Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 31

Shelby

“He needs to know, Shelby. He is the one that got you into this mess; he needs to help get you out of it,” Aubrey said, her arms folded across her chest. She had become really protective after she found out I was being blackmailed.

“There are two of us in that picture, Aubrey. I was actually the one to get in the water first. I don’t know what got into me; I slipped out of my clothes to go for a swim. Micheal walked up, and I invited him in. Well, more like dared him to get in. We got a little carried away,” I responded, my cheeks warming at the memory.

“Are you blushing? What exactly do you mean by carried away?” Lin said, eyeing me with a suspicious grin.

I laughed, “Yes. I, uh, didn’t tell you guys this, but we almost had s*x that day in the water.” I decided it was finally time I talked to them about it.

“Oh, my god, Shelby! How are you just telling us about this?” Lin said excitedly.

“I’ve just been trying not to think about it, but the truth is, I can’t stop,” I said, getting lost in my thoughts about Michael. As if I’d been doing anything but thinking about him since I got back.

“Why didn’t we hear more about this part of your vacation? I’ve been begging for more saucy details the entire time you were gone. You’ve been holding out on me, Shelby!” Lin said with a giant smile.

“This is serious, Lin. It’s no time to joke,” Aubrey said with a small swat to Lin’s arm. I couldn’t help but smile a little. Leave it to Lin to try and lighten the mood of a serious situation with an inappropriately timed joke.

“I just don’t understand why he hasn’t sent over a security team or something! He is like a bazillionaire, isn’t he? He needs to step it up and take responsibility.”

“He has just as much to lose as I do,” I said, sinking onto our worn-out sofa.

I was still trying to catch my breath from being followed by some man all the way from my gym. If I were to guess, it was probably the same man who was trying to blackmail Michael through me.

If I gave in, would it get worse for Michael? Who wanted to hurt him so badly, to go to the extent of not only blackmailing him, but stalking me too?

“Does he really? He has his money to protect him,” Aubrey said.

“He probably doesn’t even know this is happening,” I said defensively.

“Then you need to let him know,” Lin said, stepping in.

“I know I need to, but I don’t know how I should reach out to him.”

I wished that I could reach out with a phone call, possibly asking him to meet me somewhere in the city. But, I had never gotten his number because he had always been just a short walk away; it’d seemed unnecessary at the time. Then when I decided to leave, it was too late.

“I don’t have a way to reach out to him….”

“Could you ask Lauren for his number?” Aubrey suggested.

“Even if I wanted to speak to her, which I don’t, after the huge fight we had, I doubt she would answer me.”

Lin pulled out her phone and started typing. A few seconds later, she handed her phone to me with a picture of a skyscraper and a New York address underneath.

“This is his office. Just go in and talk to him,” Lin said. “Also, I can’t resist, was he a good kisser?”

Aubrey laughed, smacking Lin on the shoulder.

I rolled my eyes, smiling. The redness making its way to my cheeks told them all they needed to know.

The Express Air building towered above the skyline and over me on the street below. Men and women dressed in expensive suits rushed past me through the doors as I stood admiring the building’s size.

The inside was even grander than the outside, with white marble flooring stretching along the long row of black elevators. The businesswomen’s sharp stilettos echoed off of the floor and bounced off the high ceilings, making it impossible to tell where each sound came from.

I felt completely out of place and quickly made my way to the far side of the lobby, where a black letterboard listed the CEO’s office on the top floor. The elevator button stayed illuminated for what felt like ages as I waited for the doors to finally open.

The elevator filled quickly behind me, and I tried my best to disappear into the back corner. A few people exited off on the lower floors until I was the only one left. I was finally able to breathe again, and I tried my best to prepare what I was going to say to Michael when I finally saw him, after leaving as quickly as I had.

Even though I was there to bring him horrible news, deep down, I was excited to see him again. I hoped he would forgive the way I left without a word, without explaining, and without a goodbye. Maybe he had been missing me the way I had been missing him.

The elevator doors finally opened with a ding, and I took a confident step out. However, that confidence was dashed within seconds.

“Are you lost?” the receptionist asked as I stepped out of the elevator. She was supermodel gorgeous in a tight black dress that hugged her every curve as though it was a second skin.

She sat behind a large black desk in the middle of the room and stared at me as though I was a schoolgirl who had just gotten caught sneaking into the principal’s office. No, she looked at me the way Lauren had when I told her Todd and I were together before they were.

She flipped her perfectly smooth blonde ponytail over her shoulder as she waited for my reply.

“Oh…Um…No, I was just hoping I could speak to Michael, I mean Mr. Astor. Is he in?” I said as I walked up to the receptionist’s desk.

I had always hated the girls in high school who looked at me the way she was. They were the mean girls that mocked every fashion choice you made like you were committing social suicide by picking the wrong pair of shoes.

I tried my best to push my prejudice aside for the woman, but she didn’t make it easy on me.

“Do you really think you are the first woman to try this tired old trick?” she asked and scrunched her nose up like I was something disgusting she found on the bottom of her shoe.

“What trick are you talking about?” I asked, confused.

“Desperate women come up here all the time claiming they need to talk to Mr. Astor without an appointment, just on the off chance they get to meet him. They usually put a little more effort into their appearance than you did, though,” she said with a nasty smile.

“Wow, that is not at all why I am here. I have actually met Mr. Astor before. I just need to talk to him for a minute. Is he here?” I asked again.

Maybe she was so mean because of her chosen hairstyle. If I had my hair pulled back that tight, it would have definitely given me a headache and made me a total nightmare to be around.

“If you really knew Mr. Astor, you would have set up an appointment. The people in his life know that his schedule is booked out solid for months. I can’t let anyone back to see him without an appointment. That is how we keep the crazies at bay,” she said as she looked me up and down.

I don’t know how the crazies dressed, but apparently, in the receptionist’s eyes, I was wearing their uniform.

It felt like this woman wanted me to lose it. I took a deep breath and continued as calmly as I could.

“Please, it is really important that I see Mr. Astor today. This… this situation is time sensitive.”

“It always is,” the receptionist said and returned to her computer screen. She started typing and acted as though I wasn’t there.

“I can call security if you can’t replace your way out of the building on your own,” she shot at me, not looking away from the computer screen for a second.

I clenched my hands into tight fists trying to control the shaking from the anger this woman was causing me to feel. I knew that losing my temper would be the fastest way to get me kicked out of the building, and I needed to let Michael know what was going on.

“Can I leave a note for him? Then it is his choice if he responds to it, and I will be out of your hair,” I said, trying my best to keep my voice steady.

The receptionist sighed dramatically and slid me a white piece of notepaper and a pen, both marked with an Express Air logo. I took them without a word of thanks, I didn’t feel she deserved one, and I jotted down a quick note.

-Michael, I am being contacted about swimming in the cove. We need to talk.-

I included my name and phone number at the bottom of the note and read over it again to make sure I wasn’t giving away too much information. I figured the snotty receptionist would read it before giving it to Michael, and I didn’t want to give away any details.

At the last second, I added in very small print.

-P.S. I am sorry I didn’t say goodbye.

I am sure the receptionist would get a laugh out of the last line, but I had to say something. It seemed cold not to acknowledge that I had left things so poorly between us.

I slid it back to her, and she took it without another word. I had no choice but to press the down arrow next to the elevator and head back home. The elevator took a painfully long time to return.

When I looked up before the doors closed, the receptionist was staring at me with a self-important smile on her perfect face.

I had to hope that the receptionist would actually give Michael my note. For all I knew, she could have tossed it in the trash as soon as the doors of the elevator closed.

I wouldn’t put it past her.

When the elevator finally stopped, I walked as quickly as possible out of the building keeping my head down. I was still paranoid that someone was watching me.

I didn’t know what I would do next if I didn’t hear from Michael soon.