Billionaires Don’t Fall For Awkward Girls by Emma Dalton

Chapter Thirty-Two

Andrea has given me the day off because the younger students are performing for the parents and it’ll last a while, so I’m off the hook from cleaning today.

As soon as I walk out of Studio B, my eyes widen when I find Easton sitting there, tipping the chair back as he rests.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

His eyes pop open and he straightens up. He takes in my bag. “You’re done already? Thought I’d keep you company.”

“I’m not cleaning today. Andrea gave me the day off.” I squint as I study him. “Easton, why do you avoid going home? Do you hate your parents?”

He sighs, shaking his head. “I don’t hate them. We just don’t get along.”

I sit down on the chair next to him, giving him my full attention.

He takes a breath. “Our dinner table is so quiet you can hear a pin drop. If we do talk, it’s either about this event or that, or what I did wrong or what’s expected of me. We don’t talk. And no matter what I do, my mother is always criticizing me or telling me what to do. Like I said, they like to control me. So I avoid going home as much as I can.”

“I’m sorry. That sucks.”

He shrugs. “People say I have it good? Are jealous of me? I don’t even know if my parents love me.”

“Oh, Easton, I know that’s not true. They do love you.”

He scoffs. “I’m not their son. I’m their heir. They don’t care about me, all they care about is their empire.”

I don’t know what to say, so I squeeze his hand to give him as much comfort as I can. I know his parents love him, even if they have a hard time showing it, but I’m not sure I can convince him.

He turns to me, forcing a smile. “But as much as my home sucks sometimes, there are some advantages of being the kid of one of the richest people in the world.”

I lift a brow. “And what are those advantages?”

Still grinning, he gets to his feet. “They’re out until late tonight and have dismissed most of the staff and your mom for the day. I have the entire house to myself to do whatever I want.” He holds out his hand. “And since you’re free, would you like to join me?”

I stare at his hand. Go to his house? Alone? With no parents around?

He chuckles. “Relax, Wood. We won’t be alone. A few staff members will still be around and I won’t try anything on you. You can trust me.”

Staring into his eyes, I know I can. “Okay. Onward to your house!”

He laughs. “Sometimes you say the weirdest things, Wood.” He bends close and my heart stops pumping for a second. “But in a good way.” He pulls out his phone and tells Joe to pick us up.

About fifteen minutes later, the car stops before the Knight mansion. Like before, I can’t stop staring at it.

It’s not until Easton chuckles that I snap out of it and follow him inside. He greets the staff, they take our jackets, and then Easton motions for me to follow him deeper inside. “Want a tour?”

“Sure.”

He frowns. “We won’t get through the entire house, though. I’ll show you my favorite places.”

He leads me down the hallway and up a spiral staircase to the second floor. “The kitchen has become one of my favorite places now,” he tells me as he walks down the hallway. “But we don’t have to go there right now.”

I’m quiet as I take everything in. The plush carpets, the walls that look like they’ve been freshly painted today. The many portraits of Easton’s ancestors splattered on the walls. I stop before one and stare at it. “He looks like you.”

Easton comes to stand beside me. “That’s my great-great-grandfather. Dad’s ancestors all look alike. Some strong genes, huh?”

I laugh. “Totally. But your Dad’s family wasn’t rich, right?”

He shakes his head. “Mom comes from old money, Dad from new. He built himself into the man he is today. He and Mom married shortly after he became a billionaire.”

“Are you saying she only married him once he became rich?”

He shrugs. “They married because it benefited both families. Dad started a tech company, Mom’s family owned a large hotel chain. They merged into one empire and modernized the hotels, which caused them to grow significantly over the years. Our hotels are now the most successful chain in the world.”

I just stare at him. “But do your parents love each other?”

He gazes at the portrait of his great-great-grandfather. “They’ve been together for twenty years.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“I think it does.”

He moves further down the hallway and I scurry to catch up to him. He opens a door at the end of the hallway. “My favorite room in the house.”

He widens the door and I step inside. There’s a bed in the center, the largest I have ever seen in my life, a few closets and dressers lining the walls. A huge TV that encompasses another wall, not to mention a large window with a killer view of the town. And in the corner is a desk with textbooks and more books piled on top.

“Your room?” I ask.

He nods, slipping his hands into his pockets. “I know it’s not much, but it’s all I need.”

I gape around the place. “Not much? You have a TV as big as the wall. And the view is spectacular. And don’t get me started on your bed.”

He nods slowly. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“That I have so much while you….”

I move away from him, hugging my arms. “Don’t pity me, Easton. I have everything I need.”

“And so much more,” he says sadly. “You have parents who would do anything for you. I don’t pity you, Dani. I’m jealous of you.”

I laugh in disbelief. “Jealous that I have to bust my butt and that my parents have to work so hard just to put food on the table?”

“I’d trade that over my life any day,” he says, so softly I almost miss it. I just gawk at him as he drops down on his bed and stares at the space before him.

The room is dead silent.

Easton turns to me, pushing a smile on his face. “Let me show you my other favorite places.”

We walk back up the hallway and he places his hand on a doorknob. He grins at me. “My second favorite place in the house.” He pushes the door open and a variety of arcade machines, video game consoles, a large gaming desktop computer, and other games greet me.

My jaw hangs open. “You have an entire gaming center in your house?” I head over to the pool table. “This is so cool.”

He places his hand on one of the arcades. “This is my baby.”

I slide over there and check it out. It’s a game where you have to get your animal to cross a road, avoiding cars and other obstacles. “Looks like fun. I’ve never been to an arcade before.”

“Want to play?”

“No! I’ll suck.”

He laughs again. “Come on. No judgment here. I’ll go first so you can see how it’s done.”

I shift over and he steps up to the screen, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration. I chuckle to myself at how determined he is to beat his high score. When he doesn’t, he frowns in such a cute way that my stomach swoops.

“Darn it,” he mumbles. “Want a turn?”

He moves over and I take his place. The second I push the button to make my donkey move, a car comes out of nowhere and runs over the poor thing. “Crap!”

He laughs. “Go again.”

And I do. Again and again and again, and each time, my poor donkey is roadkill. It’s still fun—actually, it makes me want to play over and over until I get a semi-decent score. Easton stays by my side and I can feel the excitement leaping off him. I don’t think it’s because of the game, though. Something tells me he likes having someone over.

“Seventy-five!” I cheer, waving my arms over my head. “Who’s the best, who’s the best?” I dance from side to side, ending with a perfect pirouette.

He flings his arms around me, lifting me a few feet off the ground. “Nice! You did better than me when I first started playing.”

I give him a look. “That’s BS.”

He laughs. “Yeah, it is, but you did great.”

I glance at the high scores, where EK lounges comfortably at the top spot. “I’ll beat you one day, mark my words, Easton Knight Jr.”

He smirks, winking. “We’ll see.” He holds out his hand. “Want to see more of the house?”

“Totally.” I place my hand in his and let him take me to the next location. We go down the stairs, past a few staff members who ask if we need anything. Easton thanks them, telling them we’re okay. I catch some of them glancing between us, probably trying to figure out what I’m doing here.

Easton brings me to another room. “I know how much you love to read, so…” He opens the door. “Welcome to heaven.”

“I’ve already been here,” I tell him. “When I came here two weeks ago.” And saw him without a shirt…

“Oh. Right. Anyway, have a look around and grab as many books as you want.”

I gape at him. “You mean, I can take them home?”

“And you can take some for your friends too. We have so many it won’t make a difference if you grab a few.”

With the largest smile I’ve ever had on my face, I rush to one of the shelves and inspect the many different books. There are all genres, some so old they’re practically falling apart. I pull a few off the shelf, read the front flap or the back, then place them on a chair. Wow. I don’t know how I’ll get through all of these.

“This is amazing,” I gasp as I study the rows and rows of books. “Your mom likes to read?”

“Mother’s busy all the time, so when she has some downtime, she likes to snuggle here with a good book.”

I take another book off the shelf and read the description. “What kind of books does she like?”

He shrugs. “Not sure. Maybe those cowboy romances? I caught one on her bed when I was little.”

I laugh. “Never pegged your mom for the romantic type, but I don’t really know anything about her.”

He comes to stand beside me. “You don’t really know anything about me,” he says.

I stop looking through the book and turn to him. “I guess not.”

He stands even closer. “But I want you to.” He bends close. “I don’t know how you feel about me, Dani, but I haven’t stopped thinking about you.”

I freeze up. “Because of the kiss.”

“No. Well, I’m not going to lie and say I haven’t thought about that, either. But I find myself wanting to spend time with you, wanting to tell you everything and sharing my thoughts and feelings with you.”

I’m still frozen, except for my eyes that grow larger by the second. “What are you saying?”

He gently takes the book from my hand and places it on the chair. Then he clutches both my hands. “I’m saying that I’m falling for you, Danielle Wood.”

My mouth opens and closes, but only a squeak comes out.

He turns away. “I know I don’t deserve you and you probably don’t feel the same way about me.”

“I think about you all the time too,” I blurt.

His smile is small but it packs so much. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Like, all the time. I even told my friends about what happened that night at the country club and they think I’m obsessed with you.” My eyes widen and my cheeks get so hot I’ll combust right here and now. “But that’s not true. I’m not obsessed with you.”

He bends his head closer to mine. “Really? Because I’m totally and completely obsessed with you.”

My eyes flick to his luscious lips before trekking back to his eyes. I dip my head, he dips his, his breath warm on my cheek.

He places his hand behind the back of my neck and slowly, gently, like he has all the time in the world, brings his lips to mine. As soon as they make contact, my body explodes like fireworks on the Fourth of July. Easton is slow, gentle, his lips like silk as they move against mine. I can feel so much in this kiss, how happy he is right now in this moment, how he wants to show me I’m important to him, how glad and relieved he is that we’re sharing this together.

My hands sweep across the hard muscles of his chest as I push myself closer, wanting to feel more of him. His heartbeat pounds against my hand and I’m pretty sure mine is beating just as strongly.

Easton spins us around, pressing me against the bookshelf, though not hurting me. His hand moves to my head, where he gently strokes it. His lips are still working magic on mine and I don’t want this to end. I’d die happy right now.

As he slowly backs away, I want to grab him and slam my lips back to his, but I’m so out of breath I might pass out.

His smile is slow as he gazes into my eyes. “Pretty obsessed, huh?”

“Totally,” I breathe. “And I might be obsessed back.”

He chuckles, his finger forming small circles on my cheek that make my legs so weak I’m glad the bookshelf is holding me in place. “Dani, I like you. I like you a lot. And I’d be honored if you’d be my girlfriend.”

I can’t help the goofy smile that conquers my face. “I mean, I don’t…okay.”

He laughs again. “Just okay?”

“You want me to thank the heavens I’m the lucky girl you chose?”

“No. I just want you to admit you’re crazy about me.”

I tilt my head to the side. “I wouldn’t say I’m crazy—”

He presses his lips to mine again and I forget what we were talking about. This kiss is just as intense as the other, but more urgent. Like he’s been holding his feelings in for a while and is finally letting them free.

When he pulls back, he wears a cocky smile. “Well?”

“I’d be honored to be your girlfriend, Mr. Knight.”

He frowns. “That’s my dad.”

“I’d be honored to be your girlfriend, Easton Knight Jr. Wow. What have I done to merit this? You could have chosen any girl...” My eyes widen as a thought hits me and I step away from him. “Wait a second. You have chosen another girl.” I shake my head, as if putting some sense into it. “What the heck am I doing? You’re engaged.”

His eyes grow large and he steps back. “I’m not engaged.”

“Bianca Burrell. You’re going to marry her.”

His face turns so sour he looks like he wants to punch something. “I’m not marrying Bianca Burrell.”

I throw my hands up. “Gabby Reyes told me you’ve been engaged for years. You’re going to marry and combine your empires. You were with her at the country club. She was your date!”

He shakes his head, running his hand through his hair and messing up the perfectly placed strands. “Bianca means nothing to me. My parents formed an alliance when we were babies. We’re promised to each other, but I don’t want to marry her.”

I shake my head. “Gabby told me you have no choice. It’s for the future of your empire.”

He scrubs a hand down his face. “It’s what my parents want, and yes, it’s for the good of the empire, but what about me? No one has ever asked me what I want. And you know what I want, Dani?” He takes my hands. “I want you.” He steps closer to me. “I just want you.”

I yank my hands free. “But Bianca—”

“I feel nothing toward her. Before I met you, I didn’t think I had much of a choice. I guess I figured I’d endure being married to Bianca and have an heir to take over after me, just like my parents did. But what kind of life is that? No love? Bianca doesn’t love me, she just loves my money and my body. She just wants a handsome man to hang off her arm like an accessory.” He throws his hands up. “My parents act like business partners instead of husband and wife. Is that the kind of life I want to live? Waking up in the morning, getting through the day, and then it’s over? And repeat the next day.” He shakes his head. “I want so much more, Dani. With you. Only you.”

He’s making a tingly feeling sprout all over me. Tears flash in my eyes and I have no idea why. “No one has ever said that to me before.”

He wipes the corners of my eyes with his thumbs. “Please be my girlfriend, Dani. I feel so strongly about you, something I’ve never felt before. But I want to explore it with you. Forget Bianca and my parents and what’s expected of me. Let’s just be together.”

I swallow the lump in my throat and try to ignore the butterflies attacking my stomach. “Are you sure?”

He gazes into my eyes with such intensity. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”

“Okay,” I say. “I want to be with you too, Easton.”

He brushes his lips against mine. “You have no idea how happy that makes me, my beautiful Dani.”

I lean away from him, my eyebrows furrowed. “Beautiful? Me?”

“You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met.”

“You’re the most handsome guy I’ve ever met.”

He bends close, giving me a cocky grin. “I know.”

Rolling my eyes, I grab the front of his shirt and pull his lips to mine.

We continue making out in the library, surrounded by all the books that I swear are clapping and cheering for us.