Billionaires Meet Millionaire (A Steamy Romance) (10 page)

"Daniel?" she asked tentatively.

Ah yes
Daniel, Niall vaguely remembered him. "Fuck" he thought to himself.
Daniel would be back in an hour and a half. Niall couldn't have
Olta around when he would be back. Nobody knew of his dancing
sessions and he'd be damned if Olta found out. And he'd be damned
to have Daniel find her here.

"He's
out." Niall said quickly. Olta stood a few feet away from him and
she smiled shyly and nodded. She was shivering all over and her
bottom lip was still quivering.

"Do you have a
towel or something?" she asked quietly.

"Of
course. Wait, why don't I get you some clothing and you can change
in my bathroom. Of course if you want you could take a shower.
Maybe catch a movie or something. What do you think?" Yes, his most
basic conversational skills were gone and rambling had taken its
place. He rummaged through his closet until he found an old pair of
sweat pants and an old t-shirt. It might just fit her. He turned
back to Olta, who hadn't moved from her spot but was busy admiring
the décor.

"Yes, that
sounds like a plan. Thanks." She said, not meeting his eyes as she
gingerly took the offered clothing from him. He noticed the blush
on her cheeks.

"This is
the bathroom. Fresh towels are over there." He said quickly. Olta
nodded, still smiling her small smile and she walked into the
bathroom. As she closed the door behind her Niall sat down on his
bed staring at the bathroom door. The girl who had turned him into
a sucker was presently in his bathroom changing into his clothing.
Admittedly, it had been preceded by a thunderous rainstorm instead
of more pleasurable activities but still she was in there doing
that. He slumped back on the bed and thought of Daniel. That was
one sure mood killer.

C
hapter Ten

Olta
sat down on the edge of the bathtub and started to undo her
shoes. Why again had this been a good idea?

Not that
this situation in itself was all that novel. She did have male
friends. Or rather Mortis had male friends but they didn't mind
Olta tagging along. But still it wasn't the first time she would
change into a guy's clothing after being soaked by the rain. She
seemed to have a thing for being caught in the rain.

Actually, the last time she had been doing this was a
little over three weeks ago. She had been invited to Dean's place
for an impromptu goodbye celebration. But on the way over she had
been caught by a sudden downpour. The situation had been similar to
this one with the great exception that there hadn't been any guys
she had been crushing on and that had not felt self-conscious or
nervous, only stupid.

As she
put the sweat pants on she contemplated whether it was possible to
stay in this bathroom, preferably forever or at least until her
clothes had dried. She rolled the waistband down a couple of times
and put the t-shirt on. Dark green and red, well at least the
colours suited her. But there was no way in hell she was going to
go out in public dressed like this. Again the thought of just
staying in the bathroom was ever so appealing. Looking into the
mirror over the sink she noticed her cheeks were tinged red but
thankfully her mascara proved truly waterproof. That was something
at least.

"Just
keep breathing." Olta said silently as she opened the bathroom
door.

Niall
was sitting on the edge of his bed as Olta walked into her
room. He just looked at her but Olta thought she saw something like
a smirk starting around his lips. She braved a smile and walked a
little into his room.

"Hey,
these are your clothes. They're not supposed to look good on me."
Olta said trying to cut off the snide remarks and jokes she knew he
was considering.

Niall
smirk grew wide as he rested his elbows on his knees and
cupped his face. He looked her over intently for a good second and
Olta felt her blush deepening. It was as if he was checking her
out.

"From where
I'm sitting they look just fine." He said teasingly, his smirk firm
in place.

The
smirk and his tone made his intention clear and Olta glared at him
turning the left side of her mouth up in a mock grin. She saw the
smirk fade from his face. He kept looking at her though and their
eyes locked for a couple of seconds. Why was he looking at her like
that. She didn't look that bad, did she?

"Do you
want me to throw your things in the dryer or something?" Niall
suddenly leaped up. He ran a hand through his hair. Olta let out a
breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"Yes,
that would be great." She said, quickly walking back into the
bathroom. She had haphazardly thrown her clothes over the edge of
the bath in order for them to dry. As she heard Niall following
her, Olta realized how she had claimed Niall' bathroom by her
actions. She quickly grabbed everything and looked up at him
apologetically.

"Sorry, I
didn't mean to ..." She let her sentence trail off, unsure of what
else to say. Oh, how interesting the wall was right now.

"Nothing
to be sorry for. I'll just go and throw these into the machine."
Niall said as he took her clothes from her and walked out of the
bathroom. Olta sat down on the edge of the bath, again. She heard
Niall unlock his bedroom door and locking it behind him.

"Thanks." Olta murmured.

Sighing
she got up and walked back into the bedroom. Unsure of what to do
she simply took a stand in the middle of the room and looked around
her; appraising the room for the first time. It was roughly the
same size as hers and if it wasn't for the posters on the wall and
some books and notebooks strewn around his desk and the bookcase
nobody could have told it was teenager's bedroom. It could be a
very nicely decorated guest room, with its dark blue and white
colours.

A framed
picture in the book case caught Olta's eye. It was the only picture
around. She picked it up, rather gingerly she noticed. Somehow she
felt she was invading Niall's privacy. It was a picture of two
beautiful women hugging each other and laughing happily. They
looked alike, sisters perhaps. The women on the left had undefined
brownish hair like Niall and sparkling hazel eyes, also like
Niall's. His mother, Olta realized. She wondered if she or his
father were actually home at the moment, if they were around at
all.

Olta
returned her attention to the picture but as she started to
take a closer look she heard the lock being turned. Quickly putting
the picture back in its place she dived to her bag, kneeling down
beside it. Pretending to be looking for homework was better than
being caught snooping around.

Niall
walked in and locked the door behind him again.

"It's
Friday afternoon, Tirana, hardly the time to do homework. Even a
girl like you must take time off once and while." His tone was full
with its usual amusement and looking up at him Olta saw he was
grinning.

"A girl like
me?" she asked.

"Yeah, you
know the studious kind. You're really living up to your aspired
geekiness."

Olta
glared at him. Something about his comment irked her. Sure
she had joked about being a geek on her first day and during the
week she had made it clear that she actually liked to pay attention
in class, and yes, she had used homework as an excuse for not going
out with him and his friends after school. What annoyed her,
however, was the way in which he was judging her.

"Hey,
you're words, not mine." Niall said raising his hands defensively
but still grinning.

"Right,
my words." Olta all but snapped. Okay, maybe he hadn't judged her
per say. But he had made assumptions.

"And my words
and actions wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that not
only have I just started a new school but I have moved across the
ocean a little over a week ago and suddenly have to breath, sleep
and eat a foreign language.Even if I give the impression to be
fluent at it, it really isn't that easy to pull off. So if that
makes me studious or boring or plain, then so be it."

Olta
shook her head wearily. Way to go. Nothing wins a guy's
heart quite like some bitchiness.

"Point
taken.." Niall started, sounding rather sheepishly. He was sitting
backwards on his desk chair resting his arms and head on back rest.
He looked slightly puzzled but amused nonetheless.

"I'm
sorry, didn't mean to snap like that. But…" Olta interrupted him
quietly, keeping her eyes on her hands in her lap.

"You do
that a lot, don't you?" Niall was interrupting her now. He must
have read the confusion on her face.

"Apologize."
He added.

Olta
was still confused. She didn't apologize that often did
she? Just when needed, like just now. She shrugged slightly in
denial, looking up but not meeting Niall's eyes.

"Yes,
you do. But never mind. I was only yanking your chain a bit. I
never meant to imply anything bad. Least of all that you'd be
boring or plain, because I don't think you are.Quite the contrary."
Niall said seriously.

Olta
shifted her gaze back to her hands and she was blushing,
yet again. She really had to thank her grandfather for her pale
skin. How unfortunate that he was dead.

"So,
who's Matilda?" When unsure of how to react, change the subject.
Her mother swore by it and now, so did Olta. She looked up at Niall
and this time did catch his eye.

"Huh?"
Olta could only smile at the picture of dumbfounded Niall made
right now.

"You mentioned
her when I was creating the indoor pool downstairs."

"Right,
she is our housekeeper." Niall answered and he waved in Olta's
direction. "Aren't you getting uncomfortable?"

Olta
smile wavered a bit. There was that curtness again but this
time he matched with his own attempt at changing the subject. It
was nicely done too; he would make her mother proud. Seeing a small
smile she decided to let him have his way.

"I can
keep this up for hours; have done so on far less comfortable
flooring." Olta said, stroking the plush carpeting around
her.

"And why
would you have done so?" He replied, mimicking her accent. Olta
raised an eyebrow at this.

"It's
standard when one practices jiu-jitsu, karate, silat or judo." Olta
said. She knew she was bragging but she couldn't help herself. It
was the one thing she knew she could impress guys with, until she
had to demonstrate it, of course.

"You're
into all of those?" And Niall did sound impressed.

"Have
been, yes. Sucked at all of them though. Are your parents home?"
Olta felt slightly queasy by the look Niall gave her. He was trying
to glare at her but his smile and a very distinct twinkle in his
eye gave him away. This could be a nice game.

"My father is
out. So could you show me some moves?"

"I'm
already doing that, like I said I sucked. Never really got any
further than this position. How old is this place?" That wasn't
exactly what Olta had wanted to ask but she figured that she had
better go for a slow built up. That and she was honestly interested
in the house.

"It was built
in 1902. You kept up a range of martial arts even though you sucked
at it?"

"Pretty
much. My brother has a black belt in karate and my father figured
that it was only proper for me to do some self defence. Who built
it?"

"My
great-grandfather. What's the highest belt you received?" Olta was
silent for a second contemplating both the answer and the
question.

"You
know how the system works?" Niall nodded smiling.

"The highest I
got was a blue belt in karate. Ever done martial arts?"

"No,
watched a lot movies though." Olta couldn't help but roll her eyes
at that. Niall chuckled. Their eyes locked again.

"Why is there
such a big age gap between you and your brother?"

"My
parents got together in university. David was an accident. Paternal
or maternal grand-father?" Niall cocked his head to the
left.

"Paternal. Why do say you suck at martial arts when you
clearly don't?" Olta frowned.

"But you
have not seen me in action; trust me, it's not a pretty sight. My
karate instructor was biased. What's the family business?" Niall
frowned and his smile widened.

"A lot
of things. Primarily investments of various kinds. Why did you come
here? I mean this afternoon." Now Olta frowned. Where was Niall
going with this?