Page 434 of Billionaire Temptations

“What’s wrong with that? She’s a friendly person who apparently doesn’t judge people. She doesn’t seem to be into materialistic things, so you know right there she wasn’t seeing you for your money.”

“We’re from two different worlds, Eli.”

“You might want to rethink that because it wasn’t that long ago you were pretty much homeless yourself. You’ve only been in “this” world for the past nine years. Maybe it’s you who lives in a different world, not her.”

I clenched my jaw. “I’m done talking about her. It could never work, and I would ultimately destroy her. She’d want things from me I could never give. Sure, I could give her all the riches of the world, but deep down, I could never give her what she truly needs or wants.”

Eli sighed as he finished his drink. “Whatever, my friend. You really need to go talk to someone, or you really need to get your head out of your ass. You’ve never tried giving anything of yourself to anyone, so you don’t know shit. Let’s go. I’m taking you home.”

Chloe

It had been three weeks since I’d heard from Sebastian. I tried my hardest not to think about him, but it was impossible. My feelings for him, even though he was a total douchebag, were strong, and I missed him. I threw myself into my work, attended my mother’s yoga classes at night, and meditated just about every day. I did anything and everything just to keep my mind off of him.

Walking down the street on my way to the grocery store, I stopped when I saw Willie leaning up against the brick of Barnes and Noble.

“Hey, Willie.” I smiled.

“Chloe. Haven’t seen you in a while. Where you been?”

“Around. How are you?”

“Same.” He grinned. He patted the empty space next to him. “Sit down.”

Sitting on the cement, Indian style, I began to play with a small stone that was in front of me.

“What’s wrong? You seem sad. You’re never sad.”

“Tomorrow’s my birthday, and I was hoping to celebrate it with someone, but unfortunately, we aren’t seeing each other anymore. Not that we were really seeing each other, I guess. We were having a lot of sex.”

“So then, what’s the problem? If you were having a lot of sex, it had to be good.”

I smiled. “It was, but he won’t tell me anything about his past. No matter how hard I try to get him to open up to me, he won’t. He wants to know everything about me, yet he refuses to tell me anything about himself.”

“Where did you meet this guy?”

“Now there’s a story.” I grinned. “We met at a hotel bar in London, and we had sex. He was my sex with a stranger in a foreign country. We didn’t even know each other’s names. I was planning on sneaking out in the morning before he woke up, but he beat me to it. When I moved back to New York, we saw each other again. I didn’t know he lived here.”

“Wow. That’s some crazy shit. What are the odds?”

“I know, right?” I held the stone tightly in my hand. “We hooked up again and again, and I thought maybe we had something. I guess I was wrong. He told me to accept that he would never tell me anything about him, and if I didn’t, I could leave. So I did, and I haven’t spoken to him since.”

“Wow. He just let you leave and never tried to contact you?”

“Yep. That’s why I’m a little sad right now. But I’ll be okay.”

“If you want my advice, darling, it’s his loss, not yours. You deserve better than that.”

“Thanks, Willie.” I stood up. “I’m heading over to the store. Any requests?”

“No. You’ve done enough for me already.”

“Nah, don’t be silly. I’ll pick you up something good.” I smiled. “I’ll see you later.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sebastian

As I was walking down the street, doing some thinking, I happened to glance across and saw Chloe talking to that homeless man. Not only was she talking, but she was pulling things out of the bag she was carrying and giving them to him. I stood there and watched her. Seeing her made me smile, something I hadn’t done since the last time I saw her. I waited until she walked away and was out of sight before heading across the street. As I approached the homeless man, he looked up at me.

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