Page 40 of The Reluctant Billionaire

Into thin air.

Gone.

Obviously, he’s still hot. Like, otherworldly hot. But he’s been playing me, and I swear to God nobody plays Carlotta Montefiore-Charlton.

I’m so angry now that adrenalin’s flooded my system and I’m shaking. I’m furious with him, and I’m furious with myself for being so dim. So obtuse.

How the fuck did I miss this?

I have a degree from Cambridge, for God’s sake. I run a ten-figure business which I co-founded. I am a highly intelligent and wealthy woman in my own right, and yet this idiot has seen fit to pull the wool over my eyes. I try to rack my brain for all the clues I missed, for the times people like Khal probably spelt out for me who Aide was and I didn’t pay attention.

My God, he must think I’m ridiculous.

I’m ready to lay into him. Fuck knows, I’m so angry I could march back in there and throw his stupid working-man’s pint all over his stupid face in this stupid, smelly working-man’s pub. And I’m so close to doing that, I swear.

ButAide, my hot, manly builder, promised me a seriously filthy night.

And I’ll be damned ifAidan Fucking Duffy, international hotshot businessman and tech billionaire who still believes he’s outwitted me, is going to ruin my little fantasy.

* * *

I plasteron a smile for the next two rounds and attempt to ride out the conversation which, to be fair, is hilarious. Gaz switches to pints of bitter with whisky chasers, which seems ill-advised, and Judy matches him on the latter. Sylvie, who’s definitely more of a listener than a spotlight-hogger, seems content to stand with me and watch the banter between them.

And Aide, or should I sayAidan, dips in and out, an abnormally good-natured grin on his face most of the time. He seems blissfully unaware that his full name has belatedly triggered my mental cogs. His eyes seek me out so often that I’d be a puddle on the floor if I was unaware that he was lying to me through his teeth.

To be fair, it’s no hardship to eye-fuck him right back. I have a vivid imagination. No matter what this guy’s failed to disclose to me, he is utterly, flawlessly gorgeous, and the reality of having him stand across from me in stained work trousers and boots and a sweaty vest is more than enough material for me to work with.

My manual labourer kink remains happily intact.

I watch in disbelief as he peels a few more tenners off the wad in his wallet to pay for the next round of drinks. What tech billionaire walks around with wads of cash? Doesn’t he have his platinum Amex on Apple Pay like most self-respecting rich pricks? Surely things with the tax man can’t be so bad that he’s wheeling and dealing in hard cash?

As I stand at the bar to help him with the round of drinks, he brushes his knuckles discreetly down my bare arm.

‘You want to get out of here soon?’ he murmurs.

Fuck, yes I do. ‘Yep,’ I tell him. I lick my lips. ‘Long and dirty, remember?’

He grins, his eyes sweeping over my face and lingering on my mouth. ‘You’re about to see me neck the quickest pint ever,’ he says, and he turns to distribute the drinks.

I attack a bag of crinkle cut crisps so the wine doesn’t totally go to my head. I give the cheese and onion flavour a wide berth, because there’s nothing erotic about onion breath, plumping instead for salt and vinegar. They complement the pure vinegar of my wine nicely, I decide. And they definitely hit the spot.

Aide’s as good as his word. He downs his pint in the space of two minutes and wipes his mouth. ‘Got to go see my mum,’ he tells us all. ‘She’ll have my guts if I’m late.’

‘I’ll walk with you,’ I announce. ‘I have a drinks reception to go to.’

‘Course you do, darling,’ Judy says, patting me on the arm. ‘Be a good girl for me.’

‘I have no intention whatsoever of being a good girl,’ I tell her with a wink.

‘Even better,’ she crows delightedly. ‘See you Monday, Aide.’

‘I’m not in on Monday,’ Aide says. ‘I have something at work. I’ll see you all on Tuesday.’

Probably a mega-deal to broke,I think bitchily as we saunter out.A knighthood to receive, perhaps. An orphanage to open.

Fuck Aide, and fuck his lying ways, and fuck me for finding out about this right as I’m about to do the deed. Because ignorance would most definitely be bliss tonight. If I was strolling home with Aide, my gorgeous builder, right now on this glorious summer evening, with the prospect of hot, no-strings-attached sex lined up, I’d be delirious.

As it is, the anger still simmering in my blood is both ruining my anticipation and somehow adding a frisson.

---