Treating Mr. Billionaire

~ 55 ~

His words echoed in the small space where they stood at the entrance, the silence engulfing them was deafening as the only response she could manage was to stare at him with eyes dilated with puzzlement.  

The situation became more absurd the more she thought about it. Nothing about Jayden ringing her doorbell at midnight made any sense, especially after the mean way he had behaved toward her during the day.

She wasn't sure if she was supposed to bang the door close in his face at that very moment or get interested in his reason for showing up.

"To see me...?" words finally slipped out of her mouth after a long while, and then he nodded in confirmation. "...but why?" She questioned, still unable to fathom his intentions.

Jayden moved forward with a step, motioning to the inside of her house. "Can I come in first?" He asked quietly, and she felt her heart clench at the way those eyes looked at her.

Her lips parted slightly at his request, and she knew how wrong it was to invite a grown man into her home at that time of the day, especially when this particular guy had the capacity to destabilize her senses with just a single touch. 

Nevertheless, Maria could already feel herself succumbing to his charm, and she found herself nodding in agreement despite the hesitation she felt growing inside her chest.

She watched him walk toward her without another word, and couldn't help taking a step backward as his towering figure came closer to the room.

Her gaze left his hand that shut the door softly behind him, and her attention quickly found its way back to watching him with the same confusion she had expressed just a moment ago.

"So...what are you doing here?" she finally asked, breaking their silence.

His brown eyes held her face in a way that made her feel exposed before speaking, as though she were a piece of art and his very soul lay bare to his view.

"There should be nothing more than medical matters between us." he finally let out after taking a minute to gather his thoughts, his breath coming out shakily due to the intensity of his emotions. "Why did you say that?" he added, moving closer to her until his breathing hitched as he stared deeply into her eyes.

His question came as a total surprise to her and Maria couldn't help but blink several times at the seriousness in his tone.

"Did you come here to ask me that?" the words left her lips more like a rhetorical statement; her brain too busy trying to make the most of this strange situation to consider his actual intent of being there.

Her answer earned a nod from him, as he stepped even closer. "Yes," Jayden whispered, the corners of his lips turning downwards into an emotion she couldn't describe. Perhaps, it was sadness and she didn't expect that much to fill his gaze.

"At eleven forty-five??"  Maria asked incredulously after an excruciatingly long pause, her eyes traveling quickly to the walk clock and meeting his face again with more incredulity on her features.

"Ever since you said those words, I couldn't stop thinking about it. So, I came here to get answers."  His tone grew serious as he watched her carefully, and he found her expression becoming even more perplexed.

Maria stared at him for the longest period before releasing her stunned emotions as a chuckle escaped her throat dryly; one without any kind of humor attached to it.

Her brows squeezed slightly before speaking, her eyes narrowing at him, "You can be really annoying, do you know that?" she told him, exposing her mind, with her fingers running through her hair to indicate how frustrated she was.