Billionaire Bear’s Human Mate by Alicia Banks
Chapter 8
Vivica
“So, how was your first day?”
Vivica groaned and Shane looked over at her. She realized that she needed to control her reactions a little bit better, but it was hard to. The question was so ridiculous in her mind. He really had no idea what her days usually looked like. It was a far cry from one of her normal days.
He took her pause as something else. “Was it that bad?”
She scoffed. He really had no idea. “No, it was great. I think that was one of the best days I've had in a long time. Your assistant Devin is really great.”
Shane mumbled something about how he knew that because he was the one that hired him, but he didn't seem to take the compliment very well. Vivica wondered why he looked so disgruntled all of a sudden, but she was already finding out that Shane was pretty up and down when it came to his emotions. One minute he was smiling and making her knees buckle with the motion, and the next he was looking at her suspiciously. Shane was a rollercoaster and the whole time she was waiting for him to do something more. Waiting and wishing.
She had to get her mind off of him though and back to the job that he had so kindly given her.
“I didn't realize that you had so many companies. How do you keep them all straight? I got a list of them today and it was really impressive. Do people know everything you have under wraps here?”
Shane smiled at the question and said that he’d been featured in a couple of magazines that had been attempted to give out all that information but missed the mark. Shane liked the anonymity that came with how he did business.
“You don't like all the attention?”
“Not in the least. I wish that they would just leave it alone. They are far too worried about how many companies and how much money I have. Then they want to do interviews about eligible bachelors. I want to be more of a recluse that doesn't get his picture taken every time he leaves his house.”
Vivica didn't know what to say to that. She never had to worry about being followed around or bothered. She could see how it would be hard to cope with all the time though. Shane seemed bothered by it, and she was glad that she didn’t have to deal with it.
“Most people would like all the attention.”
“Not me.”
“Because you’re different, Shane.”
“Oh, I know. Trust me, I have heard that before.”
“You are different, Shane, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Most people would have heard me scream and kept walking, even seeing it all, they would have. I’m glad you’re different, or I might not be here right now. The world needs more people like you.”
Shane actually started to get a little red-faced and she asked him if he was blushing. Vivica could see that's exactly what was going on. This billionaire hunk of a man crumbled with a few compliments.
Nothing about Shane made any sense. She had gone against her better judgment and stayed. And she really had had a great day, not solely because of Devin, but he was a really nice guy. Everything that Vivica had thought was true about the situation turned out to be false.
“I can't believe you're blushing. How old are you?”
Shane was serious for a moment and told her that he was thirty-one.
“You are quite old, aren't you?”
That got her another dirty look, but at least he wasn't blushing anymore. Guys like Shane were not supposed to blush. It was too hard to see, and Vivica was affected by it somehow.
They were back to his house and Vivica was still feeling strange about the situation, but she was feeling more and more comfortable with Shane. Her biggest question was how long this was going to go on. Was he really just going to let her stay there and work for him, without something in return? Although, would something in return really be so bad?
Vivica was still very attracted to him and a part of her was still waiting for him to finally make his move. She wasn't sure exactly what she was going to do when he did, having no real experience with men, besides pushing them back. Shane would be different in many ways, and she was interested in finding out how it would all pan out.
***
That evening, Maria was surprised to find that Shane was at the table with Vivica.
“You're dining in tonight?”
“I was. Do you have enough, or would you like me to order something instead?”
Mary agreed quickly that she did, but she still wasn't sure what to do. It made Vivica wonder where he was most nights. It, of course, wasn't her concern. She shouldn't care either way, but her mind kept going back to it, wondering. What did a guy like Shane do with his nights? She didn't know what he did with his days either, but from what she had been told and overheard, Shane worked. And worked. And worked.
Maria left to go get whatever it was for dinner and Vivica didn’t care what it was. It was most likely going to be better than anything she had in the last few weeks. If it was anything like the sheets, she was in for a real treat too.
It was hard for Vivica to sit there and not look at Shane. He was staring at her. She could feel the attention and when she finally looked up, his dark green eyes didn't look away. Instead, they swallowed her whole, and she was physically shaking because of it.
“So, tell me about yourself, Vivica.”
Vivica sighed, groaning inwardly. That was the last thing that she wanted to do.
“I've always felt like it is better to have a little mystery. Never a good thing to blab it all out.”
“Since you are living under my roof, I should probably know a little bit about you.”
Vivica knew that would happen, the curiosity. She didn’t think she had answers that he wanted to hear though. Vivica hated to talk about herself. There wasn’t much good to be said. All that was to say, Vivica liked to keep her personal life to herself. It was no one else’s business, and Shane was no different. She didn’t want him to know her truth.
She had no choice though. Vivica wasn’t ready to throw the situation away, just because she was a little scared. A little longer, a little money, Vivica could really stop the cycle she was living in.
“What do you want to know?”
“Where do you come from?”
“I come from everywhere.”
“That's not really an answer.”
“Well, it’s the only one I have.”
“How long have you been in New Orleans?”
Vivica thought about it for a moment. “I guess I've been here a couple of months.”
“And before that?”
“Birmingham.”
“How long were you there?”
“A few months.”
“And before that?”
“Louisville, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and a whole lot of other places. Like I said before, I come from everywhere.”
Shane didn't know what to say and Vivica was used to that. When she did reveal anything about herself, it seemed to be so abnormal to everyone else that they just couldn't get their head around it. They would always ask questions and look confused. Shane was no different, yet he asked the one question that no one else seemed to care about.
“Why?”
That was the point where Vivica didn't know what she should say. She usually didn't say anything, she usually didn't stay in somebody's house, and she usually didn't work a regular job in an office with her own desk and everything. Vivica was certainly on uneven ground because she had never been there before.
“Honestly, it started out that way because I ran away from foster care when I was about fifteen or sixteen. When you’re that young, you can’t really stay in one place when you're on your own. So, I moved around a lot and anytime there was any trouble, or I thought I’d been somewhere too long, I would just move. Became a habit I guess.”
“And you’ve been doing that for four years now?”
Vivica agreed that she had been. It was a long four years, but it had somehow become her life.
“You kind of get used to it after a while.”
“I don't know if that's something I would want to get used to.”
“Well, you’d be surprised what you can get used to after some time. What about you? What about your family?”
“You didn't tell me much about yours.”
“Well, my mother and father both died. So, there isn't much to tell. I am an only child and never really met extended family. I think my parents had a falling out with them or something.”
He just kind of looked at her, and Vivica almost wished that she hadn't said anything. She was usually pretty blasé about that sort of thing because she had recited it so many times, it didn’t really affect her anymore. Why would she be sad about it? It's not like it could change and she had learned a long time ago, that there was no need to get upset about some things. Sometimes it was just how it was supposed to be.
“I'm sorry to hear that.”
Vivica waved him off. “It was a long time ago.”
“You talk about it like it doesn't even phase you.”
“Like I said, it happened a long time ago. Now, what about your family? This is a really big house for just you to live in.”
“I have several people who live here.”
“Does anybody live here who isn’t one of your employees?”
He agreed that there wasn’t, and Vivica said that there was probably something to be said about that.
“Yeah, it means that it's easier to deal with employees.”
“So, you don't have to get close to anyone, huh?”
She got another strange look from Shane, but Vivica figured that she had gotten it right on the nose. He wasn't worried about starting relationships because he didn't want them. Vivica had felt the same way, so she understood. Vivica couldn’t get close to anyone either. How many times had she thought of starting something, something real, only to remember that her circumstances wouldn’t let that happen?
“Something like that. For an orphan, you seem to know your way around people.”
“Is that a compliment? People are easy.”
“Probably as close as it's going to get for me.”
Vivica smiled at him, and he smiled back. He could sound gruff and have his mood swings, but at the end of the day, he was gentle. Vivica was convinced that he was a big ole teddy bear.
Not too long from this moment, she was going to find out that she was closer to the truth than she ever would have imagined.
