Page 50 of Falling for Mr. Billionaire

No pressure to be anything more than Carter. I don’t know if it’s all the stress I’ve been dealing with lately, and with this lawsuit and threats of blasting me on the news, but Ivy helps calm me. She makes me feel like a regular guy. Just a man. Not a CEO, and certainly doesn’t treat me like I’m the boss. If anything, she’s the boss in this bungalow. I haven’t felt this light in years, and I know I have Ivy to thank for that.

“Room service,” the attendant chirps. I get up and open the door. He wheels in the cart—steak, lobster, a mountain of chocolate cake, and two bottles of wine. I sign and tip, then turn to Ivy who’s peeking out of the bedroom door. “Dinner’s here,” I say, setting plates on the table. “Lobster and steak, on the house. Only the perks of natural disaster tourism.”

She laughs. It’s a soft sound that does unholy things to me. I pour her a glass of wine and hand it over.

“You’ve been in robot mode all day,” I tell her. “Time to reboot.”

She doesn’t fight me on it, just smiles and takes the glass. That smile is lethal. We eat at the table since the living room is still drenched. I drag her chair right next to me so she’s seated beside me.

Dinner’s decent. But having Ivy there to keep me company has really elevated this trip for me.

It feels… dangerous. The comfort. Like slipping into something you never realized you needed until you had it.

After dinner, her head is on my shoulder, her hand resting lightly on my chest. I don’t move. Don’t breathe too deeply. Like if I do, she’ll vanish.

Then her phone buzzes on the table. She sighs.

“Don’t look at it,” I say, kissing her hair. “The world can wait.”

She nods. For a moment.

But when I get up to grab the second wine bottle, I catch her glancing at the screen. I see the way her face shifts—just a flicker, but it’s there. Her shoulders tense.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

She looks up too quickly, her smile a half-second too late. “Yeah. Just… deadline stuff. I’ll deal with it in the morning.”

I nod.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I check it and feel my entire body soften.

“My daughter,” I say. “Mind if I…?”

She shakes her head. I sit down beside her and answer. My daughter’s voice hits me like sunlight through a storm cloud.

“Hi, sweet pea… Yeah, I miss you too. What’d you build today? A fort? No way, better than Daddy’s? I bet it was.”

I catch Ivy watching me. There’s something in her eyes—tender and wide, like she’s seeing me for the first time.

I hold the phone out. “Want to say hi to Daddy’s special friend?”

Ivy blinks. Then smiles. “Hi, Laura!”

I smiled. She remembered her name. Of course she did. Because Ivy is fucking perfect.

“Hi!” my daughter chirps back.

Then the FaceTime screen pops up. “Daddy, I want to see,” Laura insists.

So I do. A huge grin is on her face when she sees me. “Daddy, I want to see your friend.”

I look at Ivy to get the okay and she takes the phone from me.

“Hi, Laura! Ooh, I love your bows,” she says.

“I have a lot of bows. Want to see them?” Laura asks excitedly.

“I would love to see them,” Ivy says with her eyes wide and too much enthusiasm.

---