Billionaires Meet Millionaire (A Steamy Romance) (6 page)

Niall
popped into her head. She felt his hand tracing her jaw
again and remembered the way he had looked at her; so intently, so
sympathetic. She had never been touched by a guy like that before.
She felt her face turn red again and started to suck harder on her
finger causing it to throb even more.

The only
non-familiar male affections she had known were the not so
affectionate pulls and pushes from bullies and the occasional
drunken kisses from guys who figured her for an easy target. And
she wasn't easy, never had been and never would be. Although if
Niall kept this up, she couldn't vouch for herself. But she knew he
wouldn't. It had just been a friendly pat and she had freaked on
him. And now he pretended not to know her. Ah well what you reap is
what you sow, Olta thought.

Daniel
's icy glare popped back into her head and she heard
Niall's voice calling out for her again. She felt Niall grabbing
her arm when she was staring at her timetable to avoid Daniel's
eyes after History class and she remembered Niall ignoring during
the first double period.

Slowly
it dawned on Olta. Niall, Daniel; Daniel, Niall; she had herself
gotten mixed up in some sibling rivalry thing.

Niall
had spent the first hour of Geography trying to focus on
Mrs. Anila's teachings. He had failed miserable. Occasionally he
glanced at Olta. She was sucking on her finger and it was quite a
nice picture; most enthralling actually. Tomas tried to keep his
glances to a minimum however as he was convinced that Daniel and
Jason were observing them. He had caught Daniel's expression as
Mrs. Anila had introduced Olta to the class. The look on his
brother's face had seemed disinterested enough. But Niall knew the
shimmer that was prevalent in his eyes. It was only there when
Daniel was confronted with 'special cases' as he liked to refer to
them. Olta really had managed to rub him the wrong way.

Niall
couldn't help but smile at the thought though. In his head
he replayed fragments of Olta's rambled retelling. She had called
Vasha and George Dobermans, which was funny but not smart. She had
rejected Daniel's invitation, which was simply unheard of and then
she had proceeded to favourNiall over him, which was really, really
nice, even it was a tad suicidal. He heard his brother's voice
calling after Olta again. It was a tone Niall knew only too
well.

He had
never known anybody to decline an invitation by Daniel. It was
considered an honour; it meant finally getting somewhere in the
world. And those who truly didn't care about it, well they usually
didn't get invited. But Olta didn't know about all of that, now did
she. He silently cursed Mrs. Rume for the baby-sitting assignment.
There was a good reason for letting the geeks and other social
out-casts do those things. They could explain the inner workings of
the system whilst observing it from the outside. New students had
some time to adjust before deciding which path to follow. Olta's
path had already been chosen for her in the first fifteen minutes.
Antagonizing the most powerful guy in school had only blocked any
other direction of even further.

As much
as Niall hated to admit it Daniel was higher up the social ladder.
Daniel was the reigning King and Niall was, well, the brother of
the king. Daniel held a tight grip on school life. He was a star
player in the basketball team, president of student council and had
started to date the captain of the cheerleading squad, Sarah; even
though she was a senior and he a mere sophomore.

Niall
didn't do anything in particular to maintain his status. It
simply was. He had tried dating high ranking cheerleaders and
popular girls though. The wonderful Altea had been one of them but
he had tired of her rather quickly. If only she had brought
something more substantial to the table than being easy.
Unfortunately she seemed to think that their fates were sealed
because he had spent some nights in her bed.

"NiallFoy, did you catch what I was saying?" Mrs. Anila
harshly called Niall's attention back to the lesson. He shook his
head at her, smiling his sweetest smile. The teacher was
unimpressed and came walking over to his table.

"Honestly boy, sometimes I do wander where you head is at.
I've just explained the group assignment for the second period.
Now, seeing as it is Olta's first day here I think it best that you
paired up with her. Your country will be Belgium." She turned to
Olta.

"I don't want
to make you first day too difficult, but not too easy either."

"I think
we'll be fine with Belgium ma'am. Thank you." Olta said politely,
giving Mrs. Anila a small nod. She had stopped sucking her finger
Niall noticed.

"So,
what are we supposed to be doing?" Niall asked as he moved his
chair over to Olta's table. He felt rather embarrassed about having
to ask her.

"Don't
know exactly. Something about discussing about a country, write
down everything you know about it and handing it in." Olta said
shrugging her shoulders.

"Ah yes,
of course it's Monday. It's 'how much do you know of world' period.
Next class will be spent on discussing just how little we know of
the world. Nobody takes it seriously." Niall explained as he sat
down beside her. He probably could have created a bit more distance
between them than the current foot or so but he didn't really want
to. Niall noticed Olta was writing down facts about Belgium
already. Without looking up at him she asked something that left
Niall feel completely gutted.

"Did I
get mixed up in some sibling rivalry thing between you and your
brother?" Olta's tone was rather flaccid and Niall wanted to look
at her face to see just how she had intended that question. She
however kept her herself directed at her writing. His mind raced as
he tried to think of a suitable answer.

Olta
, however, saved him from her own question.

"Sorry, I
shouldn't have asked. So fill me in on the power structure." She
added in a lighter tone as she kept on writing.

Niall
pretended to be pointing at things she had written as he
explained the system. He started by explaining who the outcasts
were and slowly made his way up the social ladder. He hadn't yet
finished when Mrs. Anila came around to collect the papers.
Glancing over Olta's writings she only nodded
approvingly.

Niall
quickly put his chair back and got his books.

"Come
on, I'll give you that ride." He said walking Olta out of the class
room.

C
hapter Seven

Olta
noticed Niall drove the same Mercedes as her mother. She remembered
her mother saying that if she was to drive to work from now on she
might as well pamper herself a bit. Olta didn't disagree with her
there. Her mother deserved a lot of pampering after last years
events.

"So
Tirana, where to?" Niall asked as he pulled out the parking
space.

"Prokop
Myzeqari 31." Olta replied smiling at his nickname. She hadn't
noticed she had given him her old address, in Albania.

"I don't
think I can do that. Even if I understood it." Niall said smiling
at her.

Olta
looked at him realizing her foolish mistake. She felt yet
another flush come to her cheeks. "Right, I mean 25 Froster
Lane."

"25
Froster Lane?" He asked with surprise. Olta nodded. "Well that's
funny, seeing as I live on 2 Froster Lane." He said driving out of
the school car park.

"Another
coincidence, albeit less cosmic than my new French teacher dating
my brother." Olta said smiling faintly. Niall smiled at her before
returning his eyes back to the road.

Olta
rested her head against the seat and looked outside. Not
only was Niall her designated guide and did he own the locker next
to hers, now it turned out that they lived less than half a mile
apart. There was no denying she liked Niall and most certainly
didn't mind spending time with him. But she didn't want to give him
the feeling she was forcing himself upon him; even if he didn't
seem to mind her company. Besides, there was that sibling rivalry
thing. Niall reluctance to answer her question earlier had only
strengthened her in her suspicions.

She
decided that she would give him his space. She glanced over at him
and saw his bangs fall into his eyes as he intently was watching
the road they were about to turn into. She wanted so much to touch
his face and for him to touch hers again. She sighed deeply looking
out of the windshield. Fuck, Niall had probably heard
that.

"What is
it?" Niall asked pulling into the road and up at her house in one
movement. He cut off the engine and turned to face her.

Olta
stared at her hands. "Look Niall, I understand if you've
got better things to do with your time then having me on tow or
spent your lunch breaks looking for me. So if you want out..." She
let the sentence trail away. Meeting his eyes for a fraction of a
second she smiled a small smile before getting her bag and opening
the side door.

"Tirana,
do you want me to keep my record?" Niall said in amused disbelieve.
Olta turned to him. She hadn't really thought about
that.

"No of
course not." She answered quickly. "I mean why would Rume know?"
She made her way out of the car.

Niall
leaned over the passenger's seat and looked up at Olta
through the passenger seat. "Tirana, we share practically all our
classes and we live on the same street, so it really isn't a
problem." He said smiling. Olta shrugged her shoulders and braved
another smile.

"If you're
sure. I'll see you tomorrow then, bye." And with that she turned a
walked to her house.

As she
opened the front door she could hear Niall drive off. She walked
into the kitchen and poured herself some juice. She rested herself
on the kitchen counter and suddenly she felt completely drained and
spent. She put the glass down on the counter and made her way to
her new bedroom.

Her
mother had decided that not only she was entitled to some
pampering, but her children as well. So Olta had been given this
huge bedroom in this truly large house. Her bedroom was at least
triple the size off her old one and she now had a twin bed instead
of single and a walk-in closet and private bathroom. Her bed was
the only thing on her mind however. Just a little nap until her
mother and sister came home, she told herself. Then she'd tell them
about her first day. But perhaps not everything, she thought. She
threw herself on her bed and as soon as her head hit the pillow she
was out.

As Olta
headed to her house Niall murmured a soft goodbye. He flung himself
back into his seat. He started the car and drove the short distance
to his house. Even though this was a wealthy area his house was
clearly the most prestigious around.

"Stupid,
stupid stupid." He thought to himself as he drove up the driveway.
No there was no denying it anymore. He liked a girl. He, who
couldn't consciously remember actually liking a girl, any girl.
Except perhaps for Alice. But that had been just a short spell when
his hormones had first introduced themselves. Here he was, Mr.
popular, going all gaga over the new girl. A girl who seemed so
insecure the one moment and so confident the next; who hadn't
joined him for lunch; who all but fled when his needs had gotten
the better of him and who had just offered him a way out. As he
parked his car he knocked his head on the steering wheel a couple
of times. Was it possible that she didn't quite like him as much as
he did her? Well, that would be refreshing and he smiled at the
thought. He walked into the kitchen and was greeted by their
live-in maid/butler/cook/counsellorMatilda.

"Good
afternoon young Niall." She said smiling handing him a glass of
lemonade. Matilda was in the habit of having everything ready for
him before he could ask for it or do it himself. Being trapped in a
similar situation had forged a bond between them. It had taken ages
for Niall to make her stop addressing him as 'young master'.
Eventually she had dropped the master bit, but she had insisted on
keeping some kind of formality between them. Finally Niall had
simply given up.

"Good
afternoon Matilda. Thanks" He said smiling broadly and overstating
his greeting slightly. He took the drink from her and seated
himself at the kitchen table and gulped it down. Matilda took a
seat across from him sliding a plate of sandwiches towards
him.

"So how was
your day, you seem to be in high spirits." She said looking at him
knowingly. She knew him well.

"I got
to baby-sit a new girl today and..." he said taking a bite from the
avocado tuna sandwich. "She is from Albania and she's witty and
smart and pretty and she doesn't like Daniel and…" he swallowed the
bite. Matilda's face had broken into a big grin.