Page 22 of The Nanny's Bossy Billionaire

“That would be incredible. Insane.” She takes a deep breath. “Well, I should go. Thanks for your help with Lisa.”

She slings her purse strap over her shoulder and makes to leave.

“Wait.” For the second time that day, I gently take her arm and bring her back to face me.

“I wanted to give you something.” I take the check out and hand it to her.

“What is it?” She looks at the check and then back at me.

“A tip. For doing amazing work with Lisa,” I say and hold it out, but pull back when she tries to take it, “on one condition. You go on a date with me.”

“What?” She seems confused. “What are you talking about?”

She takes the check away from me and stares for a few seconds before reacting.

“$289,000? That’s an oddly specific figure.” She looks at me blankly for what seems like an eternity, then I see the exact moment the fog clears and her eyes go wide as saucers.

“How did you know—why would you even? I-I don’t understand.”

“Take it,” I say.

“I can’t—I mean, you shouldn’t…” She shakes her head. “One date?”

I nod. “You’re welcome.”

She’s silent for a beat. “So let me get this straight,” she says in a strangely cool voice. “Because you somehow found out that my brother is in trouble, you now think you know my price and you can have me? I’m not a thing you can just acquire because you have all the money in the world, Xavier.”

“That’s not—”

“You had no right snooping around my life!” She cuts me off. “I don’t even know why you would do that. You insulted me yesterday and now you’re throwing money at me to what—sleep with you?”

“Hey,” I say softly to try to calmher. “You need the money, I need—”

“A slut?”

She interrupts me again and I take a calming breath.

“Look, Xavier, I have enough problems as it is. I don’t need some dumb rich boy who thinks he can have whatever he wants whenever he wants making me feel like I’m selling myself—”

Finally losing my patience, I back her into the window. “I think you’ve made it abundantly clear that I don’t need to pay to fuck you.”

She gasps. “You smug, arrogant, cocky—”

My mouth descends on hers in a hard kiss, my hand fisting in her glorious hair. She resists, pushing on my shoulders but my hand holds her in place while I continue to devour her. I slant my mouth over hers, deepening the kiss, my tongue sliding over the seam of her lips. Suddenly her arms find their way around my neck and her mouth opens under mine, allowing my tongue to slide across hers in languid licks. Her taste explodes on my tongue and I growl in triumph. Her answering moan radiates all the way down to my balls.

I tear my mouth away and we are both breathless. I kiss the throbbing pulse in her neck.

“Just hear me out. I’m not giving you the money for what you think. I just need you to be my date for a wedding in three weeks.”

“Why?” Her eyes are soft and dazed.

“Because I need a date.” Actually, I don’t need a date. But I can’t tell her the real reason why the idea of going to weddings makes me want to poke my eyes out.

“I thought you didn’t want to be seen in public with me?”

“I lied.”

“And what about the part about not being your type?” Brooke asks, still suspicious.

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