The Teacher's Billionaire

I can teach you.” Reaching for the door to the Tea House, he started to pull it open but stopped. “Damn. I forgot to tell Maria to bring down some of her special Sangria.” Jake let go of the door handle. “Go on in and get started without me. I’ll be right back.” With that statement he gently nudged her up the steps before heading back toward the main house.
    “Whatever,” Callie muttered to herself somewhat confused. There was a phone inside that could be used to call the main house. She saw Warren use it the day they ate lunch in there. Why didn’t Jake just call the kitchen, she wondered as she pulled open the door. She took one step inside, then stopped dead. The Tea House was full of red and white roses and calla lilies. The only other place she’d seen this many flowers was inside a florist shop. And what had to be hundreds of candles lit the room casting a warm romantic glow. Standing in the center of it all was Dylan dressed in Dockers and a polo shirt. Despite everything her heart leaped at the sight of him.
Traitor.
    He’d obviously orchestrated this, but for what purpose. Was his conscious feeling so guilty that he felt he had to go to such extremes to apologize?
    Might as well get this over with. You were going to have to face him sooner or later.
She crossed her arms protectively around herself, then moved a few more steps into the room. “I didn’t know you were coming,” she said in lieu of a greeting. It wasn’t like she was going to say, nice to see you.
    Dylan didn’t move. “I came to see you.”
    “Did you buy out every flower shop in the state?” she asked refusing to acknowledge his statement.
    “If that’s what it takes I will.” He started to move closer but stopped when Callie took a step back toward the door. She was determined to keep some space between them.
    She swallowed hoping to dislodge the lump of emotion in her throat. It was threatening to choke her.
Don’t cry in front of him. He’s not worth it.
    Callie struggled to hold back the tears. “What do you want from me, Dylan?” Her voice was low not much louder than a whisper.
    He moved forward again, this time not stopping until he stood mere inches away. “A second chance.” She almost didn’t recognize his voice it was so thick with emotion.
    Callie chewed on her bottom lip, questions swirling around in her head. A second chance? At what - being friends? Being lovers? Did she dare ask?
    “That doesn’t really answer my question, Dylan. And you know it.”
    Dylan reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek. She jerked her head back slightly but didn’t move away from him. “I know you think everything between us was an act,” he began. It sounded as if he was choosing his words carefully. “It wasn’t, Callie.”
    More than anything she wanted to believe him. But could she take that risk? The conversation she’d overheard hadn’t been a dream. It had been very real. And Dylan had never once tried to deny his agreement with Phillips when he’d shown up at her apartment that night. He wasn’t trying to deny it now either. Yet right now he seemed so sincere, and this whole setup had taken some planning. Would someone who had just been acting gone through so much trouble? She just didn’t know.
    Damn, I should have rehearsed this earlier
. Now wasn’t the time to figure it out. “I was attracted to you from the beginning, long before Phillips asked me to keep an eye on you.”
    “But you didn’t trust me.” It was more a statement than a question. One filled with a combination of anger and sadness. Both of which pulled at his heart.
    He wiped another few tears from her face. This time she didn’t pull away. “That wasn’t an issue. I knew you weren’t a threat to Warren by then.”
    Dylan specifically said he knew she wasn’t a threat to Warren rather than saying he trusted her. Because while he had trusted her in terms of his stepfather, deep down on some level he hadn’t trusted her in regards to himself. He hadn’t even realized that was the case until Jake gave him a kick in the ass. Now that he’d dealt with those fears keeping him from trusting her, Dylan knew it hadn’t been Callie he didn’t really trust but himself.
    “I couldn’t convince Phillips. If I didn’t go along with him, he was going to hire someone.” He wondered if he was getting through to her. Since she hadn’t bolted, he assumed she was at least willing to listen. “I couldn’t allow