My Billionaire And I

I was almost all the way to my car when it happened. Suddenly someone grabbed me from behind, his hand covering my mouth. I tried to struggle, but he was too strong.

The next thing I knew, I was free. Someone else had pulled him off me and now held a gun in my attacker's face. "I wasn't gonna do anything to her," the man who'd attacked me whined.

"No, you're not," my rescuer growled. In the dark I couldn't make out his features, but I could see that he wore a security guard's uniform. "Are you all right?" he asked me. He had a slight Russian accent, and my heart began to beat faster as I realized that his voice sounded familiar.

"I...I think so," I stammered. "He just scared me real bad, that's all."

"Addison?" His voice was full of wonder.

"Do I know you?" I asked.

"Don't you remember?" He laughed. "It's me, Alexei!"

Alexei. I'd said good-bye to him ten years ago. I'd met him when he'd ended up practically on my back doorstep completely by accident. He'd befriended my brother Aidan and his friends, and I'd taken care of his injured arm, but then he'd had to return to his home in Russia. At the time, I'd thought I'd never see him again.

"But how...how did you get back here?" I stammered.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you another time. Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm positive," I told him. "I need to get home to my kids."

"Kids?" He looked disappointed.

"I'm a single Mom," I explained.

"Oh." He looked relieved. "Well, take care, and I'm sure I'll see you again soon." He gave me that enchanting smile I remembered so well and returned to his duties, and I drove home, still shaken a bit from what had almost happened to me but thrilled to have seen Alexei again.

Upon returning home, I paid the babysitter, Peyton, and went to check on Montana and Nevada before getting ready for bed myself. Four-year-old Montana lay sound asleep underneath his Power Rangers quilt, clutching his pillow tightly, and fourteen-month-old Nevada lay curled in her crib with her thumb in her mouth. I kissed them both lightly on the cheek before going to my own bedroom.

As I drifted off to sleep, memories of my first encounter with Alexei returned to me. In his sailor suit, he looked so adorable, and with his longish dark blond hair swept back, his bright blue eyes, I'd fallen for him right away. In the brief amount of time we'd had together, we hadn't been able to get to know one another very well, but I'd become quite fond of him, and felt sad when he'd had to say good-bye. I'd watched until I couldn't see him anymore, hoping deep inside that I'd see him again someday.

Now I couldn't wait to find out what had brought him back to the United States.

"Is this seat taken?" asked a male voice near me. My heart skipped a beat when I turned to see Alexei's smiling face.

"Now it is." It was the following day, and I was eating lunch in the hospital cafeteria. My morning tasks had pushed the reunion with Alexei out of my mind, but now it came to the forefront once again.

"So, how has your morning been?' he asked as he sat across the table from me.

I grimaced. "I helped sew up a kid who fell off a bicycle and needed stitches, mopped up vomit and blood, started three IV's, and did two surgical workups. How's yours been?"

He laughed. "Not quite as exciting as yours. I prevented a vending machine from falling over onto a kid. He got mad because it took his money and didn't give him a candy bar and tried to push it over."

"I'm glad I don't have your job."

"And I'm glad I don't have yours." We both laughed.

"So, tell me about your children." He was serious again.

I brightened. "They're great kids. Montana is four, and Nevada just turned one. Montana just started four-year-old kindergarten. He likes it so far. Nevada just learned to walk not too long ago."

"And what about their father?"

"His name was Jeff. He was killed in a car crash not quite a year ago." I remembered it as if it were yesterday. Jeff had been drinking, and I could tell that he was in no shape to drive. I'd begged him not to go, but he'd angrily pushed me away and told me to leave him alone. The police had shown up with their sirens flashing only about a half hour later or so. Jeff had hit a telephone pole going about eighty miles an hour and had been thrown through the windshield.

They'd asked me to come to the morgue and identify the body. Jeff's face had been so mutilated that it had barely been recognizable, and there had been blood and pieces of glass sticking out everywhere. It was the worst thing I'd ever seen, and it had given me nightmares for months.

"I'm so sorry," said Alexei.

"What about you?" I asked him. "Have you ever been married?"

He shook his head. "I came close, once," he told me. "Her name was Evgenia. I met her in the grocery store one day, and it was love at first sight, just like it was for you and me. The line was even longer than usual that day, and by the time we got to the front, I felt as if I'd known her all my life. I asked her to marry me only a few weeks later, but on the day we were supposed to be married, she never showed up at the courthouse. Later, I'd found out that she'd eloped with my friend, Sidor. That was when I started thinking about coming back to America. I thought that perhaps it would help me to put my grief behind me, and I also thought that maybe, just maybe, I'd even see you again. I never forgot you, Addison."

"I never forgot you, either." By then my lunch break was up, so I had to go back to work. The time we'd spent talking together had seemed much too short.

After that, I began to see Alexei around the hospital frequently. I also learned something about him I hadn't known before: he was descended from Russian royalty, and had, in fact, been named after the Romanov prince, Alexei. His family had inherited a lot of money from the dynasty, and he was actually a billionaire.

"Why do you work here as a security guard, then?" I asked him.

"It gives me something to do, and besides, I don't want people to know how wealthy I actually am," he replied. "I mean, I don't mind you knowing, but as for everyone else, I want them to see me as just one of the guys."

We made plans to get together and take the kids to the zoo on the next day we both had off together.

The night before we planned to go out, Nevada developed a slight cough. I gave her Tylenol and cough syrup, and her coughing eased, but the following morning, I noticed that her skin was warm to the touch. With a sinking feeling, I realized that I was probably going to have to cancel out on the trip to the zoo and take her to the pediatrician, Dr. Tanner.

I was still agonizing over what to do when Alexei arrived, dressed smartly in jeans and a light blue polo shirt that just matched his eyes. "Sorry I'm a bit early," he said sheepishly, noticing the cereal bowls still sitting on the table. "I suppose I was a bit eager."

"Who are you?" Montana demanded.

"Alexei," Alexei told him.

"I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to have to change our plans," I told Alexei. "Nevada seems to be coming down with something."

His smile evaporated, to be replaced with a look of concern.

"Poor baby," he said. "Well, that's all right. We'll just have to do it another day, then." It broke my heart to see how disappointed he looked, and I felt sad about losing a chance to spend time with him.

"You don't have to leave right away," I told him. "It might be a couple of hours before I can get her in."

As it turned out, Dr. Tanner's nurse said that he could see Nevada right away, so I told Alexei that I had to get both kids ready and leave. "Why don't we all go together?" he suggested.

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to spend your entire day off sitting in a waiting room!" I exclaimed.

He grinned. "You're not asking. I'm offering."

"I'm afraid it won't be nearly as much fun as the zoo would have been."

"It doesn't matter so much to me what we do, as long as we do it together," he replied.

"Well, in that case, how can I refuse?" I laughed, overjoyed that I'd get to spend the morning in his company, after all.

We had to take my car because the car seat was in it, and when we arrived, the waiting room was so crowded that poor Alexei had to stand. After awhile, it cleared out enough that he was able to sit down. In spite of what I'd been told over the telephone, we had to wait a couple of hours for Nevada to be seen. It turned out that she had bronchitis, so we had to stop by the pharmacy to pick up antibiotics for her on the way home.

"It sure would be a nice day to take the kids to the park," Alexei commented wistfully on the way home. "But I know that your little one doesn't feel well and you'd like to get home with her as quickly as possible."

We went through the McDonald's drive-through, and he bought meals for all of us. Then we went back to my apartment, where I gave Nevada her medicine and then put her down for a nap. Then the two of us ate and talked while Montana played with his toy trains.

"So, how's your brother?" Alexei asked me. He'd actually met my brother Aidan before he'd met me. Aidan and his friends had found Alexei washed up and stranded on the beach, where they'd befriended him and helped him to find his comrades.

"He's doing all right," I told him. "He graduated high school five years ago. He works in a supermarket now. I can't wait to tell him you're back. He'll be so excited!"

I'd actually had a very selfish reason for putting off telling Aidan that I'd found Alexei again. I'd simply wanted to keep him all to myself for a little while before sharing him with anyone else, even my family members.

Alexei ended up staying for most of the day. I cooked dinner for him, and he stayed and talked some more for a long time after that, until it was time for me to get the children ready for bed.

"Well, I'm awfully sorry the trip to the zoo didn't work out," I told him as I walked him to the door.

"That's all right," he told me. "The zoo will always be there. We can go anytime."

"Thanks for being such a good sport about it," I said.

"Hey, no problem at all!" he replied.

The next time we both had the day off, it was raining cats and dogs. I stood at the window for the longest wondering whether he'd even show up at all, until he appeared in a rain slicker underneath which he carried two DVD's, 'Frozen' and a nature thing with bears and foxes. When the rain finally stopped, he took Montana outside to look for tree frogs.

"You're so good with him!" I exclaimed when they came back inside later with their three croaking prizes in a plastic shoebox with holes for air poked in the top.

"I've always loved children," he told me. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to have any of my own."

"But why?"

He made a face. "Ice hockey injury. I got hit right in the...well, you know." He blushed.

"That sure must have hurt like hell."

"I thought I was going to die."

"And you never got checked afterwards to see if there was any permanent damage?"

He grimaced. "Well, it would have been kind of...embarrassing, you know? To ask a doctor to check you in that particular place...I suppose I was kind of afraid of what I might find out anyway...but I really do want to be a father some day, very badly."

"Well, I hope that you can become one some day," I said softly, suddenly feeling very sorry for him.

"I hope so too," he said. "You know what? I'd love to take you out for a nice dinner somewhere romantic, just the two of us. Do you realize that we haven't even been out on a proper date yet?"

"I know, and I'm sorry..."

"Hey, nothing to be sorry for. I've really enjoyed every minute I've spent with you and your kids, but do you think you could get a babysitter every now and then?"

"Well, of course! That wouldn't be a problem at all!"

"Great! See you later, then!"

I watched him go, thinking about how lucky I'd been to find a man like him.