There's More To Me

Rip

As I drove Naomi to my real home, I tried to calm my raging panic. She was about to learn that everything she thought she knew about me was wrong. While I was with her mother, I kept my lifestyle very basic. I had tried to find a woman that wouldn’t care about my money, and the only way I could do that was to hide it. The reason she hadn’t been able to find anything about me online was because no one knew that I was Rip Montgomery, or that I had a hired ‘face’ to represent me in public. I had even married her mother with a fake name. I hadn’t been trying to hurt anyone. I was just trying to make sure that all the emotions involved were real. I knew Naomi’s had been, but I hadn’t been sure of her mother’s. I knew that I was going to have to explain to Naomi about everything, but first I needed a small break to gather my thoughts. Currently, I was completely lost with everything going on.

I hated that I felt trapped. I knew Naomi, or at least I thought I did. Two years was a long time and I had no idea just how much she had changed. I glanced at her and was once again floored by how stunning she had grown up to be. Maybe I didn’t know her like I thought I did. Gone was the baby face girl I knew. In her place sat a well developed young woman. A young woman that I now knew how she felt, and how she tasted. I knew how she sounded when she came undone, and it had been my name on her lips. Not only that, but I knew how she looked when she exploded. And let’s not even talk about how amazing she smelled. It was a scent that I never smelled before. It was a tantalizing mix of something sweet and sultry. Something that was absolutely perfect for the vixen she had grown up to be.

I didn’t want to be in a sexual relationship with her, but I did. My feelings over it were very conflicting. I wanted to tuck her into bed, while at the same time I wanted to tuck myself into her body. And that thought alone was enough to make me feel a complete and utter asshole. I knew I was never going to touch her again. At least not like that. I couldn’t. She had told me how she felt about the entire situation. And even though I felt the same way, craving her like a drug, I wasn’t going to let her destroy her life by continuing to sleep with me. She deserved to have more than what I could offer her. The only reason that I agreed to be intimate with her was to buy myself time to figure out how to keep her in my life without sleeping with her.

I wasn’t sure if I was right or wrong about knowing her, but I was leaning more toward still knowing her. She still had a very readable face, and exhibited the same attitude that she had always had. Going with my gut, I had made promises to her that I never intended to keep. I was 100% sure that if I hadn’t agreed, she would have already disappeared, and that wasn’t something I was going to allow. Now that I had her back in my life, I wasn’t going to let her go. I would be damned if she tried to leave me again. She was mine! And I wasn’t going to let her forget it! I–

“Rip?”

“Yes, Nomes?” I immediately replied, only half paying attention to her as my thoughts continued to ramble on.

“I’m hungry. Can you pull over at the McDonald’s up here so I can get a hash brown?” she requested softly, flushing in embarrassment.

“A hash brown?” I repeated, frowning at her.

“Yeah. It’s all I can afford.”

I narrowed my eyes on the driveway ahead of me as I turned into the McDonald’s parking lot. “Get whatever you want, Naomi. I’ll buy it for you. You’re home now. I’m going to take care of you,” I told her.

“Anything huh?”

“Yes. Anything.”

“Seriously, Rip. What’s my budget? $10?” she asked, making me clench my jaw.

“You don’t have a budget. Things are going to be different now. So, order whatever you want.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, and I tensed up a little as I prepared myself for whatever she was going to ask me for. I knew she was about to press boundaries if the defiant look on her face told me anything.

“Okay. I’ll take one of everything on the menu,” she said, eyeing me closely.

I raised an eyebrow at her, debating if I should ace her test and just do it, or kind of try to put reins on her. Once I decided, I pulled up to the speaker.

“Welcome to McDonald’s. What can we get started for you today?”

“I’ll take one of everything on the menu, please, including drinks,” I told the woman, making Naomi gasp and grab my arm.

“Rip, what are you doing?”

“You said you wanted one of everything on the menu. That’s what you’re getting,” I replied as I pulled up to the first window, not having heard how much it was going to cost me.

It didn’t matter. I had already decided that whatever she asked me for, I was going to give to her. That was one of the best perks of being a secret billionaire. I could spoil her rotten, and that was exactly what I was going to do. She was an adult now, and I didn’t have to worry about her mother trying to take millions from me for stupid things. When I handed the woman my card to pay, Naomi tried to grab it away from me.

“Rip, seriously! You can’t afford this! It’s too much! You don’t have to prove anything to me,” she said.

After being told to pull up to the third window to wait for our large order, I put the car in park and shifted toward her.

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Naomi, you have a lot to learn about who I am, and what I do. This is nothing to me. I promise you that I’m not going to go ‘broke’ because I did this.” I took her hand and put it over my heart. “I want to provide for you. I want to take care of you. I want you to be happy. If you feel the need to test me, test me. I’m not going to lie to you. Not anymore. I don’t have to. I don’t have to protect my assets from greedy people. I’m not someone that has to count pennies. I don’t live paycheck to paycheck. When I married your mother, I made her sign a prenuptial agreement so that she would not be entitled to any of my money if we were to divorce, but just because I divorced her doesn’t mean that I won’t take care of you. You did nothing wrong. I never worried that you were trying to take advantage of me. You were pure, innocent, and I have no problem with you knowing about what I have. When we get to my house, you’re going to see just how much I kept from your mother, and I don’t want you to be overwhelmed by it.”

Her eyes widened as she stared at me in shock. “You can’t be serious!”

“I am very serious, Naomi. When I married your mother, I was hoping that you would be my heir, and I still want to leave everything I have to you,” I told her.

Her eyes widened even more. “No you didn’t!”

I nodded as I chuckled. “I did. And I still hope you will be, but I’m not going to force you to take anything from me. It’s completely your decision. Even if you decide not to take it all, I would like you to at least accept your savings account that I’ve been putting money into for years.”

“Rip…”

“Say yes, Naomi. Please.”

She eyed me closely before crossing her arms over her chest. “On one condition.”

“What condition?” I asked warily.

“After we get the food, I want you to go somewhere with me,” she answered. “But I’m not going to tell you where we are going. I’m going to give you directions, and I want you to follow them.”

I didn’t even hesitate for a moment before I nodded. I knew that if she at least took her account, she would be taken care of for the rest of her life. And that was very important to me, so I would do whatever she asked me for to ensure it happened. Twenty minutes later, I found myself carefully driving down a worn down street filled with pot holes to avoid knocking over any of the drinks that had been precariously placed on the backseat. She had led me to the bad side of town, and I was a little nervous about why we were there. She had me pull up behind a small building and I frowned at her as she jumped out of the car to hug a guy her age. I got out of the car, barely managing to stop myself from slamming the door as jealousy filled me.

“Naomi, who is that?” I snapped before grimacing.

That was so not what I meant to ask her. Dammit!