Page 20 of How To Tempt The Off-Limits Billionaire

And a nap, since she hadn’t slept much the night before. Not because she’d been burning up the sheets with Muzi but because she’d spent most of the nightimaginingburning up his sheets. There was, obviously, a vast difference between the two.

“The trunks are, mostly, in good shape. Fairly straight and mostly disease-free.”

Muzi had been making odd, vine-related comments all afternoon and she’d lost track, and interest, an hour ago. Ro looked down at him. He was on his haunches peering under a vine, and she admired the muscles rippling under his white T-shirt, and the way his chino shorts pulled over the curve of his perfect, perfect butt.

He was built, sexy and as fit as hell. But she could easily resist sexy and good-looking—LA was filled with good-looking guys—but the addition of nice and smart was harder to ignore. Muzi was also a gentleman. He opened car doors, allowed her to walk into a room before him, stood up when she approached him. His old-fashioned manners were charming and instinctive, they weren’t put on or forced, they seemed to be part of who he was.

But underneath the charm, she knew he could be as tough as old leather, ruthless if he needed to be. He was intelligent, cunning and very, very secretive.

He got her talking last night, chatting away about her parents and their divorce but she’d barely scratched his calm surface. She still had so many questions about his adoption by Mimi—strange that they were both adopted—but she still wanted to know more about his grandmother Lu and his childhood.

Ro slapped the back of her neck and looked at her grimy hand. Why was she so fascinated by Muzi and why did her heart jump when she heard his voice, splutter when his deep, intense eyes met hers? Ro scowled at the overgrown grass, remembering that, not so long ago, she was deeply in love with a man with whom she expected to spend the rest of her life.

How could she move on so quickly? Was her attraction to Muzi simply a rebound fling? Was he a bridge to dating again, a way to get over her ex? Or could he be someone special?

Ro knew that she shouldn’t be thinking of dating again, that wading back into the messy world of relationships was an unbelievably bad idea. Her judgment could no longer be trusted—she’d never, not once, believed that Kelvin would cheat on her—and she no longer had any idea what love was, what it looked like, how it acted.

Her life was complicated enough without her incredibly inconvenient attraction to a smart, sexy, secretive man.

Ro put her hands on her hips and arched her back, thinking that she needed to get out of her head. What she needed was a project, a distraction, something to keep her occupied. Ro looked toward the mansion, thinking that the neglected house and gardens might be the projects she needed to keep busy.

And her hands, thoughts and attention off Muzi.

But if she was going to stay in Franschhoek for the foreseeable future, she’d need to find a B and B, she couldn’t stay in Muzi’s house indefinitely. She wished she could move into her house but, while Muzi inspected the cellars earlier, she had walked through the mansion and it was, genuinely, horrible. It was obviously a dumping ground for the Du Toit family’s—she’d discovered Zia’s maiden name from paging through a stack of ancient bills and letters left on the hallway table—unwanted furniture, books and detritus. The house was uninhabitable, so she’d have to find somewhere else to stay.

“I’m going to book into one of the local B and Bs tomorrow,” Ro told Muzi.

She saw him tense and he dropped the vine in his hand, pushing to his feet. “Why?”

“Because I can’t keep taking advantage of your hospitality,” Ro primly replied.

“I’m leaving for the city shortly and I won’t be back until the weekend, or maybe even the next weekend. My house will be empty so what’s the problem with you staying there?” Muzi asked.

It would be super convenient, she admitted. “I could pay you a daily rate,” Ro suggested, knowing he’d refuse but needing to make the offer.

“Not happening,” Muzi said, his tone suggesting she not argue. “There’s a Jeep in the garage that you can use, as well.”

Now, that was too much. “Muzi, I can hire a car. Or even buy one.”

He shrugged, looking unconcerned. “Use the Jeep, Ro.”

He started to walk past her, and Ro put her hand on his arm, looking up at him. “Hey, a conversation doesn’t just end because you deem it over.”

Muzi looked at her hand, then moved his eyes to her face, specifically her mouth. She knew that he wanted to kiss her and wished he would. She hadn’t stopped thinking about the hot-as-fire kiss they’d shared and she suspected,hoped, he hadn’t either.

“What’s there to discuss? You need a place to stay, and I have an empty house. You need a car, and there’s one in the garage not being used. I don’t need your money, so I won’t accept payment,” Muzi stated, sounding super reasonable. But she caught the “Why are we discussing this?” note in his voice. Yep, he was a little arrogant and very alpha, someone very used to getting his way.

But his self-confidence was deeply, stupidly attractive.

“So, any new thoughts about this property?” Muzi asked her, as they walked back toward the house.

Ro scowled at his back. “I know that you’re trying to change the subject,” she groused.

Muzi flashed his spectacular grin. “I am,” he admitted. “Arguing with you is exhausting. St. Urban, Ro?”

“I think I am going to fix it up and sell it, I guess,” Ro replied. The Franschhoek Valley was a beautiful area and the property had enormous potential, but Ro knew this property wasn’t her forever place. She couldn’t see herself living in the old, rambling house big enough for six families.

No, she far preferred Muzi’s modern, light-filled house...

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