echoed, taking her invitation to use her nickname. It suited her. Light and beautiful.
He rose from his seat and walked around the front of his desk. She eyed him curiously, and he found himself asking her why.
She laughed. “You’re dressed so casually today. I’m so used to seeing you in nothing but suits and ties.”
“When have you seen me?” he asked in surprise. He thought back to the times when she would have seen him, and while he probably was wearing a suit, it was hardly a basis for her supposition.
She flushed, and he watched in fascination as color stained her cheeks. She ducked away, her hair sliding over her shoulder.
“Pictures,” she mumbled. “There are always pictures of you in the papers.”
“And you get these papers all the way out in California?” he asked.
“Yes. I like to keep up with the people looking after my financial well-being,” she said evenly.
“As you should,” he said approvingly. “Are you ready to go? I have a list of potential apartments. I took the liberty of scaling down the possibilities to a few more suitable to a young woman living alone.”
And then he realized he’d made a huge assumption. There was certainly no reason to believe that a woman as beautiful and vibrant as Isabella would be living alone. He refused to retract the statement or ask her if she was currently involved with anyone. But he’d need to know because if she was involved, seriously, then he could forego the whole process of introducing her to prospective husbands.
“I’m ready if you are,” she said as she smiled warmly at him.
As they walked from the building that housed the Anetakis headquarters, Theron put his hand to the small of Isabella’s back. She felt the touch through her shirt. It seared her skin, and she was sure that if she could look, there would be a visible print from his fingers, burned into her flesh.
After loving him from afar for so many years, she’d been prepared for disappointment, that maybe the man he’d become wouldn’t live up to the dream. She’d been so far removed from the truth that reality overwhelmed her. He was more, so much more than she could have imagined. Her feelings hadn’t gone away when she’d seen him again. They’d cemented.
She sat next to him in the back of the limousine. In addition to the driver, Henry, there was one additional member of his security detail that rode up front. When they pulled up in front of the first apartment building, she noticed that another smaller car pulled in behind them, and two men got out and cautiously scanned the area.
“I don’t remember the security being this tight the last time I visited,” she murmured as they walked toward the entrance.
Theron stiffened. “It’s a necessary evil.”
She waited for him to say more but he didn’t volunteer further information.
Three hours later, they’d toured the apartments on his list with him vetoing the first two before she could even offer an opinion. He was tight-lipped about the third but offered her the choice between it and the last on their list.
She stifled her laughter and solemnly informed him that she liked the fourth. He nodded his approval and set about securing it for her.
“Will you have your things shipped to the apartment?” he asked as they walked back to the limousine.
She shook her head. “I plan to shop for everything I need here and have it delivered. It will be quite fun!”
He growled something under his breath but when she turned to him in question, he pressed his lips together.
“I’ll arrange for someone to take you shopping,” he said grudgingly.
She raised an eyebrow. “I assure you, I have no need of a babysitter, Theron. Chrysander saddled me with one four years ago, and I had no more need of it then than I do now.”
“You will not roam all over the city by yourself,” he said resolutely.
She shrugged and offered a faint smile. “You could always go with me.”
He gave her a startled look.
“No? You seem the logical choice given I don’t know anyone else here.” She purposely kept silent about Sadie. There was no reason for Theron to know about her, and he wouldn’t approve if he knew she worked in a strip club. And find out he would, because the instant she let him know of someone she was spending time with, he’d perform an extensive background check and then forbid her to associate with Sadie any longer.
Not that she’d listen, but she intended for their relationship to get off to the best possible start. Lust was fine for now, but she wanted to make him fall in love with her. She wanted him to need her.
“You’re right, of course,” he said with a grimace. “I forget you’ve lived in California and have only been here to visit.”
She slid into the limousine and smiled over at him as he got in on the other side. “Does that mean you’ll go shopping with me?”
He grunted, and she couldn’t hold the laughter in any longer. His eyes widened, and he stared openly at her as though he found the sound of her laughter enchanting.
All the breath left her as she saw for just one moment a look of wanting in his eyes. Just as soon as it flashed, he blinked and recovered.
“I’ll see if my schedule permits such a trip,” he said tightly.
“Where are you taking me for lunch?” she asked, more to remind him of their date than any real curiosity over their destination. She didn’t care where or what they ate. She just wanted the time with him.
“We have an excellent restaurant at the hotel,” he said. “My table is always available to me. I thought we could eat there and then you could retire to your suite to rest.”
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He was smooth. Plotting the easiest way to get rid of her. She couldn’t blame him. She was an unexpected burden, and he was a busy man. She chewed her bottom lip and looked out the window at the passing traffic as she contemplated how to get him to see beyond the inconvenience to the woman who loved him and wanted him so badly.
“Is something the matter, Bella?”
She turned to see him staring at her in concern. She smiled and shook her head. “Just a little tired. And excited.”
He frowned. “Maybe you should allow me to see to the furnishing of your apartment. If you would mark down your preferences, I could have a designer work with you so that you didn’t have to go out shopping for all the things you need.”
“Oh, no, that wouldn’t be near as much fun. I can’t wait to pick out everything for the apartment. It’s such a gorgeous place.”
“What are your plans, Bella?” he asked.
She blinked in surprise. “Plans?”
“Yes. Plans. Now that you’ve graduated, what are your career plans?”
“Oh.
