The Virgin and the Billionaires: The Complete Series (22 page)

What she needed at that moment was a little time to herself.
She took her strappy sandals off and squished her feet around in the sand,
letting the cold water of the Pacific wet her feet. Up on the pier, she paced
back and forth from end to end, pausing to watch the fisherman catch and gut
small fish. She distracted herself with a Skee-Ball game in a seedy arcade, but
didn’t win enough tickets to get anything larger than a Tootsie Roll. The
diversions of the pier did nothing to stop her mind racing, so she gave in and
went back down to the sand, where she sat and watched the sun fall over the
water.

Her purse lit and buzzed in the sand. She laughed when she
pulled her phone out and saw Jessica’s face gracing the screen. Was somebody in
the Universe trying to make this the most difficult day ever?

“Hello?” Dana answered.

“Hey Dana! What are you up to?” The bubbly cheer in
Jessica’s voice made it clear to Dana that she was totally clueless about what
had just transpired with Alexander.

“Nothing important. Listen, I’m glad you called.” Dana
didn’t match Jessica’s cheerfulness.

“Well good. I was hoping –“

“I don’t think that we should hang out anymore.”

There was silence on the other end.

“Is this about last night?” Jessica asked. She sounded
confused.

“I don’t need people in my life who have ulterior motives.
Sorry, Jessica.” Dana cut the conversation short and hung up her phone. There
was nothing Jessica could say to change her mind.

Good riddance.
She
dropped her phone in the sand and looked back out onto the water. Her relief
was still dampened by the uncertainty she felt.

Her life had never been so exciting, but the price of the
excitement was proving very high at that point. Dana hated the feelings of
conflict and confusion that were coming to a head in her mind. All of the
doubts and fears she had had since she had first moved were finally sitting at
the forefront of her mind. She pondered what she should do. She could leave
behind the entire Price-Levy cabal, including William, and sink herself into
her work. But then she would still have to deal with Los Angeles, its traffic,
and possibly more dangerous people.

If the other people she encountered were as self-serving as
Jessica and Alexander, she didn’t know how much longer she wanted to hang
around. Perhaps it would be better to go back to Chico and live a quiet life in
the town she knew well. But then she would have to give up her dream job, and
that just wasn’t an option.

I can’t hide from life
forever.
Dana was exhausting herself thinking about what she was going to
do. She rested her head between her knees and breathed deeply.

Her phone broke her concentration once again.

Can’t Jessica get the
picture?
Dana readied her hand above the ‘decline’ button, but paused when
she saw it was William calling. She let it ring. He called twice more.

“I’m sorry, William,” she said aloud, looking at the screen.
“I just need some time to think.” She put the iPhone back in her bag, where it
eventually stopped buzzing.

This was the most homesick Dana had felt since she had
arrived. She realized that she hadn’t spoken to her family in weeks. Perhaps,
she thought, that was just what she needed. Dana didn’t like turning to her
family for advice, but it felt like she didn’t have many other places to turn
at this point.

Dana reached for her phone again and called her parents in
Chico. She waited for somebody to pick up.

“Dana!” her mother’s voice shrieked with delight. “I was
wondering when the heck you were going to call us.”

“Hi, mom.” Dana said, not echoing her mother’s excitement.

“Oh, you don’t sound too happy. How did I know you were
calling to ‘talk’?”

Dana couldn’t help but chuckle. “Mother’s intuition, I
guess.”

“Right you are, darling. That, and that you never call me
with good news.”

Dana sighed. “Mom? I have a problem.”

“What is it, dear?”

“It’s a guy problem.”

Dana’s mother gasped. “A
guy
problem? There’s some good news! What a wonderful problem to have. I knew
LA would be good for you!”

“Yeah, I guess I’m glad to finally even have a guy problem.
That doesn’t make it suck any less.”

“I know, dear. I was young once, too.”

“This guy problem involves two guys, and it’s been pretty
heart-wrenching.”

“Do you have a crush on both of them? Did you get snubbed
again
, Dana? Men can be very cruel.”

“Yes, I know that. But this problem is kind of…the
opposite.”

Dana’s mom gasped again. “That’s my girl!” She exclaimed
with delight.

Dana explained her situation to her mother, who punctuated
each bit of information Dana relayed with exaggerated expressions of shock,
joy, and dismay, alternately.

“I just don’t know if it’s such a good idea to stay here,
Mom. It’s exciting and all, but it’s just crazy and kind of unpleasant. I love
my job, but my
life
here is too much.”

“It sounds to me like you’re going through a normal
adjustment phase. You’ve never done anything like this before. Moving to LA,
getting involved in these surreal relationships – this is
huge
for you, Dana. You should be proud
of yourself for stepping so far outside of the little box you grew up in here
in Chico. I’m certainly proud of you.”

“Thanks, mom,” Dana replied.

“And the truth is, Dana, that there’s nothing going for you
in Chico. And I don’t mean that in a mean way. You are too large for this little
town. You’re too smart, too driven, and too talented
not
to be in a city like LA. You belong there. I’ve known that
since you were a little girl, because you were always so bright and talented. I
worried for you growing up because I knew that you needed to go somewhere that
could keep up with
you.
It’s never
been the other way around.

You belong at an extraordinary job. You belong with a
high-caliber man who can keep up with you. Don’t give up just because it’s
hard. A lot of things in life are hard, so you should get used to doing those
hard things now.”

Dana felt shockingly better. “Thank you for telling me
exactly what I needed to hear.” She paused. “I think I have to go now.”

“You go, my girl. I love you. Call me more often.”

“Okay, mom. I will. Love you too.”

Dana hung up her phone and walked to her car. She headed
north to Malibu.

***

Dana didn’t realize that she had no idea how to get to
William’s house until she had lost herself in the winding roads of the Malibu
hills. She didn’t have any knowledge of William’s home except what the gate and
the surrounding houses looked like. She drove around aimlessly until the sun
had completely set, making it even more difficult for her to gain some sense of
direction.

She drove into a couple of dead ends that looked promising,
but discovered upon ringing the gates that none of them were the
right
dead end. Finally, she reached the
end of a street near the top of a familiar mountain. When she saw the foliage
obscuring the neighboring houses, she knew that she had arrived at William’s
street. She pulled her car up to the speaker in front of his gate. Only after
she had buzzed did she realize that she hadn’t bothered to call William and
tell him she was coming. She clamored for her phone, but before she could find
it, William’s voice broke through the buzzer’s intercom.

“Hello?” he said, warily.

“Hi, it’s –“

The gate buzzed and opened before Dana had even had a chance
to say her name. She hit the gas and zoomed up the hill to William’s front
door.

When she got out of her car at the top of the hill, William
was waiting for her at the front door.

“What a nice surprise,” he said, opening his arms.

Dana resisted.

“I think we need to talk. We
do
need to talk,” Dana corrected herself.

 
“Sure,” William
replied, letting her in and walking her to his living room. “What about?”

Dana sat on one of William’s soft, plushy couches, looking
serious.

“I know it’s taboo to bring up the past and all –“

“Nonsense,” William interrupted. “Especially if it’s
important.” He had given himself away.

“So you
do
know,
then.”

William feigned a puzzled look. “About what?”

Dana’s brow furrowed. “You know exactly ‘what’.” She didn’t
like being messed with.

“What – you and Alexander?”

Dana gave a curt nod.

“That was a secret?” William asked.

“Apparently not,” Dana muttered, frustrated.

William sat on the couch next to her, mindful of Dana’s
personal space.

“Sorry. Jessica can be a bit of a backstabber. I think she
just wanted to throw a wrench in her competition, you know? She gets pretty
possessive of Alexander, which is sad if you ask me.” William spoke frankly.

“So you knew about that, too. I see.”

“You must have been pretty upset when you heard.”

“Less than you’d think. He was honest with me, ultimately. I
have to give him credit for that.” The weight that had lifted of Dana’s
shoulders was enormous. She couldn’t believe she was talking openly with
William about her affair with Alexander.

The anxiety that had manifested as tension in her body
melted away. She relaxed on William’s couch. William extended his arm and
lightly played with Dana’s hair as she stared at the ceiling.

“You look like you could use a drink,” William said with a
soft smile.

Dana nodded. William returned a moment later with a bottle
and two glasses.

“One more question,” Dana said.

“What’s that?” William was still unscrewing the bottle’s
cork.

Dana pulled her feet up and curled herself into a ball on
the couch. William turned to look.

“Your ass looks amazing from here,” he quipped.

Dana smiled, flattered. “Why did you intercept when you knew
Alexander and I were, uh –“

“Hooking up?”

“Yeah.”

“For exactly that reason. Because that’s all he ever does
with girls. You’re young. I could tell that you’re – you were –
pretty naïve. I know what Alexander’s like because I’ve known him forever. I
knew that there was a good chance that he would leave you damaged goods: he’d
seduce you with his money, his power, his swagger, his looks, and then drop you
like a china doll and break your heart. I’ve seen him do it to other girls.
Hell, he’s been doing it to Jessica for years. She just takes it and clings to
him like a lost puppy.” William handed her a glass.

“I didn’t want to see you get hurt,” he continued. “I hate
playing games, and I hate seeing people get played with. I hated myself for
giving credence to anything Jessica said, but I felt strongly enough about you
and the situation that I put that aside.”

Dana wanted to ask why he hadn’t just been direct with her
about Alexander since he knew, but William continued before she had a chance.

“I’m not that great at being direct, if you remember. But I
also didn’t want to appear meddlesome or manipulative. I asked you to do things
with me because I wanted to get you away from Alexander
and
because I liked you. But even though I had my own motives, I
wanted to respect your privacy and allow you to make your own decision.”

So he really did do
this all for me.
Dana was delighted.

“I appreciate your chivalry. But the truth is that Alexander
was mostly honest with me, except about Jessica. He may not have been the most
decent man, but he always ended up telling me the truth. And our split –
if you could even call it that - was mutual. I saw his faults. He’s not
invincible.

Even though I’m not a blubbering mess, the whole thing did
leave a bad taste in my mouth. Now, though, I’m more excited and surprisingly
content with how everything played out.”

“And why is that?” William asked, grinning.

“I’m pretty sure you know the answer to that too.” Dana
smiled and leaned in to plant a kiss on William’s soft lips. She lingered for a
moment before returning to her relaxed position on the couch. “It’s clear to me
that your heart was – and is - in the right place.” She had never felt so
at ease talking to someone.

William placed a hand on Dana’s outstretched leg, caressing
it.

“So, what do we do now?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Dana said coyly. “Perhaps we should have an
‘arrangement’,” she joked.

“The only arrangement I want with you is the kind where you
are the only girl in my life and I’m the only guy in yours. No games. Just you
and I, being
together.
”

“Official?” Dana joked again.

“A card carrying couple,” William said. “I promise I’ll
always be honest with you, and I promise to be kind and caring. I’ll cook you
dinners –“

“You mean you’ll have your
cook
cook us dinners,” Dana smirked.

William blushed. “Yes, that – but I’ll cook for you,
too.” He paused. His tone turned serious.

“What do you say, Dana Jacobs? Will you be my girlfriend?”

Dana felt her heart leap into her chest. This was rather
fast, yet her gut instinct told her this was perfectly right.

“You’re so romantic,” she said matter-of-factly. “I don’t
want to make any promises of ‘happily ever after’, like you can just sweep me
off my feet and make me fall in love with you forever and ever and nothing will
ever be bad. That’s just not who I am, especially not now. I may not have much
of life under my belt, but I’ve learned enough in the last two months to know
that I need to be a little more cautious in the commitments I make.”

William’s face turned pale. Dana could tell that he was
nervous.

“But I’m willing to give it a try,” she continued. “If
you’re really willing to give me your devotion, I’m happy to give you mine in
return.”