Page 17 of The Billionairess
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Selena awoke feelinglike she had just enjoyed the best night of sleep of her entire life, despite the crowdedconditions.
The cool morning held the promise of a beautiful day, but everything outside was still damp from the previous night’s torrentialrainstorms.
Selena and Hunter made bacon, eggs, and toast, while Mike brewed coffee and delivered steaming mugs to the others. By the time breakfast was ready, the group had folded and stowed their bedding and set thetable.
Their morning meal was more subdued than the boisterous games from the night before. The conversation turned to what time everyone was leaving, things they needed to take care of when they got home, and not wanting to return to worktomorrow.
Selena felt desperate to hold on to the new friends they had made. She swapped social media connections with them, but no one seemed inclined to make future plans. Apparently, there had been a mutual understanding among the others that this weekend was simply a break from their regularly scheduledlives.
Her instinct was to reach out to them and ask them to remain friends, but as they said their goodbyes, it became obvious that they felt their relationship had reached the end of its natural life. Hunter seemed fine with the arrangement, but she felt devastated by the loss of the first true friendships of her adult life that didn’t involve her assistant, whom she paid to spend time withher.
She tried not to mope as Hunter drove her in his Jeep back to her high-rise condominium in the sky. Deciding to just be grateful for her time with her temporary friends and for her budding relationship with Hunter, she smiled over at him as he pulled to a stop in front of herplace.
It thrilled her that he got out of his vehicle, walked around, and opened her door, even when he wasn’t going in. She was used to having doors opened for her, but it was normally a function performed by individuals on her payroll. Hunter retrieved her bag from the back and handed it to her doorman for deliveryupstairs.
Turning to pull her into a warm hug, he asked, “Do you want to try another campground nextweekend?”
She loved the hopeful look in his gaze and hoped that it wouldn’t go away with what she had to say. “Actually, I have a charity gala to attend. It seems like we have one every few weeks.” She added the last part under her breath, not wanting to seem ungrateful, but also not looking forward to yet another formalevent.
At his classic downcast look, she went on, “I was hoping you would come with me… as my date,” she clarified. She watched his reaction closely and was disappointed to see the unenthusiastic look in hiseyes.
“I don’t think so,” he tried to let her down easy. “I wouldn’t fit in at a fancy party likethat.”
“Oh,” she couldn’t hide the disappointment in her voice. “You could try,” she suggested, silently adding that she had made a serious effort to fit into his world. She felt like she had done a pretty darn good job of it,too.
“Look at me,” he said too loudly. “I’m a tattoo studio owner that does massages on the side for an extra income stream. I belong at a bar or beside a campfire in ripped jeans and a leather jacket, not at some hoity-toity party in a monkeysuit.”
She felt tears burning hot in her throat and behind her eyes. “I think you’d look phenomenal in a tuxedo,” she toldhim.
“Ties cut off my circulation and make me feel like I can’t breathe. It’s just not my style. It is better that we find out now, rather than later, right? We don’t want to fall for each other, only to find that our lives are too different tomesh.”
She couldn’t form the words to tell him that it was too late for that because she had already fallen for him. It devastated her to hear that he didn’t feel the same for her. “You’re giving up without even trying to give us a real shot,” she accusedhim.
“Because I can already see that this is heading for disaster,” he informed her. “You are amazing, but I’m not the right kind of man foryou.”
With that, he rounded the corner of his Jeep, got in, and left her standing there––devastated andalone.
