Page 30 of The Billionaire's Second Chance
Twice was a mistake.
Three times, and dinner, and wine?
Three times wasdangerous.
I put down my second glass of wine after only a few sips.
“I should go.”
I wasn’t sure what I expected. That he’d ask me to stay the night? To talk, orcuddle? Instead, he just gave me a long, searching look, then nodded, as if to himself, and put his own glass down, the delicate crystal clinking quietly against the bedside table.
“I’ll call my car for you. Walk you down.” He stood, pulling on his tee shirt. His head popped through the neck hole, his serious expression replaced by a soft smile, and then all that golden skin was covered by heather gray cotton. Veritech, read the chest, right over where I had felt that steady heartbeat. Charlie never changed. He just got…more Charlie.
“That isn’t necessary,” I said. “Actually–I’d rather,” my cheeks warmed. “I’d rather not be seen with you, leaving a hotel in the middle of the night, looking like this.” I gestured at myself with my free hand. I looked like I’d been at work all day.
And then fucked into the mattress.
“Right,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Right, of course. Let me call you my driver though. Please. That way I know you’re home safe.” I nodded in agreement–it would be convenient not to have to get a taxi or wait for the hotel concierge to call one for me–and he smiled, looking at me with an expression I couldn’t read. “Instead of at the office, getting an extra-early start with yourotherbillionaires.”
“Are you really?” I asked before I could think better of it.
“Really what?” he asked, distracted. He’d retrieved his phone and was tapping the screen with his thumbs, presumably calling me his ride.
“A billionaire. Richer than your brother.” I stooped to slip my heels on, looking at him out of the corner of my eye. His typing had stopped, but he kept his eyes fixed on his phone.
“Are you really asking?”
“I’m curious. That’s what theNew York Week”–the city’s most breathless tabloid–“calls you.Manhattan’s most eligible billionaire.”
“Well,” he said, then again, “Well…” He hesitated. “I don’t know about most eligible. But…” He inclined his head, the barest nod.
I nodded, considering. I hadn’t been lying. I had been curious. Knowing that he really was as rich as his older brother, who’d inherited the larger half of the Martin fortune, didn’t change the way I thought about him. I’d grown up with wealth, but moreover, I’d grown up with Charlie. And beside that, he’d already told me as much, in his way–he’s rich, I’m richer, he’d said of James. He hadn’t been lying.
Charlie may have been an asshole, but he wasn’t a liar.
The phone in his hand vibrated.
“The car’s here,” Charlie said. “Right outside.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing,” he said. “I’ll see you next week?”
His gaze stayed fixed on his phone, a slight frown on his lips, red with the kisses and wine we’d shared.You’re not going to run away again after this?
“Charlie,” I said, and he looked up.
“Yes, Sami?” he asked.
“I’m not running away,” I said.
He paused for a moment, then his face fell into the familiar lines of his smirk. He looked just as he always did–tee shirt, mussed hair, irritating smile.Charlie. “It’s the money, isn’t it?” he asked. He shook his head in mock disappointment.
“No,” I said, opening the door. I wasn’t surewhatit was, but… “It’s not.”
I let the door fall closed behind me and made my way down to the lobby and his waiting car.
CHAPTER16
