Chapter 106

The moment Ethan Calder disappeared from sight, Richard stopped pretending he wasn't jealous.

Elena quietly shifted a few inches away from him.

"Um... do you want something to eat?"

Richard gave a low, humorless scoff.

Then he moved closer.

His tall frame crowded into her space as he sat down in the booth. One long arm reached around her waist, and before Elena could react, he pulled her across the seat until she was pressed against his side.

She let out a startled sound.

"Richard—"

He kissed her before she could finish.

One hand settled firmly at the back of her head as his mouth came down over hers. The kiss was impatient and possessive, carrying all the jealousy he had kept under control while Ethan was standing there.

The sweetness of Elena's drink still lingered on her lips. Richard caught her lower lip lightly between his teeth before kissing her deeper, giving her barely enough time to breathe.

Her fingers tightened around his lapels as she softened against him.

By the time he finally pulled back, Elena was breathless.

Richard brushed his thumb slowly across her reddened lips. His own breathing had grown heavier, and the look in his eyes made it obvious that the kiss had done very little to cure his jealousy.

"What did Calder want with you?"

Elena leaned against his chest.

At the unmistakable jealousy in his voice, she finally lost the battle and laughed.

"Nothing."

She lifted one finger and poked him lightly in the chest.

"He was giving me an extremely enthusiastic lecture about birds."

Then she tilted her face up, bright eyes full of amusement.

"What did you think he was doing?"

"What did I think?"

Richard looked down at her, one hand still resting around her waist.

"You two seemed to be having a very good time. Are you close?"

"No."

Elena shook her head and settled comfortably against his shoulder.

"But he was very happy to hear that Adrian and I broke up. Apparently, he's always hated Adrian. Thinks he's an arrogant idiot who acts like being rich makes him better than everyone else."

She paused.

"Oh, right."

Richard's eyes narrowed slightly.

Elena met his gaze without the slightest hesitation.

"A few months ago, Ethan got my contact information from someone and sent me a ridiculously long confession. There were even professionally edited photos of himself attached."

Richard went very still.

Elena continued as if she hadn't noticed.

"He asked me out and told me I should dump Adrian and date him instead. I turned him down."

Silence.

Elena pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"To be fair, most of his confession was actually an essay about why Adrian was terrible. There was considerably less information about why he supposedly liked me."

Richard's expression remained unreadable.

"You're saying he didn't actually like you."

"We'd barely spoken. He thought I was pretty and decided he had a crush. That's hardly unusual."

Elena shrugged.

"And tonight, when he found out I'd finally dumped Adrian and found someone ridiculously richer than him who could also put him through a wall with one punch, he was delighted."

Some of the tension slowly left Richard's jaw.

He studied her for a moment, then ran his fingers through her soft, pale-blonde hair.

"He gave you an excuse."

Elena blinked.

"That girl from your dance program," Richard said. "Obviously he didn't want you mentioning any of this."

His fingers slid through her hair as he lowered his face closer to hers.

"You knew telling me he used to pursue you would make me jealous."

A trace of curiosity entered his voice.

"So why tell me everything?"

Elena leaned away when the tip of his nose brushed her cheek, only for his arm to pull her gently back.

"First of all, you were already jealous."

Richard said nothing.

"And I think the truth is the easiest way to make someone feel secure. The truth is that nothing ever happened between Ethan and me. There was nothing then, and there's nothing now."

Elena lifted both hands and held his face.

Her teasing expression disappeared.

"More importantly, I'm not going to lie to you, Richard."

Something shifted in his eyes.

"Ethan meant well. He made up that excuse because he thought he was helping me smooth things over with you. But he doesn't know us. He doesn't know you, and he doesn't know me."

She leaned closer until the tips of their noses touched.

"He knows Richard Sterling the businessman. From his perspective, you're this intimidating, powerful man who might get angry because some guy was sitting here talking to your girlfriend. So he did what he thought was safest."

Elena pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

"But I don't need to do that with you."

Richard remained silent.

"He pursued me. I turned him down. That's what happened."

Her thumbs brushed lightly along his jaw.

"I have nothing to hide from you. I don't want some tiny, unnecessary lie sitting between us and turning into something neither of us needed to worry about in the first place."

Her eyes held his.

"You're my boyfriend. You're the man I want to spend my life with."

Richard's gaze changed.

"I trust you, Mr. Sterling. So I want you to trust me too."

For a moment, he said nothing.

Richard had spent most of his life surrounded by people who rarely said exactly what they meant.

Flattery had motives. Silence had motives. Even honesty could be calculated.

His childhood had effectively ended the moment he was taken away from his mother and brought into his father's world. He had still been a child, but from then on, suspicion became a survival instinct.

He learned to question people, to listen for what they weren't saying, to search every conversation for the motive underneath it.

Elena wasn't naïve. She was clever, perceptive, and perfectly capable of getting her way.

But the love she gave him was startlingly sincere.

"Ellie..."

His voice came out low and rough.

Then he kissed her again.

This time there was no anger in it.

His hand settled at her waist as he drew her closer, kissing her slowly. There was something almost unbearably tender beneath the heat now, enough to make Elena's fingers tighten around his shoulders.

His lips moved from hers to her cheek, then beneath her jaw.

"Richard..."

His mouth traced the side of her neck before lingering at the base of her throat long enough to leave a faint mark.

Elena squirmed against him.

"Richard... we're still in a restaurant."

That finally made him stop.

Slowly, Richard lifted his head.

His breathing was heavy, his tie slightly out of place, and the look in his eyes suggested stopping had not been his preferred option.

Elena caught her breath.

She looked at him.

At the loosened tie.

At the man who had gone from jealous to deeply moved in the space of a few minutes.

And naturally, a terrible idea occurred to her.

Her eyes began to sparkle.

Elena deliberately nestled closer, then leaned toward his ear. When she spoke, her voice was soft, sweet, and entirely too innocent.

"Uncle Richard..."

Richard went still.

Elena's lips curved.

"Why did you stop? Don't tell me..."

She paused just long enough to make it hurt.

"Are you getting too old to keep up?"

Richard froze.