Page 134 of Billionaire Temptations

“Yes, we do, Parker. It’s customary when you take a bath with someone, you do it in a bubble-filled tub.”

She reached for the bottle that was labeled “Lavender bubble bath” from the shelf and poured more than a capful into the water.

I sighed. “Now I’m going to smell like a girl.”

She patted my cheek. “Shut up and get in the tub.”

I chuckled as I climbed into the oversized tub with my back against it. With the help of my hand, Emerson climbed in and nestled her back tightly against my chest as my arms wrapped securely around her. We sat there in silence for a moment, and I pressed my lips against her head, as she ran her fingers up and down my arm.

“We had dated for over a year.”

Her eyes darted up to mine. “Huh? Who?”

“Bella and me. Or, as you call her, ‘frizzy curly-haired woman.’”

“Oops. Sorry about that.”

“Things were great with us, or at least I thought they were. We talked about the future together. Our jobs, buying a house, settling in.”

“What happened?”

“One day, while we were having lunch, she got a call and a job offer from an advertising agency in New York. Hell, I didn’t even know she had applied for it.”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“Nope. She told me she was visiting her best friend in New York.”

“Wow. She sucks.”

“We got into a huge fight about it when she told me she was accepting their offer. She told me that I was a very selfish man, that I couldn’t stand to see her make something of herself, and that I never supported her decisions.”

“Was that true?”

“No. It was the fact that she didn’t tell me about it in the first place. She had lied to me, which I don’t tolerate.”

“Why did she feel like she had to lie to you?”

“I asked that very question, and she couldn’t answer me. Finally, after hours of arguing, she said she wasn’t happy and was leaving.”

“Just like that?” she asked, looking up at me.

“Yep. Just like that. The next day, she was gone without so much as a goodbye.”

“I’m sorry, Alex. That must have been hard on you.”

“It was for a while.”

“Were you in love with her?”

“I thought I was, even though I never told her, but her leaving made me realize that I wasn’t. She used to tell me that she loved me, and the only response I would give was, “me too.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “That’s what I would always say. The only guy I ever said those three words to was assholeChristian. But it didn’t count because I was sixteen, and sixteen-year-olds spew out those words as if they mean nothing. Actually, it doesn’t mean anything at that age because sixteen-year-olds don’t even know what love is.”

“But you thought you loved him.” I smiled.

“Thinking it and actually being in it are two different things. I can actually sit here and tell you that I have no idea what real love between a guy and a girl is.”

“Let’s look it up.” I smiled as I reached over from the tub and grabbed my phone from the small table that sat next to it. After I Googled the word “love,” I pulled the definition from the Urban Dictionary since she seemed so fond of that site. I held it up in front of her to read out loud.

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