Chapter 6: Shock of Reality

She heard wrong. That was certain. She couldn’t even think that could be true, not even for a moment. It made no sense. He was definitely teasing her.

It had become a habit for him to provoke her, she could tell. But why did he look so decided? Why didn’t he smirk at her or give her one of his witty remarks? Why was he looking at her as if she was the only interesting thing out there?

“Why?” she managed to ask.

“Why do I want you to go on a date with me?” he seemed surprised.

“Yes, why would you? I know who you are.”

That seemed to cheer him up.

“Who am I?” he asked with his eyebrows raised. “Are you going to tell me again that I’m an arrogant CEO with a cold heart?”

“I never said that,” Florence defended herself.

“But you thought it,” he added.

Florence’s mouth opened a few times before she decided against answering that. He was right and she wasn’t going to make up excuses.

“Why me?” she asked, trying to go back to the main topic of their conversation. “Is that why you’re here?” The thought surprised her.

She hadn’t noticed until now that he was outside waiting for her. No one seemed to be coming his way and he didn’t have his million bodyguards by his side as he had every other time she saw him at the university.

Scott examined her before answering.

“What kind of question is that? Why you? Why not you?” he retorted.

Florence scoffed.

“Well, going on dates with billionaires is not on my daily routine,” she said. “I’m not sure if that’s something normal to you, I mean, going on dates with normal girls, but that’s a bit odd to me.”

“Are you saying billionaires are not normal people?” he didn’t sound offended, but rather curious.

“Come on, Scott. Don’t pretend you don’t know what people think of you, or of others like you. You know better than I do the power money has.”

He nodded.

“I do. It has the power to make people look at you in a different way. Or to believe you’re something you’re not. Do you really think rich people can only feel attracted to others with the same status as them?”

Florence felt like he had just punched her in the stomach. She didn’t want to be seen as someone that judged others like that, but she couldn’t help it.

“I'm sorry,” she said truthfully. “It is just hard to separate things sometimes. I didn’t mean to offend you. I just don’t get why someone like you, who could have any woman you wanted, would want to go on a date with me.”

She knew she was belittling herself and she shouldn’t do that, but again, she couldn’t help it.

“Because you’re beautiful and sassy, and I was attracted to you since the first time I saw you. I wanted a chance to get to know you better, but I must’ve been out of the game for a while since I had to come to the university a lot more than I first intended to just to be able to invite you.”

“You came more than you intended?” Florence repeated his words, hoping he didn’t notice her cheeks reddening. Was he really saying what she thought he was? Did he come to the university all those times to find a chance to ask her out?

If she wasn’t so shocked, she’d burst out laughing. “Do you really expect me to believe that you went through all this trouble just to ask me out to dinner?”

Scott laughed, and she loved the sound of it.

“Hmm, it’s a bit hard to find some time to ask a woman out when you’re being mobbed by students and businessmen. Believe me, it’s not an easy task.”

Florence laughed too, feeling the butterflies dancing the tango inside her stomach.

“So, are you going to accept my invitation or do I need to try harder? I’m a businessman, so I don’t tend to give up so easily,” he joked, taking one more step toward her.

Florence gulped when she noticed that his face was inches away from hers. She thought he was already close enough before, but now it was only a matter of getting on her tiptoes for their lips to meet.

And, boy, oh boy, how she wanted that.

Especially with him staring at her lips with those hungry eyes. Was that even normal? For strangers to feel this attracted to one another, even when they knew nothing about each other?

Scott was mysterious, sexy, handsome, and kind. But he also awakened things inside of her that she had no idea were in there in the first place.

Florence had some boyfriends before, especially during college, but she never really felt this way with anyone. None of the previous guys she dated had caused anything similar to what she was feeling now.

She could see Scott was waiting for her to make the next move, but she didn’t. If she was considering going on a date with him, even if she didn’t know his true intentions yet, she couldn’t act impulsively.

Not that she thought it would work between them, but she also didn't want to say it didn’t before trying. One day at a time, but she could try, couldn’t she? Maybe that was God giving her what she always wanted. Or maybe it was a prank that fate was throwing at her.

Either way, she was willing to try and see what Scott really saw in her. She could be surprised. She only hoped she didn’t end up having a broken heart, which was most likely to happen if it was a man like Scott she was talking about.

“I will accept your invitation,” she finally said. The corner of his lips curled up and Florence was certain that now she was doomed.