Page 75 of The Reluctant Billionaire
He gives me a tight smile. ‘It’s by far the best thing about having money. Getting to put it to work. The plan is to give it all away before I pop my clogs. Don’t think I’ll rest till I do.’
This man. Be still my beating heart.
‘What about you?’ He strokes his thumb over my skin and looks down at our conjoined hands. ‘You must be dying to get back to normality.’
Ugh. The mere reminder that I won’t be spending my days with Aide makes my scrambled eggs curdle in my stomach. We were born out of a totally unexpected, and initially unwanted, proximity, but the heat between us is undeniable.
Not just the heat. Last night felt like a step forward for us in terms of getting to know each other better. Getting tounderstand each other. But I have no fucking clue what happens from here.
And I’m no longer so convinced that mynormalityis quite so normal.
I hold his gaze as the car progresses down the narrow lanes. ‘I’ll miss the view,’ I say lightly. I let my eyes drop to his insane pecs below their—currently pristine—white vest and back up.
‘I’ll miss the view, too,’ he says, his eyes dropping to my boobs in their tight, cropped t-shirt before he leans in to kiss me lightly on the lips.
Good, I think.
‘Do none of your co-workers get their boobs out for you in your day job?’
He drops me a panty-melting grin. ‘Thankfully, no. There’s only one pair I want to see, anyway.’
I give my shoulders a happy little shimmy.
‘I cannotbelieveI told you to put them away that first day,’ he says, dragging his free hand over his face. ‘You were right. That would have been a lawsuit waiting to happen.’
I grimace. ‘I really hope you don’t say things like that to your employees. Nobody likes a sex-pest boss.’
‘No fucking way,’ he says. ‘Seriously. Not in a million years would I ever. I think I must have gone temporarily insane—it’s the only explanation.’
‘I’m glad they’re capable of driving good men to the brink of sanity,’ I say. ‘Always useful to be aware of one’s powers.’
His grin drops away, and he chews on his lower lip before replying. ‘I want to keep on seeing you.’ His voice drops to a whisper, and he leans in to my ear. ‘In case my complete inability to keep my cock out of your body hasn’t made it clear, it’s insane between us. I want to get to know you a lot better.’
I swivel my head so my lips are level with his. His beard brushes my chin. There’s no way I can be this close to him and not kiss him. Not feel his mouth on mine.
‘Glad to hear it,’ I tell him, and I take his full lower lip between my teeth.
CHAPTER 29
Aide
Today should be the easy day. The fun day.
We’ve done the hard, back-breaking work, and now we get to reap the benefits. To enjoy the part where we put all the new furniture and toys and games into the refreshed community centre and marvel at the transformation we’ve made. There’s even a new air hockey table which Venus has generously donated. It turned up yesterday out of the blue. The kids will lose their fucking lives over it.
The whole thing has Lotta’s fingerprints all over it.
The kids will see it tomorrow morning, when the sit-down breakfast service will recommence. God knows how Judy and Sylv will get the kids out the door in time for school. They won’t want to leave.
They’ll definitely have to keep the air hockey table turned off till the afternoon session.
So yeah. It should be a happy occasion. The team’s done a great job. We can be proud of ourselves. Between us, we’ve managed to keep a twice-a-day food service going from the play area while Lotta’s excellent team of professionals has turned out work of the highest calibre.
The room I’m standing in today is unrecognisable, frankly. The new paint job and doors and fixtures have worked wonders in elevating the atmosphere to one of playfulness. Optimism. Hope. Ian’s team installed massive cupboards which will now hide the majority of the necessary clutter, giving the kids more room to play.
Today, the clever new tables go in. They’re stowaway ones like primary schools use, with little round stools attached to them. Outside of mealtimes, they’ll flatten up against the wall of the hall like gym apparatus. They’re genius.
We’ve even got Gaz’s blood off the skirting board.
