The Billionaire's Secret Love Child(70)

“Wow, you’re nice to people that like you. I’d hate to see what you’re like to people that hate you,” Kara said sarcastically.

“If you keep turning me down, you just might find out,” he replied.

“If I accept your offer then I’ll be in the same boat as Victoria; I know how many notches you have on your belt,” Kara quipped.

“There’s only one notch that I’m really interested in, but she just doesn’t seem that interested,” he said with a wink.

“She’d be interested if you were a little less full of yourself,” Kara replied.

“And he’d be a little less full of himself if she’d stop living inside of a shell,” he added.

Kara slammed the last of her books closed and started stuffing them into her bag. She wasn’t interested in sticking around and listening to his drivel. It wasn’t the first time they’d had a heated discussion and probably wouldn’t be the last.

“Great, just run away like you always do,” he said.

“I’m leaving because you won’t.”

“Hey, Henry! How’s the date going,” said one of his teammates, jokingly, from the bottom of the stairs.

“Going great, we get married next week,” he shouted with a grin.

Kara rolled her eyes and stood up to leave. Henry stood and shot out in front of her, blocking her path.

“Kara, please. Come to the party tonight. If you come tonight, then I won’t bother you ever again. I promise you’ll have fun,” he said.

She relaxed her shoulders and threw her head back, taking a deep breath.

“You promise, for sure you promise,” she asked.

“Sure, if it’ll get you to go,” he replied.

Kara had wanted to say yes the first time he asked her out. But, his reputation had always preceded him. He’d date unscrupulously and drank like a sailor. Then there were his supposed habits with money.

“Fine,” she said, “but it isn’t a date.”

“You finally said yes! This is the happiest day of my life,” he sarcastically boasted, “I wonder what gown I’ll wear to the ball.”

He danced his way off, down the stairs, until he joined up with his friend. As his final act before leaving, he blew a kiss to Kara.

She regretted having said yes; perhaps she would turn her phone off and pretend to be asleep, instead.



2.

It must have been passed ten when her phone started dancing its way across her nightstand. Her comforter was just the right temperature, and she deigned the idea of moving. Still, she rolled herself to her side and palmed her phone. With a click on the device, she answered.

“What,” Kara mouthed.

“You haven’t shown, I thought you promised,” returned the voice of Henry.

“No, I promised nothing. You just promised you’d leave me alone if I went,” she replied.

“I see you don’t want me to stop bothering you. You’re quite a schemer,” said the smug voice of Henry again.

Kara let out a drawn out sigh.

“How did you even get my number,” she asked.

“I’ll tell you when you get here,” he replied, clicking off the receiver.

Kara was hopelessly stuck. She wanted to stay home and be comfortable. It would be an early day tomorrow, so at least, she had an excuse to leave early.

Having been almost laundry day, Kara was lacking in interesting things to wear, so she just pulled on whatever was lying around and left.

The party was, thankfully, nearby. Kara pulled her jacket a little tighter as she walked the empty sidewalks to the house just down the street. While she walked, she wondered. Why wouldn’t Henry just leave her alone after she said no the first hundred times?

The lights from the party spilled to the roadside, making the shadows of the guests dance in odd ways. Music was playing tastefully loud inside, and the conversation echoed out into the night.

Kara walked up, hoping to see Henry right away. She just wanted to make her appearance and leave, nothing more. But, Henry wasn’t out front, nor was he inside the house.

In the backyard an awful din rose, drowning out the rest of the guests. Kara decided to investigate and had a keen feeling that Henry would be somewhere in the middle. She wasn’t wrong.

A makeshift court was erected, made of garbage cans and traffic cones. Some of the hockey players were skating around on rollerblades, chasing after a handball that was serving as a puck. Henry seemed to be relishing in the excitement, taking shots backwards between his legs.

He even played one handed for a while as he drank from a red plastic cup, what Kara assumed was alcohol. Of course, she thought, he would be the one drinking while playing a sport with this much activity.

Henry caught her eye as he sailed past, and in so doing, lost his footing falling flat on his back; spilling beer all over himself. Kara couldn’t help herself and laughed along with the rest of the crowd.

The game ended with that, not many of the other players showed an interest past having a good laugh at Henry. It was probably for the best.

“You finally showed, I see,” said Henry while he dabbed as much alcohol off his shirt as he could.

“I had to, remember,” Kara replied, dismally.

Henry stripped off his sullied shirt and began to strut toward the house. He must have been freezing because Kara was freezing while wearing her winter coat. She could make out his breath smoking in the air as he walked; he didn’t really seem to care.