“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded of him, once she got her wind back.

“You wanted to talk and then walked out. You’re lucky I’m giving you a second chance,” he stated in an arrogant tone of voice. She looked at him like he was insane. He thought he was doing her a favor by dragging her out of the diner, costing her a valuable job and most likely her last paycheck as well.

“Are you insane? Do you know how difficult it is to find work?” she demanded of him.

“That was a crap job and you know it. I did you a favor,” he said. His tone of voice said he really did think he’d done her a favor. She rolled her eyes at him and sat back in the car, crossing her arms across her chest and glared out the window. She had no idea where he was taking her, or even what to say to him.

Ryan watched her, as she did her best to pretend like he wasn’t even there. He was irritated by her, acting as if he’d committed some crime, when what he’d done, was help her out. She was much better off without an unsafe job and she’d soon be thanking him. He grinned, as he thought about how she could thank him properly.

He was irritated by how much he desired her. He’d wanted her more than life itself when they’d been teenagers but they’d both been far too young and had never cemented their relationship. They’d certainly done some heavy petting but he’d never taken her and made her his. He was ready to rectify that.

The car pulled up to his gate and slipped inside for the long ride up his private driveway. Nicole seemed to tense more, as she realized they weren’t on the main road anymore.

“Where are you taking me, Ryan?” she demanded to know.

“To my house, so we can finish our chat privately,” he simply replied.

Nicole looked at him nervously. She’d been in no way prepared to step into his house. It was truly his domain and she didn’t want to leave the vehicle. The driver pulled up to the massive home and opened the back door. She stubbornly sat there, refusing to exit the vehicle.

“You can get out and walk in, or I can carry you,” Ryan said to her. The driver said nothing and Nicole knew Ryan wasn’t bluffing so she reluctantly exited the car and followed him toward the house.

He opened the front door and she stood there in shock. She knew Ryan was incredibly wealthy but if she hadn’t, the sheer size of his home would’ve clued her in. She didn’t understand why he would possibly need a place so large. The entryway alone was bigger than the house she’d grown up in. She looked around in awe and desperately tried to tamp down her reaction.

Ryan watched her trying to contain her amazement and smiled to himself. He was no longer the poor kid who hadn’t been good enough for her. He felt great at what he’d accomplished. He’d worked hard for everything he owned and he was in a position now to have anything he wanted. And currently he wanted Nicole.

Nicole was suddenly so exhausted she could barely even stand, let alone walk the long hallway they were traversing. The house seemed to be endless but she placed one foot in front of the other, as she followed him deeper into the home. Finally they rounded a turn and he led her into an inviting room with a warm fire crackling.

She didn’t ask him permission. She simply walked over to the comfortable looking sofa and got off her aching feet. Soon a woman walked into the room and placed a tray near her, which had a steaming cup of coffee on it, along with cream and sugar. She doctored up a cup and took a revitalizing sip. It was pure heaven. She hadn’t had such good coffee in forever.

Before she realized it, the entire cup was gone and Ryan was taking it away and placing a new cup in front of her. She prepared the coffee the way she liked it and sat back, sipping more slowly on her second cup. She didn’t know what was in it but her eyes were feeling even heavier than before and her body was in a complete state of relaxation.

“Are you feeling better?” Ryan asked, snapping her out of her trance.

“This must be decaffeinated because I’m having a hard time staying awake,” she answered him.

“It has a shot of rum in it to sooth your nerves,” he answered, with a slight nod. Nicole was irritated with him for doing that without her permission but the liquor was doing its job and she felt too relaxed to yell at him. “I need to make a call, so we will talk when I get back,” he said and left her alone in the room. Nicole breathed out a sigh of relief. She wanted nothing more than to simply relax for a few minutes before they had the conversation.

She knew she needed to ask for his help with her sister and she was more confident he would help but she wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to handle whatever he wanted out of her in return.

She was beginning to think he was going to want his pound of flesh in return. She shuddered, as she sat back and closed her eyes. Her mind drifted back to the awful day so many years before.

She’d been sixteen years old and he was eighteen. They’d dated for about a year and she was head over heels in love with him. That had been the summer things had gone to hell with her family. Her father had always been abusive but he’d worked full time and she’d managed to keep Ryan away from him. Her mother had been around but not much of a parent.

When her father lost his job, the abuse had gone to a whole new level and she realized she couldn’t possibly keep a boyfriend without him realizing what was going on. Her father was taking out his aggravation on her daily and her body showed obvious signs. Her mother had decided to step out of reality by drowning herself in alcohol from morning to night. Nicole was miserable and in no way wanted the boy she was in love with to realize what a pathetic person she’d become.

She’d planned on running away with Ryan when he headed to the city. She would work while he went to college and they could marry and have a nice little house with a white picket fence. Those dreams were lost because she couldn’t leave her baby sister behind. If she wasn’t there to protect Patsy, her sister would be the one taking the beatings instead of her and that wasn’t acceptable. Patsy was only four at the time.

When she’d realized she would have to break up with him she wanted him to think she was a selfish teenager instead of a pathetic one. She led him to believe she didn’t think he was good enough for her. She played her role well and he walked away without once looking back. He’d always been self-conscious of his poor roots and to the outside world her family seemed well off.

By the time Ryan left, things had gotten really bad at home. He was out of school and though she’d seen him a few times in town, he acted like she didn’t even exist. It nearly destroyed her when she ran into him, with another girl hanging on his arm. He’d spotted her and sent her a wink and she walked away, trying to seem casual, then threw up once she was out of sight of him.

He left two years after they broke up, hating her just as much as the day she’d broken up with him and she endured the abuse for another two years after that. Once she turned eighteen, she got a decent job, took her sister and moved out. Her father didn’t try to stop her because he was afraid of going to jail and her mother was too gone to even notice her daughters left.

Her parents died in an automobile crash two years later and it had only been her and Patsy from that point on. They’d been scraping by, doing fine until Patsy got heart disease, which threatened to take her life. The hospital staff said the surgery was an elective one and now she was sitting in Ryan’s house begging for a hand-out.

Nicole fell asleep with her old memories fresh in her mind, exhaustion finally taking her away. She didn’t want to think about the hurtful past or about her present condition.

Ryan walked into the den and found Nicole asleep on the couch. She looked so exhausted, with the dark circles under her eyes and her body limp, against the back of the couch. She looked so worn out, his anger was deflated.

He scooped her into his arms and in her sleep she turned towards him, seeking his protection. She wrapped herself around him, causing his body to stir with desire. He was disgusted with himself for being so affected, with little more than a simple movement in her sleep.

He placed her on his huge bed and she began to shiver. He quickly pulled off her shoes and pants, groaning at the small scrap of her panties visible to him. He quickly covered her up and decided there was no way he could walk away.

He took a very cold shower and still not trusting himself, put on a pair of sweats and climbed in next to her. She immediately curled into him and he laid there for hours with his body aching but his mind content. It was nice to simply lay there and hold her close and eventually his body relaxed and he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Nicole woke up and stretched her arms. She felt more rested, which was a wonderful feeling. She slowly opened her eyes and realized she was in a very comfortable and yet unfamiliar bed. She looked around in a bit of a panic, not knowing where she was. She was used to waking up in unfamiliar places, since she’d been a nomad for months but she’d never awakened somewhere so luxurious.

“I didn’t think you would ever wake up,” Ryan’s voice said. She jerked up in bed and suddenly remembered her strange night with him. She didn’t have a clue how she’d ended up in one of his bed’s but was eternally grateful to discover she wasn’t naked. She then noticed her missing pants and felt the blush rush over her cheeks. Had he been the one to take her pants off? She was wearing perfectly fine panties that wouldn’t have shown him much but she was still a bit mortified.

“How did I get here?” she managed to choke out.

“I carried you,” he answered and had the gall to wink at her. She couldn’t stop her face from flaming even more red. “I’ll give you some privacy to shower and get dressed. Meet me downstairs in the den,” he told her and disappeared out the door. She’d never been so grateful for someone to leave.

She slowly climbed from the bed and took her time in his shower. If he insisted on her being in his place and treating her like a child then he could wait on her, she thought a bit too smugly. With no other reason to delay, she slowly made her way down the huge staircase in search of the den. She didn’t have to look too long because her nose led the way. She smelled something that made her stomach growl and reminded her she hadn’t eaten since breakfast twenty-four hours earlier.

She stepped into the den and her eyes were drawn to a side table with several dishes on it, filled with delicious smelling food. She wanted so badly to step over to the table and grab a plate full of food but she wasn’t even a guest in the house and couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Ryan was sitting at the small corner table and saw the look of hunger on Nicole’s face. He silently watched her. Even though it was obvious she was starving, she was so damn stubborn, she wouldn’t even feed herself. He blew out a breath of frustration.

“Would you please quit staring at the food as if it will disappear and get yourself a plate? We can talk over breakfast,” he said to her. She jumped when she heard his voice. It was obvious she hadn’t realized he was in the room.

“Thank you,” she muttered and didn’t have to be told twice. She dug into the food like it was her last meal. Heck, the way she lived it could be a while before she was able to eat this well again and she knew it. She didn’t even care if she looked like a complete pig. She was going to eat until her stomach hurt. She really didn’t care what he’d have to say about it.