Page 14 of Her Billionaire Hero
“Say you won’t go. Call him back and tell him that you can’t go.” He grabbed my upper arm to stop me from hauling ass away from him. “Please.”
Looking at his hold on me, I gritted my teeth. “Let me go right now.”
Easing his hand off me, he looked a little sheepish. “Sloan, I am sorry about that. But you’re not ready to date. We were together for a long time. You’ve always thought you were a lot stronger than you actually are. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Like finding out you fucked my mother for a couple of years didn’t hurt me!
“Don’t worry about me, Preston.” Abandoning my shopping cart, I turned away from him and walked toward the exit.
“As if I can help worrying about you, Sloan. You’re my wife!” he called out after me.
Spinning back around, I felt the heat of anger flush my face. “Wasyour wife. I’m not anymore.” Then I turned and left the store.
What a fucking jackass. How did I ever love him?
Chapter Seven
Baldwyn
Sloan had no idea how cute she looked in her shorts and tank top.
“So, none of your brothers wanted to come with us?”
“No.” I hadn’t asked them to come. “I think they had other plans.” I just wanted today to be about the two of us. My dreams the night before had gotten on the racy side and Sloan had starred in them all. Sharing her attention just wasn’t going to do it for me today.
Sweeping her dark hair up then wrapping it with a rubber band, she put it into a high ponytail that made her look even more adorable. “Well that’s too bad because they’re going to miss out on this little-known pub that makes Sundays awesome.”
With a dark wooden exterior and a huge green door, the pub looked as if it had traveled through a wormhole from ancient Ireland before settling in the outskirts of Austin. “Is this one of those places where the waitresses dress in period clothing?” Boobs bursting out of the tops of tight blouses sounded appealing.
“Not at all.” Turning to me as she walked backward toward the door, she smiled knowingly. “Are you disappointed?”
“Not at all.” Sloan had some things going on herself that would keep my eyes occupied.
Pushing the heavy door open, she held it for me. “Gentlemen first.”
“Okay, then.” I walked inside the dark corridor; a green light shone at the end of it. “That way, I assume.” Laughter and clinking glass met my ears. “Sounds like the fun’s already started.”
“It’s one on a Sunday afternoon,” she said as she walked up beside me. “I’m sure the crowd is pretty much drunk already.”
A glowing flatscreen television the size of a dining room table hung above the long bar, littered with men and women. “Soccer fans.”
“And Gaelic football too,” she said as she took a seat at a small table for two at the back of the room. “These guys get really loud when that stuff comes on.”
I had the idea she wanted a liquid lunch. “I can’t imagine you brought me here for the food.”
“You’ll see. They make the best pot roast I’ve ever tasted. Tiny pearl onions, green peas, and this thick dark gravy that defies imagination. Makes this place one of my favorite food spots in Austin.” She held up her hand, signaling a waitress.
“I saidIwas going to take you out. How did you manage to take this lunch over, Sloan Rivers?” I’d wanted to take her someplace nice and quiet, but she had other ideas. She’d even made me ride with her, taking her car. How had I lost control?
The waitress brought two frosty mugs. “What shall I fill these with?”
“Guinness,” Sloan told her. “Can we get the house special with lots of soda bread?”
“Got it.” The waitress placed the mugs on the table, then took off, heading back to the bar.
“This is quaint.” It was loud and dark, not at all what I’d been planning. But when the food and drinks arrived, I dug in after the first bite. “Sloan, yes! Winner!”
“I know.” She dunked a chunk of bread into the beefy gravy. “We’re going to need a nap after this.”
