Page 45 of Below Deck Billionaire
Tiffany blinked. It wasn’t accusatory, but she hadn’t been prepared for it, either. She didn’t know what she’d thought they’d talk about – no talking at all would have been her preference – but it wasn’t this.
It did however help abruptly extinguish the mad tingle of her nipples. ‘Well, he… brought her up and I thought it would demonstrate how well we knew each other. That you’d confided in me about it. I thought it would seem authentic that I knew something deeply personal about you. I’m sorry, should I… not have?’ Was he angry that she had? ‘I think it went down well?’
Nodding, he glanced at her over his shoulder briefly before he turned back to choosing a pillow. ‘It did,’ he agreed. ‘Thanks. I think the old curmudgeon is finally ready to move on.’
It was said with affection – almost – as Theo plumped a pillow before tossing it on the couch. Sitting, he swung his legs onto the cushions and wriggled down, raising his knees to fit his long frame into the much shorter space.
Reaching behind him, he flicked out the lamp and the room was dark once again. But she could hear him wriggling as her eyes adjusted to the night and she almost opened her mouth to invite him to share the bed. It was his bed after all, and they had shared one before.
There just hadn’t been a lot of sleeping going on.
Which was precisely her concern if a mostly naked Theo was within easy reach.
Sure, he had the dare to keep him in check, but there was nothing to sayshecouldn’t use his body to get off…
And there went her nipples again.
Now her eyes had adjusted, Tiffany kept her gaze fixed on the ceiling, excruciatingly aware of Theo’s mostly naked form dominating the couch in her peripheral vision. All she had to do was turn her head to get the full frontal.
‘Thank you for tonight. It really did go well.’ His voice was quiet, but she felt every word like he’d puffed them across her aching nipples.
‘They’re nice people,’ she murmured. Maybe Dimitri had been a bit of a hardass to Theo, but he didn’t come across as a tyrant. ‘I felt sorry for them. About not being able to have kids. They both still seem so sad about it all these years later.’
‘Yeah.’
‘I hope you don’t mind I lumbered you with three future children.’
He chuckled and this time it was a low whorl of air that kissed her nipples, following through with a swipe of a hot, wet tongue. Tiffany squeezed her legs together to stop the tingle from taking hold between her thighs.
‘As long as you don’t mind that I had a vasectomy when I was twenty-two and can’t possibly provide them for you.’
Tiffany blinked at the startling admission.What. The. Hell?Her brain scrambled as she tried to compute the information. She’d never been overly maternal herself and didn’t really know how she felt about having babies, but she’d have never done anything to make sure it wouldn’t happen. To take such a consequential decision at such an early age rendered her speechless.
What if she met the one and changed her mind?
If she hadn’t known it before, it was patently obvious now – Theo was deadly serious about never having anything more than a one-night thing. She’d assumed that, despite his convictions, Theo would one day find his one and change his ways. Now she wasn’t so sure.
‘Did I shock you?’ he asked into the growing silence. ‘This is why I don’t tell people. In fact, you’re the first person I’ve ever told. But as we were talking about fake future babies, it seemed appropriate.’
Maybe she was supposed to feel privileged or special or something that he’d confided in her, but Tiffany just felt conflicted. It was none of her business but that didn’t stop the squall of emotion in the pit of her stomach or the sudden urge to march across the space between the bed and the couch and hit him across the head with a pillow.
‘No, you didn’t. I mean, I’m… surprised for sure, but it’s not my business.’
‘It’s just… I didn’t ever want to be caught out, if other contraception failed,’ he said as if, her business or not, he wanted her to understand such a final decision.
‘You don’t have to explain to me.’
He really didn’t. But it did explain why, despite spreading his seed every-freaking-where, there weren’t any little oopsy-daisy Theos out there in the world. Because, had there been, Tiffany had no doubt the tabloids would have sniffed them out.
There was a long pause before he spoke again. ‘Do you want kids?’
It was bizarre to be talking about the topic of future children with her fake fiancé – a Greek billionaire – in his luxurious master suite on his multi-million-dollar superyacht. But this whole day had been bizarre so, why not?
‘I… don’t know how I feel. I can’t see it happening any time soon but I’m not against the idea either. I certainly want to keep my options open.’
‘That’s fair.’ His voice was evenly modulated and reasonable. ‘But I do know how I feel.’
‘How you feelnow,’ she murmured.
