Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance 1(151)

“Bartender, another drink, please,” I say numbly as I sink into a stool. I stare off into the distance, where it all happened, looking for him to return. After what seemed like an eternity but was probably a half hour, I see him! Thank God! I run out to the beach to meet him.

My poor hero. He’s almost staggering on the beach, looking tired and worn from the intense chase under the blazing hot midday sun. I stare at him wistfully, silently praying that all is okay. He sees me in the distance and holds my purse up high in victory.

As I finally smile in relief, he collapses to his knees on the sandy beach.

“Ricky!” I run over to him. I kneel down and blurt out, “Oh my God, are you okay? What happened? You shouldn’t have chased that guy!” I quickly scan him and breathe a small sigh of relief as I don’t see any evidence of blood or injury.

He was sweat-soaked and gasping hard to catch his breath, but still so handsome as he nodded, and panted in response.

“Oh good…Ricky? What the hell is going on?” I hear a loud man’s voice boom angrily next to me. “Are you okay? What just happened?” A slightly older, heavyset man rushes over towards Ricky and me. “Here, drink this.” He shoves a bottle of cold water towards Ricky. After a couple seconds, he was ready to speak.

“Belle, this is my friend, Edward. Edward, I’m fine. Belle had her purse snatched and I had to get it back for her,” he pants casually.

“What? Ricky, are you kidding me? You could’ve gotten seriously hurt!” yells Edward. He’s clearly agitated by his rash action. I raise an eyebrow at him freaking out. Shouldn’t that be me right now? Who was this guy anyway?

“Edward, calm down already. The point is, I’m not. I’m completely fine. Now, if you don’t mind, Belle and I were just leaving,” he dismisses him with a serious glare.

Then Edward looks over at me, assessing me for a few more seconds before looking puzzled and raising an eyebrow dismissively. I immediately feel uncomfortable. I was an average girl, but too curvy. I’m sure I didn’t measure up to the supermodels Ricky usually dates. In a brief moment, his judgmental and cruel look said it all.

“Fine, but call me if you have any problems next time, okay?” He narrows his eyes and storms off. As soon as he leaves, I turn to Ricky.

“Who’s your ‘friend’? He’s awfully protective of you, isn’t he? I’M the one who was about to start screaming at you for doing such a crazy thing!” I half question and half tease him.

“Oh, never mind him. He’s an old friend who I’ve worked with for a long time. Edward is my manager, I guess you could say. Yes, he knew my dad and he’s protective of me. Probably because we work together and he needs me to stay employed.” He crinkles his tan, Greek god-like nose. “Anyway, why don’t we get out of here. Can I walk you back to your quarters? I want to make sure you’re safe.”

A part of me leaps inside and screams in joy, just looking at him and listening to his sweet words. Before I knew what I was doing, I grin and throw my arms around him for a tight hug. Then I pull back, and feel self-consciously shy all over again.

“I still can’t believe you did that for me. I appreciate it, but I’d never want you to get hurt. It wouldn’t be worth it,” I scold softly with a smile.

“I’m fine, really, Belle. Come on, let’s get outta this hot sun,” he says as he pulls me closer. Inside to myself, I squeal and smile inside. Slowly, we walk off the beach towards my bungalow.

Within a few minutes, we’re at my door. It wasn’t me at all, but in that moment, I didn’t care if it sounded too bold. It only felt right to invite him inside after he’d risked his life for my purse. “Why don’t you come in? Just to have a seat and a drink, at least?”

“Sure, I’d love that. Thank you,” he says as he flashes a polite but irresistibly sexy smile at me. My insides involuntarily tingle every time he speaks and looks at me that way.

I offer him a seat on the couch as I check on drinks. “I hope some wine is okay. It’s all I had time to pick up after I got here.” As I saunter over towards him with our drinks, I feel increasingly flushed again. He’s so distractingly handsome and sexy. And I can’t believe he’s in my living room. After he “saved me,” it was almost starting to feel like a date.

I sit next to him on the couch, feeling acutely aware of how close we are, in a private space.

“Thank you again, Ricky. I’m sorry that happened, but I’m so glad you’re okay. And…besides all that, I’ve had a really nice time with you today.” I look down as my cheeks flush. From the moment we met through and after all the excitement, my feelings for him were spinning out of control, dangerously fast. I was not expecting that.