Page 40 of Cinderella's Fling with the Off-Limits Billionaire

But how could she just go back to her normal life, a life without Leandro in it?

It had all seemed like such a simple proposition in the beginning, but then, she hadn’t known. She hadn’t understood.

They’d made an agreement, an agreement to protect both of them, and no matter how she might feel now, he had shown no signs of changing his mind. He had still been like a locked box when it came to sharing his life, so it was pretty clear that he didn’t really see Skye as anything other than a ‘distraction’. An escape from his regular life. Of which she had no part.

“You’re in another world,” he murmured, coming up behind her and kissing her nape. Harper had been in bed for hours, Jane had disappeared to her room. They were alone.

Tell him you don’t want this to be over.

The voice in her head was insistent, but she ignored it. She knew what he’d say. He had a life to return to. Things to sort out. This was temporary. She was meaningless, just like the other women he’d dated. She wouldn’t show him how unsophisticated she was by begging for more.

It was for the best.

Only, as she turned in the circle of his arms and kissed him properly, she felt parts of her lock into place that she hadn’t even been aware she possessed. She felt her whole body come together differently. How could she possibly accept the end was at hand?

Ten

ON THE MORNING OF his departure, Leandro knew they had to talk. He’d known it for days, but had been waiting for something. Clarity? A sign from Skye that she wanted to change the terms of their deal? Sanity to return to him, to remind him of all the reasons he had to walk away as planned?

Only he didn’t.

Not if she didn’t want him to.

But Skye seemed completely unaffected by the fact his bags were packed, and Alec was waiting in the lobby.

Harper was the only one who showed emotion. “Leo stay,” she pouted over her toast.

He’d looked to Skye for a reaction, but she’d only smiled indulgently, as though the dear little girl didn’t possibly understand the ways of the adult world. Well, maybe that made two of them.

Would the old Leandro have just laid his cards on the table and suggested he remain another week? Or that they accompany him to Italy for a holiday? Would he have just kissed Skye until she agreed that they shouldn’t walk away from this yet?

Probably.

That Leandro had been secure in his place in the world, had known only the love his parents, rather than what he felt now—rejection from his biological parents, and betrayal from his adoptive. Not to mention the strange distance from his siblings who were not, as it turned out, related to him at all.

“Do you have a moment?” His voice sounded calm, if slightly raw.

Skye eyed him warily but a moment later she smiled and nodded. No big deal. Her veneer was excellent, but surely she wasn’t as calm about all this as she seemed?

And why did that bother him?

“Listen,” he said, when they were alone on the terrace. New York was donning its winter coat, the colours of fall giving way to spindly branches and a bleak sky. He focused on Skye. “I want you and Harper to stay here until things are settled with your ex.”

She shook her head, the beginning of a demurral, and his sense of frustration intensified. “Where else are you going to go, Skye?”

“Home,” she said, lifting one shoulder.

He ground his teeth. “No.”

Skye’s jaw tilted in that defiant way she had, so he immediately knew he’d come off too commanding. “It’s your choice,” he muttered. “But that would be the wrong choice.”

She laughed, a soft, short sound. “I can’t stay here. Not without you.”

A muscle jerked in his jaw. Was she asking him to stay? Damn it, he hated this version of himself. He hated what this news had done to him. Confidence had never been in short supply for Leandro but he now felt totally disconnected from who he used to be. Or was it that rejection from Skye was something he intrinsically wanted to shield himself from experiencing?

“I’ll be fine,” she said, her words so like her. She was such a fighter. And if she wanted him to stay, she’d be fighting for that too. “I’ve dealt with him for years.”

“You’ve never pushed back against him before.”

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