Battle for Love (Bachelor Billionaire #3) (18 page)

Ethan
reached out and grabbed her by the waist, as he pulled her close to
him.

“
Please,
come back inside. Spend the day with me. We can do whatever you want.
I just want to spend the day together.”

“
Don't
you have something to do, like dig into my business?” she
asked. “It was an ex. That was all. I really need you to just
leave it alone. He lives far away. Actually, I thought someone told
me he was in jail. It's really no big deal. I'm not a kid. I don't
need my big brother or his friends saving the day. I'll spend the day
with you, but only if you drop this crap. It's not something I want
to deal with. Do you hear me?”

“
I
hear you. You aren't going to tell me. I get it. I already figured
that out. Come on, what do you want to do today?”

I
thought about the day. What did I want to do? I wasn't sure. It had
been a long time since I had been out with a guy like that. What was
it? Were we going out as friends? I wasn't sure what he thought.

“
Can
we just stay here for the day, or we could go to my house?” she
asked.

“
Why
don't you want to go out? Are you afraid to be seen with me?”

“
I'm
not afraid to be seen with you. I just wanted to talk and watch
movies. We can go out if you want.”

“
Why
don't we take your car home? You can get your bathing suit. We can
pick up food on the way back. Movies, swimming, and talking can fill
the rest of our day. You can change into clean clothes and put on
some panties. You might want to bring an extra pair,” he said.

“
I'm
not coming back here without my car. There is no way,” she
said, as she shook her head.

“
I'll
let you drive my car. I don't want you driving by yourself tonight.
I'll drop you off at home tomorrow morning. If you want to go home
before that, I'll take you home. I won't force you to stay here. I
just don't want you driving by yourself at night.”

“
If
you promise to let me drive your car and to take me home when I ask,
then I'll do it.”

“
I
promise. I would never make you be here if you didn't want to be,”
he said.

They
both got dressed and got into their cars. He told her to go first and
he would follow her.

On
the way home, she couldn't stop thinking about him. She thought he
was incredibly sexy. Being with him sexually was amazing. When she
was with him, she felt comfortable and safe. Julie knew that Ethan
wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. Being in his arms felt so
right. She had gotten the best sleep that night. Better than she had
in years. How could he be so wrong for her but so right at the same
time? He was so worried about what had happened and who had scared
her. She couldn't believe he was that concerned about it. The fact
that he donated all of that money to charity with John was amazing.
He was rough and demanding at times but sweet as well. She could not
help but be turned on when they were in the same room. Being with him
felt so good.

Julie
pulled into her driveway and parked her car. She must have lost him
at one of the lights. When she walked onto her porch, she froze.

Ethan
pulled his phone out of his pocket and text his brother the phone
number he had gotten from Julie's phone. If she wasn't going to talk
to him, then he was going to figure it out himself. There was no way
that call meant nothing to her. He had spent too much time around her
to believe what she was telling him. He pulled out onto the road and
dialed John's number.

“
I
need some help, John,” Ethan said when John answered.

“
Anything
man. What's going on?” John asked.

Ethan
told John everything about him and Julie. He made John promise to
keep everything they were discussing from Gavin. He talked about the
fact that they were hooking up and that he had told Julie everything
about his parents and the money. John could not believe he had told
her. Ethan told him about the phone call she had taken at the shower
and how she had reacted. He also mentioned that she talked about not
trusting men and learning her lesson. Ethan thought back to how she
acted when he mentioned cuffing her. She was afraid. He snapped out
of it and continued talking to John. Ethan asked him to find out
whose number he text him and everything about the guy. She said the
person who called her was an ex.

Ethan
pulled into her driveway, parked behind her car, and hung up his
phone. He watched as she stood on her porch, looking down at a vase
of flowers. Slowly, he walked up behind her.

“
Are
you okay?” he asked.

“
I'm
fine,” she said. “Why?”

“
Where
did those come from?” he asked pointing to the flowers.

“
I
have no idea. There's no card with them. Maybe they left them at the
wrong house.”

Ethan
felt jealous for a moment, until he thought about the fact that she
looked worried and not happy. Who were they from, he wondered?

“
I
guess I 'm not the only one who has sent your flowers lately,”
he said.

He
didn't want her to know he was still trying to figure out what was
going on, so he decided to play the jealous card.

“
Very
funny,” she said, as she opened the front door.

She
walked into her house and held the door for him.

“
Aren't
you going to bring the flowers in?”

“
No,”
she answered. “I'm going to go change and grab by bathing suit.
I'll be back in a few minutes.”

She
walked out of the room and he walked back onto the porch. There was a
sticker on the bottom of the vase with the name of the shop the
flowers came from. He hurried to text himself the name. She was back
outside in less than five minutes with a bag.

“
Give
me the car keys. You promised I could drive,” she said with a
smile.

He
had never let anyone drive his favorite car before, but it made him
feel good to see her so happy about it. It was too bad that he could
tell her smile was forced. What was she so afraid of? Ethan held the
keys out but didn't let go when she grabbed them.

“
Come
on tough guy, give me the keys. I won't hurt your precious baby,”
she said, as she leaned in to kiss his cheek and snatch the keys from
his hand.

Julie
pulled away and quickly got into the car. Ethan let out a sigh as he
got in. She giggled as she hurried out of the driveway.

“
Are
you enjoying this?” he asked.

“
You
have no idea. This car is so awesome. I've wanted to get my hands on
it since the first time I saw it.”

“
Have
you wanted to get your hands on me for that long too?” he
asked.

Ethan
reached over and put his hand on her knee.

“
Don't
distract me while I drive. You aren't going to blame me for hurting
your car. Keep your hands on your own side mister,” she said
sarcastically.

Julie
pulled into a restaurant so they could pick up food for later. Ethan
got out of the car and looked over at her.

“
Aren't
you coming in to see what you want to order?” he asked.

She
shook her head and laughed.

“
I'll
eat whatever you get,” she said. “There is no way I am
getting out of this seat. You'll take the keys and won't give them
back.”

Ethan
burst out laughing.

“
What
if I get something gross or slimy?”

“
I'll
eat it anyway. I'm not getting out of this car.”

“
I'm
glad to hear you're willing to stick those kinds of things in your
mouth,” he said, as he winked and walked away.

Ethan
grabbed a menu and ordered several different meals. He sat down to
wait, when his phone rang. He was eager to find out what John had
found on that phone number.

“
Hey
man,” Ethan said.

“
You're
not going to like this. I found the guy who belongs to the phone
number. It belongs to a guy named Jason. He's around the same age as
Julie. Has she said anything about him?” John asked.

“
No.
She won't tell me anything. Julie doesn't know I have the number. You
can't say anything to anyone about it. Does he have a record or
anything?” Ethan asked.

“
Why
are you so worried about this? Do you think digging into her personal
life is the right thing to do? She's Gavin's sister. He will be
pissed if he finds out you fucked her. You need to think about this.
He does so much business with your company. If you two stop being
friends over his sister, it's going to hurt your business. I think
you really need to think this through before you get any deeper into
this stuff about Julie. This could impact your entire life and
everything you work hard for every single day.”

“
What
did you find out? Tell me now,” Ethan snapped.

“
Gavin
is going to beat the shit out of you when he figures out you screwed
with his sister. If you dig any deeper into this phone number, you
could make things even worse for her. I have a feeling Gavin is going
to come unglued if this stuff gets back to him.”

“
Tell
me right now,” Ethan snapped again.

“
Do
you care about her?” John asked. “You told her things
about your past that nobody but me knows. You had sex with her, more
than once. You're trying to figure out who she's talking to. What's
up here? I still can't believe you took a day off work to be with
her. Gavin hasn't come by to check on you and make sure you're alive?
Are you in love with her?”

“
What!
No, I'm not in love with her. I would do anything to help anyone in
our group of friends. They are my family. You know that. I like
hanging out with her. If feels good that someone knows those things.
I don't have to hide who I am around her. I've told her things you
don't even know. It's not going to hurt my business with Gavin. Even
if he hates me, he'll still do business with me. It's all about the
money. It's not personal. He's not going to find out. Now tell me
what you found out.”

“
The
guy who's calling her just got out of jail. He's not from around
here. When he went to jail the first time, he was twenty-two.”

“
You
mean he's been in jail more than once?” Ethan asked.

“
Yes,
but something is not right about this. He was in college the first
time. The same college as Julie. He was in jail for domestic violence
and attempted rape. I don't have enough details. Do you think this
could have anything to do with her or a friend of hers?” John
asked.

“
There's
no way. Gavin would have known. Those two are closer than any
siblings I know. He would have heard about it. She would have had to
go to court. Her family would have known. What was he in jail for
recently?” Ethan asked.

“
He's
been in trouble a few times, but nothing as big as that. Did she say
when the last time she talked to him was or anything like that? I
wonder how many times he's tried to contact her.” John said.

“
When
we went to her house a little bit ago, there were flowers on the
porch in a vase. There was no note. She was acting strange and
wouldn't take them into her house. She grabbed a bag with some stuff
and was back out of the house in minutes. I wrote down the florist
they came from. I wonder if he was at her house. This guy could be
dangerous. See if you can find out more. Maybe I'll hire a private
investigator. It could be nothing. Maybe we're just overreacting.”