Page 133 of The Billion Heirs Boxed Set
But then her touch…
First on my shoulder, and then on my hips. Then her front melting against my back. She’s so much smaller than I am. Her forehead is between my shoulder blades, her breasts against my back.
But no.
I thought she was mine, but she’s not. Sure, she stood up for us when pushed, but her first inclination was to lie. This is why I don’t do relationships. They suck. I always get fucked over in the end because I always end up the last priority. I turn around and detach her from me.
“You made your feelings clear,” I tell her.
“Yeah, I did. I told him the truth.”
I scoff. “It doesn’t count when you lie first. If you don’t put value on what we have. Or more accurately, what we could have.”
My mother didn’t put value on her relationships. Or on me. Jonathan Bridger was the first of many men. Instead of getting a huge cash payout from him, she got me. But she learned from the experience—to get better birth control, for sure—and moved on to her next conquest. And then the next. I have no idea which husband she’s on. I’ve lost count. It’s her job—marrying and then divorcing and taking half.
I learned from my mother what I didn’t want in a relationship. A gold digger, for sure. That’s not what Sadie is. She didn’t know who I was any more than I knew she was a detective in the bar the other night. But I don’t commit. Ever. Because I don’t trust.
I let Sadie in last night more than any other woman. I thought what we shared, what we had, was real. Was more.
Then she went and devalued it with Peterson. Kept doing it by placing me last, not first.
The case came first for her.
She blinks and wipes her palms on her sweats. “I… I panicked, okay? Have you never panicked in your life?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Not over spending the night with anyone.”
“Because they were flings and didn’t mean anything to you. Right?”
I can’t argue about that. I don’t do relationships, but I was willing to give it a go with Sadie. It’s better to know now where I stand. “So you’re saying this isn’t a fling and it means something. And yet you lied to Mark.”
“He’s my boss!” she all but shouts. “This case…”
I shake my head, ready to make a few points, when my phone dings again with a text. Damn, it was nearly dead an hour ago. How is it still hanging on?
I grab it out of my pocket.
Chance. Again.
I ignore it.
I’ll be home shortly, and I’m looking forward to one of his days of hard labor. I’ll need it to work off the tension I’m feeling. The anger. Damn, I’m pissed. I’m pissed at this gorgeous woman who I thought might be different.
In the end, they’re all shallow. Lesson learned. I won’t be fooled twice.
“Please, Miles.”
“I have to go.”
“Will you call me?”
I don’t turn to meet her gaze. I don’t because I know if I do, I’ll forgive her, grab her, kiss her senseless. She doesn’t know about my past, that my role model for relationships is shit. I just expected her to be all in. Or at least all in about me.
I can’t give her an answer. Not until I’ve had a chance to think about everything.
So I leave.
I leave, and I close the door behind me.
