Page 10 of Tempting the Billionaire
“Reading?” I echo. I’m actually kind of surprised. I never pegged him for the book type. And I never would have guessed that we share a core interest. Especially one as mundane as reading. “What kind of books do you read?”
He glances sideways at me, and the look makes my heart jump in my chest. He’s smiling, smirking, like he doesn’t want to answer. “Dumb things,” he says.
I laugh out loud. “Okay, now you have to tell me more.”
His grin widens, and he shakes his head. “Your average airport read.” He shrugs. “A thriller, a mystery, fantasy. I’ve …” He chuckles again. “I’ve even been known to read a romance from time to time.”
I raise my eyebrows. “A romance reader?” I laugh. “Ezra Bishop, quite possibly the richest man in Boston, spends his time reading trashy romance novels?”
“Hey, I said nothing about trashy,” he responds with a laugh.
“To be fair, I’m also a romance reader—I just never thought I’d meet a man with the same hobby.”
He smirks. “I love a good story. I can’t help it if sometimes that comes in the form of romance.”
It’s just now that I realize we’re coming up on my apartment building. Ezra turns into the parking lot, pulling up in front of the front door and putting the car in park.
My nerves bundle in my lower stomach. I’d been so engrossed in our conversation that I’d almost forgotten what I’d set out to do. I glance at my apartment building in trepidation.
I turn to Ezra, offering a shy smile. “Thanks for the ride,” I say quietly.
He smiles in return. “Any time.”
“I, uh …” I hesitate, glancing up to meet his eyes. What I see there is sincerity, possibly even genuine attraction. I can tell he likes me—at least as a person. And I know he’s attracted to me. But will he be receptive to what I have to say next? “Do you want to come up?” I force the question out before I have time to second guess myself.
Surprise flashes across his features, and I immediately feel my stomach drop. Time seems toslow, every second passing as if it were an eternity. He opens his mouth, closes his mouth, opens it again.
“I’m married.” The words echo in the space around us, and humiliation burns through me.
“Oh, I …” I stutter, my mind running a million miles an hour. Every part of me wants to shut this down, to apologize, to run upstairs to my apartment and forget this ever happened. Because of course he’s married. Iknowhe’s married. And what I’m doing is quite possibly the worst thing anyone could do.
And it doesn’t matter that Justin is about to ruin my life with those videos. It doesn’t mean I can just go around and ruin other people’s.
This was a horrible, horrible mistake.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, shaking my head, reaching for the door handle.
“No.” Ezra reaches out to put a hand on my arm, stopping me. His touch sends shivers across my skin. “I know you didn’t know—I haven’t been wearing my ring. I …” He sighs, and I force myself to turn and meet his gaze. “My wife and I are separated. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
His words come crashing down on me. Separated. In all honesty, I hadn’t even noticed he wasn’t wearing a ring. I knew he was married because Justin told me so, and I’d been so caught up in everything else, that I’d never even thought to glance at his ring finger.
A silence stretches between us, so long I think it might just go on forever. Finally, Ezra breaks it. “I’ll come in,” he says quietly, his dark eyes meeting mine. “Just for one drink.”
Chapter 6
Emma
My hands are practically shaking as I unlock the door to my apartment and step through, Ezra following. My brain keeps repeating the last few minutes over and over again in my mind. From humiliation to relief to … attraction?
The fact that Ezra and his wife are separated completely changes everything. For one, it removes the guilt of being a potential homewrecker. And suddenly I’m looking at him in a whole new light. Obviously, I noticed how attractive he was before, but now I’mnoticing.
I gesture nervously to the couch while I head to the kitchen to pull out two wine glasses from the cabinet. “Red wine okay?” I call.
“Sounds great,” Ezra replies.
I hurriedly pour two glasses and take a seat next to him on the couch. We sit awkwardly for a moment, before Ezra breaks the silence with, “So, is this how the romance books you read all start?”
I feel myself blushing, and I bite my lip. “Maybe,” I answer.
