Page 7 of Ezra the Billionaire

I wouldn’t have made it far in business if I let my emotions rule so freely. That’s why I keep a cool head. Plus, it’s more satisfying to outmaneuver an opponent with strategy and logic rather than blunt force. Too bad some caveman part of my psyche decided to surface after thirty-some odd years.

Griffen unloads the cart of groceries onto the conveyor belt while Lauren and Gramps continue to chat. Their conversation is quiet, but every now and then, I catch my name sprinkled in with my siblings’.

Great, he’s sharing our life story with her.

“Once we pay for this, you can use the frozen peas to soothe your hand.” Griffen lowers his voice. “Unless you want Lauren to kiss it better.”

“Shut up.”

Lauren’s lips are pink and plump and would feel amazing on my sore flesh, but I’m not getting tangled in whatever plan Kennedy’s cooked up. She already forced me to allow Lauren to model for our next marketing campaign, meaning my office and the lodge have shrunk to a claustrophobic size when everywhere I turn Lauren is posing and showcasing her vibrant smile.

Dammit!I do not have time to obsess over a woman and think about her smile. Or her pretty violet eyes. Or the softness of her curves.

I’m not interested in a relationship; I’m too busy.

Kennedy knows this.

Hell, my entire family is aware.

Which will make tonight’s weekly get-together a fucking minefield of pointed questions, knowing smirks, and trying like hell to avoid letting Lauren get caught in the crossfire. Because I doubt she’s eager to date. She’s fresh out of a relationship.

Sure, I’d treat her a thousand times better than her bastard ex, but it doesn’t matter. We’re not getting together. Kennedy andheart sparksbe damned.

CHAPTER FIVE

LAUREN

The smell of garlic permeates the kitchen once Griffen removes the cheesy garlic bread from the oven. Somehow, I ended up in the Caldwell family home helping Ezra’s brother cook dinner while their grandpa doctored Ezra’s bruised hand.

Because he defended me.

Knocked that jerk on his ass.

It was insanely hot. Unexpected. Confusing as hell.

No one’s ever protected me like that, and though I don’t normally condone violence, I can’t deny the immediate rush of heat that warmed my heart then settled between my thighs.

“Thanks for your help.” Griffen sets the metal tray on a dish towel to cool as I chop vegetables for the dinner salad at the kitchen island.

“It’s the least I can do.”

“Since my uptight brother defended your honor?”

“Since who did what?” A tall, tattooed man swaggers into the kitchen looking remarkably like Ezra—in a disheveled, devil-may-care sort of way. Kennedy gave me the rundown of her brothers after that awkward meeting with Ezra and Jean Marcelle, which means this must be Ezra’s firefighter twin.

“Some douche was harassing Lauren, so Ezra punched him out.” Griffen mimes a fist to the jaw.

“You’re kidding.” The newcomer approaches me with a smile and offers his hand. “I’m Beckett, the levelheaded twin.” He winks while holding onto my hand a second longer than necessary.

Kennedy had been right to warn me. Beckett is a flirt. An extremely attractive one. And if I were searching for a fling to help me forget about Hunter, he’d be the perfect choice—the bad boy fireman.

Too bad it’s his grumpy brother my traitorous body reacts to.

Speak of the devil…

Ezra enters the kitchen a second later, gauze wrapped around his injured hand—a scowl directed toward his brother’s hold on my hand before I shake free—and settles on the bar seat beside me. His arm braces across the back of my chair while the other rests on the marble island, bracketing me with heat and causing a sliced cucumber to roll off the cutting board from a jolt of nerves.

“Careful, I don’t want you accidentally cutting yourself.” Ezra’s large palm covers my knife-wielding hand before plucking the rogue cucumber off the counter and tossing it in his mouth. He tips his chin toward Beckett. “The only time you’re levelheaded is in the middle of a fire, so don’t even joke about coming for my title.”

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