Page 25 of The Billionaire's Wife

He laughs.

“Oh, and the amount you’re paying me to sit here right now and have this conversation with you.” I lean back in my chair and take a long, theatrical drink from my glass, maintaining eye contact with him over the rim.

He smirks. “And what are your plans for this ridiculous sum?” he asks me.

I make a show of thinking long and hard. “Vet school,” I answer honestly.

He raises a brow, intrigued. “You want to become a vet,” he says.

I nod, pulling my knees up against my chest and resting my feet on the chair, settling in. “I’ve always wanted to be a vet. I graduated with my degree in Animal Sciences back in May, and I’ve been saving up a bit before applying to vet school.”

Alec nods slowly, gazing at me. “You’d be a good vet,” he finally decides.

I smile. “Thanks. I love animals, so it always seemed like a good fit.”

“So you’ll use the money to pay for vet school,” he says.

I shrug. “Part of it, at least. School is expensive, so it probably won’t cover it all, but it will decrease my loan amount substantially.”

He stares at me for a long moment before looking off at the water and taking a sip of his drink.

“And what about you?” I bring the conversation back to him. “This merger the achievement of your dreams? It’s hard to imagine going up from here,” I comment.

The ghost of a smile plays on his lips. “That’s the problem with making it big. You suddenly run out of places to go.” He says it in a light tone, but the words somehow feel heavy.

I bite my lip, thinking. “Is it everything you wanted it to be?” I finally ask.

He hesitates. “Almost.” The word is uttered quietly, almost a whisper.

His gaze still glued to mine, we sit there for a heartbeat in silence. “Well, almost is better than nothing,” I finally answer.

He smiles. “True.”

I break our gaze to stare out at the water once more. Not because there’s anything to look at, but mainly to remove myself from his hypnotic stare. But when I turn back, he’s still looking at me.

“What?” I find myself asking with a shy giggle.

He cocks his head. “You’re just not what I thought you’d be like. The real you.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What, smart? Interesting?”

He rolls his eyes. “No. I’m not surprised by that. I guess I’m surprised by how much I enjoy being around you. So maybe it’s me I’m surprised at.”

“You know, I’m surprised by that as well,” I admit.

It’s his turn to feign offense. “You thought I’d be too stuck up to be fun?”

“Oh, that’s exactly what I thought,” I say with a devilish grin.

He laughs, throwing his head back. “I guess I deserve that.”

He leans forward in his chair, and the movement causes his knee to rest against mine. The touch is electric, and my gaze darts to where our bodies connect. I find myself leaning toward him, and Alec spans the final distance between us, pressing his lips softly against mine. The kiss is slow, unhurried—much like our other kisses—but it somehow makes it that much more sensual. Butterflies flitter through my stomach. He pulls away, resting his forehead against mine momentarily. His gaze darkens, a glint in them.

Suddenly he stands, pulling me to my feet after him and then back into the boat. I know where his destination is, and I know what’s on his mind. Because it’s on my mind as well.

We make it back to the room, and his hands are all over my body the second we step inside, barely having time to close the door behind us. He presses me against the wall, kissing me hungrily as his hands work on the buttons of my shirt. Without breaking our kiss, he slides my shirt over my shoulders, tossing it to the ground. He reaches behind me to unclasp my bra, and once my breasts are free, his hands are immediately all over them.

I moan into his mouth as he gropes my breasts, squeezing roughly and thumbing my nipples. He moves to unbutton my shorts, breaking our kiss to demand, “Step out of these. Your underwear too.”

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