Page 13 of Auctioned to the Billionaire Stalker

But driving really made me anxious. I hadn’t thought this through. Maybe that’s why Grandma and Tallon had been so shocked.

“Um… where do you live?” Maybe she was within walking distance.

“The Estates at South.”

My eyebrows lifted. “Really?” It popped out before I could take it back. The Estates at South was the premier neighborhood in the ‘new’ section of West Bay. It was full of gorgeous, modern brick mansions. Only the very wealthy lived there. West Bay’s elite. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye.

She looked like she might be a college student, though she seemed a bit more mature than the college girls I’d seenhanging around the streets of West Bay. She was a few years younger than my thirty years. Either way, a young woman in her early to mid-twenties who delivered sandwiches for a living wasnotthe typical demographic for that neighborhood.

Maybe she had the kind of parents who were millionaires but expected their kids to pay their own way through school.

“Sorry,” I amended. “I just didn’t think…”

“That I lived in one of the nicest parts of West Bay?”

I cringed. “Yeah. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

She laughed. “Oh, you didn’t. Believe me, I wouldn’t normally be living there.” She suddenly stopped talking as if she had been about to tell me something she didn’t really want me to know. “I, um, have a lot of roommates.”

A lot of roommates? I wanted to know the story there, but I got the sense she wouldn’t be sharing anything else about that.

I watched her out of the corner of my eye as we walked towards the parking deck. I had a couple of cars there, but I wasn’t sure which one to take. The only car I felt comfortable driving was my old Camry. It was the car I’d learned to drive on, and that was the reason I kept it around. But it wouldn’t make a very good impression on her.

And someone might call the cops if I drove through the Estates at South in that old thing. My Aston Martin made my hands sweat when I drove it. But it seemed much more like what someone like me would drive. It would fit the image of me Laura worked hard to portray to the world.

We entered the parking deck, and I stopped. She looked up at me questioningly. I knew I should make a decision. I knew I should pick the Aston Martin. But my feet seemed to have a mind of their own. I walked to the Camry.

She did her best not to make a surprised face when I stopped by it and said, “This is me.” I liked that. A lot of beautiful girls would’ve been upset to ride in such an old, beat-up car. In fact, every girl I’d been on a date with in the past two years would’ve refused to be seen in it.

But she didn’t seem to care. I swear my heartfluttered in my chest, and I thought I was either like the fucking Grinch and my heart was growing, or I was falling in love with her.

Or extreme infatuation at least.

Or I was having a really early heart attack even though I was very physically fit. I reached inside my pocket, distracted by my thoughts.

And that’s when I realized I didn’t have my keys or my wallet.

Or my phone.

Even though I knew it, I kept patting at my pockets as if any of those things were going to appear there suddenly. “Uh… I seem to have not brought anything with me,” I admitted sheepishly. “Maybe you could drive?” I asked hopefully.

She looked embarrassed and shook her head. “Sorry. I only have a bike.”

“Oh. Well, I could ride on a motorcycle, I guess.” I couldn’t. I absolutely couldn’t. All the different ways I could die were already running through my mind.

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

I was both extremely relieved and slightly disappointed. I wouldn’t die, but I wouldn’t get to have a reason to hold on to her, either. “You’re a solo rider. I get it.” I held up my hands. “Tallon has a bike, too, and he never lets anyone near it…”

“No, no,” she almost laughed. “It’s an actual bike. Like abicycle. With a basket on the front and everything. It’s not built for two.” She snorted and started really laughing. “I mean, I guess you’d know that. Who the hell rides around on an actual bicycle built for two?”

I stared at her for a minute, then I started laughing, too, the ridiculous image of the two of us riding around the streets of West Bay on a bicycle built for two running through my mind.

When we finally stopped laughing, I asked her if she had a phone so I could call up to have Tallon send someone down with my keys.

“Ah. I left it at work. I can run get it, though.” She paused. “You know, you really don’t need to take me home. I ride mybike home every day.”

I could feel my chance to keep her with me slipping away. I glanced up at the sound of heels clicking nearby. A woman I recognized as working for me was walking by.