Page 12 of Billionaire Devil

Someone calls to Sloane from across the patio. One of the girls from Noah’s office.

“Oh god, I forgot I was supposed to send Laney those documents. I can do it from my phone. I’ll be right back, Lila.” Sloane eyeballs me and I expect her to give me her well-practiced speech about my many character flaws but for some reason she doesn’t. “Behave,” is all she says before slipping away. “And talk her out of driving to California by herself.”

I have no idea if Sloane could feel it. ButIcan. This fizz of electricity that’s hanging in the air between me and thegorgeous girl whose lips are so lusciously flawless I’m having a hard time not kissing her lustily right here and now.

I take heart from the fact that her cheeks have those soft flags of pink and her silver eyes are locked on mine.

“Donotlet me have any more shots,” Lila says. “I still haven’t finished packing and a hangover will definitely not help me. Besides, tequila makes me crazy.”

“I’ll have one of my drivers make sure you and Sloane get home safe,” I tell her. “The bride must be a good friend for you to trek all the way across the country to go to her wedding.”

“We’ve been best friends since we were ten.” She blinks up at me. Her eyelashes are naturally long and lightly curved, framing those stunning, light-filled, soulful eyes. “She just found out she’s pregnant. To some guy she really likes but hardly knows. Even though I’ve never met him, I get the feeling things are going to work out for them. He’s got plenty of money and he’s nice to her. He has a stable family and a nice house. I just hope she gets everything she’s ever dreamed of. She deserves it.” Her eyes are filled with emotion. She’s definitely feeling the alcohol now and I have the urge to protect her in ways I’ve never thought about before but that are burning me with their ferocity.

“And what about you?” I ask her. “What do you dream of? Besides the loser who let you go.”

Her mouth quirks with regret. “I’m sorry I told you all that. It’s stupid. Just a guy from my past who I honestly neverthought I’d see again. And I wasrelievedabout that. But now it turns out he’s going to be at this wedding and I can’t really not go just for that reason. I’m the maid of honor.”

“He must be the stupidest man on the planet, to not notice you when he had the chance. There’s clearly something wrong with him.”

“Oh, there’s nothing wrong with him. He’s like the poster child for good decisions.”

“If you weren’t one of his decisions, honey, I’d have to strongly disagree.”

Her expression is hard to read but I can almost hear what she’s thinking. That she’s half dreading seeing him and half hoping it might be different this time. She’s still mired in some mindfuck with a guy who never gave her the time of day.

It’s not right. She’s too beautiful to be ignored.

“Are you still in love with him?” I brace myself, but I’ve already decided—and I have no idea where the fuck this is coming from, because it’s a complete U-turn to the way I’ve lived my life until this exact moment—that I’m going to be the one to change her mind.

What the fuck, Maddox.

“No. I’m not in love with him. It was a long time ago. I just want to see him again so I can lay all of it to rest and get on with my life. I thought I’d already done that but I haven’t met anyone else and maybe I’m still holding onto something. This is my chance to finally let it go.”

I’m not convinced. And I suddenly can’t handle the thought of hernotletting it fucking go.

“The thing is, I’m terrible at reading signals or signs,” Lila confesses, the tequila now having its way with her. “That’s part of my problem. I think it might be the reason Troy friend-zoned me in college. And why I’ve had such bad luck with men. If I don’t up my game, I’m doomed to be single forever.” Her gorgeous face twists into a sulky pout and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my goddamn jaded life. “Anyway, I’m sure you don’t want to hear another word about my pathetic sob story.”

“It’s not pathetic. It’s romantic. You just wasted your efforts on the wrong guy.”

She blinks up at me again, twirling a finger through a curl of her silky hair.I want to grab handfuls of it as I fuck that sweet little pink mouth.

The worst part about this whole clusterfuck is that there’s a very real possibility shewouldbe better off with Troy. She said it herself: I’m a devil. I’m the guy who breaks every woman’s heart. It’s my whole identity and there’s no reason to think I wouldn’t break Lila’s too.

I don’t know if it’s the color of her lips or the fire in her eyes that has me slayed, but for the first time in my life, I crave something I’ve never had a reason to crave before. I want to be a better man than fucking Troy.

I know that if I confess my sudden knight-in-shining-armor tendencies to this perfect little stranger, she’llprobably laugh in my face. So I take a slightly different tact. “Do you have a plan?”

“What do you mean?”

“How are you going to play it? You can’t go in there all subservient and self-conscious. You have to stride in there like you own the place. Like you expect every man there to get on his knees for you.” Which they all will anyway, even if Lila doesn’t realize it. There’s no way in hell any straight man in their right mind wouldn’t want to devour Lila Bailey.

But she can’t see this.

“That’s the problem,” she admits. “I don’t even know where to start. I have zero experience seducing men.” She blushes again and I try not to think about how badly I want to make her whimper and writhe with pleasure.

My cock is hard and hot but I ignore it. “So the wedding is next weekend?”

“Next Saturday.”

---