Page 204 of Billionaire Temptations

“She got mad at me and left.”

“What did you do to her?”

“Nothing. That was her problem.”

“Poor girl.” She smirked. “Evelyn and I are going to go. It was a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Caine.” She held out her hand.

“The pleasure was all mine, Miss Wade.” I placed my hand in hers and brought it up to my lips. “I hope you get your man drama sorted out.”

“That’s my goal.”

I watched as she walked away and out of the ballroom. I would let her sort out her man drama, and when the time was right, we’d reconnect, and I’d take her to my bed.

One Month Later

Emily

“I just wanted to let you know that I think I’m going to take a break from dating for a while. It’s nothing against you, I swear. I need some time to focus on me. Have a nice life, Emily.”

“YES!” I shouted as I raised my hands in the air and did a little dance in the store.

“What’s that for?” Katie asked as she glanced over at me.

“Bruce doesn’t want to date me anymore.” I grinned. “The last of the man drama, and now I can put them all behind me.”

“Gee, I wonder why? Maybe it’s because you ignored his hundreds of text messages and phone calls after your date last week.”

“He wasn’t taking me seriously when I told him I didn’t want a relationship. I had no choice. I couldn’t stand his text messages anymore, with him telling me every move he made. Waking me up at five a.m. to let me know he was going running. Texting me at six thirty to let me know he was getting in the shower and then again at nine to inform me that he had arrived at the office. OH MY GOD, I thought I was going to rip my hair out. And when I told him that I didn’t need to have a play-by-play of his day, he just laughed and said I was too cute. I’m over it. I’m taking a long break from dating.”

“That’s a good idea. But I still think you should seek therapy. You find flaws in everyone you meet. You always have. Just like your mom did,” Katie spoke.

“It’s not that I find flaws with them. it’s just that they want more and can’t seem to respect my decision about relationships.”

“To be honest, and I’ve told you this before,” Katie hung the last dress on the rack and walked over to me, “your views on relationships suck.”

I shrugged.

The past twoweeks were some of the most relaxing weeks I’d had in a very long time. I wasn’t dating and only focused on my shop and the online fashion boutique I wanted to start up. My phone was silent, and after a long day at work, I retreated backto my apartment, took long hot baths, cooked dinner for myself, drank wine, and binged watched Netflix. Life was good, and I was enjoying my non-dating life.

It was Friday morning. I stopped at Starbucks for my usual morning coffee on the way to work, opened the store, and began going over yesterday’s sales. Noelle, my other sales clerk, strolled in ten minutes late.

“Sorry, I’m late, Emily. The cab I was in on the way here got into a fender bender.” She sighed as she set her purse down behind the counter.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just got out and walked the rest of the way.”

“Well, if you start to feel any post-accident effects, let me know.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“We got a shipment of new jewelry in last night before we closed. Can you price them and put them out?”

“Sure. I’ll get right on it.” She smiled.

As I was sitting behind the counter with my laptop, the door chimed, and I looked up. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Jackson Caine step inside my shop.

“Good morning, Emily.” He grinned as he walked towards me with his hands tucked neatly in his pockets.

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