Page 36 of A Man of Wealth

“I know you are.”

“No, like you are a living furnace.”

He chuckles and pushes away from me. He reaches for something and a remote lights up. He presses a button, and I hear a slight whirring of a motor. The bed starts to cool. I roll over and stare at his face that’s now illuminated by the dim light of the remote.

“What is that?”

“The bed has air-conditioning,” he states matter-of-factly. “Now, come back over here. It’s early.”

“How do you even know what time it is?” I ask as the remote light goes out, leaving us in blackness again.

“Because if it was time to get up, my curtains would be open.”

“Your curtains are on a timer?”

“Yes, now go back to sleep.”

“Dear God, you really are the top five percent,” I mutter as I let him wrap his body around mine again.

His hot breath is at my ear, and he chuckles. “Top one percent,” he corrects.

I don’t ask any more questions because it’s late. How is he that rich? I get his dad is, but he just owns a lobbying firm. Did his dad give him money? Or maybe it was his grandfather? He mentioned his grandfather, Wilson Sterling. The man is elusive as fuck. I could barely find any information about him when I wrote that article about Theo Sterling and his family. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. I’d eventually given up and pivoted to Theo and his wife. And Theo did not disappoint, so I took my lead and wrote the story.

“How rich are you exactly?” I murmur as I close my eyes.

He kisses my head again. “Rich enough.”

I have so many questions, but suddenly, I’m tired again and find myself drifting off to sleep.

* * *

It’sthe light and the cold that wake me. And the smell of coffee? I open an eye and see that the room is indeed flooded with light. The curtains are open, although sheer blinds still cover the windows from prying eyes.

I slowly open my other eye and look around the room. I’m very much aware that I’m alone. I get up and find my clothes. Putting them back on, I head out in search of Conner.

The smell of the coffee leads me into a very modern kitchen. The style of this penthouse is completely opposite to his home. It’s sleek and industrial with touches of exposed brick and metal pipes. I wonder what style he prefers. The two homes are as opposite as the extremes of his personality. One second, he’s gentle and loving, and then the next second, he’s like an attacking lion.

Conner is standing there in a three-piece suit and white button-down shirt. It’s unbuttoned at the top with no tie. A tattoo peeks out from underneath. He looks…dangerous.

“Where are you off to?” I ask as I lean against the doorjamb.

“I have a meeting this morning,” he states. I glance at my phone and look back at him. It’s early, not quite seven yet. Clearly, he doesn’t want me to know. And if I’m being honest with myself, that sort of pisses me off. I get we aren’t a forever situation, but he needs to either trust me or not. Being in this limbo of trust on certain topics and not on others has me starting to see red.

“Fine, I need to get to work,” I say with a shrug as I head to his door.

He follows me. “You can stay. Have coffee.”

“Nope. I’ll go home,” I state as I press the call button on the elevator.

He steps in front of me. “You can stay.”

“And I am also free to leave,” I snarl as I step around him.

“What the hell is wrong?” he asks as he pulls on his beard in frustration.

The elevator doors open, and I step inside.

“Either we are open and honest with each other, or we are nothing more than a convenient fuck at a convenient time. So, let’s call this what it is…or was. We had a symbiotic relationship. I’ll share the information I get from Jared with you, and we can go our separate ways.”

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