Darien continued to stare at Zach as his heartbeat increased rapidly in speed. Either he was on his way to an early heart attack due to the amount of ice cream he had consumed or his heart was responding to Zach.
Which was the more preferable option?
The billionaire was feeling lost. Instead of being on a quiet beach stuck staring at Zach, he was losing his way in the wilderness. Memories of his one night of freedom at a masked ball were coming thick and fast. He normally tried to keep those memories at bay.
“...Are you tired?” Zach’s soft voice made itself known.
That was enough to jerk Darien out of his lost state. He could control himself. He wasn’t a romance struck teenager, he was a 27 year old billionaire.
“Just a little, let’s go back to the hotel and have dinner. It’s got a five star level restaurant.”
Zach perked up noticeably which caused Darien to smile. The intern was very precious. Anyone who ended up dating him would be v
Zach opened his door and found Darien waiting outside as they had agreed. He was feeling excited about breakfast whereas Darien was sporting dark shadows around his eyes and looked like he hadn’t slept well. “Were you up all night working?” he asked. Darien covered his mouth whilst he yawned. Zach took that to be a reply to his question. Despite his visible fatigue, the billionaire was still sleekly dressed in another colourful jacket and blue trousers. His hair was freshly wavy and he was wearing a simple necklace that probably cost more than Zach’s monthly rent. “I finished reading my back catalogue and finished the plot outline,” the billionaire replied. “It took longer than I thought. It’s fortunate we’re leaving this morning so I can sleep when I get back.” They fell into step together and this time Zach elected to take the lift. Darien didn’t look like he would appreciate walking down all those stairs. The breakfast area was ever
Darien couldn’t believe what he had done when he returned home. He had fallen asleep on Zach’s shoulder on the train and had to be woken up. Zach had probably been inconvenienced by that. He had apologised once he realised where his head was. Zach had accepted the apology and had denied being bothered by it like the kind and polite person he was. His stomach rumbled and drew his focus away from his transgression on the train. Eating like he had over the past day had messed with his schedule. Darien strode to the kitchen and made himself a protein shake. Darien’s eating habits had materialised in his early twenties when he had taken over Harper Publishing. Every second of his day back then had been focused on learning how to run the business and once he grasped those skills, he had changed to trying to drive the company to new heights. There had been no time for proper meals unless it was to lure in new business partners. He had compensated by changing to supp
Zach sat down at the well polished table opposite the billionaire. The strange feeling in his heart had gone. Perhaps it had been his first instance of heartburn. Darien looked as good as always. His hair was primped to perfection. Zach liked his wavy hair from the weekend more than his neatly arranged straight hair. Maybe it was because of the implication that he was one of a very small number of people to see him with wavy hair. The billionaire was currently engaged in a quiet conversation with the waiter who came across as efficiency incarnated. “Was that your order?” Zach asked once the waiter had left. “That’s right,” Darien confirmed. “I want to surprise you.” Zach resisted the urge to get his phone out under the table and do some internet research about this particular restaurant. He had a feeling he had seen the name somewhere before so it was probably another top rated restaurant in London. “Is your hair naturally straight or
Darien turned away from Zach and despondently walked off to where he had parked his car. He needed to be somewhere quiet so he could settle his heart.He drove home as fast as the speed limits would allow and swore during every traffic jam. The city centre was terrible for car drivers.Once he reached his multi million pound house, he poured himself a bottle of wine and sat outside in the garden.He had fallen for Zach. There was no denying it now. He didn’t just like him, he was in love with him.There was no turning back now.The contract he had created to chain Zach into improving his life, came to mind the second he thought about acting on his feelings.He had put in the clause that neither of them could fall for the other.Darien put his hand into his hands and groaned.He had ruined his own chances at happiness with that contract. Why was it even in the contract? He could have left it out and he would be feeling muc
Darien wanted to bang his head against the steering wheel. He had shown his hand too quickly to Zach. He just hadn’t been able to control his feelings of annoyance when he had seen Zach talking to Austin for so long through the front window of the flower shop. They had looked happy together and well, he’d always had something against Austin. Why had the dim blond decided to open his damn flower shop so close to his offices? It wasn’t even like he could bribe Austin to leave, the blond was rolling in money. He could tell that the intern was annoyed with him for saying those things. There was a tight set to Zach’s jawline and he felt very sorry already. He knew Zach wasn’t in love with Austin, he hadn’t looked flustered with the blond at all from what he had seen. He had the air of a person putting up with someone dumb. He also knew that Zach had no intention of going against the contract by asking Austin out. He knew all that, yet he had done h
Zach was confused by the sudden hand holding. Darien came across as a person who didn’t like to be touched and here he was holding his hand.Then he saw the look of complete pain on the billionaire’s face and he softened. Clearly Darien was holding onto him for help. Spicy noodles weren’t something Darien could withstand.He slipped his hand out of Darien’s grip and patted his head.“I’ll get you something cold,” he said. “You can give up now, I’ve clearly won this challenge.”Darien nodded weakly and Zach smiled to himself. He was most likely to be the only person who had ever seen the billionaire in a state as fragile as this.He quickly grabbed the tub of ice cream from the freezer and two spoons. The shop he had visited to get the noodles hadn’t stocked the largest selection of ice cream due to the time of the year so he had just picked the one he expected Darien to despise the l
Darien couldn’t believe that he had the bravery to invite Zach around to his multi million pound house. No one aside from his personal assistant and cleaner had ever been there. He poured himself a glass of milk from the fridge and drank it in one shot. His tongue was still tingling from those demonic noodles and he had only eaten two mouthfuls. How it was considered a fun pastime was beyond him. Maybe he was out of touch with the youth now. He had been so set on becoming the perfect leader of Harper Publishing at 22 that he had tried to be more mature to make business dealings easier. Now he knew he should have appreciated his youthful years more. At least he had managed to have some fun at university before everything had gone downhill. There was also the making out with a stranger at a masked ball two years ago, but he didn’t like to remember that. Darien’s kitchen contained every modern device possible from an airfryer, an instant boiling water ta
Zach was undeniably flattered to know that he was the first person to have an invitation to Darien’s mansion. It made him feel special as he was getting to see even more aspects of Darien’s private life.It was the most special he had felt in his life.Darien walked down the long hallway and turned left at the end. Zach was shown the two reception rooms, dining room, gym, the sun room, the indoor swimming pool and the display room which was full of empty glass cabinets and lifeless white walls.“The idea was to have a place to display anything I might collect. I’m not into antiques or anything like that so it’s stayed unused,” the billionaire explained after seeing his questioning glance at the empty cabinets. “Maybe I’ll start collecting something when I eventually retire.”The tour continued and the kitchen was next. It was everything he could have dreamed of and it of course had a waffle maker stand