Page 36 of Billionaire Neighbor

I walk over to the panel and push a few buttons to demonstrate all the bells and whistles. “I love having things automated and ready to go at the push of a button. I have my house in the Hills wired in a similar fashion. It takes the guess work out of everything, plus I like the sleek look it gives a room.”

She nods and reaches down to test the water. “It feels perfect,” she says.

“Go ahead and get in,” I say, holding her hand as she steps into the tub and slowly sits down. She bites her bottom lip as she cranes her neck to watch me climb in behind her.

“See something you like?” I ask.

She turns and quickly closes the distance between us before pressing her lips against mine. “I sure do,” she says. “But first, let’s get clean.”

She grabs the soap and loofah sponge, working up a soapy lather. “Turn around so I can wash your back first.”

I turn around and let her gently wash my body. Part of me wants to keep the scent of her on my skin, but the other part longs to feel her soft touch all over my body. I don’t know what came over me asking her to bathe together. Actually, I do. It was an act of desperation. I would have done and said anything to keep her from leaving. Who am I?

Jade takes her time with the loofah, covering every inch of me in suds before gathering several handfuls of water and splashing it on me to help rinse away the soap.

“All right, Ms. Sinclair, it’s your turn,” I say.

She turns around and I take my time washing her body clean.

“Are you always like this?” she asks.

“Like what?”

She shrugs her shoulders and sighs. “I don’t know exactly. Are you always so… attentive?”

I think for a moment, briefly skimming through my last few relationships. “I try to give women what I think they want, but no, I don’t think women would describe me as attentive. Are you usually this perfect?”

She shakes her head and gives me what sounds like a laugh and a snort combined. “I’m far from perfect,” she says.

“You’re perfect for me, and that’s all I really care about,” I say, wrapping my arms around her as I pull her into my body. Her head rests on my chest as we soak in the tub.

“This feels too good to be true,” she sighs. “I feel like I’m living in a fairy tale and something has to go wrong to bring me back down to reality. I hate to be a downer, but it’s like I’m waiting for it all to come crashing down around me when I least expect it.”

“No,” I say, running my hands down her body. “I don’t want you thinking like that. Why can’t this be your fairy tale? This is whatever you want it to be. Believe me.”

The last sentence is a plea, because I know there are things she doesn’t know about me. Things that could change the way she feels about me in an instant. I can’t find the way to tell her what I don’t want her to know, and in some ways, I’m hoping I never have to. I want to be the man she thinks I am, so if I can delay what her intuition is warning her about just to enjoy a few more moments in her fairy tale, I’m happy to.

“I do believe you,” she says. “I really do.”

A pang of guilt waves through me, but washes away as fast as the suds when she leans into my touch. We sit in the tub talking and laughing for over an hour. With the press of a button, I reheat the water several times to extend our comfort. I make it my business to keep Jade with me in this moment for as long as I possibly can. When she doesn’t object, I’m certain she doesn’t want the moment to end just like me. It’s by far the most intimate moment of my adult life, yet there’s nothing uncomfortable about it. Everything with Jade is effortless.

Chapter 19

JADE

Time is such a funny thing. It comes and goes as it pleases, totally unaware as to how it affects the people who design their lives around it. On one hand, whenever I spend a couple of hours with Asher time flies by so fast. If I didn’t know any better I’d swear it was working against us and speeding up when I’m not looking. On the other hand, those same two hours spent doing anything else, whether it’s cooking, cleaning or being otherwise occupied with Jacob, seem to work at a complete standstill as time creeps by at a snail’s pace.

I used to stay home on my days off reading books and doing unnecessary housework, but after meeting Asher, I prefer to spend all my free time with him. One thing I truly love is the fact that there’s never a dull moment with him. Even the dates we’ve spent at his place cuddling, sipping wine and watching TV have been eventful. We have been out together several times now, and luckily no two evenings are the same. I thought my life was pretty good before, but I can wholeheartedly say Asher is the cherry on top.

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