Page 9 of Undercover Billionaire

Her blood pressure spiked. ‘God, you can be such ajerk.You pull this shit again, I’m reporting you.’ She thunked her undrunk beer down on the bar and stalked away.

* * *

Kelsey, who too often cursed the ridiculous enormity of cruise ships, was exceedingly thankful for the size of the ship tonight. She needed the time to cool down.

Did Ari know the money was missing? Had he noticed? And if so, had he reported it? Christ, she could lose her job over this! After seven years of hard graft and being away from home, she could lose it all over someone else’s greed.

Sure, visiting a passenger’s cabin,kissinga passenger, was also forbidden, but Kelsey wasn’t really worried about the possibility of that coming out.Stealingfrom said passenger, though? That was a one-way ticket to the unemployment queue.

Fuck you very much, Andy!

Her pulse beat like a drum in sync with her step as she entered deck seven, the twenty in her hand hot and sweaty. And heavy. Like she was about to hand a guy she barely knew, who could shoot her career in the foot, a loaded gun.

Christ – what must he think of her?

She’d caught a glimpse of him tonight across the dining room as he’d been seated. He’d been hot as fuck in a suit and their eyes had locked and, for an awful second, Kelsey had realised the enormity of what she’d done. Of the line she’d crossed when she’d gone to his cabin and how vulnerable she’d made herself to consequences. She’d never felt as exposed as she had right there in the middle of that massive, elegant, two-level dining room.

And this from someone who’d been duped by a guy she’dlovedwho’d stolen all her inheritance money.

But then he’d glanced quickly away as if nothing had happened between them and, even as that felt kind of sickening, his pretence was far less of a risk to her job than his attention.

Thankfully, the passageway was deserted but the spectacular first night show in the Adelphi Theatre would be finished soon and the passageway would be full of people retiring to their cabins. Putting on a spurt of speed, she hurried to his door, her brain grappling with the looming conversation.

She’d been so ticked at Andy, she hadn’t given any thought to what she’d say when he opened the door.Ifhe opened the door. There were plenty of entertainment options on a ship this size which he could easily be out enjoying. A good-looking man like Ari would no doubt find easy companionship at any of the ship’s venues.

That thought made Kelsey unaccountably twitchy, so her brain skipped to another possibility. What if he was asleep? And she was waking him to tell himwhatexactly? That her dickhead bartender partner had thought it’d be funny to steal from Ari?

Yeah… not that.Definitely not that.

Maybe she’d found it tonight around the back of the bar and thought it might be his? That could work.

Okay, so she’d knock lightly and if he didn’t answer she’d hightail it out of here and try again tomorrow. Via a phone call. It was too risky coming to his cabin – again.

Kelsey knocked. It was quiet but would definitely be audible from inside the cabin. Hell, he could probably hear her heart knocking against her ribs frominsidethe cabin!

Inside…

How was it going to feel seeing him again in the same intimate surrounds as before? Especially given the last time she was here he’d kissed her and she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since. About how close she’d come to surrendering and crossing a line she’d never crossed before.

Never been tempted to cross.

Oh God – a sudden thought occurred to her. What if he thought she was presenting for round two?

Alarmed, Kelsey turned to leave, but it was too late as the door opened abruptly. The lines she’d been rehearsing died on her lips at the sight of his naked chest. For the love of all that was holy –again?Did the man just strip off and walk around in his towel the second he got into his room?

His eyes widened a little as his gaze settled on her, his stance turning stiff. It reminded her of that brief, impersonal eye lock he’d spared her in the dining room. ‘Oh. Hi.’ His lips were kinda stiff too, drawing attention to his mouth and the dark shadow of his whiskers.

Crap. Not exactly pleased to see her. ‘Hi,’ she said and swallowed against the rapid thickening in her throat.

She heard voices from further down the passageway and quickly scanned over her shoulder to find a group of six elderly passengers all laughing and chatting, obviously on the way to their cabins.Shit.They couldn’t see her face and they weren’t paying her any heed, but she had zero desire to be recognised.

‘Could I come in for a moment?’

If possible, he stiffened some more and the knuckles wrapped around the door handle blanched white. Jesus, did he really think she wanted to expose herself to any more potential reputational damage by being in his cabin? With him barely dressed again and given what had happened in there earlier?

But she wasnotgoing to have the money conversation with Ari standing in the passageway in her uniform.

‘Please.’

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