Page 48 of The Billionaire and the Runaway

I get lost in her body for the next hour, memorizing how every square inch of her body feels against mine. After making her come for the fourth time, I roll us over and settle her against my side. She’s languid and her breathing is slow. I decide to press her with some questions.

“You know, you could go get the rest of your belongings now that you’re settled here,” I start.

She tenses a little. “Yeah, I will. I really don’t have much that I need. This is my first job since graduating college.”

“Were you living with your parents when you weren’t at school?” I ask.

She’s quiet for a beat.

“I want to know everything about you,” I whisper, trying to put her at ease as I kiss the top of her head.

She rolls on her belly and I settle her between my legs with her head propped on her hands that lie on my chest. She looks up at me.

“As I’ve mentioned, my parents are divorced. My mother lives in France with my half brothers who are in high school. I lived with my dad in the city when I wasn’t at school,” she starts.

“I haven’t heard you call him. Are you close?” I ask.

She shrugs. “Sort of.” She sighs. “He’s very…demanding. And he’s always busy. I love him, but he’s difficult to be around. I guess, I wanted to get settled and be able to prove to him that I can make it on my own before I looped him in on all of this.” She motions around us.

“So, he doesn’t know you’re here?” I question.

“No. He…well, sort of. He knows I’m working for a small company doing social media marketing. I’ll fill him in on the rest later. He’s familiar with this town, so I’m sure he’ll be pleased with where I’ve decided to live,” she explains.

“Why do I feel like there’s a lot more to that story?” I state with a raised eyebrow.

She blushes and that makes me want to kiss her and forget about this line of questioning, but I also want answers.

“There’s more, but none of that matters. I promise I’ll share more with you…in time. I just, I’m trying to figure it all out, you know?” she says as she looks up at me with hopeful eyes.

“You can tell me anything, you know that, right?” I say, searching her eyes.

“I know. My family is a lot to handle, and all of this is new and exciting, and I just need some time to process it all. I’ll tell my dad everything, and eventually, you can meet him. I want to get through the re-opening first and then I’ll work on all my personal stuff, OK?” she says. I don’t like that she’s keeping things from me, but this information is a start.

I roll us over and kiss her lips gently before pulling back to look down at her. “You don’t need my permission to live your life, Ariana. I just want you to share it with me. I want you to be able to tell me anything and everything, no matter if it’s good or bad.”

Her eyes glaze over, and she bites her lip. “I don’t like my dad’s girlfriend. That’s who called tonight. She’s a real…” She trails off.

“Oh. I see. You want to talk about it?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “Maybe, you can distract me a little more?” she pleads.

I smile down at her. “Now that, I can do.” I kiss her lips. “I’m available for complete distraction by hot sex whenever you desire it.”

She giggles and the sound warms my heart. I’ll get to the bottom of her life, but for now, I’m just going to enjoy this moment. Hell, maybe it’s better if I don’t know everything, then I can’t get too attached.

CHAPTERNINETEEN

Ariana

I’ve managed to avoid talking to my father for the entire week. The barn is starting to take shape with help from Earl, Buck, and Kingsley. I feel like I learn a new thing every day and I love that. No two days are the same on the farm. It never gets boring. It’s hard, but it’s rewarding. I’ve never done work like this before. Hell, at home I considered microwaving my own food as hard manual labor.

Katia is dying every time I text her a photo. She’s questioning my sanity and thinks it’s all about a booty call with the boss. I mean she’s not wrong. I went from no sex, to a total sex addiction, or at least that’s how it feels when Eric’s around. He just has to walk into a room and I’m suddenly squirming and wanting his hands on me. We’ve somehow managed to keep our relationship a secret, which is not easy considering how early everyone arrives on the farm. My latest decoy is saying that I’ve decided to get healthy by running early every morning. I’ve left all my running clothes at Eric’s, and I wear them in the morning and go down to the office when he gets up, so it looks like I just came in from a run. Then I sneak away to “shower” mid-morning.

Then there’s my bigger problem. Telling Eric the entire truth. I want to tell him everything, I do, but the longer we go without talking about it, the harder it gets. What if he hates me? What if he feels like I lied to him? I mean, is lying by omission really lying? Ugh. Yes, it is.

And I want to ask him more about his life, but I feel like he’s holding back too and I’m afraid of his reasons for doing that. Does he not want to share with me because he doesn’t trust me?

I’m in the guesthouse getting some things together to take back to Eric’s. As I go to walk up the path, Joy comes walking toward me.

---