Page 59 of Worlds Collide

“Okay, meet downstairs in twenty?” Wolf asks as he pushes Rich out.

“Su—” Wolf slams the door in his face before he can even get the full word out.

“I need a power nap,” Wolf says and then walks to the bed,takes his shoes off, and lies down. He closes his eyes without another word and seemingly falls asleep immediately.

Is he really asleep? He can’t be . . .

I decide it’s best I leave him to that, and fish my toiletry bag out of my suitcase then go into the bathroom.

I take a long shower—at least for me it’s long, though it’s only ten minutes—and then walk back out to see Wolf is still asleep.

I look at his still body, then away, then back, and away again. Dammit, I don’t know when I’m supposed to wake him up or even if I should. How long does he take to get ready?

I finish changing into a dark linen shirt that I can easily throw my dark gray cashmere sweater over, and put on my black chinos, then I look at Wolf again.

I’ve only ever woken next to him one time, and he was instantly in a really bad mood, though I have no way of knowing if it was because of waking up or, you know, the horrible breach of his privacy, so...

His eyes open suddenly and then he’s standing up and putting his shoes back on.

“You’re not gonna change?” I ask,reallytrying not to sound judgemental as I look at his worn sweatpants and ratty, basic T-shirt.

He scoffs at me.

“No. I’m walking into a restaurant with a billionaire.” He trails his eyes right down to my black Versace loafers. “A very well-dressed, sexy as fuck billionaire. I can wear whatever I want.” I just cringe, and he straightens to his full height and crosses his arms in that delicious way he always does. “I also happen to be pretty famous myself, you know?” My cringe doesn’t go away, and his response is to let his arms fall and to sigh. “Okay, I’ll change, but I’m not picking what to wear so you just choose something.”

“Great,” I say, genuinely relieved and happy with the task.

I hold up gray slacks and a white button down because you can never go wrong with that combination and Wolf looks at the clothes with disgust.

“I just got off a twelve-hour flight and only had a fifteen-minute nap, I’m not putting on a damn suit,” he growls at me.

“This isn’t a suit,” I argue.

“Pfft, please that is absolutely a suit only without the jacket.”

“The jacket is the only reason it would be called a suit.” Damn, he’s infuriating.

“Is that type of shit all you packed for me?”

“How aboutthank you for packing me clothes that aren’t falling apart, CJ?” I ask, losing my temper. He’s good at getting under my skin, so I don’t know why I’m surprised.

“Thank you for picking clothes I would never wear,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Then why were they in your damn closet?” I demand and throw my hands up.

“Because people always make me go places where I would look like an asshole if I didn’t wearthat.”

“You look like an asshole now!” I shout, pointing out the obvious.

“Ugh, fine. But pick something less stifling,” he grumbles and sits back down. I take a deep breath and for some reason smile at how sullen he looks.

“You’re such a child,” I tell him when I turn back to his suitcase to try and find something more relaxed but still put together. I only realize as I’m pulling out piles of the clothes I picked that my words came out with care in them, not exasperation.

What’s that about?

Something to figure out later,I tell myself and focus on the task at hand.

I pick a pair of cream khakis and a brown wool button down that he can wear by itself, since the long sleeves will help with the wind of the lake. Then I find his deep green Adidas—the man only has sneakers, so this is the best I could find in his closet—and black socks, black briefs, and I take it all to him.

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