An Heir for the Billionaire Werebears(2)

Someone so hot couldn't be a scary person, right? Yeah, he had a pretty fierce beard, but his eyes were kind.

I drove behind him, nervously checking my gas tank. The needle did not move much as we drove into Bel Air. He stopped at the gate of his community and said something to the guard. The guard waved at both of us to come in. He closed the gate after me.





Bel Air





My head felt like it was swiveling around. My dad had been fairly wealthy — we used to live in Malibu on the beach — but that was nothing compared to the opulence that I saw in Bel Air. These were not houses. They were extremely huge compounds. Some of the homes were gated so that you could not see them from the street, though others were free and clear. I could see the landscapers working on the huge yards. It was California, so they were not decorated with thirsty flowers. "Don't you know there's a drought?” was the chorus when we saw people with living plants on their lawns.

Instead, they had cacti and some hardy desert plants that did not require a lot of water.

My humble little Toyota did not even remotely fit in here. I hunched over in my seat, making my body smaller. I was ashamed to be poor. Even when my parents had been wealthy, they had not been this wealthy.

I saw his car pull into a circular driveway. I pulled in after him. It was a pure white house that looked like the plantation houses in older movies about the South. It had big white columns.

I turned off my ignition, and I stepped out of my car.

I gave myself a mental pep talk.

"You're just as good as these people," I scolded. "You are the same as them. Everyone puts their pants on the same way in the morning."

I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin. I could do this.

I mentally imagined myself as an Ent from the Lord of the Rings, one of the giant trees that could talk. Yes, in real life I was a very petite, curvy woman. But I could pretend.

I marched up the driveway, and I went through the open garage door. He was waiting for me there.

"I'd like you to meet someone," he said, taking my arm and intertwining it with his.

I walked up the steps from the garage into the house, feeling a bit of sweat on the back of my neck. I wiped my spare palm on my jeans.

When we got in the house, I saw him cutting up some broccoli.

"Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting?" he asked without looking up. When he turned around, he blinked. I saw that he was a dead ringer for the man whose arm I was holding.

"You're twins." Oh god. I was Captain Obvious. My cheeks flushed. Oh god.

"Guilty," said the one in the kitchen. "And who are you?"

"I'm Zeva," I said, letting go of the first one's arm. "What's your name?"

"Xavier," he said, his eyes twinkling at me. "I'm so pleased to make your acquaintance. You smell very nice. What is it? Some kind of expensive floral perfume? It's perfect for you."

"No," I said. "I don't wear perfume."

"Oh." He paused. "Oh. That must be why you're here."

I frowned at him, totally confused.

"Would you like a drink?" the other one said chivalrously. "Do you want a Coke?"

"Sure," I replied. "I just realized that I don't know your name."

"Asher, honestly, where are your manners?" Xavier chided. "How could you meet a lovely lady like this one and not introduce yourself?"

"I got...caught up," Asher said. A silent moment of twin communication passed between them.

"I see," Xavier said, rubbing his matching beard.

"I don't. What's going on? Could you buy me a vowel?"

"Here's your Coke," Asher said, opening a literally cool drawer full of soda. It said ‘SubZero’ on it. He popped the tab and handed it to me. "Sit down. Let's talk."

"I'm not really sure what's going on either," Xavier said, his eyes flicking towards me. "So someone clue me in and bring me out of the dark."

"She's having a few problems. Zeva, why don't you tell Asher what happened today?"

"Um," I looked down at my feet. "I just got evicted. And the financial aid office says that I won't qualify for aid, so I have to take a year off of school. I was planning on finding a 24-hour parking garage when your twin met me and brought me home. That's a pretty quick summary of my day."


"Where do you go to school, honey?"

I thought about protesting his use of 'honey', but I didn't. "I go to UCLA. Well, I went to UCLA."

"Interesting," Xavier said.

"Very," Asher added.

"You know, our dad is the one whose name is on the new UCLA stadium."

I gaped at Xavier. "Really?"

"Yeah. I think we could help you out."

"Help me out...like get me a scholarship?"

"Oh, I think we can do better than that."

They smiled at each other.

"We're going to tell you things that are private. Very private. Xavier, do you still have that NDA on file?"

"What's an NDA?"

"A non-disclosure agreement. You don't have to agree to the contract that we're about to give you, but you can't talk about the meeting we're having today. Is that ok?"