Page 7 of How to Win the Wild Billionaire

She didn’t have the funds to decorate a doll’s house, never mind the city’s most exclusive hotel.

Bay closed her sketch pad and leaned back in her chair. “Let’s not beat around the bush, Mr. Tempest-Vane—”

“Call me Digby,” he suggested.

“It’s an exciting project but I’m not the person you are looking for. I don’t have the experience for a project this big and even if I did, I don’t have the finances to take on something of this magnitude.” Bay stood up and shrugged. “So, I’m going to stop wasting your time and let you get back to work.”

Digby stared at her for a long minute before climbing to his feet. “I respect your honesty—thank you.”

“And now you can tell Brin that you did as she asked and met with me.” Brin had sent her a couple of messages asking for an update and she was convinced her friend was harassing Digby, as well.

Digby handed her a wry grin. “She keeps texting me, asking if we’ve met. I can now tell her we have.”

Thanks for trying, Brin.

Bay expected him to bid her a brisk goodbye but, instead of showing her the door, he walked around the desk to pick up his jacket. “Would you like to see the rooms, anyway? I’ve got some time before my next meeting and I’d like to stretch my legs.”

Bay bit her lip, knowing that she should leave, that Liv was probably screaming blue murder because she couldn’t find Fluffy the sloth.

But Bay hadn’t had a minute off in six months and she hadn’t had a proper conversation with an adult, never mind a sexy man, for as long. And, yes please, she really wanted to see more of this iconic hotel.

And, more worrying, she really, really,reallywanted to spend a little more time with Cape Town’s sexiest playboy. He was, after all, eye candy.

After today, she’d never see him again, but for an hour, maybe a little more, she could pretend that she wasn’t a struggling single mom dealing with her manipulative father, as well as being almost broke and pretty much at the end of her tether. For a tiny sliver of time, she could go back to being Bay, to being the carefree person she was before the world changed.

He should’ve just ushered her out of his office and carried on with his day. Showing her the ballroom was a complete waste of time, Digby thought, ushering Bay into an elevator that would take them to the third floor and the grand ballroom.

But he was reluctant to bring their meeting to an end, to see her walk out of his life.

Why? He didn’t have a clue.

Maybe it was because she was unlike anyone he’d ever met before. Quiet but not a pushover, polite but direct.

She also seemed very unimpressed by him, which was, frankly, a novelty. Most women he met instantly turned on the charm, played with their hair, batted their eyelashes. With Radd off the market, Digby knew that he was the most eligible bachelor in the country. Not because he was anyone special but because he was a Tempest-Vane, had a fat bank account, an okay-ish face and a fit body.

Women craved his attention because of his name and his wealth and his status, because he had a wild streak and a reputation for being a bit of a bad boy.

They wanted to be the one to tame him, to make him settle down. They were all on a fool’s errand. He’d never give a woman that much power over his heart and his life. Losing Jack had nearly destroyed him; he was terrified of losing Radd, and he’d never, ever love someone enough to be constantly worried about whether they lived or died.

Bay Adair was just another in a long line of women he was attracted to, somewhat different, a little mysterious. Her fantastic eyes were unreadable and her expression remained cool and impassive. She was the most self-contained woman he’d ever met and, yeah, he was intrigued. And attracted.

And the longer he stayed in her company, the more he noticed. Her eyebrows were arched and S-shaped, a couple of shades deeper than her shot-with-auburn brown hair. Her mouth was uneven, with a thin top lip and full bottom lip, turning the lopsided feature indescribably sexy. She had a long neck and while she was on the skinny side of slim, she had a round, high butt and amazing breasts.

Her fringe covered her forehead and he wondered how long her hair was, unable to tell because it was wound into a messy bun at the back of her head. Freckles covered her nose and her high cheekbones and, he imagined, her shoulders and back, anywhere the sun touched.

She was ethereal and quirky, nothing like the sharp, sexy, successful women he normally dated. Although dating implied that feelings were involved. His had never been engaged and never would be. And the women he dated, slept with, knew not to expect more from him than a few dates and a good time...it was all he could give.

Relationships required taking a risk and while he’d risk his body—and had many, many times—he’d never risk his heart. That was a step, or hundred, too far.

Uncomfortable with where his thoughts were headed, Digby watched as the elevator doors opened onto the small lobby outside the ballroom and gestured for Bay to walk ahead of him. His eyes flickered to her ass again—gorgeous!—and he sighed when he felt the action in his pants. Time to switch gears, Tempest-Vane.

Bay hurried across the lobby to the closed doors of the ballroom. After grabbing the brass handles, she flung the doors open and stepped into the huge, light-filled space. Walking across the parquet flooring, she then stood in the middle of the room, where so many brides had danced in the arms of their new husbands, slowly turning around, her arms akimbo.

Digby sucked in a breath as an image started to form behind his eyes... Bay wearing a simple, classic wedding dress, fresh flowers in her hair and a broad smile on her face. Her eyes, light and filled with love, were on a man across the room and Digby, unable to help himself, looked in that direction...

But all he saw was an empty room, chairs stacked up against its cream-colored walls.

He rubbed his jaw, thinking that was incredibly weird. And unsettling. He was the type of guy who imagined what women looked like naked, not how they’d look in a bridal gown. This had been a superbly strange day...

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