Page 35 of Cinderella's Fling with the Off-Limits Billionaire

His nostrils flared again. “Veramente?”

“I make my own decisions, Leandro. If you can’t respect that, then I can’t stay here with you.”

The words splashed between them like rocks in a pond. She didn’t want to go, but what choice did she have? Her boundaries were exactly that: boundaries. She needed to know they’d be respected. The erosion of her independence had been so slow and gradual with Jay, she hadn’t really noticed or minded at first. But she’d promised herself she’d never let that happen again, and that meant standing up for herself at the slightest infraction.

“You’re right,” he said after a long silence. “I messed up. I’m sorry.”

She hadn’t expected that, though perhaps she should have.

“I was selfish. I wanted to spend time with you?—,”

“You have to work,” she muttered. “It’s not like you rearranged your schedule.”

“I do have to work,” he agreed. “If it weren’t for the promise I made my brother, I wouldn’t. But I have been rearranging my schedule, Skye, this whole time, for you. Because I like spending time with you. Normally I work into the early hours of the morning. But I haven’t wanted to miss time with you.”

Little bubbles popped in her stomach. “Oh.”

“And I thought that after yesterday, you would like to have a few days to take stock, to spend with Harper, to meet with lawyers, and yes, to be with me.”

She bit down into her lip.

“But I should have put all this to you as a plan and let you make up your mind. Perhaps I was afraid you would say ‘no’. And I really didn’t want you to.”

Leandro? Afraid?

“I probably would have,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “I’m not thinking straight at the moment.”

Because of whatever was going on in his life that he refused to discuss with her? The lack of trust thing really hurt. Like an open wound, it didn’t take much provocation for it to flare up again.

She’d been terrified when he’d calmly told her she had the rest of the week off. It had felt wrong and heavy-handed, and it had reminded her of the way things had been Jay. But it was more than that. It had underscored the power imbalance between them. She worked for him. He could pull a few strings and clear her schedule. It was that easy.

And Skye hadn’t liked to think of that.

She liked to think of them as equals, even when they weren’t. Except here, they were. What they shared was nothing to do with money or power or success, it was just two people who had an overwhelming need for one another.

“It makes me feel…” she searched for how to express it, how to explain what she meant without sounding too invested. She shook her head slowly. “I like that you want to spend time with me, but please don’t make decisions for me again.” It wasn’t what she meant, but it was true too, so she let the words hang between them.

“I won’t, I promise.”

And she believed him.

Because when it came down to it, he was nothing like Jay. Jay who had lied to her and manipulated her from the very start, who’d made her feel small and wrong in so many ways, making her doubt herself and her decisions until she had no confidence left. That wasn’t what Leandro had wanted to do. He’d probably thought he was being romantic, like with the dresses the night before.

It made her wonder, was he always like this? In relationships, was he always so generous and focused? She felt as though she had the full force of his attention, and it was like being in a delicious spotlight. But the spotlight would move on soon enough, and then what?

She’d be cold.

The thought came to her out of nowhere. She tilted her gaze towards the skyline, staring out at the buildings with a thudding heart. This wasn’t real. It was all make-believe. From the beginning they’d said this thing had no future. Neither of them wanted that.

Skye had chosen to be single not just because of Jay’s controlling ultimatum and blackmail, but because she would never again risk putting her heart in another man’s hands. She couldn’t. She didn’t think she’d survive anything like that again.

So short term was good.

Temporary was fine.

She wouldn’t be cold, she’d be alone, but she’d be strong, just like before. She had to be.

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