Billionaires Meet Millionaire (A Steamy Romance) (16 page)

"Perhaps
you should go home." Olta said softly. "My mother could give you a
ride."

Niall
shook his head in dismissal. It might be a good idea but it
wasn't particularly fun.

He
slowly followed Olta out of the room.

"Ah,
there you two are." Amanda said as they entered the kitchen. She
was standing behind the stove. The scent of the food was
mouthwatering and Niall realized he was hungry.

"Just
take a seat." Olta said, pointing at the round table in the corner.
Taking a seat between Niall and Maggie she continued.

"It's actually
only the second time we're eating here. Usually we just take our
plates and eat in…"

"Olta."
Amanda said warningly as she put the plates in front of Niall and
Olta. The food looked as delicious as it had smelled. It was steak
with what seemed to be stir fried rocket salad.

"Mom,
honestly you're obsession with guests finding out we usually eat in
front of the telly is getting way out of hand." Olta said as she
took the water pitcher and filled the glasses on the table without
asking. Amanda returned to the table with the plates for Maggie and
herself. Maggie, meanwhile, had cut up the two loaves of Italian
bread that were in the middle of the table.

Niall
marvelled at the silent understanding between the women.
Niall had never been present to anything like it. Whether it was at
home or at his friends' places, Niall was used to being catered for
by the staff. Here Maggie and Olta simply went about their tasks,
as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Enjoy."
Amanda said and started on her steak.

"You
see, my mother here thinks it 'improper' and 'impolite' to tell
guests we usually eat dinner in front of the telly." Olta said
turning to Niall with a sly smile.

"Yes,
and Papa always said that having family meals together was in no
way a guarantee for pleasant or stimulating conversation." Maggie
piped up.

An
uncomfortable silence settled around the table.

As Niall
took a bite he didn't miss the reproachful look Amanda sent Maggie
or Maggie's muffled apology. Olta seemed engrossed in nibbling on
her bread.

"Niall,
have you ever been to Europe?" Amanda asked, just a tad too
cheery.

"Yes,
never to Albania though." Niall answered.

"Shqiperia
. The name of the country is Shqiperia. Albanets is only a
culture." Olta corrected absentmindedly. Niall looked at her with a
slight confusion.

"Olta is
a bit of a purist about it." Amanda explained with a soft smile,
ignoring Olta's scowl. "So where have you been then?"

"I've
been to London last year and to France a couple of years ago."
Niall answered politely.

"Ever
been to Rome?" Maggie asked. The question was innocent enough but
Niall noticed Olta stiffen slightly beside him.

Niall
shook his head.

"Olta
has. Just before we came here. With school. She got their whole
year kicked out of a church there."

Niall
looked at Olta with a slight smirk and raised eyebrows.
Getting herself kicked out somewhere was not something he expected
Olta to do.

Olta
gave her sister a dirty look before turning to
Niall.

"Don't
pay any attention to her. Maggie has an unhealthy need to embellish
things. Some idiotic German old folk got us kicked out. I nor my
friends had anything to do with it." She said evenly.

Niall
kept his eyebrows raised but Olta didn't get a chance to
elaborate.

"I so do
not embellish." Maggie all but whined.

“How do
you say in your language… Stop acting like a brat?” Niall asked.
Maggie’s annoying voice kept bothering him. His ear drums were
practically bleeding.

“Mos u be si
idiot!” Olta told her little Brat of a sister. Maggie understood
and showed a slight smile.

“Sorry.” Niall
said.

“Look who's
saying sorry a lot.”

“I
have?” Niall asked, afraid he was turning into Tirana.

Chapter Fourteen

Olta
only felt two sensations going through her body. Actually
it was only one sensation, originating from two places. Her mouth
and cheek tingled and the feeling spread through her entire
body.

Niall
had kissed her. He had kissed her. And she stood in doorway
staring after him dumbfounded.

It was
more like a peck on the lips really and actually not all that
different from the pecks Sam and Dean gave her occasionally. But it
was Niall who had done the pecking and between the kiss and the
caress it was a completely new experience.

She liked it,
a lot.

But it still
was only a friendly peck, wasn't it? Even with his thumb and the
look in his eyes. The whole thanks bit had only confirmed that.

Niall
was grateful to her. For what exactly Olta didn't know and
she didn't particular care.

However,
Olta was convinced that Niall did consider her his friend. And he
had implied that his other friends considered her such as well.
NiallFoy, whose few friends all dated back to primary school had
accepted her into their midst within a week.

And he had
kissed her.

It was a
kiss out of gratitude, Olta reminded herself. Not unlike those Sam
had given her for doing his Greek translations or the ones Dean had
given her for explaining the more intricate workings of certain
historical processes. And not unlike the ones she had given them
for helping her out with any subject which had to do with formulas
and numbers.

Olta
sighed deeply as she resigned herself to the facts. Part of
her was elated by the turn of events and part of her was saddened
by them. Still, it was better to be friends with Niall than to be
just one of the countless girls who made mooneyes at him every time
he passed them in the hallways. Now she could just do that while
she sat beside him, jolly.

Olta
smiled as she touched her lips. He had kissed
her.

"Are you
okay?" Olta nearly jumped as she suddenly heard her mother beside
her. She looked up at her mother with her index finger still
lingering on her lips.

Her
mother smiled down at her. She wore her understanding smile and
Olta withdrew her finger self consciously.

"Come
on, I think he's home by now." Her mother gently tucked Olta's
arm.

Olta
regained the movement of her limbs and she turned inside
and closed the door behind her.

"We've
just put Dr. Strange love on, want to join us?" Olta's mother asked
as they made their way to the living room. Olta shook her head in
denial.

Then she
remembered Maggie's behaviour during dinner. She had promised not
to bring up anything that could be remotely considered
embarrassing, which in Olta's case was everything. Yet she had gone
out of her way to try and tell about Olta getting drunk on school
parties, Olta's monumental failures during the Easter Tournament,
and Olta being stoned during French class.

"No, but
I'm going to kill your youngest child. Want to join me?" Olta said
with fake cheeriness as she passed her mother into the
room.

"Now
Olta." Her mother said and Olta stopped in front of the couch.
Maggie looked up at her with big innocent eyes but the smug smile
she sported gave her away. Olta glared down at her sister as her
mother continued.

"I think that
might be a bit excessive. So no, I don't want to join you."

Sitting
herself down next to Maggie, her mother eyed both her daughters
before returning her attention to the movie.

"You."
Olta breathed.

"Ah,
come on. I was not trying to put you down, I was building you up."
Maggie said not taking her eyes of her sister.

"Right."
Olta snorted. "And I would believe you because?"

"Because
I chose to tell cool stories about you. I mean even mamma thought
so, didn't you?" Maggie looked at mother for
confirmation.

"I
wouldn't say cool but yes, it was funny. Nothing you should try,
though, and probably not something to brag about." Their mother
said, not taking her eyes from the screen. Olta gave her sister a
smug look.

"Too
much." Her mother added and Olta's smugness faded.

They
were doing it again, the teaming up against her. Couldn't they see
that there was no such thing as a cool Olta story? Niall apparently
liked her enough to be her friend and all this story telling would
only destroy that.

With a
frustrated cry Olta left the room.

She went into
the reading room and picked up the book she had been reading.
Reclining on the sofa she started to read.

Three
hours later Olta was in bed, wide awake. Trying to sleep turned out
to be just as much a waste of time as trying to read had
been.

Her mind
was on the lingering touch on her cheek and lips. Olta imagined it
had been more than just a friendly peck. That even if the kiss
hadn't been deepened, it had lasted just a bit too long for an
ordinary peck. And then of course there had been his thumb on her
face, before, during and after the kiss. She knew she hadn't
imagined that or the look in eyes. Those beautiful eyes. Damn
NiallFoy.

Olta
was awoken by an unfamiliar bleeping sound. Dazed she
looked around room trying to determine the origin of the sound.
Finally she figured it came from her sitting corner.

Getting
out of bed the bleeping stopped but Olta figured she might as well
check it out.

Beside
her love seat she found her cell phone. It showed her that she had
received one text message and that it was six thirty. Her alarm
wouldn't go off for another half an hour.

If this
was Maggie's idea of a joke, she was going to pay dearly. For once
Olta had been having very pleasant dreams and she had wanted them
to continue just a little longer.

The
message wasn't from her sister, though. It was from
Niall.

'Rise
and Shine, Tirana, Rise and Shine.'

Olta
sat down on her seat staring at the display.

What in the
world had possessed him to send her a message? For that matter, how
had he gotten her number?

Olta
smiled as she remembered parts of her dream. Niall had not
just been her friend in her dream, oh no. Olta knew this friendship
thing was going to be hard, to say the least. But those kind of
dreams made it just a little harder.

And
Niall sending her text messages wasn't really helping.

But
there were still the others and if she was indeed considered their
friend as well, she might as well start focusing on them instead of
Niall.

Olta
did decide that some pay back was in order, though.
Unfortunately she was rather bad at giving it.

Getting
ready Olta wondered if Niall would pick her up today. She wondered
if he could drive at all. Probably not.

It
wasn't even seven yet when Olta went downstairs. An idea came to
Olta's mind. She'd have a quick breakfast and walk to school.
Getting there early would give her chance to roam the school some
more, something she hadn't been able to do since her first day.
Even though she knew her way around well enough, she still needed
to familiarize herself more. And the upside was that if Niall did
want to give him a ride to school she'd be standing him up. It
wasn't a particular inspired payback but it was payback
nonetheless.

The
school was still virtually deserted. If it wasn't for the few cars
in the parking lot, Olta would have thought she was the first to
arrive.

Examining the inside of her locker Olta was surprised by
the mess she managed to make of it in just one week. She'd thought
it would take her at least a fortnight.

"Olta,
right?"

Olta
jerked around. Behind her there were a girl and a guy she
both knew from a couple of her classes but she couldn't remember
their names. The girl was inconspicuous enough. With her
no-nonsense jeans and sweater she reminded Olta very much of
herself. The guy was a different matter. His hair was dyed black
and he had a lip ring. Olta had seen Niall talking to him on
several occasions.