Page 16 of Beauty and her Billionaire Beast
Something is wrong and it’s time for me to find out what itis.
I lean over to him and whisper for only him to hear, “Can you meet me down the hall in five minutes? I think we shouldtalk.”
He nods, and I takemy purse from the floor beside me, excusing myself to use the ladies’room.
Except I didn’t plan for my mother to take my announcement as aninvitation.
“I’ll come with you,” shechirps.
I shoot her a warning look to hint that I’d rather go alone, but she doesn’t catch my drift. Getting to her feet, she links her arm through mine and chatters on nonstop all the way towardthe harsh, white fluorescent lights of the ladies’ room. They make me seem about as pale as I feel inside. I stare at myself in the mirror for a moment, wondering if she’ll head back beforeme.
“He looks good, don’t you think?” Mom asks. I shrug my shoulders. “I always thought it was a shame that you two lost touch. You were always so close.” She opens her clutch and applies lipstick acrossher mouth, which unfortunately only silences her for a moment. “Your father and I thought for sure that you’d end up together.” I’ve heard all that before, so I don’t say a word, but she persists. “You never told me why you two stopped spending time together. Did somethinghappen?”
“No.” I reply, my voice tight. “And you know it was never like that. We were justfriends.”
“Sure,when you were kids, but look at him. Knox is all grown up.” She nudges my arm playfully. “He’s one hell of aman.”
I don’t need my mother talking about Knox like this. My mind needs no help at all to see how my best friend turned out. Not after that night at the party. All I can think about is his strong hands all over my body, the way he felt inside me, his possessive kisses that ownedme, his mouth on my bare skin. My cheeks heat and I see the redness spread up from my neck in the mirror. If I keep this up around my mother, she won’t need to hear another word from me. She’ll read all the damn signs my body’s giving off without mypermission.
I turn from her and start toward the door. “Don’t get any ideas,” I tell her. “Just…don’t.”
“Whynot?”
I push thedoor open, still avoiding her gaze. “He’s not my type,” I saydismissively.
“What? How can tall, dark, and mysteriously handsome not be any woman’stype?”
“Drop it, Mom.Please.”
“You must be blind. I don’t understand why you insist on staying cooped up andsingle.”
“Please stop. You’re making a scene.” I groan and turn to face her. “Just leave it alone, will you? It’snot the time or placeto—”
My mouth stops mid-sentence at the sight of Knox heading up the hallway toward us. God. Mom won’t be able to containherself.
“Mom, Knox and I need to talk alone…about Foster,” Ilie.
She turns to him. “Of course! I’ll be at the table. Take all the time youneed.”
“Let’s go out back,” Knox tells me after she’s out of earshot, and places hishand at the small of my back, guiding me down the hall. “My driver’soutside.”
“Sure,” I answer, but to be honest, I’m not sure of anythinganymore.
We sit side by side in silence in the back of Knox’s limo. It’s just us. The privacy glass is up, separating us from his driver. Minutes pass and neither of us has said a word. I’m brought back to those days when we were teens, sittinglike this, quiet yet sharing so much without the need forwords.
It feels like oldtimes.
Until itdoesn’t.
Knox puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into his side. That’s not out of the ordinary, but when he goes a step further, slowly lifting me into his lap, I’m pretty sure about where this will end up going. If we’re not careful, we’ll cross another line, and there’llbe no turningback.
Still, he hasn’t done anything other than wrap his arms around me. Maybe he just needs to hold me, to feel me close. There’s no harm inthat.
But I’m dead wrong when his hand runs up my back, anchoring into my hair. He uses his grip to guide my face to look up at his, and his mouth meets mine. It’s the softest, gentlest kiss I’ve ever felt, yet it’s so potentand overpowering that it goes right to my core. The faintest hint of a touch, and he lingers there, while my body reacts everywhere, especially between my legs. After some time, he nips on my bottom lip, tugging it between his teeth. I start to feel his erection growing beneath me. I’m so torn. I want to know where this will go, but on the other hand, I’m so scared I’ll enjoy him too much, only toeventually have the rug pulled out from under me when he blows me off again. Because he will blow me off. I’m certain ofthat.
“We should go back inside,” I tell him against his lips. “They’ll come looking for us if we don’t make an appearancesoon.”
“Sure. Okay,” he says, but his tongue says otherwise as it slides along my bottom lip, parting my mouth. His fingers tighten in myhair, and what starts off as soft and gentle and innocent quickly turns into a hot, deep, demanding kiss that I don’t want to end. I meet his tongue with mine, exploring his mouth as he claims me all over again and makes me forget where I am. He runs a hand up along my thigh and my legs part, wanting more contact. If it weren’t for the fact that I’m wearing dress pants tonight, there’d be no turningback. As his hand grazes over my waistband, searching to undo my button and zipper, I come to my senses and move itaway.
“We can’t…we should stop.” I pull away and slide out of his lap, my fingers covering my lips and the other hand on the door handle. “This is a bad idea. I’m sorry… See you inside.” Jumping out into the warm evening air, I don’t look back as I hurryinside.
Ofcourse, my appetite is nonexistent now. For food, anyway. I return to my seat just as the waiter comes from the other direction, his rolling tray packed with our food orders. Knox joins us a minute later. My parents and his grandfather give us a brief glance, but are polite enough not to mention our absence. They keep their conversations going, and I move my food around the plate, hoping no one willnotice that food is the last thing on my mind. And Knox? He doesn’t look me in the eye or say another word to me for the entiretime.
It’s the second time that I’ve shut him down or walked away from him. If we cross paths after tonight, I don’t know if I’ll have the strength to do it a thirdtime.
No matter what, I’m staying far, faraway.
I haveto.
