Page 6 of Billionaire's Surprise

“You want the bathroom first?”

He shook his head slowly, but I already knew that’s not what he meant.

His hand scrubbed over his forehead, his other hand planted on his hip, as he processed. “So…I gave an expensive cruise to a woman who hates water?”

“Yep. That sums it up.”

“Shit,” he muttered.

I closed the distance between us then went on tiptoe and brushed my lips over his cheek. Dropping to flat feet, I patted the spot I’d kissed. “Gotta bone up on those stalker skills, Fray.”

“Yeah,” he growled, and the self-annoyed sound raked across my senses. To my shock, I felt myself get decidedly warm and damp at my center.Thathad never happened.

Well, except for in New York when he’d gotten me totally turned on, just by standing there being all sexy and intense.

“Anything else I need to know?” he asked. “Any other fears?”

“No, not really. I mean, after my parents died in a boating accident, I was raised by my aunt, who passed away last year. But you probably know that about me.”

“Boating accident. I’m firing my PI,” he muttered under his breath. “I’m sorry, Emerson.”

“I was pretty young when it happened.” I kinda felt bad for the guy, but hehadcrossed all kinds of lines to get me here, so it wasn’ttoosorry. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.”

And I really wanted to. To figure out things between us. He’d gone to an awful lot of effort to get me here. And there was just something about this man. He drew me.

Hell, he’d been drawing me for months, though I’d known I would never see him again. How many times had I looked at his pic on my phone? Too many. I couldn’t say with confidence, if I had his connections and money, I wouldn’t have snooped into him, as well. Though… Knowing me, I would have gone with the just showing up for coffee option.

Four

Fray

I sat on the edge of the bed and gripped my head in my hands as I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees.

Her parents died in a boating accident, and she’s afraid of water. Well done, Fray. You moron.

How the hell was I supposed to fix this?

Shooting to my feet, I pulled the box with the engagement ring from my pocket. I could ask her to marry me right now. Maybe, that would prove I wasn’t a total jerk.

No. No, it wasn’t time yet. I went back into the living area and tucked the box deep in the tree branches, where it would live until Christmas morning. Much like sleeping together, I didn’t want to jump the gun with her.

I heard Luke laughing in my head. Yeah, laugh his ass off at this for sure. Of course, six days wasn’t long to wait, and it would still be considered jumping the gun, but whatever. I knew I wanted to spend forever with Emerson, and I wanted that time to start immediately.

Touching my cheek, I thought back to the small kiss she’d given before going to get ready for dinner. Did she sense we were destined, too? She hadn’t seemed scared or angry with me, justmildly annoyed. Even a little amused. That was a good sign. Her stalker comments sounded as teasing as if they’d come from my brother.

Wait… They were both teasing, right?

“Emerson?” I called out. I could hear her moving around the bedroom area but didn’t want to interrupt her privacy if she needed it.

“Yes?”

“Can I come back there?”

“It’s your room,” she said.

“Our room,” I countered as I walked in.

When I saw her, I lost all ability to think or speak for several moments. She was absolutely stunning. Her long, dark locks were twisted into some fancy hairdo and pinned up to show off her graceful neck and throat. Her black dress hugged every delicious curve of her body, ending with a little flair just below the knee, drawing attention to her supple calves. Her heels were low, sensible, but strappy, and cute pink-painted toenails peeked through.

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