Page 39 of Cinderella's Fling with the Off-Limits Billionaire

He turned to face her, wishing that instead of going to a show, they’d just locked the door on his bedroom and spent the night in. Did she have any idea how great she looked? How hard he was finding it to keep his eyes off her?

“She’s a sweet child.”

Skye smiled. “She is very sweet.”

“She’s like you.”

“She’s way sweeter,” she replied, laughing a little. “Harper has never had a bad thought about anyone in her life. She is pure sunshine.”

“And you’re not?”

“Definitely not.”

“I’d disagree with that assessment.”

“Maybe I used to be,” she said, lips pulling to the side. “Before. But that was the old me.”

“And the new you?”

“Is more of a realist. I guess I have Jay to thank for that. I used to see only the best in people, but that’s so facile and reductive. After Jay, I find it a lot harder to trust. I don’t want to trust.”

Which explained why she’d been so hesitant to accept his help, even when she had so few options.

“But I was talking about you, anyway,” she said, and the words held a layer of frustration. “You’re comfortable with Harper, and it makes me wonder if you have kids in your life?”

His eyes met hers and he wondered at the way she did this—asked questions that he wanted to answer, even when he’d promised himself he would keep his private life walled away from this. He didn’t want to think about everything he’d known before the revelation. It all felt different now, it was all part of the same darkness that he was resisting.

“None in my family,” he said, turning back to the front window and taking stock of where they were. Not far from their destination.

Skye sighed beside him, but she wasn’t deterred, evidently. “There must be some kids in your life?”

She wasn’t going to let it go. In the sparest of ways he said, “The children of friends.”

Another small sigh, and this time, Skye turned and looked out the window, her body tense. It was the last thing he wanted. Somewhere along the way, he’d decided he wanted to give her everything she’d never known. He wanted to spoil her. Because he could, because it was easy and because she deserved that.

He reached out and put a hand on hers. “I know it bothers you, and I know why. But I need to keep my worlds separate.”

She turned back to him, her eyes scanning his face, and he felt the rejection of his words, worried that she was going to reject his sentiment and then all of him, knowing he wasn’t ready to let this end yet. Even though it was only a matter of days, he wanted every last minute they had together.

“Fine,” she smiled but it was brittle.

He pretended not to notice, lifting her hand to his lips and pressing a kiss there. “Thank you.”

She blinked away from him, but not before he caught the frown on her face. A moment later, she withdrew her hand, flexed her fingers.

He smothered his own sigh, and a pervasive feeling of frustration, and tried to just enjoy the night ahead.

On Leandro’s last night in New York, Skye couldn’t ignore the growing sense of impending doom. Not doom, perhaps, but sadness.

She was existing in a strange unreality.

She didn’t want a relationship—she couldn’t commit to anyone. Not after Jay. She couldn’t trust another person. She just wanted to focus on Harper, on being the best mom she could. But at the same time, what if he was different? Different not just to Jay but to any man in the world?

He had shown himself to be considerate, thoughtful, respectful.

Was she being an idiot not to fight for more? Not to at least mention the possibility of seeing one another again?

And what happened next? She would go home, and Jay would be a threat in the back of her mind when she got there—but at least now she had the backing of powerful lawyers to help her in that department.

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