My Rockstar Billionaire 2 (Billionaire Romance 2) (3 page)

“The local small airport just five minutes away. Mr. Iglesias is landing momentarily in the private jet.”

I raise an eyebrow.
Of course. Nothing should surprise me with him.

There’s a beep from my purse. I
excitedly dig around and pull out my phone, hoping it’s Ricky. To my disgust, it’s a text from Mike. My stomach instantly turns.

Hey Belle. Babe, let’s talk.  

Ugh! I feel the anger rising deep inside me. I roll my eyes and decide to ignore it. I turn off my phone, as I don’t want to be disturbed by him tonight. Or ever really. Who the hell does he think he is? I decide that I refuse to let him ruin my time.

We pull up to the small airport. It’s not even a real commercial airport
-- just a local landing strip for small planes. I’ve driven by it before. Someone once told me that JFK Jr. used to fly his plane through here.

As we park, I look out and see a small jet taxiing down the short runway to a stop.

“Here he is now,” Antonio says.

The jet door opens, and I crane my neck to get a better view. A minute later, a tall, dark and handsome figure emerges and
gracefully steps out. Ricky!

My heart instantly beats faster when I see him. The excitement is palpable as I clutch the car seats and chew on my lower lip.
Ohmygod, it’s him! Damn, he looks even more dashing and delicious than I remember. I cross my legs and start fidgeting like a loon.
For heaven’s sake, calm down, Belle!

Ricky looks up and over
at me in the car. He flashes a devastating smile as he strides over, closing the short distance between us. Wow, I can’t believe he’s here. I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest.

Antonio leaps out of the limo and greets him
and quickly opens the limo door for Ricky. Finally. My Ricky’s here!

His commanding, confident
presence and clean manly scent fills the limo as he enters. He gives me a stunning smile, flashing his perfect white teeth against his smooth tan skin. His sexy eyes sparkle as he looks intently at me. My insides melt.

“Belle.
My beautiful Belle.”

He wraps his large toned arms around me for a tight, warm embrace that makes me
crumble. My senses are overwhelmed and filled with powerful emotions for him. Instantly, I’m overtaken by a surge of undeniable lust and excitement at my core.

He pulls back to look lovingly into my eyes with a huge grin. He grabs my hands and caresses them like he doesn’t want to let go.

“I am so happy to see you, beautiful. Thank you for agreeing to see me. I really missed you and needed to see you.”

I grin at him, feeling a
deep blush rise in my cheeks. I’m overwhelmed with the emotions rushing back. I feel sparks and tingles through my hands and body with his touch.

“
Oh Ricky. I’m really happy to see you, too. I was pleasantly surprised to hear from you. Oh…and thank you so much for the thoughtful gifts. I love them.”

He glances at the designer purse on my shoulder with a smile.

“It looks perfect on you. Just as I knew it would. Mm, and that dress. Wow, you look incredible.”

I giggle profusely. “Stop, you’re making me blush. Are you always this charming?”

“Only for you. You’re drop dead gorgeous when you blush, you know that?”

I feel my cheeks redden even more. His fingers brush a stray hair from my cheek, and I feel the electrifying sparks from his touch. I stare at his perfect mouth and sensual lips.

“One second, beautiful,” he says. He pushes a button in the limo to lower the window separating the front and back. “Antonio, let’s go to that quiet private restaurant nearby.”

“Certainly, sir.
I’ll call ahead so they’ll be expecting you.” The dark privacy window goes back up.

“Is French okay? It’s about 20 minutes away. The food is alright but it’s a quiet and private place where we won’t be disturbed.”

“Oh, sure. That sounds great. Privacy is perfect.” I don’t give him any clues that I know his secret but I wonder when he intends to tell me. Does he not trust me?

He pulls me close against his warm, muscular body. I let out a small gasp. Oh God, I missed him so much.

He gently holds my head in his hands and stares deep into my eyes, before pulling me in for a deep, long kiss. His mouth pries mine open as his tongue wrestles mine in a sweet sexy kiss. My insides quiver as I feel immediate excitement deep in my core. I let out a low moan into his mouth as my body shivers against him. How does he feel so damn good?

He pushes his hard body closer against me. I feel an urgent throbbing need between my thighs for him as I pant into his hot mouth. My hands roam his muscles, feeling his smooth and hard body against mine. His hands are all over my body, exploring and fondling my curves. I’m too weak to fight him, even if I wanted to.

“Mmm, oh Belle…you feel so good. You’re so perfect,” he whispers and pants in my ear before he kisses my neck, making me throw my head back and moan louder. I know I couldn’t ever resist him.

For a few minutes, we continue passionately kissing and caressing each other
and I lose track of time. I’m vaguely aware that the limo has slowed down. Ricky reluctantly pulls away from me as I wince.

“Looks like we’re here.
Are you hungry?” he asks softly, his intense gaze never leaving me.

A corner of my lip turns up in a slight smirk.
Oh, I’m hungry all right…but not for food. Mm, I could have you for my last meal.

Antonio opens the limo door, as Ricky takes my hand and leads me out. In a swift motion, he pulls on trendy
designer sunglasses from his jacket before he exits. I raise an eyebrow with an amused smirk. Oh right. He’s going incognito.

“Too bright out there for you?”
I gently tease him. He seems slightly surprised as he pauses and chuckles.

“Um, yeah.
Habit, I guess. They’re perfect nighttime shades actually.” He pulls my arm gently. “Come on, let’s hustle. I’m starving.”

For a minute I wonder if he’s slyly trying to avoid
being recognized or maybe paparazzi. I play along and rush in to the restaurant with him. It’s a small but elegant place. From the outside, I wouldn’t have even known it was a restaurant. It’s almost like a luxury estate or an exclusive private club. Upon our entrance, a hostess immediately appears.

“Monsieur I
glesias, we’re
so
happy you could dine at our establishment this evening,” says the gorgeous, perfectly coiffed, skinny blond hostess with a French accent. She smiles at him as her eyes flicker quickly, taking him in. Hm, he must get that a lot. A lot of female attention. She barely glances at me dismissively. I try to brush away my annoyance.

“Please, let me show you to your table. As requested, we have a private
dining room reserved for you.” She sashays and leads us to a nearby quiet room. The restaurant and private room is sparsely and elegantly decorated with high end furnishings. Simple yet richly tasteful. “Your servers will be right with you.”

“I never knew this was here. Beautiful place,” I say to Ricky as I look around
at the high ceilings and ornate architectural detail.

“Antonio knows all the best spots,” he says. “I just wanted someplace private so I could enjoy my time alone with you.” Ricky grabs my hand and brings it to his perfect mouth for a soft, gentlemanly kiss
, giving me a sexy smoldering look that makes my knees weak.

A couple of waiters show up immediately with waters and menus. Ricky seems slightly annoyed to be interrupted. But he allows the brief interruption so we can order. After he orders and gets a bottle of their finest wine, he tells them he wants privacy until our dinners are served.

“Alone at last,” he says as he turns his attention back to me. “Belle, I’ve missed you so much. I can’t believe you’re here with me now. I don’t think I can ever let you go again. Is that alright with you?” He smiles in a half-teasing way.

Part of me can’t stop smiling at his affection. But it’s all so overwhelming and confusing. He must see the puzzled look on my face.

“What’s wrong, beautiful?”

I pause, trying to figure out what to even say. “Ricky, I don’t understand all this. As much as I love being with you, it’s all a bit much.
And...you don’t tell me anything. You…you don’t trust me.”

He looks down and away for a moment, searching for the right words.

“Belle, this is all new for me, and a lot for me to process, too,” he says gently. “I never expected to meet someone like you…so I don’t know how to handle this. I…I don’t want to ruin what we have or scare you away.” His piercing eyes search mine for understanding. For the first time, he sounds a little frightened.

“So you don’t tell me anything? You don’t trust me? Or think I can handle the truth about you?” I can’t keep the hurt out of my voice.

“Belle. Beautiful. Please try to understand. I have a long history of disappointment. Most people cannot accept me for who I really am. Me, Ricky, as a person. And the truth is, when I met you in DR, I was trying to get away from it all. You were the last thing I expected. And I couldn’t resist you. Then I couldn’t let you go.”

My insides melt at his sincere, heartfelt words. Then I suddenly feel ashamed for not telling him the whole truth.

“Ricky, I
know
. I found out today. I know who you are.” I blurt it out suddenly.

He blinks in shock, as if I slapped him across the face. After a
long pause, he finally speaks up.

“I was going to tell you
, Belle. I swear. I just didn’t know how to tell you or how you’d handle it. And I didn’t want to ruin anything. It’s all so perfect as it is.”

I nod slowly. “I’m kind of embarrassed, actually. I understand that I might be the only person
in the world who doesn’t know who you are.” I feel sheepish and silly admitting this to him.

“Baby, hush…don’t be. That was part of your charm. I was pleasantly surprised to see you had no idea who I was. We got to get to know each other as real people.
Just you and me. Not Ricky the famous rockstar.”

He looks at me lovingly and continues, “What we built was…IS real. I knew it from the second I saw you. And when you didn’t know who I was, I couldn’t believe my luck. There was no worry that you were just into me for my fame or money. It was s
o…freeing.”

I can’t help but smile sweetly at him. He’s finally opening up a little to me.

“You’re the first REAL woman I’ve met. And you’re drop dead gorgeous and perfect to me. I hope you can understand why I didn’t tell you sooner.”

Damn it. I can’t be mad at him. His sweet sincerity and
sexy smoldering eyes leave me no choice. I throw my arms around him in a tight embrace. I can’t believe this perfect man thinks I’M the perfect one. I fight the tears that threaten to well up in my eyes.

The waiters show up with our dinners. “Excuse the interruption, sir.”

We take some time to eat as we try to lighten the dinner conversation for a while. The emotions run so intense and deep that I’m relieved for a break while we dine.

I ask him about where he’s staying. I don’t even know where he lives or how long he’s in the area. I find out that coincidentally, one of his many apartments is not far from here. He travels a lot when he tours and this is one of his regular cities.

That makes sense. A rockstar billionaire like himself would have a posh luxury apartment in New York City, of course. He probably has luxury homes all over the world. I feel goose bumps on my arms. I don’t know if it’s my mistrust of men in general, or what I’ve gone through recently. But a worldly, rich, famous and beautiful man like him falling for me? It made me uncomfortable because I didn’t trust it.
What does he want with me? 

“What’s wrong, beautiful?” he asks with a concerned tone and gentle smile.

“Um, nothing. I’m fine,” I reply, trying to shrug it off.

“Don’t give me that. I want to know the real you. Don’t
you
trust me?”

Although he says it seemingly sincerely, I can’t help feeling the anger rise inside me. Oh, now he wants the real me? And I should trust him after all his secretiveness?

“Ricky, how can you say that? I’m not sure if I’m ready for all this. You say you want me to trust you…after all this secretiveness? I mean, you don’t let me know the real
you
.”

I look away in anger and hurt. Maybe I’ve been a total fool. I’m not the rich, gorgeous supermodel type. So what is he even doing with me? Even so, I’m not a charity case. I mean, am I some kind of game to him? If so, I don’t want any part of it.

There’s an awkward silence for a moment. Ricky grabs my hands and squeezes them.

“Belle.
Look at me. I…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel pressured and I wasn’t trying to hurt you with my ‘secretiveness’.” He pauses, trying to find the right words. I look at him, trying to hold back my tears.