Page 42 of Black Tie Billionaire
Then he started to play.
And...Jesus.
She’d expected something classical, reserved. But no. Passion flowed from beneath his fingers. Passion, and anger, and joy and grief. So many emotions soared from the music, which sounded almost Spanish, but bluesy and a littlebit of rock. It was fierce, soul-jarring and...and beautiful. So. Beautiful.
Pain swelled in her lungs, and she expelled a huge breath, just realizing she’d been holding it.
When his fingers stilled, and the music faded away, she remained speechless, breathless. Like she’d been transported to Oz and offered this rare peek behind the wizard’s curtain. Only she didn’t find a fraud, but arare, wonderful truth about this man. One that few people were gifted with seeing.
He lifted his head, and those fathomless black eyes studied her. A faint frown creased his brow, and he reached for her, swiping his thumb under her eye.
“You’re crying,” he murmured.
“Am I?” she asked, shocked, wiping her fingers over her cheeks. Well, hell. She was. “I didn’t notice.”
“Was I thatbad?” he teased, with a soft smile she’d never witnessed on him.
“You were—”are“—amazing,” she whispered. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”
The smile disappeared, but his midnight gaze glittered as if dozens of stars lay behind the black.
“I shouldn’t want you.” She blurted out the confession. “I shouldn’t. But... Even knowing who we are... Even knowing this can only end oneway, I still want to grab on to those moments when we’re just Gideon and Shay, not someone’s enemy or sister. When we’re being honest with each other the only way we truly can.”
Sex. Need. Passion—they’re honest. The body can’t lie. Lust is the great equalizer regardless of social status, race or tax bracket.
It was a risk saying those words to him, since he’d uttered them to Camille,not her. And from the gleam in his hooded gaze and the tightening of his sensual mouth, maybe he remembered giving them to another woman.
Honesty. Though her pulse slammed her ears, she had to drag her big-girl panties on and tell him the truth. She couldn’t justify keeping it from him anymore, especially when he’d offered her the gift of playing for her.
“There’s something you shouldknow,” she murmured. “I’ve been keeping something from you. The night of the blackout, Bridgette had come down with a bad cold and asked me to take her place at a job so she wouldn’t lose it. Gideon, that was at the Du—”
“Shay, I already figured it out. You’re Camille.”
Her lips parted with a gasp. She blinked, staring at him. How had he...?
“Did you really believe I could be insideyour body and not remember?” he murmured. “Not remember every detail of how tight and sweet you are? No, moonbeam.” He shook his head. “I’d never forget that.”
“Wait.” It suddenly made sense now. His rejection afterward. “Is that why you were so cold to me? Because I hadn’t told you?”
He studied her for a long, quiet moment. “It wasn’t so much that you lied, but wonderingwhyyou wereat the gala and why you kept the truth from me.”
“Bridgette would’ve lost her job if she’d called in on such short notice, and with her business just getting off the ground, she can’t afford that. And I had to use a disguise and a fake name. I’ve attended the gala in the past, and my brother also...” She trailed off, a dark inkling beginning to stir in her head. “My brother,” she whispered.“Did you think I’d been there because of him? That I sought you out for him?”
After a slight hesitation, he nodded. “The thought occurred to me.”
“Someone must have hurt you terribly for you to be so mistrusting and suspicious,” she continued softly. And she had an idea about the identity of that “someone.”
“Trevor had no clue I was there. There were only two people in that break room,Gideon—you and me. What happened between us was the scariest and most exhilarating,freeingthing I’ve ever done. That’s what you make me feel. Terrified out of my mind because no one has ever affected me so viscerally I don’t recognize myself. While at the same time, I’m excited because I like it...crave it.”
As soon as the confession escaped her, she recognized that he could use it to hisadvantage. But she mentally shook her head. Gideon wasn’t like her brother. He might utilize blackmail to gain her compliance, but never once had he tried to use her passion against her. He might be ruthless, but he possessed his own code of honor.
Sex. Desire. It was their Switzerland.
And she’d seek asylum there for a while before they found themselves on opposite sides of a war again.Because that was inevitable.
But for now...
She shifted closer to him, covered the hand that still rested on the body of the guitar. Lightly, she explored those fingers, amazed at how they could draw such magic out of the instrument and her. She wanted him to cradle, strum and play her.
