Page 29 of Her Billionaire Hero
I didn’t want to let her go, didn’t want to pull my body out of hers, but I had to. Falling to the side of her, I ran my arm around her, pulling her to lie on my chest as we caught our breath. For the longest time, only the sound of our heavy breathing filled the room, then silence fell as we drifted off to sleep, exhausted from the love we’d made.
It doesn’t get any better than this.
Chapter Sixteen
Sloan
Waking up alone the next morning, my body was sore in the best possible way. Yawning, I stretched as I looked at the empty spot beside me. “He’s up early.”
I wasn’t too far behind him though, and had high hopes I’d meet him in the shower. Climbing out of bed, I headed to the bathroom, but then a delightful smell wafted past my nose. “Bacon.”
I hurried to shower and dress, feeling only slight disappointment that I wouldn’t be meeting him for some soapy morning love action.
He met me as I came into the kitchen and handed me a cup of coffee. “Mornin’ beautiful.”
Taking the coffee, I leaned in and kissed him. A burning sensation began in my lower abdomen right away, and the kiss grew deeper without me even meaning for it to. Maybe our out of this world sexual connection came from the great friendship that had preceded the romance. Whatever it was—it defied explanation.
Easing back, I had to catch my breath. “Mornin’ to you too, stud.”
Wearing a sexy grin, he asked, “Stud?”
It must’ve been a while since he’d been called anything like that. “Yeah, I think you’re a stud.”
Chuckling, he turned away from me to get the plates he’d already made up. I came in behind him, wrapping my arms around him and leaning my head against his back. It just felt good to be touching him. I’d never been much for touching—not with Preston anyway. This was new to me. New and exciting, yet comforting as well.
“The reason I’m up so early is because my cousin Tyrell texted me that he and his brothers would like us to come to Carthage today. They want us to sign some papers their lawyer drew up.” I took a seat at the bar and he put the plate down in front of me. “All of my brothers are coming, and you’re coming too.”
“Today?” I shook my head. “Today won’t work for me. We’ve got materials coming in this afternoon and I’ve got to inspect them before we accept delivery.”
“I’m not leaving you alone, Sloan. Get someone else to do it. You’re coming with me.”
“I can’t do that.” He had no idea how important it was for me to be the one to accept or decline what came in. “Baldwyn, we’re trying to stay on a tight budget. If anything is accepted that we can’t use, the company won’t let us return it for cash. And they’ll charge us if they have to come and take anything back after the initial delivery. These things are heavy and huge and not everyone knows what to look for. Cracks, nicks, breaks of any kind … it requires a trained eye—my eye.”
Taking the seat next to me, he stabbed the tower of pancakes on his plate. “I’ve got to go, Sloan. And it has to be today.”
“I’ll be fine, Baldwyn. There’re tons of men at the worksite.” I wasn’t worried at all about Preston bothering me at work. He wasn’t ballsy enough to do anything like that. But being home alone was a different story. “Do you have any idea when you’ll be back?”
“Not really.” He moved his food around the plate, not eating. “It’s way too soon to be leaving you unprotected.”
An idea struck me. “Look, if you’re not back when work’s done, then I’ll go hang out with a friend until you get home. I haven’t seen Delia since I moved out of my old apartment. She lives across the hall from where I used to live. We were good friends and I owe her a visit anyway.”
“I don’t know,” he mused. “I’m sure Preston could find you there.”
“Why would he go looking for me there?” The idea was ludicrous. “Come on, it’s a good idea.”
Huffing, his chest puffed out. “There aren’t a lot of choices anyway. It would be a hell of a lot better if your ex was already sitting in jail. You could file assault charges on him you know. Your face is still bruised. I’m sure the cops would take him in and keep him overnight.”
“He’s got money, Baldwyn. He’d get out in no time at all. Plus, I don’t want to do that.” I felt like Preston was under tremendous pressure and that was the reason behind his uncharacteristic actions. “I know you don’t agree with my decision.”
Standing up, he began pacing as he threw his hands into the air. “I don’t agree at all. The man hit you. He hit you so hard, he knocked you to the ground. That’s not okay. That’s a crime. And he needs to be held accountable for what he did to you.”
“He’s being accused of murder right now. I don’t think adding an assault charge to that would be a good idea—or the right thing to do.” He had no idea how I felt about my ex-husband. “I know our relationship seems riddled with lies and inappropriateness, but he was my first in all ways. What we had lasted ten years. Sure, it wasn’t the best relationship. And now that I’m with you, I can see that there was no spark, no fire, no deep connection—it was nothing like the way things are with you. But it was something, and it wasn’t always bad.”
“There’s good and bad in anything, Sloan.” Coming to me, he spun me around and took my hands. “I don’t want to argue. Just promise me that you won’t talk to him at all today. Stay around people at all times. If he does come up to the worksite …”
“He won’t.” I knew he wouldn’t do that. “He’s not that type of person.”
“If he does,” he repeated, “then I want you to let one of the men know that you’re not to be left alone with him. And if he acts even the least bit aggressive, call the police. Don’t wait until he hurts you again. Promise me that, Sloan.”
