Chapter 8

• "Can you calm down? I'm not going to hurt you." Scott says. Willow went on and continued shouting.
• "If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so the other night."
• "That was all part of your plan."
• "To do what?"
• "Get me to trust you so you can attack me unsuspectingly. What were you doing there that night? What are you doing here now? Are you following me? Oh my God!" Willow rambled and resumed her shout for help. Scott parked the car and held her arms firmly, preventing her from hitting the glass anymore. She struggled and tried to pull her arms free but he held on until her energy started to dissipate.
• "Dial an emergency line on your phone and hold it at a ready, if I do anything to harm you, hit the call button."
• "Nice try, but last I checked, dead bodies can't make calls. Besides I don't have a cell phone."
• "How can you not have a cell phone?" His brows furrowed.
• "Well I'm sorry but not everyone is a billionaire, wiping their butts with smartphones." Willow spat.
• "You don't have to be a billionaire to own a phone. And I don't wipe my butt with smartphones!"
• "Oh, is it Ipads, tablets or.."
• "Will you stop it! Look if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so now."
• "Still not buying it." Willow started to struggle again. He let her go.
• "Here, take my phone." He handed her his phone. "Call any number you want and tell them you're with me."
• "Just let me go." Willow said and Simon sighed tiredly. He started to drive again, going towards her house when he realized she should not know he knew her house. It would just cement the stalker opinion she had of him. "What's your address?" She didn't answer him. She stopped shouting too. Scott stopped the car again, turned on the radio and leaned back on his seat. She looked at him, tried the door. It was locked.
• "Since you won't tell me your address, I guess we'll just have to relax here a little while." "What kind of music do you like?" She mumbled something. "What did you say?" He asked her but she kept quiet. Scott suddenly reached for her. She pushed back from him but he merely grazed her cheek with his thumb. He looked her keenly in the eyes.
• "Look at me, I won't hurt you. Tell me your address and let me drop you home. It's gotten so late, I can't let you walk home."
• "I'll take a cab." She said finally.
• "I'll take you home." He reinstated. Willow looked at him. His eyes were so clear. He was sincere, she realized. She took a deep breath and told him her address. He smiled at her and started the car towards her house. Willow stared out the window. She did not want to look at him. His smile was so disarming she wondered why she had not believed him at first. She sighed. She did not understand how he was messing with her head. She turned to look at him but he was also looking at her so their gazes locked. He looked away to face the road.
• "This is crazy." Willow shakes her head.
• "What is?" Scott asked. He was glad she was settled now. Her distrust had bothered him. He couldn't blame her though. He had taken her against her will. He might be known by a lot of people but he was still a stranger to her.
• "I'm trying to wrap my mind around how you, from being a stranger to being my boss, someone whose path I would never cross on any given day, is now suddenly, here with me. You saved me the other night. I didn't think I'll meet you but here we are, it's just…it's…"
• "Something called fate?" He offered.
• Willow shrugged. "Back at the restaurant, your visit was unexpected, we all scrambled to get the place perfect for you." She laughed a little. "I ruined it. Anyway, my thoughts were that you had something else to do around the vicinity and decided to just drop by at the restaurant."
• He looked at her, taken aback.
• "You're right. I did just drop by." "How did you get to that conclusion?" Scott asked against his better judgement.
• "Intuition." She smiled at him. He seemed impressed and it threw her. It threw her that this man, powerful and gorgeous as he is, would see her. Be here with her. It nudged her, how unreal it seemed.
• "So..what's your game? Billionaire by day, knight by night?"
• "I'm no knight." He said. His expression serious. She studied his profile. Willow let her gaze drift over the sharp but gentle slope of his nose, his plumb lips, with the upper being a little fuller, the stubborn declaration of his chin, the cupid's bow she itched to touch, his lean, hard looking muscles, the surprising elegance of his masculine fingers as they gripped the steering wheel, the flutter of his lashes when he blinked, and suddenly, she was hit with the sharp, hot wish that this man, beautiful as he is, with his radiant skin, was hers. She gasped. Where did that thought come from? She became aware of her scuff nails, wine stained skirt, simple shirt and broken heel, which thankfully was in her bag.
• He turned to her sharply. She had been caught staring. She blurted, "was that woman with you at the restaurant your friend?" Willow mentally smacked herself for asking such an open question but Mr Scott merely arched an eyebrow at her.
• He was quiet for a long time and she nursed the hope that he hadn't heard her question.
• "We're something between friends and partners, business partners."
• "Oh." Willow said feeling grossly embarrassed.
• "Is this it?" He asked and she was a little confused, caught off guard, until she looked ahead to see he had arrived her street. "Yes, just that house over there." She pointed. "But you can drop me right here and I will walk the rest of the way."
• He pinned her with a glare. "I'm not going to drop you hallway." She fought the urge to tell him it was far past half way.
• "I hate to be a bother. Especially considering everything I put you through today."
• "It's cool." He said simply, and again she wanted to say that with the events of the day, everything was disconcerting, not cool. But that wouldn't be entirely true, because here, in the confined space of his vehicle, even as they were strangers, she did feel cool. Or maybe it was just the air conditioning.
• He cut the brakes right outside the block of apartments, where she lived.
• "Thank you. I really appreciate all you did for me."
• "You've thanked me so much I feel like a saint." He said giving her a slow smile that had her stomach rolling over.
• Was he flirting with her? Willow didn't know. She thanked him once more and got out of the car. "Wait," he called to her just as she turned to leave. "What is your name?"
• "My name is Willow. Willow Henderson."
• Scott nodded like he was hearing her name for the first time. "I am…"
• "Simon Scott." Willow interjected.
• He smiled. "My reputation does precede me."
• Willow shrugged. "I work for you." "Used to anyway."
• "Used to?"
• "I got fired."
• "I'll get the manager to take you back in."
• "I'd appreciate that, but the thing is..I got what I deserved. I messed up and I got fired."
• "Still.."
• "No, it's okay Sir. Really. It wasn't the best working condition in any case." Willow says and winced.
• "No offense." She says quickly and Scott nodded. "I should go, good night." Willow said.
• "Hold on," Scott fetched his business card and handed it to her, "In case you change your mind." She collected the card.
• "Good night." Willow waved at him.
• "Good night," Scott murmured, watching her go into the house.
• His car engine purred as she shut the door. Willow looked through the window as Simon Scott drove away and thought he might just have driven off with a part of her in tow.