Page 113 of Auctioned to the Billionaire Stalker

“Never? Not once?” She looked scandalized. “What about high school? Prom, school dances, things like that?”

“I graduated from high school when I was fourteen.”

“Oh.”

“I fucked around in college. But the girls approached me.”

She looked horrified. “When you were fourteen?”

I snorted. “Hell, no. I was seventeen when I lost my virginity. When I was fourteen, I was skinny, five-six, wore glasses and braces, and was mute around anything with boobs. I grew fast, though, got the braces off, and miraculously girls thought I was hot.”

“And you never fell in love with any of your college girlfriends?”

“No,” I scoffed. “I didn’t have girlfriends. I fucked women and moved on.” I started to leave it at that, but knew if I wanted her, I had to work for her. “I didn’t believe in love. By the time I graduated from college I was nineteen. It took me five years since I double majored. I publishedCaveSpherethat same year, and by the time I was twenty I was famous.” I reached for her hand again, and this time she let me hold it. “Fast forward ten years, and I was doing all the same things, just on a larger scale. I dated lingerie models instead of cheerleaders and sorority girls. I worked onCaveSpheresequels. Still hung out with Tallon. My life was pretty much the same.”

The unspoken ‘but’ was hanging in the air between us.

“But then I met you,” I said simply. “And it was like I got struck by lightning. I didn’t believe in love, so I rationalized that I was just feeling extreme lust. I asked you out, but things didn’t go well, and I flipped out. I had to know everything there was to know about you. I convinced myself it wasa temporary obsession. But after I won you in the auction and we spent a few weeks together at the condo?”

She nodded, urging me on.

“I knew it was love. I just didn’t know how to say it. At that point, I thought you might laugh at me if I told you I loved you already. You didn’t know that I’d been spying on you for weeks.”

“That sounds so creepy.”

“It’s messed up,” I agreed.

“But you love me.” Her eyes were wide with wonder.

I nodded. “I do.”

She looked out the window for a while as if she was weighing what she was going to say next very carefully. She still held my hand, though, so I had hope that she wasn’t about to throw me out.

“Do you know why I didn’t rat you out to the police?”

“Because Carmen and Enzo would’ve fed you to the fishes like in some generic black and white mafia movie?”

She laughed, then winced. “Oh, God. Don’t make me laugh. It hurts my ribs so bad.”

I squeezed her hand in sympathy. “Sorry.”

“No. It’s because when you saved me in that horrible basement, you picked me up and held me close. I know I had to look horrid. I was covered in dirt, dust, blood, and sweat. But you didn’t care a bit. You held me close and told me you loved me.” She smiled then, and I knew we were going to be alright.

“I didn’t think you heard me. I thought you’d lost consciousness.”

She shook her head. “It’s the last thing I remember before waking up in the hospital.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “I’m going to overlook the way we got together for one very important reason.”

I moved closer to her, practically holding my breath. “What is it?”

“I love you, too.”

“You do?”

“Oh my God, yes. Even though I briefly thought you might be a serial killer, I’m totally gone over you.”

I grinned at her. “I could never be a serial killer.”

She snorted. “Why? Because you like people so much?”