Page 11 of Beautiful Beast

Emotion clogs my throat, and as much as I want to give her a stern dismissal, I can’t.

“I’m familiar with those exact cookies. Annie used to bring me treats all the time,” I say, wanting to give Belle another memory of her grandmother.

I knew Annie fairly well, and I’m sure it devastated her not to have her granddaughter in her life. But she would have left Belle alone to avoid causing strife or uprooting whatever issues caused Belle to think Annie was dead in the first place.

Belle’s head jerks up, and her face brightens. “Yeah? Okay. Well. I guess… I’ll just leave the box here on the floor and you can open the door after I leave. I’m glad that you eat treats. I wasn’t sure if cookies would be okay.”

She’s ridiculously endearing, and I wish like hell she didn’t enter my life at the absolute worst possible time.

“I mean… You have a lot of abs, at least based on the pictures,” Belle continues. “Unless you’re hiding now because they’re gone and you have a dad bod, which can still be hot, you know. You can’t hide sexy.”

Another chuckle erupts, and this girl has officially had me feeling more emotions than I’ve let in since being home.

“I don’t have a dad bod,” I reply. “All of my abs are still in place and very visible.”

“Hm. Guess I’ll have to take your word for it.” She turns her head in a challenge, and I’m starting to wish I could open the damn door.

“Belle…” I really like the feel of her name on my tongue, but I don’t have any explanation for her that won’t completely invade my privacy.

She waits and then seems to realize that I’m not going to say anything else. “It’s okay. I’ve heard billionaires are weird. I guess some of you can’t even open doors. Is your butler off duty or something?”

I burst out laughing, and the sound is so unfamiliar that it takes me by complete surprise. She smiles, too, and it makes her even sexier.

“I’m sorry if that was offensive,” she says, but her eyes are shining. I wish that I could see her clearly and not just through the peephole. “But you’re a bit… eccentric. And you must be super loaded to live here. So. I made an educated guess.”

“Thanks for the cookies, Belle.”

“Sure. And if you ever want to have a normal conversation, you know where to find me.”

She sets the box on the ground, and her dog leans forward to try and sniff it. She flicks her hand and he immediately sits. Then she throws her arm out and he stands. Another twirl of her wrist and he’s by her side, ready to walk back to the stairwell.

“He’s really well trained,” I note.

I shouldn’t be the one keeping the conversation going when I want her to leave. All I’m doing is encouraging her to come back because she’ll think she’s breaking through my – weird, eccentric billionaire – façade.

Except I don’t want her to leave, and I wouldn’t mind at all if she came back.

I just wish the version of me she wants to meet still existed.

“When I first got Buster, I didn’t have a lot of control over him. He’s really strong and because I was a weak leader, he became overprotective of me and people thought he was aggressive. We went to school together so I could learn, right, baby?” She leans down to kiss her dog’s head, and he turns his face up so he can kiss her back.

“Well, it looks like you’ve got him under control now.”

“We’re a good team,” she says. She waits, looking at the door as though I’m going to change my mind and open it. When I don’t, she shrugs. “See you around, Adam.”

I watch her leave, the peephole distorting the curves that I know are phenomenal. Buster turns his head and looks back at the door as though he knows I can see him and he’s telling me I’m nuts for letting his owner walk away.

Maybe I am, but this is my life now, so I better get used to it.

When I’m sure she’s gone, I open the door to retrieve the box of cookies. I’m just setting them down on the marble kitchen countertop when the phone starts ringing.

It’s my uncle.

Again.

I can’t ignore him forever, so I decide to just get it over with and tell him there’s no way I can do what he wants.

“Hey, Uncle Dennis.”

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