When I got off the phone with Mark, my heart was pounding. Had I really just done what I thought I did? I had. I had taken him up on his offer, and now I was going to pack up my life and move to San Diego.
I couldn"t believe it, in a way. This was basically the opposite of how I did things. I was the a.n.a.lytical type. I would generally make a pros and cons list whenever I wanted to make a big life decision and agonize over it for weeks before finally making my call.
But this, this had only taken days. I hadn"t made a list of pros and cons. I hadn"t even thought of one in my head. I made this decision based on my gut instinct, and my gut instinct told me I wanted to be with Mark Selzer.
He had swept me off my feet in Hawaii, tracked me down in Minneapolis and after a second night of the most amazing s.e.x I"d ever had in my life, offered for me to come live with him in San Diego. It"s funny how things come to you when you least go looking for them. I had sworn off men for good after my last relationship ended in disaster, and yet after only one real date I had found myself falling for Mark.
Just to add to the crazy, it turned out he was the heir to the largest resort company in the country and was worth billions of dollars in his own right. Oh G.o.d, Lisa"s going to be so excited, and then want to kill me at the same time.
Lisa was my best friend, who always wanted me to date guys, probably so she could live through me vicariously, since she was happily married. She was away on business and getting back the next day, I hadn"t even told her about Mark finding me here in Minneapolis.
My head began to spin. Everything was happening so fast. I didn"t really do fast. I liked to take things slowly, take calculated risks. I wasn"t the type of girl who moved halfway around the country for a guy.
He did offer you a raise though. That was true, but what if the relationship crashed and burned? I"d have to find another job, in a new city where I didn"t know anyone, in an economy that could only be described as "complete s.h.i.t".
I needed to do something useful. I needed to do something practical, to stop thinking about how crazy this was. I went to my computer and opened Craigslist. I needed to find a place to rent now, after all.
Browsing through what I could only describe as exorbitantly priced apartments, I began to calm down. This was going to be fine. People moved across the country all the time. I was going to make more money, this would be a great opportunity for advancement, and there was nothing that said that Mark and I had to take things quickly. We could move slowly. It was going to be fine. I was going to be fine.
"Are you f.u.c.king kidding me?"
I wasn"t sure exactly what Lisa"s reaction would be when I told her about Mark, but now I knew.
"You"re dating a f.u.c.king billionaire? And you"re moving to San f.u.c.king Diego?" Lisa"s language always got a wee bit more colorful when she was excited. "Oh my G.o.d, Caroline, I want your life. Seriously, I"m going to murder you and steal your ident.i.ty so I can be you."
"I"m pretty sure Mark knows what I look like now," I replied, laughing. "So you"re not mad I"m abandoning you for California?" I asked while we sat in our favourite coffee shop during our lunch break the next day.
"Of course I"m mad! I"m fuming! But I"m way happier for you than I am mad. Of course you have to go. I mean, Minneapolis isn"t filled with billionaires that want to date you, that"s totally a demographic you need to stick with."
"Yeah, I dunno. I"m kind of wondering if it was the right thing to do."
"Of course it was! You said it yourself, you like the guy. You"ll make a ton more money there, and you"ll get to go out with someone you like. Maybe it doesn"t work out. You just come back here, and you"ll have a h.e.l.l of a story to tell, and hopefully some awesome jewellery to hawk."
I laughed. "Well, hopefully that won"t happen. I do like this guy. I didn"t really expect myself to date anyone new. I haven"t dated anyone in over a year now, I"ve pretty much forgotten how it goes."
"You"ll be fine, Caroline. Don"t worry about it. And remember, I"m always just a phone call away. And I promise I"ll come visit, especially in the winter."
"Thanks, Lisa. You"re a good friend."
Three weeks later I was packed up and ready to go. All of my things were in a moving van, I had a few essentials and some final boxes shoved into the back of my old car that I really hoped was going to make it all the way to California in one piece.
"Well, here goes nothing," I muttered to myself as I got into the car and turned it on, driving towards the highway, going west. I"d found an apartment and paid the security deposit. Mark had wanted to pay for an apartment for me, or let me stay in one of the ones he owned, but I refused. It was just a little bit too much for me too quickly, but Mark understood completely and dropped the subject.
My heart pounded with every mile marker I pa.s.sed. I had done this before, of course, packing up completely and leaving. The difference was, last time literally no one in my life knew about it. This time Lisa and I had gone out for breakfast one last time while the movers were getting my things ready. She told me I could call her anytime, and as I pulled out onto the highway, I felt that first urge to reach for the phone.
I didn"t know if I was making the right decision. I had no idea. I hoped I was, but I was still nervous about it. I guess not knowing what the future holds is what life is all about though.
The drive to San Diego was going to take me three days. I wanted to get the bulk of it out of the road as quickly as possible though, so I drove straight through to Denver, arriving at the hotel I"d booked at almost midnight. I was too exhausted to do anything except collapse in the bed and fall asleep, and the next day I kept going.
I drove from Denver to Las Vegas, where I spent the night in a not-too-bad hotel off the strip, where I hoped my packed car would be safe for a night. Waking up the next morning and finding my belongings were all still there, I did the final five hours to my new home.
I"d given a key to the movers, who were already there and unloading my things when I arrived. By mid afternoon when they left, all of my things in boxes on the floor of what was my new home, I was completely exhausted. I had just moved across the country. For a man.
Ten minutes later, as I lay sprawled on my couch looking at the boxes I absolutely had zero desire to unpack, that man in question knocked on my door, pizza in hand.
"Hey, I thought you"d be in by now, I wanted to surprise you with some food and maybe a hand getting all your stuff unpacked."
"You should know better than to show up at my place unannounced," I teased.
"Yeah, but this time I brought pizza, which I figure right now is probably more useful than flowers."
"You have no idea," I replied, hungrily grabbing a slice and practically devouring it. "Thank you, I haven"t really eaten since breakfast. I"m exhausted, and I"ve barely unpacked anything."
"Well, it"s not like you need to be completely unpacked tonight." Mark moved towards the boxes in the kitchen as I collapsed on the couch once more, precariously balancing the box of pizza on the arm of it.
"Do you have any preference about what dishes go in which cupboard?" Mark asked, opening one of the boxes.
"No, as long as it makes sense, I don"t care."
I watched with grat.i.tude as Mark began unpacking for me, putting my plates, gla.s.ses, cutlery and all my other kitchen stuff away, taking care of some of the most annoying things to unpack.
"Thanks Mark, for coming by and helping," I told him, getting up. The energy from the pizza gave me a second wind, and I got up and started unpacking some books, sliding them haphazardly into my bookcase and being thankful that of all my quirks, caring about books being sorted alphabetically or however wasn"t one of them.
Three hours later, we were done. Empty boxes lay flattened in a pile, to be taken to my little storage locker downstairs. We collapsed onto the couch together, both of us exhausted by now, finishing off the rest of the now-cold pizza.
"Welcome to San Diego," Mark told me, and we toasted with our slices since we didn"t have any champagne.
"Thanks for coming."
"Hey, no problem. It"s not easy moving to a new place, and I appreciate that you"ve done it for me, the least I could do was come over and help you get settled in. And speaking of settled in..." he continued, leaning over and planting one of those perfect kisses of his on my lips. My body immediately reacted, knowing what was coming next, wanting more. Pulses of pleasure began to run through me, a small moan escaped my lips and my hips pressed against Mark involuntarily.
The next few hours were easily the best welcome I"d ever had to a new apartment.
Two days later I started at Mark"s company. He introduced me to my new boss, Danielle, himself. She was an older, stern woman, with a bit of an old librarian look about her, but she was actually quite nice. I had my own office once more, and I immediately set about learning how everything worked at the company.
No one knew Mark and I were dating, to my relief. It wasn"t something I wanted to be known publically. Everyone just knew I was a new hire, and that was that. I picked up the work pretty quickly, filled out a number of forms for human resources to take care of, and just as the clock was about to strike five, my phone rang.
"Hey, I was thinking, you probably want to stay in and buy things like groceries tonight, but would you let me take you out on the town tomorrow?"
"That sounds good, definitely."
"Awesome. Listen, I want to take you somewhere nice. Go down to Elizabeth"s Boutique on Market Street tomorrow and pick something out. They know to expect you."
"Are you sure? I have a couple nice things in my wardrobe now."
"I"m sure. I want to do something nice for you, consider it a gift for coming all this way."
"Wow... thanks!" I replied. I was lying when I said I had some nice things, I had never bought anything that wasn"t from a sale rack. It wasn"t that I didn"t make any money in Minneapolis, the job there actually paid pretty well. It was just that I wanted to get rid of my student loans as soon as possible.
Maybe dating a billionaire had its little perks after all!
The next day on my lunch break I walked down to Market Street and found Elizabeth"s Boutique, a cute little designer dress shop. As soon as I walked in the attendant was all over me.
"Oh you must be Caroline, Mark told us you"d be in today," she told me as she brought over racks and racks of dresses. "I"m Andrea, I"m here to help you pick out your dress for today." I wasn"t used to being treated this way in a clothing store, most of my clothes came from shops where there was one person, maybe two people during the peak times to help customers, it certainly wasn"t one on one service.
"Now, do you have any preferences in terms of style, or color?"
"Umm... not really, no, I hadn"t really thought about it. I guess, I kind of like blue, I think it goes well with my eyes, or maybe green?"
"Fantastic, I love the idea of green. Let"s get you into an emerald dress." Andrea looked me up and down, and I could feel myself starting to blush. I wasn"t used to salespeople looking at me so openly like this.
"I think we"re going to start of putting you in something form fitting. You"re hiding it there somewhat, but I suspect there"s a great shape under that suit, and you"ll look amazing if you show it off."
Half an hour later we had the perfect dress. It was turquoise, with a sweetheart neckline and sleeves, hugged my curves before ending just above the knee. It was both s.e.xy, flirty, but also cla.s.sy, without revealing too much.
"You"ll need a pair of shoes to go with it," Andrea urged, moving me towards the back to the store.
"Oh no, I couldn"t, Mark said to just buy a dress," I protested. I knew I didn"t have the money to pay for any of the shoes that were in here myself. I had already caught a glimpse at the price tag on the dress I was going to buy and almost fainted..
"Mark told me you could buy anything you needed sweetie, and believe me, I think you need a new pair of shoes with that dress."
Reluctantly I agreed, and when I left the store I had a brand new pair of white heels that went perfectly with the dress. I knew I had a white Guess clutch in my apartment somewhere that would finish off the outfit perfectly.
Mark was picking me up at 7, so when I was finished work I went home to have a quick shower and get ready before we were to go out.
When I finally had my entire outfit on, my makeup done, my hair let down over my shoulders, I smiled at myself in the mirror. Even I had to admit, I looked pretty good in what I was wearing. I twirled around and giggled to myself. I hadn"t worn clothes this nice, well, ever. h.e.l.l, the dress alone cost more than a month"s rent back in Minneapolis.
When Mark rang at my door I answered enthusiastically. He looked me up and down and let out a low whistle.
"d.a.m.n, that"s a h.e.l.l of a dress," he told me as he kissed me softly on the cheek and extended a hand, which I took.
"Thanks, I"m glad you like it, seeing as you paid for it."
"If that"s the kind of thing you buy with my money I"m letting you buy a whole new wardrobe!" he answered.
Mark had parked his car outside my building, and my jaw dropped when I saw it. He drove a veritable sports car! Sleek, low to the ground and metallic looking, it practically screamed money.
"Wow, you drive this?" I couldn"t help but ask.
"Yeah, get in!" he encouraged, and I did as he asked, sliding into the smooth pa.s.senger seat and giggling with excitement as the engine roared to life.
As we drove down the city streets, I realized this car was designed for the highway, or the racetrack. The engine purred, like it wanted to go faster, like it needed more as we drove through streets where the speed limit was 35.
We finally pulled up in front of a restaurant. I"d long since lost track of where in town we were, I hadn"t even had the chance to go anywhere except find the grocery store near my house, the Hibiscus offices and Elizabeth"s boutique.
As soon as we entered I felt out of place. This was the sort of place celebrities ate at. Soft lighting, tables set far apart, waiters darting silently like ghosts in between tables, this wasn"t the sort of place I normally ate at.
The waiter greeted Mark by name and led us to a table that I had a sneaking suspicion was Mark"s regular seat. As we were led past the other diners, I felt like everyone was staring at me, like they would immediately recognize me for being a fraud. I didn"t belong here. Sure, I was wearing an expensive dress, but surely everyone saw through it and saw the kid who grew up in a lower cla.s.s family in Oklahoma.
When we sat down I leaned forward towards Mark. "I didn"t know we were going to go somewhere this fancy!"
"Of course! This is our second official date, I wanted to make it special for you."
"I don"t belong here at all."
"Nonsense. Of course you do. There"s no reason why you don"t belong here. You"re with me. Besides, you"re a human being, aren"t you? Relax. You look fine, no one thinks you look out of place."
Mark"s words rea.s.sured me somewhat, and I decided my paranoia was probably more responsible for a lot of these thoughts than anything else. I relaxed a bit and looked at the menu.
There wasn"t a single item on the menu for under $50. But, it looked absolutely delicious. I spent ages going through the mouth-watering entrees, trying to decide on something. I settled on the coq au vin, which the waiter a.s.sured me was a wonderful choice.
"So, how were your first couple of days working for my company?" Mark asked. "Be honest, I"m using you as a spy to see how my other employees are really doing," he joked.
"Honestly, it"s been good. I like Danielle, I like my work, it"s interesting. I haven"t gotten a chance to do a lot yet, but I like how it"s going. And I have to say, I like the fact that it"s October and I can still go outside without even wearing a jacket."
"Yeah, that"s definitely one of the advantages of living here. I hope you didn"t pack all of your winter clothes, you probably aren"t going to need them."
"If only it was cheaper to live here, it would be perfect."
"That really is the downside of the city. Especially with the huge influx in tech companies that have come around lately, rent prices especially have become pretty bad."
We continued dinner, chatting about ourselves. I noticed that, like me, Mark never spoke of his childhood or his family. It was almost as though we both realized neither one of us really wanted to talk about it.
When dinner was finished Mark and I went for a walk around the city for a little bit before he offered to take me home.
"Unless you"d like to come to my place..." he offered with a twinkle in his eye.
"You"re right, I don"t know what it looks like, and you"ve been to my place," I replied, slipping my hand into his.
Ten minutes later Mark"s car slipped into his parking spot in the garage underneath his building. We took the elevator to the top floor, which opened up directly into his suite. Enormous, expensive and open plan, the place was hands down the most amazing apartment I"d ever been in.
"Jesus, you live here?" I asked as I walked around, looking at the expensive furniture, the granite counters in the kitchen, the enormous flat screen hanging up against a wall in the living room and everything else. I knew Mark was rich, of course, but it"s one thing to know a person has more money than you"re ever going to see in your lifetime, and another entirely to physically see it spent in front of you.
"I guess you like it then?" Mark asked sheepishly.
"I do! Yeah, sorry, I guess I kind of invited myself in to stare," I blushed, realizing what I"d been doing could probably be considered rude.
"Don"t worry about it. Here, let me show you the bedroom."
Although I hadn"t expected to, I ended up spending the night at Mark"s apartment, in his bed. I hadn"t slept in another man"s bed in a long time. This was different, this felt right.
I lay awake after we had s.e.x. I could hear Mark"s gentle breathing, soft and rhythmic, his hard chest moving up and down as he slept. He had tied my wrists to the bedposts then gone down on me, his tongue doing things to me that drove me insane as I writhed under him.