Page 4 of The Billionaire's Naughty List

“D-do you-uu?” she insists.

If she wasn’t shaking so hard, it’d be an earnest moment. Full of meaning and nuance and all sorts of things I don’t want to see. Nope. No way.

I step across the space and reach into the large tiled shower, adjusting the knobs until the water runs luke-warm. She might agree to warming up slowly, but I know her. She never does anything in half measures.

Like the time she found an injured baby owl and by the end of the day had the vet out to look it over and her brothers built it a cage to her specifications. That owl grew up and kept the vermin out of the barns for years.

Living life at full throttle is just one of the things that makes her her. One of the things that I adore.

Steeling myself, I turn back to my best friend's daughter. Definitely not a little girl. She’s all woman. Funny and stern and bossy as hell at times. When I tell you she ran our shit when she was little. I guess growing up without a mom will do that. She kept her younger brothers in line like a shepherd herds sheep. Tirelessly, with plenty of bark, an occasional bite, but also love.

She's also the sweetest, kindest person I’ve ever met.

And she’s shaking like a leaf in a hurricane.

“Let me grab you a towel.” Two steps carry me to a small linen closet and I pull out a fluffy white bath sheet that will wrap around her at least twice. “Do you?—”

3

LILY

“Do I?” I prompt when Elliot doesn’t finish his sentence.

I’m freezing my tits off, but man-oh-man, is he tasty looking. My fingers feel so brittle they might snap, my toes burn like I just stepped in a puddle of lava, and I’m pretty sure the girls could cut glass. Talk about high beams.

As much as I hate the thought of getting out of Elliot’s coat, I want in that shower. Clothes or no clothes, it’ll be worth it. Heck, just being in the warmth of the cabin is enough to make my eyes roll back in my head.

He stares at me like I’m the ultimate puzzle. I shouldn’t enjoy his attention so much. He’s always enjoyed games and mysteries, which is putting it mildly. The man owns one of the premier game development companies in the world.

What is he doing here, anyway?

I didn't tell anyone I was coming early.

If my nose wasn’t forming icicles, I’d snort at the thought. With him around, I won’t be coming at all.

Handsome jerk.

“Do you need help?”

Alarm zings through me, making my already prickly extremities even more painful.

I wince.

He steps forward, crowding me, and reaches for my hand. “You okay?”

When I take too long to answer, he closes the distance between us and wraps one of those strong arms around my waist, lifting and stepping at the same time. Until we’re in the shower.

Together.

Both of us, fully clothed, beneath the rain showerhead.

“Elliot!”

Everything hurts. There’s no point in denying that. But there's a fresh ache blooming inside me because being this close to him is painful. He's never going to see me as anything but his best friend's little girl.

Logically, I appreciate that. Respect it. But the part of me that started crushing on him at my graduation dinner… she's not so thrilled.

She planned out the rest of her life in sixty short minutes. Business to babies. And that infatuation only grew with time and space.

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