Page 27 of Stuck with a Billionaire Rockstar

He’s only doing this because he knows I’ll like it.

Isn’t this supposed to be a lesson? We shouldn’t be doing things that would make the other happy, yet he’s got us scheduled for the day to go to a botanical garden that he’d likely never walk in if it was up to him. Maybe he likes me more than he’s been admitting.

I’m getting too far into my head.

He’s only trying to make me more comfortable; that way, things are easier later on when he gives me another lesson – one I can’t wait for, if the way my pussy aches is any indication. It would be best if I acted as though we are two friends going somewhere together rather than more. I’m sure that’s how he’s going to look at it anyway.

After we eat our breakfast in silence, Brent gathers my empty plate and places it on the cart that came with our room service. He washes his hands in the sink, then walks over and holds out a hand to me with a smile. “Ready, Buttercup?”

Just like always, the moment my palm falls into his hand, a zap of lightning courses through my bloodstream, and I shiver from the sensation. I probably look like an idiot. It’s like one hundred degrees here and it seems as though I’m cold, even though that’s not the case at all, but I play off the reaction to his touch with a small smile. “Just a small chill,” I whisper.

What would Mallory say if she knew I was going out on another date with her brother?

14

Brent

We’ve been walking in line with the rest of the crowd for well over an hour, listening to the rich history of the botanical garden, and all I’ve been able to do is watch Julia’s face the entire time. There’s something mesmerizing about the way her eyes widen, along with her smile, as she hears everything from the tour guide.

“St. George’s collection of palms includes over twenty-five species that grow in the Caribbean and adjacent regions in Central and South America,” the tour guide says brightly, her hand waving at the palms on either side of us. “St. George was awarded level one accreditation by the ArbNet Accreditation Program.”

When I look up, there are a few people in the crowd giving me weird looks, but I ignore them and thread my fingers through Julia’s to lead her with the rest of the group. Her green eyes dart from every palm that we walk past, and she pulls her phone out quickly to take pictures, committing everything to memory with a smile on her face.

She stares at me for a moment, then looks to the woman on our right and waves her phone in the air. “Hi, ma’am. Do you mind taking a picture of us?”

The woman blinks in surprise, her gaze falling onto me in recognition, and she shakes her head before grabbing Julia’s phone. “Of course not.”

I’m caught off guard when Julia moves closer to my side, and instead of looking into the camera like I should, I stare down at her with a smile. There’s nothing more beautiful than seeing Julia fall in love with something, and it’s an image I’ll never be able to replace. “Thank you so much,” Julia says as she pushes away from me and grabs her phone from the stranger.

“You two lovebirds enjoy yourselves,” the woman says with a small smile before hurrying to catch up with who I assume is her boyfriend. As soon as she locks arms with him, she turns her gaze over her shoulder to stare at me, and I quickly look away.

I should’ve known the hat and glasses wouldn’t keep me off my fans' radar. Now that we aren’t within the resort, there are much more people to worry about. I could ask Julia to leave and head back where I’ve got a policy to protect me, but that would mean watching the love dim from her eyes, and I can’t bring myself to be the reason.

“You know,” Julia says. “You really know how to do this whole dating thing.”

“It doesn’t take much to realize what a woman might need,” I whisper, clutching her hand tightly in mine.

If I’m being honest, it has more to do with wanting to see that smile on Julia’s face that I’ve been seeing all day than making sure I’m being a good boyfriend. It feels weird to call myself that, but isn’t that what we are doing? It might be fake, but essentially, I’m her temporary boyfriend, who she’s sneaking around with on her vacation, so she can gain more experience with men and not be so awkward around them.

The idea of her doing this with other men has my stomach churning, but I shake my head and ignore it. This can’t be anything more than what it is right now, even if my heart is begging me to make it something more. As much as I swore to myself it would never happen, I think I’m falling for my sister’s best friend. The longer I spend around her, the more my heart aches to be near her when she’s not around.

I’m sure if it were up to her, she would’ve left as soon as she woke up this morning, and I made the rash decision to plan this date so that she wouldn’t. I wanted her all to myself. Is that selfish? She came on this trip to spend some quality time with my sister, but I also know that Mallory was part of the reason Julia was upset last night.

“You’re quiet,” Julia mumbles. “What’s going on in that creative head of yours?”

There’s no way I’m going to tell her what I was really thinking about, but I’ll at least give her a small shred of honesty.

I sigh and pull us to a stop. “Just something I’ve been thinking about doing since we woke up but haven’t had the chance to do it.” She gasps when I tug her close to me, my back leaning against one of the posts holding the building together, and her eyes fall straight to my lips as if her mind is in the same place as mine.

“And what’s that?” She asks breathlessly.

My lips tip into a smirk and I glide my knuckles down the length of her cheek until my thumb is resting over her bottom lip. I lean forward, her lips parting instinctively, and brush mine over hers slowly. There’s nothing hungry or feral about this kiss. It’s tender, delicate, and gentle. Neither of us is eager for whatever could happen next, instead free falling into this moment of slow bliss.

Every swipe of her lips lights something up inside of me until she pulls away and leans into my chest with a sigh. The group is further down the walkway, the tour guide motioning toward the things around them as she speaks about its history, but I don’t care to bring Julia to its attention. I want her right where she is right now – wrapped in my arms.

She pulls away from me and smiles, her cheeks pink from the moment. “Want to head out of here?”

“If that’s what you want, this is supposed to be for you.”

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