Page 16 of The Billionaire's Caress

He was never good at listening, reason #145 why we were an awful match. He came forward, all contrite and puppy dog eyes. “I couldn’t believe it was you at the concert! And when I realized that my agent hooked me up here at Whitmore and Creighton, at your company no less, I just knew that this was my chance to make things right. I have so much to tell-”

I shook my head again. Harder this time. I felt my cheeks shudder like I’d stepped into a wind tunnel.

Missy came forward to, licking her lips like a dog licked its chop when a big juicy something was waiting to be devoured. She had the juiciest scoop yet, and she knew it.

“So, how do you two know each other?” she asked, still smiling. Smiling because she knew the answer.

“We used to-”

“-live in the same town!” I finished for him, not ready to have the lines drawn to connect the obvious dots. I had to get out of here. We had to get out of here. The man who hardly ever talked about his feelings had apparently turned over some new leaf and was ready to share our history with the one person who was intent on making my life hell. “Speaking of, we should really catch up!” I made a wide arc around both of them, not wanting to get too close to Corbin or Missy. “I know of a great place if you’re free.” I didn’t look him in the eye. I made eye contact with his chest, trying to ride the wave of voices in my head that screamed this was a bad idea. To be honest, my co-workers whispering about our connection and concocting theories was preferable to having all their suspicions confirmed from Whitmore and Creighton’s new client.

I hoped that all the fame hadn’t erased his ability to pick up on nuances and I breathed a sigh of relief when he told Missy that he’d call her later. Without a word, he followed me out of the cafe and towards the elevator.

Once we were alone, he turned to me with a sly smirk that fed into my worries that I made a mistake.

“You’re even more beautiful than I remember, Leila Bear.”

I backed up as far as I could go, feet shoulder width apart. I hoped that despite the fact that Whitmore and Creighton was a busy hive with people coming and going from 6am until the cleaning crew shut the place down, no one would pop in and interrupt us before I made some things crystal clear.

“First off,” I began curtly. “I am not your Leila Bear. I’m Mrs. Jacob Whitmore and just in case you’re wondering, he’s more of a man than you ever were and could ever hope to be.” I didn’t wait to see if his fragile ego had been broken. I wanted to get us out of this building and out of sight as quickly as possible. There was a clear path to the control panel, so I hit the button for the lobby. “I know of a discreet but public place where we can have a conversation.” I gave him the address of the quaint coffee shop I frequented, with a parking lot in the back and a security guard who made sure the paparazzi were too afraid to try their luck at getting a snap of the clientele. “Meet me here.”

I wasted no time leaving the elevator when we hit the lobby, and I didn’t doubt that he’d show up.

I felt his gaze following me until I stepped out on the sidewalk.

“YOU DON’T LOOK LIKE you’re having a whole lot of fun.”

I took my eye off the target, a neon balloon that would earn me a goofy looking teddy bear. Corbin was already holding a stuffed animal in both arms. He’d conquered this game in record time, according to the game operator, a man who was missing most of his teeth. And from the way the man cleared his throat, eyeing the line that had grown behind me, he was also running out of patience.

I’d fired three shots, with one left. And Corbin was right—I wasn’t having fun. He’d already proved the game wasn’t rigged. Twice. And I’d walked away empty handed from three other carnival games, each a little easier than the last once Corbin noticed my annoyed meter was close to breaking altogether. I didn’t even consider myself all that competitive, but the County Fair MVP over here made it impossible to not take this thing way too seriously. There was a gaggle of teen girls who’d signed up for the weighty task of being his cheerleading section.

“You’re so good, Corbin!” A blonde with a tongue ring she kept playing with gushed. “You should show her how it’s done!”

I hurled a scowl over my shoulder. “I’m about to show her how it’s done,” I grumbled, before I noticed that Corbin was loving every minute of it. Winking. He even said yes when two of them asked if they could take a picture with him.

This time, I cleared my throat, my face a hot, red mess. I didn’t want to perseverate on the fact that I had to remind my boyfriend of my existence.

“Maybe later,” he said quickly, and they let out an ‘Awww’, like he’d just told them Santa wasn’t coming around this year. ‘Maybe later’ wasn’t good enough. I was looking for a no...because they’d wait as long as they had to.

“Sorry,” he offered, a guilty edge to his voice. He pecked me on the cheek, a move that used to make me melt. A move that used to lead to him dipping me like we were in some black and white movie. Like I was the only woman that mattered in the whole world. I wished I’d known that our honeymoon period would last for one amazing month, then I’d learn that dating the hottest guy I’d ever seen came at a price. That price was, other women had eyes too. Desires.

And he lived for the attention.

“Honey,” the toothless carnival worker began. “Are you gonna shoot? If not, I’ll let someone else have a turn.”

Corbin stepped up, like he was reporting for duty. “I can shoot for her.”

His groupies let out a whoop of support and I rolled my eyes so hard that I nearly rolled my entire head, too.

“No,” I snapped, trying to block everything out except what was in front of me. “I’ve got this.”

I think.

The games before had some sort of shooting element as well and Corbin gave me a quick tutorial. Too quick, since he came up behind me, body pressed against mine. Leaned in and whispered for me to exhale, then pull the trigger. That moment was so hot, so beautiful, so ours that I’d turned to jelly and handed the gun over. so he could show me how to do it in living color.

I didn’t realize that he was going to give the exact same tutorial to three other women.

Body pressed against theirs.

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