Page 18 of Her Billionaire Hero
Pulling the door open, I walked slowly toward the door she’d gone through. I had no idea what I was doing or what I would do once I got there. The lobby was busy, so no one paid any attention to me when I stopped outside the door and put my ear to it to—once again—listen in on a private conversation.
This is so wrong.
“How was Greece?” I heard her ask.
“Magnificent. You know you could’ve come to me when you left Preston. My home is yours no matter where I am,” the man said. “Why did you wait so long to tell me about the divorce?”
Maybe she was having an affair with this guy.
For all I knew, Sloan was a state-of-the-art liar. But why lie to me in the first place?
She must’ve wanted to make me think she was a saintly young woman who would never cheat on her husband. Like I would even care if she cheated on that asshole Preston.
“I wanted to take care of myself. And I managed. I’ve done this on my own. I’m proud of myself,” she said.
The day we’d first met came crashing back into my mind. She’d gotten her panties in a twist about the perks I was offering her. She’d told me that she wasn’t going to be a kept woman. Maybe that was because she’d had her husband and then this sugar-daddy on the side. Maybe she was sick of being two men’s plaything.
But if that’s the case, then why is she here with this man now?
“I’m proud of you too, baby,” he said with what sounded like adoration in his voice.
Baby? Oh, this is for sure her sugar-daddy!
“How long will you be in town?” she asked him.
I fisted my hand, wanting to punch it right through the door. It was obvious to me then that she’d be busy every night now. At least until the Greek tycoon left Austin to go back home.
“As long as it takes. I’m not leaving until this thing is resolved,” he let her know.
What’s got to be resolved?
He had to be talking about trying to get her to be with him—move in with him, maybe even marry him. And where would that leave me?
The physical attraction that I’d felt from the start had grown into something much more. I actually liked the woman. I may have even fallen in love with her—a little.
I found myself missing her when she wasn’t around for more than a few hours. I’d go seek her out just to see her pretty face and hear her sweet voice. But I hadn’t let her know how I felt at all. And now I knew I’d waited too damn long.
My only hope was that she liked her newfound freedom—that she didn’t want to go back to being some man’s puppet—and wouldn’t want to resolve things the way this man wanted to. Sloan might not have always been a strong, self-assured woman, but she was one now and I adored that about her. I doubted this guy would let her keep being the real person she’d become.
“I’m glad you’ll be around for a while then,” came her reply, which didn’t make a hell of a lot of sense to me. “I’ve missed you.”
“As I have you, my darling.”
So, there it was. She would definitely be spending time with him and that meant less time with me. My heart pounded in my chest, urging me to walk right in to let her know that I had feelings for her, that she had more than one choice here. But I couldn’t share her.
We hadn’t dated or even kissed. How could I tell her that I wanted us to start seeing each other and I wanted our brand-new relationship to be exclusive?
A tap on my shoulder made me jerk. “Shit!” I hissed as I spun around.
“Are you looking for Richard Manning’s office?” a woman asked me. My gaping mouth and deer in the headlights expression must’ve made her think she needed to add a bit more. “Because this is his office. I’m his assistant.”
“I’m in the wrong building,” I said. “Sorry.” Before I got too far, I stopped and looked back at her. “He’s got someone in there right now. Do you know if they had an appointment?” I had no idea why I thought to ask that question. But it just slipped through my brain and came right out of my mouth.
“Mr. Manning’s daughter doesn’t need to make appointments.” Her words made me come back to my normal self again.
“He’s her father?” I wanted to jump up and click my heels together, I was so happy. “That’s great news! Thanks. You’ve made my day.”
Nearly skipping out to my truck, I felt light as air. Sloan wasn’t a cheater at all. She wasn’t a liar either. And most importantly, she wasn’t involved with some other old guy. So, we still had a chance of becoming more than just friends.
