Page 25 of Trapped with My Rival Billionaire Grump

“You said it’s someone we all know,” Lillian chuckled. “Okay, see you later, Olivia.”

“Bye,” I called after her, now fully understanding the joke. I turned a sharp glare at Naomi who was still laughing. “Naomi.”

“What? That was genuinely funny,” Naomi said, calming down. “Okay, bye, see you later.”

I shook my head at her, but couldn’t help but smile. “See you later, Naomi.”

I was light on my feet as I made my way out ofTheDaily Chronicleand headed to Beckett Technologies to meet my boyfriend, Ethan. Even though it had been four months since we started dating and a month since James found out about our relationship and accepted it, I still couldn’t get my mind off it. I loved being Ethan’s girlfriend, and more than that, I believed I loved him.

Scratch that. I loved him more than anything in the world. For the first time in my life, I saw a future with someone I was dating. I hadn’t told him about my feelings yet; I wanted to be absolutely sure he felt the same way. Despite our strong connection, I still needed that reassurance. We rarely fought, and even if we did, we quickly reconciled and worked things out. Our sex life hadn’t diminished and was still passionate, and I cherished every touch from Ethan. He could make me shiver with just one look and send my mind into overdrive with his touch.

I shoved those wild thoughts to the back of my mind when I realized how distracted they were making me. I decided to save them until I saw Ethan. So I hurried down to his office, fully prepared for our dinner and whatever else awaited us.

However, as I reached Ethan’s office and saw that Gloria wasn’t there, a sense of unease washed over me. It seemed like she hadn’t even been at work. I feared he had fired her, but why? Ethan had mentioned Gloria was the most efficient assistanthe has had in years, so why would he let her go? I began to overthink, but then I realized that she might have had personal business to attend to. With that in mind, I entered Ethan’s office, ready to ask him about Gloria’s whereabouts, only to be met with something more surprising.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw him sitting on the couch, looking as if he had lost all hope. What was going on? The fact that he hadn’t even noticed my presence was enough to set off a panic of alarm inside me.

I rushed toward him. “Ethan.” He didn’t hear me at first, so I gently nudged his arm. “Ethan.”

“What!” He jolted up, his eyes filled with slight panic. “Oh, Olivia.” He composed himself and sat up.

“Babe, are you okay?” I asked, sitting on the arm of the couch, touching his forehead.

Ethan cleared his throat. “Yes.” He stood up and walked to his desk.

“From the looks if it, I don’t think so,” I said as I followed after him.

Something was definitely off. First of all, he hadn’t greeted me with a kiss or any of the sweet gestures he usually showered me with upon seeing me. Secondly, he was going to sit behind his desk instead of pulling me onto his lap, which was his natural inclination. I didn’t know exactly what was happening, but I knew something was wrong.

“Olivia, I promise I’m fine.” Ethan insisted, turning to cup my cheeks before giving me a chaste kiss on the lips.

“If you say so,” I said in a calm tone, betraying the worry that gnarled at me deep down. “So, what about dinner?”

“Actually,” he began, as he sat down in his chair, “I need to take care of something. Can I get a raincheck for tonight? We can go tomorrow or another day.”

A sudden bolt of fear jolted through me as he said those words. I couldn’t explain why, but it felt like he was pushing me away. I wasn’t going to let that happen. Things were going too well between us to just brush this off—I wasn’t willing to take any chances.

I approached him, leaning over and placing my hands on either side of his chair. Ethan’s eyes widened as he instinctively moved back.

“Listen to me, Ethan,” I said sternly. “Something is going on with you, and you’re going to tell me what it is right now. I’m not going to let you sit here and sulk. So tell me, what’s going on?”

Ethan chuckled, running his tongue across his bottom lip. “Olivia.” He kissed me on the lips and pulled me onto his lap. “I’m sorry. I just have something on my mind.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked, ruffling his hair.

“Uhm, you might want to get comfortable for this,” he said, trying to push me off his lap.

“I am comfortable exactly where I am,” I said, shifting closer to his chest.

He rubbed his chin. “Okay, the thing is, my ex-girlfriend came by today.”

“Oh,” I muttered, suddenly regretting not taking up his offer to sit elsewhere. “I’ve never heard of her before.”

I suspected he had exes, just like I did, but we had never talked about them. Judging by his current demeanor, I could tell that this particular ex once held a special place in his heart. My own heart tightened as I remembered him trying to push me away.

“Jessica. We broke up about six years ago. We dated for three years before that,” he explained, his hand tightening around my waist. His touch gave me a small sense of reassurance.

“Three years?” I muttered. Three years was a significant amount of time to be with someone. They must have shared a lot, and maybe more.

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