Page 34 of Wicked Billionaire

“Heading out?” Niki asked, making her way back down to my end of the bar.

“Yup. What do I owe you?”

“Your money’s no good here.” She shooed me away.

I pulled on my coat that had been on the barstool next to me and grabbed my purse. “Thanks, Niki. Are you on the bar next Saturday?” It was Christmas Eve.

“Don’t you know it. Don’t forget we’re closing early that day. You should come over to the house.”

“I’ll think about it.” If I was still staying with Jareth on Christmas Eve I was thinking about inviting him here to watch me sing. If he agreed, who knows what might happen afterward. My hope was that I could convince him to come to the Belmont’s with me.

As I took in the worn bar and the scuffed up floors I smiled. Jareth would look very out of place here. And I was all for pushing him out of his comfort zone.

I waved goodbye to Niki. As I headed to the door, I opened my app and ordered a car. “Hey Mike. Do you mind waiting with me until the Uber driver arrives?”

“Anything for you, Hazel. You sounded real good tonight.”

I smiled. Mike was a big, tough guy, but he had a gooey center. And I bet if Niki let him he’d show it to her. I saw the looks he cast her way that she never even acknowledged. If I was right Mike had been crushing on her for years.

Mike and I chatted for a few minutes until my ride showed up. I waved goodbye as I got into the car and headed back to Jareth’s penthouse. As much as I wanted to see his face I was afraid he’d grill me about where I went tonight. I was a terrible liar and needed more time to come up with something close to the truth.

When I finally arrived, I settled on telling him I was meeting friends out for drinks. It wasn’t a complete lie. I eased open the front door, silently listening for any movement within the penthouse telling me where Jareth might be.

I quietly tiptoed down the hallway to my bedroom, noticing the light on in his office. The door was shut, and I only heard the faintest movements inside. Being the chicken that I was, I hurried past and ran the last few feet to my door, closing it quickly behind me.

Why was I so afraid to face him? Because you hate lying, my subconscious reminded me. And maybe in the morning he might forget about me being weird today. Or not, that same voice said.

Jareth missed nothing.

Except for how I was falling in love with him.

“Hazel,” the annoyed voice crept into my consciousness.

I groaned and threw an arm over my face. “Five more minutes,” I mumbled. I struggled to fall asleep last night and was exhausted.

“Hazel, we need to leave in the next fifteen minutes.”

Fifteen minutes? My eyes sprung open, and I checked the small clock on my bedside table. Shiitake mushrooms! I sat up and tried to untangle myself from the bedding.

I wiggled my body to the edge of the bed. If I could slide out from under the covers maybe that would work. For a second, triumph shot through me. That completely fizzled when I didn’t stop sliding across the satin sheets. I scrambled, my fingertips working to find something to dig into to stop my inevitable tumble.

Pain shot through my hip as I fell from the bed into a heap on the floor. The super soft, cushiony floor still hurt when you landed hard. I groaned as I rubbed at my sore body, the dull ache reminding me to move a little slower. God, I hoped this was the worst today was going to get.

The door flew open so hard the knob bounced off the wall behind it. Why had I tempted fate?

Oh no. No, no, no, no!

Jareth burst through the door. His eyes darted around the darkened room until they rested on me splayed out on the floor. There was nowhere for me to hide at this point. I was mixed up in a tangle of sheets, blankets and a comforter. The only part showing was my head.

He sank to his knees by my side. The movement only highlighted his thick, muscled thighs as they bunched under the expensive fabric of his suit pants. “Are you okay?”

I nodded and dropped my chin to my chest. “I’m just embarrassed.”

The sound that slipped from his mouth was a cross between a laugh and a cough. “No reason to be. What happened?”

My fingers wrapped around my knees underneath the fabric. “Clearly I was unsuccessful in getting out of bed.”

He nodded, thankfully not commenting on that. “It’s not like you to sleep past your alarm.” He placed the back of his hand against my forehead. “You don’t feel warm.”

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