job. Also, I’m going to have my realtor get in touch with you. He’s one of the best and can help you find an apartment. In fact, I’ll text him your phone number now.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and grinned. “I received a text message from Ellery asking if you took the job.”

“You can tell her I fully accept, and I can’t wait to return to New York.”

“I certainly will.”

“Connor, I have one question.”

“What is it?” he asked as he turned around before walking out the door.

“Why are you opening up another gallery in New York?”

“For Ellery, of course.” He winked.

As soon as he left, I did a happy dance and silently screamed as I jumped up and down. I couldn’t believe that I was moving back to New York. My parents and Sienna were going to be so happy.

Sayinggoodbye to Corey was hard, but he promised to come to New York and visit. This was a new start for me. It felt like the beginning of a new life. My parents were beyond thrilled that I was moving back in with them until I found an apartment. They told me just to live with them, and they promised to give me my privacy. As much as I loved my parents more than anything in the world, living with them permanently wasn’t an option. They were, how do I say it, a little different from your average parents. They were modern hippies—throwbacks from the sixties living in today’s modern world. Being the free spirits they were, growing up was a lot of fun but also embarrassing at times.

When I called and told them about Corey, they were happy for him, that he finally re-birthed himself and accepted who he really was. I agreed, but they said it as if I shouldn’t have been hurt or upset by it. I spent nine months in a relationship with him. As happy as I was now for him, it did hurt a lot when he told me.

---