Side Effects

Chapter 7

I was in trouble. There was just nothing else to be said, but I was halfway through dinner with Alaya when I realized that I wanted to have dinner with her every night from here on out. I'd noticed her beauty from the beginning, and her ability to find happiness in the simplest things was always refreshing, but she also made everything better. I knew I had promised to keep this professional, but she wasn't making it easy for me. I could have had my standard meal and been perfectly happy. But instead, she just ordered things that neither of us had ever had before, just to try something new, and we laughed the entire night over everything from her childhood in San Juan, to my failed dating attempts.

But now, with a belly full of curried soft shell crabs, pork jowl and scallops, I lay back in my bed with a smile. I'd let her pick whichever room she wanted, and she had to try out each one, lying in the different beds, examining the view to make sure that she chose the one that she'd be happiest with. I wasn't picky, so I just wanted her to enjoy the stay. After a shower, and my evening teeth brushing, I slipped my naked body into the bed to scroll through any notifications that I might have missed on the phone.

The only important note was from Elliot, confirming the sale of the stock, and the transfer of the $3.5 billion into my accounts. Some of that then went right to long term investments, and then the rest into various offshore savings accounts. I know, I was boring, but I was more than happy to live off the interest rather than do something risky. The money was a crazy amount, and yet it didn't seem like big deal to me. My parents had their first billion before I was born, and I had always been exposed to the trappings of excess. While the money I just received put me up around $6 billion total, my sister has more than ten times that amount, and was the kind of rich where people would propose her name whenever a sports team came up for sale as a potential owner.

While I had my phone out, I looked at the photos I'd taken of Alaya, as well as the video, and both brought a smile to my face once more. I couldn't help myself, and sent them all to Alaya, chuckling as I did. I just hoped that she didn't get upset that I'd done that! It took under ten minutes before she stormed into my room in a tiny pair of shorts and a tee shirt, and I braced for the worst.

But instead of being angry, she jumped on top of me and gave me a hug that took my breath away. "Gracias, Kian! My mother flipped out when she saw those! I didn't even know you did that!"

I hugged her back, ignoring the way that my body was reacting to her. "I'm glad I sent it then. You looked like a kid on Christmas morning, and I had to share it."

"I'm glad you did. Now my mom is jealous you didn't pick her to bring with you instead of me!"

I chuckled at that, but nodded at the happiness that was almost exuding from her. "I think I picked the right person. Believe me, this trip is already so much better than the ones I've been taking. The dinner tonight was phenomenal, and having you around is making everything better." That was about as close as I could get to saying that I really liked her, which would probably make her feel uncomfortable. I knew I was over ten years older than her, so I guess I'd feel like an uncle to her at my age. But it didn't mean I didn't notice her! I didn't want to be that to her.

She straightened back up on her knees, before sitting back on her heels. "Hey, are you tired? The foods helping, but do you feel like a movie or something?"

"Yeah, I could go for a movie." Honestly, I just wanted an excuse to hang out with Alaya some more, so I would have said yes to just about anything at that point.

"Okay, I'm going to go make some popcorn, and then I'll be back. Do you want anything to drink?"

"Water is fine, thanks." I told her.

As soon as she was out of the room, I threw on a pair of boxers so that there would be no embarrassment, then got back in bed and turned on the television. I wasn't sure what we'd end up watching, but I was going to be ready when Alaya got back. She wasn't long, the suite had a stocked snack bar already, and came back with a bag of popcorn, some chocolate covered pretzels and bottles of water for the two of us. Placing everything on the bed, she crawled under the covers and popped a pretzel into her mouth.