Page 70 of Seducing the Billionaire

The punch to my gut nearly has my knees buckling before I shake it off. It was nothing. She’s allowed to smile at people. Even if she’d seemed annoyed with him previously. What changed? Does she actually like jerky guys?

“Connor?”

Oh, crap. I refocus on Dave, who is patiently waiting for an answer while I have a mental freakout. “Uh, I’m still thinking it over, but strongly leaning toward creating it ourselves, however long it takes.” This is one thing I’m in agreement with Dad on, at least. “Keep working on the project for now.”

He nods and heads out, my gaze like a magnet back on Richard and Emma, but someone else gets my attention to ask about the exact expectations for performance management meetings with her subordinates, and I reposition myself so the buffet table is out of my line of sight, knowing I won’t be able to focus if I see her smile again. If she touches his arm in that friendly way she does. If he dips in close and whispers something in her ear.

Okay, now I’m getting absurd. He wouldn’t be so bold at work.

Haven’t I done worse, though? I just went down on her in my office on Friday then let her give me a blow job.

I rub at the back of my neck, something settling in my gut I don’t quite like, and wait until all the chiefs have cleared out of the room before I finally turn around and approach her. She’s packing up the spread of food hardly anyone touched, so similar to a week ago.

But so much has changed since then.

“Need help?”

She glances over her shoulder, giving me a small smile. “I got it.”

I pick up a muffin, taking a half-hearted bite. I’m not even hungry. “What were you and Brigham talking about?”

She reaches with the tongs for the last of the danishes, then fits the lid over the box. “He actually apologized for the way he spoke to me before. Can you believe it?”

Oh. “That’s great.”

She starts in on the muffins next, setting the remaining ones back in the packaging. “Looks like whatever talk you had with him worked.”

Looks like it did. “And, uh, that’s all you talked about?”

She pauses, turning to face me. “Yeah. Why?”

I reach again for my neck, then realize I just rubbed it a minute ago. “You, well… You were smiling at him.”

She shrugs. “He did something nice.”

“Is the bare minimum of civility the standard for nice now?”

Her brows narrow, but she doesn’t seem mad exactly. “Shouldn’t you be glad he’s treating me with respect?”

“I—” I throw the rest of my muffin in the trash, all appetite gone. “Yes, of course I am.”

She sidles a little closer, pointing the tongs at me. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re acting jealous.”

I purse my lips, unable to refute her claim. Even though it’s ridiculous to feel that way to begin with. Even though I have every reason to trust her. Even though this thing between us can’t be real right now.

“I’m going to presume you’re projecting some kind of inner conflict onto my twenty-second conversation with Richard Brigham,” she says. “Because literally nothing happened.”

“I know it didn’t. I just—” I blow out a breath, feeling like an idiot.

She steps even closer, setting the tongs down before she lays a hand on my arm. “What is it?”

I look up at the ceiling, unable to voice the foolish thought. “Nothing.”

“Connor…”

God, how does she get me to spill all my secrets? “I wish I could make some kind of claim on you,” I murmur. “To let everyone know you’re mine. It’s primitive and barbaric and I hate that I can’t watch you interact with another man without a part of me wanting to go over there and pull you into my side to show you’re taken. Especially because he was clearly interested in you during last week’s meeting.”

Her face softens, but she waits until I’m finished speaking before she leans in to kiss me gently. “I don’t care what any other guy is thinking about me. They can lust all they want because it doesn’t change the fact that I’m only interested in you.”

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