Page 19 of How To Tempt The Off-Limits Billionaire

Honestly, it was both sexy and scary.

“But they were so wrapped up and so in tune with each other. So in love.” She could tell him everything, she was sure he’d understand. “As a kid, I used to believe that my adoption was the reason I always felt on the outside of their relationship, that if I was biologically theirs, I wouldn’t feel like that. And that’s why the news of them wanting to divorce rocked my world,” Ro added as she stared down at the table. She seldom cried, and never in public, so the burn in her eyes annoyed her.

Muzi’s thumb stroked the inside of her wrist. She already felt warm and if she was this affected by him holding her wrist, she was sure to combust if she watched his broad hands stroke her naked body...

“When did they tell you that?”

“Around six months ago. The day after a lawyer contacted me and told me who my biological parents were and that I was the heir to the estate, I went around to tell them that I’d inherited money from my birth parents but before I could tell them my news, they hit me with their divorce.”

“Did they know who your birth parents were?”

Ro shook her head. “According to the adoption agreement, Gil and Zia knew who my parents were but they insisted on keeping their identities a secret.”

“And your folks were happy about that?”

“They’d been waiting for a child for years and didn’t care where I came from.” Ro played with the charm bracelet on her right arm.

Muzi topped up his wineglass and sipped, looking deep in thought. “Hearing that you are insanely rich must’ve freaked your parents out,” Muzi stated with a lazy grin. Ro couldn’t return his smile. His smile slowly faded. “You haven’t told them?” he demanded.

Ro shook her head. “Before I could, they told me they were divorcing and, I’m not proud to admit this, but I lost it. I told them to pull themselves together, that they were going through a midlife crisis. I was,am, still angry.”

Muzi rubbed his jaw, his expression bemused. He lifted his hand to run his knuckle over her jaw. “Damn, but you’ve had a lot to deal with lately, haven’t you? Hearing about the inheritance, meeting your brothers, your parents’ divorce.”

Yeah. And she had yet to tell him that her fiancé had cheated on her. She opened her mouth to dish that news but snapped it closed. She’d whined enough and didn’t need to appear sadder and more messed up than she already was. She’d deal with her breakup, her parents’ divorce and her unexpected windfall in her own way and in her own time.

“I’ll be fine,” she breezily assured him.

He nodded and squeezed her wrist again before pulling his hand away. “Oh, I know you will. You’re strong, smart and sensible. And sexy.”

Ro suddenly had a strong awareness of her heartbeat, could feel it pounding in her chest. The room faded and only Muzi remained, a small smile on his face, desire in his eyes. Ro, not one for elaborate gestures, tamped down on her urge to clear the table of its contents, to crawl across its surface to reach his mouth, to put her hands on that hot, lovely skin. She wanted him, completely, crazily...

Obsessively.

She swallowed, then swallowed again. She downed a glass of water that did nothing to assuage her parched throat and lifted her hand to her neck, then to her cheek.

Be careful, O’Keefe, you could be jumping from the frying pan into a very hot fire.

That wasn’t something a smart, sensible, strong woman did.

“Sorry for interrupting...”

Ro jerked her eyes off Muzi to see the waitress standing next to their table, holding two slate gray plates. She slid a sizzling steak on a base of potatoes in front of Muzi. It looked divine and smelled even better. Ro felt her taste buds tingling but whether they prickled for the food or Muzi she couldn’t be sure. Probably both.

The waitress then set her plate down in front of her. “Japanese Wagyu beef burger, wasabi mayonnaise and black truffles on a brioche bun.”

Ro caught Muzi’s eye and burst out laughing. “How did he know?” she asked him, astounded.

Muzi shrugged and smiled. “Who knows and do you really care?”

“Not even a little bit,” Ro told him and dug into her food.

CHAPTER FIVE

THENEXTDAY, Ro stood in the tall grass between two rows of overgrown vines on St. Urban and watched as Muzi gently parted the foliage, his focus on the trunks of the vines. She swatted away a fly and wished she’d put on more sunscreen. It was late afternoon, but the sun was still blisteringly hot. She’d finished her bottle of water thirty minutes ago and she was fairly certain some little African creature had climbed up the back of her shorts and was nibbling on her butt cheek.

She’d agreed to walk the St. Urban lands with Muzi before he left for Cape Town, but she hadn’t expected to spend the best part of the afternoon stomping through the overgrown vineyard.

She wanted a swim, two liters of cold water and then a glass of Chardonnay, not necessarily in that order.

---