Page 25 of The Billionaire's Heart

“Nice of you to ask, sir. He’s doing well and should have the cast off his leg next week.”

“I’m sure you’re relieved.”

“That I am, sir. Have a good evening.”

My hand is on Mia’s lower back, and I’m guiding her up the stairs and into the hotel. With those fuck-me heels she’s wearing and this marble floor, I’m afraid she’ll slip and fall. Plus, she must be exhausted after such a long day. At one point in the limo, I saw her try to stifle a yawn. She’s probably not used to twenty-hour days like I am.

The silence between us while waiting for the elevator to arrive is thick and feels awkward, but once we step into the car, the mood shifts.

“What floor?” Mia asks once she’s pressed eighteen.

“No. I’ll walk you to your room, Mia. My mother raised a gentleman.”

She nods her head and smiles, but looks nervously at the floor numbers as they count up.

“Thank you again for coming to my rescue. Both as a date and with the reporters.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Gallo.”

I sigh heavily, “I thought we we’re past this ‘Mr. Gallo’ nonsense.”

She turns to me. “That was for the gala. It made sense that your date would call you by your first name. But now we’re back and the evening is over. You’re my boss’s boss and technically, I work for the temp agency. It’s best this way.”

She’s right and I hate it. In a few weeks, Lily will be back at the front desk and Mia will have moved on to her next assignment. Leaving Gallo Enterprises, and me, behind her.

“Well, we still have tomorrow’s monument tour. Meet me in the hotel restaurant at eight o’clock and we’ll have breakfast before we go. Okay?”

Mia smiles, “Sounds like a plan, boss.”

The elevator arrives on her floor, and I follow her to the end of the hallway. “This is me.” She pulls out her room keycard andthen sticks out her hand for me to shake. “Have a good night, Mr. Gallo.”

Reluctantly, I shake her hand and watch her open her door. “Good night, Mia.”

As I make my way back to the elevator and swipe my resident keycard to bring me to the floor my apartment is on, I can’t help but feel like I've missed out on something special with Mia.

She’s different, and I’m finding it harder and harder to justify how I’m feeling for her. She has no clue, either. Which may be a good thing. My life is hectic enough and very public. Mia seems like a low-key type of person and would probably hate being in the spotlight.

No, I need to get over myself and think of her first. And that means we can only be friends, co-workers, whatever she wants to call it.

I just need to keep my distance. Tomorrow, I’ll show her the monuments and then we’ll fly back to Hibiscus Harbor and my driver will take her home.

Done and done.

This morning, I woke up earlier than I usually do, so I headed down to the gym and ran twice as far as I normally do in punishment for not sleeping later. Ten miles equals two hours of lost sleep.

I look at my watch as I swipe my keycard in the elevator to bring me to my apartment and realize that I have about an hour before I’m supposed to meet Mia downstairs for breakfast. As I make my way inside, I grab the morning papers stacked outside my door and a photo of Mia on the front page catches my eye.

Opening up the paper, on the front page above the fold, is a picture of Mia and me kissing on the red-carpet last night with the headline, ‘Who’s The Mystery Woman?’ I throw the paper down, making a mental note to cancel my subscription when another paper has the same photo with a similar headline, ‘Not The Most Eligible Bachelor Anymore’. A third paper has another photo of Mia and I smiling at each other, ‘Hearts Are Breaking All Around the World’.

“FUCK!” I grab my phone just as I get a text from my brother Sawyer.

Sawyer:Who’s the chick?

Me:My date last night.

Sawyer:So, you’re not getting married?

Me:What? Fuck no!

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