Page 81 of The Grumpy Billionaire
“I’m sure you weren’t lonely.”
I drew back enough to see her face. “I was. I mean, yes, there were a few girls, but… nothing like this, Mara. No one like you.”
She pressed her nose into my neck again, kissing me but also hiding her face. Apparently, my admission had pleased her. Maybe it was stupid to have said it, but it was the truth.
There had never been anyone like Mara. There never would be.
My arms stayed tight around her, a hum of contentment vibrating in my chest.
“Thank God you came back. I was turning into a hard bastard,” I admitted. “I couldn’t make myself care about anyone or anything, really. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn’t. And then when I looked up in Nooky’s that day and saw you on the news…”
I let the sentence die. I’d just admitted I’d been lying when I’d told her I didn’t believe in love. It had only been a vain attempt to cover how much she’d hurt me.
And now she knew it.
She didn’t call me out on it though. She pushed up onto one elbow and looked down into my eyes. “So, do you think you’re acclimated enough to let me do the interview now, Mr. Mancini?”
I grinned and nodded. “Ah, I see what this was all about—you really goall outto get the story don’t you, Miss Neely?”
“Anything for the ‘get’ of the century.” She laughed, her eyes flashing with humor.
Rubbing my jaw and looking up at the ceiling, I cocked my head to one side. “I don’t know. I’m still feeling a little camera-shy. I think Imightneed some more coaxing. It might take all night, in fact.”
Mara laughed again. “You are a hard nut to crack, Mr. Mancini.”
“I’m definitelyhard.” I gave her a naughty grin.
Sliding my hand around the back of her head, I guided Mara’s mouth down to mine, and damn if her kiss didn’t put me right back into that “just one more time” frame of mind.
I’d intended to get up and get dressed, to order an Uber and go back to my own house. Instead, we made love again and fell asleep together in Mara’s bed, in her childhood room, that hallowed ground I’d never dared to tread.
That rule had been the perfect representation of our history together—I’d been allowed in her life but only so far.
Tonight, she’d let me in all the way, but as we drifted off to sleep, I was afraid of what the morning would bring. Would she shut me out again?
Had I gotten this far… only to lose her once more?
TWENTY-EIGHT
Morning Glory
Mara
The next day I woke to the strange sensation of something tickling my nose, my lips, my cheeks.
My eyes opened to see Reid’s smiling face hovering over mine.
“Good morning.” His rough early-hours voice greeted me. “I always wondered how pretty you’d look first thing in the morning. Now I know.”
Memories of the night’s activities rushed back to me, and I felt myself blush. “I’m pretty sure that’s not true. My makeup must be a mess. I never sleep in it. And I was crying last night.”
I reached up to wipe under my eyes, trying to remove the smudges that had to be there, probably a futile attempt and certainly too late. “Andsomeonebarely let me get any sleep. How long have you been awake, watching me?”
He stroked my cheek with a fingertip. “Long enough to know that you’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen, smudgy makeup or not.”
That got me moving. I slid away from him, heading toward the bathroom attached to my room. Seeing my toothbrush there at the sink, I groaned. Ugh, I’d been breathing morning-breath at him while he watched me sleep.
Then I glimpsed myself in the mirror, and I had to laugh.
