Page 4 of Secret Billionaire

“I’m crashing with my best friend right now. All my money is tied up in the bar. You can’t beat the view that’s for sure.”

“Look at those stars,” he said, before getting off his bike and giving her a hand. She removed the helmet and handed it back to Jesse. The ocean breeze stirred tendrils of her hair that had escaped its clasp.

Looking up she said, “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? It always makes me feel so small…in a good way.”

He looked down at her, his expression suddenly serious, “You’re beautiful.”

Her breath caught as their gazes locked.

“I meant what I said back there, about not walking home alone this late at night.”

“Believe me, I heard you. That was frightening. From here on out, I’ll take my bicycle.”

The air was thick with awareness. The ride over had tousled his coppery brown hair and she wondered how it would feel to rake her fingers through it. Could he really see everything she was thinking and feeling or was it her imagination working overtime? Talk about feeling stripped bare. Geesh.

Suddenly self-conscious, she broke eye contact. Her emotions pinged all over the place…from fear to desire and back again…yet she felt drawn in by this man, somehow safe, cared for… and above all, she felt like a woman. The chemistry between them was insane. He got back on his bike.

“Um…well…I don’t know what to say or how to thank you. I’ve never been rescued before.”

His eyes flickered with some emotion, then he put on his helmet and started up his motorcycle. “I’m glad to have met you Faye LeBlanc. I’ll be your protector anytime.”

“I owe you a beer or two on the house. You’d better take me up on it or I’ll never forgive you.”

Eyes glittering, he said, “I’ll be there to redeem them, make no mistake about that. I’ll drop those cards off tomorrow.”

She felt her belly flip flop. “Good night then.”

He reached his hand toward her face, then pulled it back. “Good night Faye.”

She hugged herself as she watched him drive away.

* * *

Damn but that girl is fine!He circled back around to make sure he saw lights come on inside. She woke every latent alpha male instinct he had. She was slim and willowy, delicate. He was surprised by how attracted he was to her because generally, he went for the voluptuous curvy type... Maybe he’d finally learned his lesson on that score.

The dark smudges under her eyes only made them stand out more. Her eyes! Almost the color of a cornflower. The most vivid blue he’d ever seen. His jaw clenched remembering them wide with fear, which had made him want to pick her up and carry her off to his lair.

He was glad he’d listened to his gut feeling about the guy at the bar. It had paid off...big time. He’d decided to make sure she made it safely to her car. Except she didn’t have a car. What the hell had she been thinking walking home alone at one o’clock in the morning?

It had surprised him how badly he had wanted to beat the shit out of that asshole. He'd noticed the guy ogling her all night. Not that he was innocent on that score. He’d been aware of her the entire evening. How she’d moved, gracefully…like a dancer, her smile, her laugh.

She could have stepped right off the cover of a magazine. She’d had on some gauzy skirt with a side slit that went all the way up her long sexy thigh. Her spaghetti strap top had plunged daringly low in the front and left her midriff bare. The outline of her nipples pressing against the fabric had made him hard.

The short ride to her place wasn’t nearly long enough. His body had practically hummed with pent up energy. Feeling her breasts press into his back and her warm hands on his belly had stoked a fire in his groin. He wanted more.

He could still feel the heat from where her slim arms had wrapped around his torso. Almost like he was branded. Next question, how to get this woman to agree to go out with him. His mind flashed to an image of her tangled blond hair fanned out across his pillow, her plump lips wet juicy and willing.

Unfortunately, time was a limited commodity. Both his crews were working full throttle and he had several jobs he had to put bids on in the morning...which, glancing at his watch, was only a few hours away. Tired but revved up, he’d be lucky to get in a couple of hours sleep before his alarm went off at six am.

She needed some security lights. It was way too dark in that parking lot. But that fell under the category of none of his business. He hoped that tonight would be a wakeup call. Maybe when tourist season was in full swing it’d be safe with all the people mingling about, but now it was deserted this time of night.

Fuck me!He had enough to worry about… how was it that in the length of one evening she managed to burrow under his skin. He couldn’t stop thinking about how vulnerable she was working at that bar by herself. Even as he told himself that it wasn’t his responsibility, a flash of her big blue eyes, wide with fear made it impossible for him to listen. He shook his head, she had cast some kind of spell over him and dammit, he wasn’t sorry. Suddenly he related to how Tarzan must have felt. He knew he’d have to revisit that safety conversation with her when he cashed in on his free beer.

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