The Trillionaire's Kiss: Book One in Trillionaire Wishes (Fountain of Love) (5 page)

"Well, now all your buying power, credit and cash is tied to a central account.  That account is tied to a government issued ID.  You use the ID as a drivers' license, to purchase anything, and for everything else as well.  It becomes your life."

"Wow.  What if you lose it?"

He shrugged
.  "No one else can use it, because it's also tied to your retina scan.  It takes the government about three hours to replace one, though.  I hate the red tape of bureaurcracy."  He shook his head as if three hours was a ridiculous length of time.  Of course, since the card was your entire life, it was.

Alicia laughed.  "You call three hours red tape?  That's nothing!  It would take weeks in the twenty-first century!"

"Well, that's a long time here.  That Kindle you want will take Amazon about twenty minutes to deliver."

She blinked at him in surprise.  "How?"

"Warehouses all over the country, and each warehouse has multiple delivery people."  He shrugged.  "It's a well-oiled machine."

"Sounds like it's almost as easy as having a pizza delivered." 

"Oh, it is!  You'll find you love it."  He took her hand in his, staring into her eyes.  "What's the difference between a lawyer and a leech?"

"Really?  Are you going to keep doing this?"
  Why was he so fascinated with lawyer jokes?

"After you die, a leech stops sucking your blood."  He kissed her cheek and got to is feet.  "Order your Kindle.  The computer will have it delivered here. It knows the address."

Alicia got to her feet.  "I'll go order it now then.  I want to start reading.  I hope my favorite authors still have books on there, and more than that?  I hope they finished all the different series I've been reading so I can just finish them up right away."  She hurried from the room.

"Don't forget the tailor will be here in less than an hour!" he called after her.

"I won't!"  She'd already forgotten, but she didn't tell him that. She was so much more interested in books than in clothes. She rushed to the computer room and made her order, excited to get to read her favorite books.  She did a search for books available on the Kindle and all her favorites were definitely there.  She sighed with relief.  She'd finally find out what happened in the
Billionaire Boys' Club
series by Jessica Clare, and she wouldn't have to wait several more months to get her answer.

Alicia made a list of the books she wanted to buy on a stray piece of paper she found on Calor's desk.  When the doorbell rang, she ran for the door, opening it widely.  "My Kindle!" she cried out, holding her hand out for the device.

The box it came in was so tiny, she wasn't certain how she was going to be able to see the screen, but she was sure it was some sort of twenty-fourth century magic. 

The delivery boy stared at her in shock.  He wasn't bad looking, Alicia thought
, but he wasn't for her.  She was married now.  "Thank you," she told him, all at once wondering if she was supposed to tip or not, but there was no currency so how could she?

He kept staring at her.  "You're a woman," he finally said.

She nodded.  "I was the last I checked."  She started to close the door, but he caught it with his hand, still not taking his eyes off her. 

She heard a growl from behind her and turned to see Calor, obviously angry, approaching them.  "Is there a reason you're not letting my wife close the door?" he asked.

The man took a step back.  He was smaller than Calor and looked much weaker.  She watched the two men for a moment.  "I'll be reporting you to your supervisor," Calor told the other man.

The delivery boy nodded.  "I'm sorry, sir.  It was just a shock to see a real girl.  She smells like a breeder."
  The last statement sounded like a question, but they all knew the man knew the truth about Alicia.

Calor calmly shut the door in the other man's face, taking her into his arms.  "You should have shouted for me."

"What did he mean when he said I smell like a breeder?"

"The women who were born like me?  Non
-breeders?  They give off a very foul odor.  No one is certain why, but they smell as if they're rotting."  He wrinkled his nose in distaste just thinking about it.  He hadn't met a lot of women, but the smell was unforgettable.

She wrinkled her nose.  "That's terrible!"

He nodded.  "It is, and still men fought over them when they were younger, because they were so desperate to have a woman." 

"Wow."

"I don't want you to go to the door again.  I'll do it or Robertron can do it.  Not you, though.  I don't trust men to not try to steal you away."

She hated the idea that she couldn't leave, and she couldn't even go to the door.  "You'll take me outside sometimes, though right?  I can't say cooped up in here forever."

He sighed.  "I have a holo-room.  Do you want to see it?"

She looked at the clock on the wall.  "The tailor should be here in just a few minutes.  Maybe after he leaves?"

Calor smiled.  "Absolutely.  I'll stay in the room while the tailor measures you and help you pick out your clothes.  Afterward, I'll let you take a walk on the beach."

She smiled at the idea.  "Maybe I could sit on the beach with my Kindle and read?"
  She had to start reading the books on her list as soon as she could.  First she'd read the billionaire series by Jessica Clare, and then she'd dive headfirst into Celia Kyle's shifter stories. 

"That sounds like a great idea."  He led her to the living room and sat down on the huge sofa.
  "Bill says that Alex, the tailor, is great.  He'll measure you, and then we'll get you some new clothes within a few days."

Alicia nodded. "I like the idea of having clothes made just for me.  I've never had that before."

"Well, you don't have a choice in the matter now."  He took her hand in his.  "I talked to Bill, and he invited us over for lunch tomorrow.  They have twin girls that he couldn't stop talking about."

"Oh, cool.  I like kids.  How old are they?"

He shrugged.  "I think they're almost two?  He said she's pregnant again, though.  Doing her part to repopulate the world."

"It's so weird to think that I need to have children to help out mankind.  I mean, I like kids and all, but I always thought I could have them or not.  Whatever I decided."

He jumped up at the knock on the door, opening it just a little to see who was there, before opening it further.  He indicated Alicia on the couch.  "This is my wife.  She has no clothes except a blouse and a pair of jeans.  Can you help her?"

The tailor walked in and looked at her, making her spin in a circle for him.  "You're beautiful.  Nice curves."

She blushed.  It felt strange to be examined this way.  She sat down after he'd measured her and looked at the books he'd given her.  Looking at Calor, her eyes pled with his for help.  "I have no idea what I should pick.  No idea of your price range.  How many dresses do you want me to choose?"

He shrugged.  "Get ten dresses for everyday and five for special occasions to start with.  Just pick what you like.  I'm not worried about the price today."

The tailor looked at her.  "I'd be happy to help you make your choices if you'd like."

Alicia nodded.  "I don't even know where to start."  She was used to going to the store, finding stuff she liked hanging on the racks, picking the color she liked and the size she needed and paying for it.  This was...odd.

Alex picked up the first book and flipped through it quickly.  He got to a section toward the middle of the book and handed it to her.  "The ones with pink on the sides?  I think they'll look the best on you.  Pick the ones you like, and I'll help you with fabric and color."

The whole process took several hours, and Alicia was exhausted by the time they were finished. 

Calor watch Alicia as she chose the different fabrics and colors she liked, having already picked out what he wanted her to have from the lingerie catalogue.  He hadn't done it in an obvious way, thinking to surprise her with the new garments at a later time.

Alex left with the promise that he would be back the following day with at least two of the new dresses made.  She asked if he could make jeans, and he shook his head.  "I can't.  Denim isn't a fabric that's been made for over a hundred years."  He eyed her like she was crazy for even asking about jeans, but didn't say anything else.

After he was gone, Calor gave her twenty minutes to load the books she wanted onto her new Kindle. She was surprised at how light weight the device was, and how it expanded in her hand to give her a larger viewing area. 

Once she was finished, he led her through the apartment to a room she hadn't seen the eve
ning before.  "This is the holo-room.  You tell the computer what you want, and it happens.  Beach right?"

At her nod, he said, "Computer, we need a beach scene.   Pure white sand and I want the ocean to be a clear blue.  A sunny day around eighty degrees.  Make a lounge chair for reading under a big beach umbrella."

When everything appeared around her just as he'd specified, she all but squealed with excitement.  She walked to the lounge chair and sank into it, smiling as she looked down at her Kindle.  "All I need now is pineapple juice in a coconut with an umbrella."

He laughed.  "I'll have
Robertron deliver that for you."

She nodded, already engrossed in reading about the fifth billionaire of the series. 

Chapter Five

At dinner that evening, they ate the Mexican food that Robbie had made for them.  "I've never had this.  It's delicious!  What's it called?"  Alicia pointed at her food with her fork between bites.

Calor shook his head.  "They're empanadas.  You really are from up north, aren't you?"
  His voice held the disdain Texans still had for people from other parts of the country.  Some things changed completely in three hundred years, but not how Texans felt about people who were not from Texas.

She shrugged.  "Not much variety in Mexican food in Minnesota."  She took another big bite of the food, obviously enjoying it.  "I like this though."

He smiled, taking her hand in his.  "It's one of my favorites."  He sighed.  "I was talking to Bill about how the delivery guy acted today.  He said that's pretty typical.  We're going to have to activate Robertron's bodyguard mode, and I don't think you're going to be able to leave unless I'm with you, of course."

She stared at him in shock.  "How am I going to work then?  I went to school for too long not to use my education."

"I'm not certain a law degree earned in 2012 would work now, sweetheart."  He hated having to tell her that, but it was the truth.  Her years of education were wasted in the twenty-fourth century.

She hadn't thought of that and her heart sank.  "So what am I supposed to do?"

He shrugged.  "You enjoyed spending today at the beach reading," he pointed out.

She nodded slowly.  "Because it was a break from my crazy busy life.  It would lose its appeal after a week or two.  I need to stay busy!"
  She panicked at the idea of being condemned to a life of idleness.

"You could take up a craft?  Or a hobby of some sort?"

"To take the place of the job that I studied for seven years to learn to do?  Are you serious?"  She couldn't believe he would even suggest such a thing.

"Why don't you start studying the current law so you can pass the bar exam? I'm sure you could do that with no problem if
you did some studying."  He couldn't tell her that in his world, she was virtually identityless.  He couldn't decide how to proceed to establishing a life for her.  No one was going to believe she'd traveled forward in time, but there was no other real explanation for her presence.  He'd spent most of his day working through that dilemma.  If he got her to concentrate on studying, maybe he could buy some time before she realized just what she'd left behind when she'd come forward in time.

She nodded.  "That sounds like a good idea.  I'll study.  I can't just sit around and do nothing.  It's not in my nature."

He took her hand and brought it to his lips.  "I can see that about you.  There's no doubt in my mind, in fact."  He fed her a bite of his empanada.  "Are you excited about going to meet April and Bill tomorrow?"

She nodded.  "I thought all the girls had four husbands?"

"She does have four husbands.  Bill is the only one who I'm friends with though, so I don't think the others will be there.  They're all good men, though.  I used to spend some time hanging out with them before they found April."

"Where do they live?"
  How did four men go about sharing one woman?  The living arrangements must be difficult to deal with.

"They have their own floor of an exclusive apartment building in Dallas.  It makes this place look like a slum."

"How far are we from Dallas?"

"Only about five minutes.  We'll fly there."

"That sounds good."  She couldn't wait to pick the other woman's brain.  The only person she'd really done any true interacting with since she'd arrived in the twenty-fourth century was Calor.  She needed people.  She wasn't exactly a social butterfly, but she wouldn't make a good hermit either.

"I thought we'd leave a few minutes before noon.  They're planning on feeding us at noon, and then we'll spend some time with them afterward.  Bill says that April's biggest complaint is always that she has no one to talk to.  She emails her friends who have been auctioned as well, but she likes to sit down in person with other women, and really?  Who can blame her?"

Alicia shook her head.  "Not me.  I'm going to go nuts if I can't be around other people on occasion.  Well, more than one occasion.  At least weekly would be good for my mental health."

"I'll do my best."  He stood and walked to
Robertron.  "Activate bodyguard mode.  You are now guarding Alicia."

"Bodyguard mode activated." 

Alicia sighed.  "Do you really think that's necessary in the apartment?"

Calor walked back to the table and sat down, taking her hand in his.  "I can't risk losing you."

She looked down sadly.  He couldn't risk losing his only chance for a woman in his life.  He certainly treated her as if she were the only woman in the world, which she wanted, but it was only because she was the only woman who would ever be in his world.  "I'm going to go get a nice long bath before bed."  She walked back to the bedroom and picked up her Kindle, going into the bathroom only to see him right behind her.  "I can bathe myself."

He watched her movements as she ran her bathwater, realizing she was angry with him.  "I'm sorry it has to be this way," he told her, taking a bottle of something from the counter and generously adding some to the water.  "I had this delivered today.  It's supposed to ease sore muscles." 

She nodded briefly.  "Thank you."  As annoyed as she was with him, she couldn't not be polite.

He watched her, standing beside the tub not moving.  She obviously wasn't g
oing to get undressed until he left.  It made him sad, but he wasn't going to push her on it yet.  "I'll leave you to your bath then."  He left the room, going back to his office and sitting at the computer.  What would it take to make her happy?

*****

Alicia knew he thought she was being too hard on him, but she didn't know what else to do.  How could she be happy in a world with no women where she had to be watched all the time?  She wouldn't be able to work or see any of her friends.  She really wouldn't even be able to have friends except the ones he'd handpicked for her.

She sank into the water and picked up her Kindle, opening it to get lost in the words of Jessica Clare. 
At least she had something fun to do.

She stayed in the tub for well over two hours, turning herself into a giant prune in the process.  Finally she stepped out and took the towel from the counter, drying herself off.  She thought she was ready to deal with Calor again, but she was still slightly angry with him, even though she knew none of it was his fault.

Opening the door to the bedroom, she looked around it, thrilled to see he wasn't there yet.  She quickly shrugged out of her robe that she was already sick of wearing and climbed into the bed on the side she'd slept on the previous night.  She looked around for a switch to shut the light off, but found none.  Trying to think of how he'd done it the night before, she drew a blank.  "Lights off," she said, and watched as the lights dimmed.

Grinning, she closed her eyes.  There were some aspects of the twenty-fourth century that were awesome.  She just had to get past the parts she hated to find them.  She could do that, couldn't she?