Page 36 of The Billionaire Experience

“I’m sure Zander will send a formal invitation,” Chloe continued, “but we are having a housewarming party. I’d love for you both to attend. I’m over the moon to be moving in with him. Wait until you see the apartment.” She fluttered her hand in front of her face. “Heaven.”

“It’s huge. Tons of windows. Great balcony with plenty of seating,” Brody told Reagan as he tightened his hold around her shoulders. “The kind of place you’ve always dreamed of living.”

She snorted at his assumption. Little did he know that her dream home had creaky floorboards and was acting as temporary housing for a billionaire.

“Do you do design work?” Chloe asked.

“Oh, no. I’m not a designer,” Reagan said quickly. “I just fix what’s broken.”

“Like me,” Brody laid on thickly.

“I promise not to put you to work as my guest.” Chloe winced, an expression that was out of place on her open, heart-shaped face. “But there are a few things I was thinking about changing. I would love a second opinion.”

“Of course. I’d be happy to opine on every corner of your new home.” Reagan pressed her lips together before she said more. Now who was laying it on thick?

“Great!” Chloe clapped her hands together. “I will see you there. I assume you’ll share your invitation with Reagan? No need for me to send hers to a separate mailing address?”

It’s okay, I don’t have one.

“Absolutely.” After Chloe said goodbye and vanished down another aisle, Brody faced Reagan. “Didn’t know how possessive you were over your customers.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She surreptitiously shrugged off his hold and pretended to study her phone.

“Did you think I was flirting with her?”

She started humming, and he plucked her phone from her hands. “Hey!”

“You called me honey.” He offered her phone to her. She snatched it back and then stuck it into the back pocket of her jeans.

“I call lots of people honey.” Not true.

“Well, I've never heard you call anyone honey. I called you honey, though. The night you asked me to kiss you.”

“I didn’t ask you to kiss me!” she argued through a laugh. Their conversation garnered the attention of an elderly couple perusing refrigerators nearby. She lowered her voice. “You asked if you could kiss me.”

“I asked if it would be unethical to kiss you, and you said no so fast my head spun.”

He had her there. That was, unfortunately, true. She opened her mouth and snapped it shut, choosing silence.

“Jealousy is a natural human emotion.”

“I’m not jealous!” she blustered, unsure why she was bothering to defend herself at this point.

His narrowed eyes suggested he didn’t believe a word she was saying, but rather than continue arguing, he dropped the subject. “All right. Let’s finish this list and get out of here.”

Brody had never seen a woman so happy to be in a home improvement store. Reagan excitedly hunted down items on their list, reminding him of a previous girlfriend in a jewelry store.

An interesting comparison to make since after he paid for two large bags of various wares, he found Reagan at the entrance-slash-exit admiring a row of gumball machines, one filled to the brim with tacky fake jewelry. The other one was packed with candy and yet another was stuffed with assorted plastic toys.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out change—who had change nowadays?—and then twisted her lips. “Do you have a quarter? I’m short.”

“What do you have your eye on? A jawbreaker or a…”—he cocked an eyebrow as he read the label—“‘sticky gummy octopus’?”

“I’m going to buy jewelry. As soon as I find another quarter. I hope I don’t get the gold grill.”

He chuckled as he inspected the machine, its contents packed with gaudy gold-painted baubles. There were rings with giant red plastic “jewels,” the aforementioned gold “grill” meant to cover the front teeth, and at least one necklace that resembled the Heart of the Ocean from Titanic. “Seriously?”

“It’s a thing I do.” She shrugged one shoulder. When she batted her lashes over bright, excited eyes, how could he refuse her?

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