Page 37 of Recruited By the Billionaire

“I’m not!” Robert said. “But I’m no eunuch either.”

“Neither am I. See. We’re the same.”

Frankie knew she was getting to Robert and his double-standard mind, and she was enjoying it.

“You’re playing right?” he said to her. “You’re pulling my leg, right?

“I am playing,” Frankie admitted. “But I’m not pulling your leg.”

Robert stared at her. “Just one though, right?”

Frankie laughed.

“I’m serious, Francesca!” Robert barked. This was serious to him. The very thought of some other man touching her body did something to him.

“No, it hasn’t been just one,” she said.

“Then how many?”

“Oh, Robert, I didn’t keep count. Did you keep count?”

Robert looked horrified. “That many?”

Frankie laughed again. “Not many, no. But not just one either.”

Robert was still staring at her. “Anybody I know?”

Frankie frowned. Was he actually jealous? That couldn’t be true! But he was certainly acting as if he was. “No,” he said. “It’s nobody that you know.”

Robert nodded. “At least that,” he said. “But you understand that’s over.”

Frankie looked at him. They had crossed the line before she even realized it was a possibility. But she was across now too, right along with him. “Yes, I understand that,” she said sincerely.

“Completely over,” Robert emphasized.

“Completely,” she agreed.

“If a guy even thinks about asking you out, you bring him to me.”

Frankie inwardly smiled. “Yes, Father.”

“I’m not kidding, Francesca. You bring him to me!”

“And if a girl even thinks about asking you out, you’ll bring her to me?”

Her response caught him so off guard that he had to smile on that one. And then he laughed. “You’re turning my concerns into a joke,” he said.

Frankie was laughing too. “I’m serious!”

Then both of them stopped laughing and grinning and smiling too. And they stared at each other.

“Yes,” Robert said. “I’ll bring her to you.” Then his look turned dead serious. “Since there won’t be anyone to bring.”

Frankie nodded. “Good answer,” she said, and they both smiled with a mixture of euphoria and alarm. What had they just done?

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Over the next two months their relationship remained private and constant. Nobody knew how close they were becoming because they felt it best not to let others into their world just yet. Not even Jerry was given the head’s up on Robert’s end. Not even Taymar nor Royce on Frankie’s end. Robert still had his obligations in Chicago, and his overseas conglomerate that consumed most of his time had to be handled too. But every chance he got he was back in Florida to see Frankie again. But that wasn’t very often. In their two months together, they actually spent a total of six nights together. Robert was just that busy.

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