Page 30 of Her Billionaire Hero
“I can promise you that.” I didn’t want to get hit again. “You don’t have to worry about me. Now that I know what he’s capable of, I won’t put myself in the position to get hurt. I’m not stupid.”
“I know you’re not.” He pulled me to stand, hugging me tightly. “You’re the smartest person I know. And I love the hell out of you. If anything happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me, Baldwyn. I’ll be careful. And I’ll see you when you get back. Just shoot me a text when you’re at the airport and I’ll leave my friend’s house and come here.”
Kissing the top of my head, he rocked me for a minute or two before letting me go. “I’m going to miss you today.”
“I’m gonna miss you too.” The morning was getting away from us, as our long conversation had taken up breakfast time. “Now let’s scarf this yummy breakfast down, then we gotta get going, stud.”
Laughing, he sat down to finally eat, then we parted ways, me in my car and him in his truck, heading separate directions. A chill made goosebumps rise on my skin as I lost sight of him in the rearview mirror. There was a bit of apprehension inside of me. But why wouldn’t there be?
Shaking it off, I went straight to the jobsite where I found a few others had already arrived. With more and more people coming into work, I felt at ease in no time. Plus, there was a lot of work to be done, so it took over my mind, letting the worry slip to the wayside for a while.
The day went fine, with no incidents. I’d texted Delia earlier and asked if she’d like company for the evening. I’d bring some pizza and beer and we could catch up. She was all for it, and was excited to spend time with me.
Pulling into the parking lot of my old apartment complex, I parked next to her car, then got out, carrying the large chicken breast and pineapple pizza from Harley’s Pizza Shack and a six pack of Ultra.
Delia must’ve seen me coming because she stood at her door. “Chicken and pineapple?”
“Is there any other kind?” I asked as I smiled at her. “It’s good to see you, Delia. It’s been way too long.”
Taking the large pizza box out of my hands, she nodded. “Agreed. But you’re a busy engineer now, so I’m not mad at you.”
“Thanks for understanding.” I followed her inside the small efficiency apartment. “How’re things?”
“The usual. Tough.” Snickering, she put the pizza on the table. “Working at the corner store, taking online college classes, and hoping that one day I’ll graduate and get on to my real life.”
She was paying her way through college so she wouldn’t rack up student loans. Getting her degree in physical therapy was taking longer than she’d like it to. “If it helps you any, I think you’re very smart for going this route and staying out of debt.”
Taking a roll of paper towels, she pulled two sheets off and handed one to me. We both grabbed a piece of pizza and a beer before taking seats on the couch.
“So, tell me what it’s like to be bossing around a bunch of men, Sloan.” She took a bite of pizza.
“I don’t boss them around.” I took a drink of beer then put it down, grinning like the cat who ate the canary. “But it’s amazing to talk and have all of them pay attention to what I have to say. I feel respected, you know?”
“Wow.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what that feels like. But I can imagine that it feels damn good. I’m proud of you, Sloan. Proud and envious.”
“Don’t be envious. One day you’ll be working as a physical therapist and you’ll be respected too. I know you will,” I said. “Hey, I’m making good money now. And since they put me up in a place and I don’t have to pay rent and utilities anymore, I’ve got a pretty sweet savings account. What if I helped you out with school so you can graduate sooner rather than later?”
“I can’t take your money, Sloan. I wish I could, but I just can’t do that.” She picked up the beer and took a drink. “And I don’t want to borrow any money either. But it’s nice to know that you care that much about me. You’re a good friend.”
“What if you worked for me and I paid you the money?” Her pride was bigger than I realized. “I could use a personal assistant at work. It would mean quitting your job at the corner store though. Would you be willing to give that up?” I laughed, knowing she’d love to give that crap job up.
Her eyes lit up. “Are you being serious right now?”
“As a heart attack.” An odd smell had me wrinkling my nose, and I put the pizza down to follow the smell. “Do you smell that? It’s like something’s burning.”
She got up, going to the window. “I do smell it.” Pulling the curtain back, she gasped. “Holy shit! The hedges are on fire!”
Looking in that direction, I saw the flames licking up the outer wall of her apartment. “We’ve gotta get the hell out of here, Delia!”
She grabbed her purse from the hook by the door as we ran out of the apartment, finding more people leaving their homes. Everyone seemed to be trying not to panic as they mumbled to each other about the fire.
In the short time it took us to get to the front of the building, the flames had grown, engulfing one side of the building. The wind whipped and the roof of the other side of the building caught fire in an instant. “Oh, my God!” I shouted as we all moved back into the parking lot, away from the now raging fire.
A crowd had formed as everyone came out of their homes, clustering together as we waited for the firetrucks to come. The smoke billowed like a thick blanket of dirty fog, settling all around us. I felt a hand on my shoulder then it moved down my arm, catching my wrist and pulling me backward.
“Hey, stop!” I shouted, as I couldn’t see who had a hold of me as the crowd was thick and the smoke made it hard to see. “Hey! Let me go!” I couldn’t even hear myself over the other people.
