Blind Girl: A Dark Billionaire Romance (8 page)

“Umm…
Harvey
?” I ask, quickly remembering his name.

His eyes glance back at me in the rearview mirror. “Yes, Ms. Hughes?”

“Do you know where Charles is?” I ask him.

“As of seven o’clock this morning, Mr. Kent is on a flight to Paris.”

“
Paris
?” I blink. “Wow… he didn’t mention.”

“He will be there until Wednesday, back in the office on Thursday,” he says.

“Thank you.”

Harvey smiles politely at me through the mirror but quickly glances back to the road ahead.

I stay silent the rest of the trip back to school, but my mind never rests for a moment. When the car comes to stop in front of my dorm, Harvey steps outside. My cheeks turn pink when I realize what he’s doing.

The car door opens and he waits patiently for me to step out.

I keep my head down as I do so, hoping to conceal my face from anyone passing by.

“Thank you,” I say to Harvey as my feet move quickly away from the car.

“Ms. Hughes.”

I pause and turn back to face him.

Harvey slides a gloved hand into his breast pocket and withdraws a white business card. “Mr. Kent wanted me to make myself available to you while he’s out of the country.”

“Oh…” I reach out and take the card.

“This is my direct line,” he says. “Please call if you’re in need of my services.”

“Thank you,” I say. “I probably won’t, but…” I breathe a laugh, the situation feeling rather surreal.

He tips his head. “Mr. Kent said you’d say that,” he smirks, “but just in case, do not hesitate to call.”

I nod and he turns back to the car.

“Harvey—”

He pauses. “Yes, Ms. Hughes?”

“Does he… do this a lot? You know… for anyone else?” I ask, biting my lips.

Harvey smiles. “No, Ms. Hughes. He does not.”

I nod once more. “Okay. Thank you.” I twitch an awkward wave in his direction and make my way up the walk towards the dorm.

***

“Tell me
everything
.”

I laugh as Gabby’s demanding voice calls out to me before I even step inside our room. She drops her magazine and sits up on her bed with wide eyes.

“It was fine,” I say as I step over to the closet.

“Fine? It was
fine
? That’s all I get?
Fine?
”

I grab a hanger and slip the blue dress onto it. “We had a good time,” I say. I latch the hanger into the closet and step away. “I think.”

Her eyes shrink into narrow slits. “What’d he do?” she asks.

“It’s not anything he did,” I explain. “More about what he didn’t do, if that makes sense.”

“I’m going to need more than that,” Gabby says. “Plus coffee.”

I get changed quickly and we set out across campus towards the student union. Once we’ve both had a fair dosage of sweet caffeine, I tell her everything during the walk back to the dorm.

“Paris?” Gabby asks as she takes a long sip of her drink.

“Paris.”

“And he just like… left you there?”

“Ian told me not to take it personally,” I say. “It’s just something he does, apparently.”

“What’s he even do? Like, for a living?”

“I don’t know.” We pause as a man on a bike passes by in front of us.

“You don’t know? You haven’t Googled him yet?” She stares at me with wide eyes she reaches into her pocket for her phone.

“No…” I say. “Was I supposed to?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, girl.” Gabby’s fingers dance along her touch screen. I peek over her shoulder as we walk and watch as she types his name into a search engine. “And he hasn’t told you himself?” she asks. “What do you two talk about anyway?”

“I don’t know… Me, mostly, I guess,” I answer. “And Greek mythology.”

Her head jerks in my direction. “Seriously?” she asks.

“Is that bad?”

“Well, it’s not the kind of pillow talk that gets me going, but to each her own.” She slides a finger up the screen. “Here we go. Head of the Kent Insurance Corporation, current overseer of their international division. I guess that explains the sudden Paris trip.”

I place a hand on the phone and tilt it towards me to get a better look. “Yeah, that’s definitely him,” I say as I stare at his photo.

“My god, he has gorgeous eyes,” Gabby says. “I couldn’t see them that well before.”

“Well, you
were
blindfolded,” I point out.

“Oh yeah…”

I take the phone from her and scroll a little more through his bio. “He has an office in the city,” I read. “Just down the street from the hotel.”

“You should go surprise him!” she shouts.

“No.” I shake my head.

“I did that to Ian last week and we totally had sex in his office. I bet Charles would love that.”

“Maybe some other time.” I give her back the phone. “I don’t even know if he wants to see me again.”

“Why don’t you text him and find out?”

“I don’t have his number.”

She pauses. “He
hasn’t
given you his number?”

I turn to face her. “There’s something wrong with this, isn’t there?” I ask.

Her face hops back and forth between sympathy and confusion. “Well… I mean… it’s not
normal
, I guess.”

“Ian said Charles doesn’t pursue the same girl twice,” I say. “If I’m that special, why is he treating me like every other girl and leaving me behind in hotel rooms?”

Gabby shrugs. “Who knows?”

“What the hell am I doing, Gabby?” I ask her, clinging to an awful desperation.

“Well, he’s nice to you, right?” she asks. “You know,
during
…”

“Yes. He’s
really
nice. We seem to get along together well enough. But then…” I furrow my brow, “the feeling passes and one of us sneaks out while the other isn’t looking.”

“Maybe you’re thinking about this too much,” she suggests.

“Or maybe he just doesn’t want me around the way Ian wants you around.”

“I guess you won’t know until you ask him,” she says.

“I can’t do that,” I say. We continue walking towards the dorm. “He’s too old for this kind of drama. I need to rise to his level and stop thinking like an idiot teenager.”

“You
are
an idiot teenager,” Gabby quips. “And I think a man that makes a habit of bedding college girls should get used to it. If he doesn’t like it, he should date women his own age.”

“Yikes,” I laugh.

“Well, it’s true.”

“And how does Ian fair with all of
your
bullshit teenage drama?” I ask.

She smiles. “He finds it charming, of course.”

“Of course, he does,” I murmur under my breath.

“Fuck you. I’m adorable.”

I smile at her. “I know. I’m just… projecting.”

“Alice, you have to put your foot down,” she urges. “If you want to be treated like a queen, you have to demand it. He’ll get it together if he knows what’s good for him.”

“Maybe.”

She sighs. “Do you want me to get Ian to beat him up for you?”

I roll my eyes. She’s saying it to make me feel better. It’s working, a little. “No, thanks,” I say with a small laugh. “I think I’ll just wait it out. Who knows? Maybe he won’t even contact me again and I can just get on with my life.”

“Boo. You’re no fun.”

I take a sip of my coffee, which has unfortunately gone cold. “Or maybe I should just enjoy what I have, you know? How many girls can say they’re sleeping with a billionaire that buys them fancy clothes and lets them use their personal driver to get around town?”

Gabby leans in and throws her arm around my shoulder. “That’s the spirit!” she shouts. “God — don’t you just
love
rich people?”

“I guess it could be worse.”

“It could
definitely
be worse.”

“I think I like him, Gabby,” I say.

“I think you do, too, Alice,” she says.

I take the last sip of cold coffee before tossing into a trash can.

Chapter 6

You Have to Demand It

I decide to take Gabby’s advice and surprise Charles in his office. After my last class of the day, I rush back to the dorm to get changed. It’s Thursday afternoon. Harvey told me that Charles would be back in his office today.

I enlist Gabby’s help in getting ready to surprise him. She lends me a tight, black skirt with a slit that travels halfway up my thigh and matching blouse, one with enough visible cleavage to choke a nun.

“Oh, my god…” she beams. “He’s going to love this.”

I can’t help but soak up her enthusiasm like a sponge. The last week has been a haze of what ifs and maybes.

“I don’t know, Gabby,” I say as she applies liner to my eyes. “What if I’m just another young piece of ass to him?”

“Oh, no way,” she says. “Now, stay still or I’ll blind you.”

“Ian told me not to take it personally,” I repeat his warning, trying to hold my head steady for her.

“Then don’t,” she says. “Ian’s a smart guy. He knows what he’s talking about.”

“I just wish I knew for sure…” I take a deep breath. “Does he quote Greek myth to all of us? Does he mold the story’s theme to apply to any situation with the intention of wooing panties off?”

Gabby sighs. “I don’t know.”

She’s annoyed with me, I can tell, but I can’t stop the wheel in my head from spinning.

“Sorry,” I mutter.

She stands up tall and tilts my face upward into the light to inspect her work. “Okay…” she says. “When you get there, act like you own the whole fucking place.”

I laugh. “What?”

“No, really,” she nods. “You are his
queen
. Keep your head held high, put your murder face on, and just walk right into his office.”

“My
murder
face?…”

“I saw it on Ellen,” she explains. She stands up tall with her shoulders down. “You straighten up, look ahead, and just think like you’re there to kill somebody.”

“Wow…”

“If there’s anything a powerful man responds positively to, it’s a powerful woman,” she says.

“If you say so…”

“No, seriously.” She looks forward and takes a few steps across the room. Her eyes appear so intense, I instinctively slink back against my chair.

“Yeah… I can do that,” I say, nodding my head. I feel a surge of lightning charge through my veins.

Gabby steps back over to the mirror. “I did the same thing and I could literally
see
the saliva gathering on Ian’s tongue. Like… he canceled a meeting to fuck me.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

She shrugs and raises an eyebrow.
“If you say so…”

I remember Charles’ words and how good it made me feel when he told me I was in complete control. Gabby’s advice makes sense. Charles wants me to take the lead and surprise him.

“You should even use his own driver to get there,” Gabby suggests.

“Oh, I don’t know…” I say.

She reaches into her back pocket. “What’s the number?”

“Gabby, no—”

It’s too late. Gabby finds Harvey’s card pinned to my bulletin board above my desk and swipes her phone on. Her fingers move with professional speed and she pushes the phone against my ear before I can say another word.

“This is Harvey.”

“I— uh — Hello, Harvey…” I nearly choke on my saliva as the words tumble off my tongue. “This is Alice Hughes.”

“Good afternoon, Ms. Hughes.”

“Good afternoon—” I look up at Gabby. She fights to contain her giggles with her hand clamped over her mouth. I shoot her an angry glare. “I need a ride into the city — to Charles’ office — and I was wondering if…”

“I would be more than happy to assist you, Ms. Hughes.”

I exhale a quick breath. “Oh, thank you, Harvey.”

“I can be there in ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes?” I confirm. “Thank you.”

Gabby waves her hands in the air and mouths the word ‘twenty’ under her breath.

“Actually, can you make that twenty minutes?” I ask him.

“Of course, Ms. Hughes.”

“Thank you.” I hang up the phone and drop it back into Gabby’s waiting hand.

“
Always
ask for at least twenty minutes,” she advises. “We still have to do your hair.”

***

“Thanks again, Harvey,” I tell him as he opens the car door for me. He offers me his hand and I take it to assist me out.

“You’re welcome, Ms. Hughes,” he says. “Will you be long?”

I nervously push my skirt down. “I’m not sure…” I say.

Harvey gives me an understanding nod. “Take your time,” he says. “I have some errands to run for Mr. Kent. Call me if you need a ride back to the university.”

I smile at him. “I will.”

“And Ms. Hughes—” he adds, “you look very lovely today.”

I feel my cheeks turn pink. “Thank you, Harvey.”

He nods again and walks back around to the driver’s seat.

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and glance up into the sky. It’s a building I’ve passed by almost a hundred times, but today is the first time I’ve really noticed it. The tall concrete is a different shade than all other buildings around it, most likely done on purpose to make it stand out next to the rest. At ten stories tall, it’s shorter than its neighboring buildings, but it doesn’t suffer from it. The Kent Insurance Corporation logo stands dominantly above, staring down at me like a hungry giant, eager to squash me with his heel as I step inside. I repeat Gabby’s words in my head like a mantra to drive me forward.

If you want to be treated like a queen, you have to demand it.

A young receptionist greets me with a rehearsed smile.

“Mr. Kent’s office is on the top floor, ma’am,” she tells me. I look her over and quickly realize we both sport similar appearances. Brown hair, brown eyes. Pale, white skin. I brush it off as coincidence and maintain my stiff posture.

“Thank you,” I tell her before making my way over to the elevator.

I share the ride with a group of businessmen, many of whom I catch sneaking peeks at me through the mirrored walls of the elevator. It sends fresh blood through my veins and I step off onto the top floor with a new confidence.