Page 48 of Baby For The Billionaire Silver Fox

She pulled at me again. “Harder, more,” she moaned, wanting me to go deeper.

“Hell yeah.”

We found our rhythm for a few beats, but I was too fucking ready to burst to keep it together for long, especially when I could tell Nicole was ready to climax again. One more thrust, and she and I were exploding over the top.

“Wow. That was mind-blowing,” Nicole said once she could talk again.

I smiled at her and nodded my head in agreement. I pulled out reluctantly and lay beside her, drawing her into the crook of my arm and snuggling her curves tight against me.

We didn’t talk for a while, both of us lost in our own thoughts. Me—I wondered what she was thinking. She’d lowered her walls for this, for me, but would they go back up?

I just held her, savoring the feel of her skin, listening to her breathe. My mind was a jumble of uncertainty, trying to figure out what I really wanted here. I knew I wanted to get to know her better and understand what made her tick. I was slammed with a heavy thought—maybe she’s closed off because I’m closed off. Maybe it’s time to let her in. I sat with that for a while.

I turned to look at her. She was staring up at the ceiling with a desolate look on her face. I bet if I weren’t holding her, she would pull away. And that made me more than a little sad.

“Nicole, it might not be the best time, but I want to tell you about my marriage. It’s not easy for me to talk about my personal shit with others. I may be friendly, but that doesn’t mean I’m an open book.”

“I’m listening,” she murmured softly.

“When Mandy and I first got married, I was hired at a prestigious firm as an investment strategist assistant, which was a fancy way to say clerk. There were some dark times in my life before Mandy and I got together, and I was determined to do whatever it took to do the best I could at this job. So I took the financial courses, aced the exams, and worked my way up the ladder. I found I liked the challenge of doing my best, beating others, and getting promoted. It was seductive and a power trip, for sure. I started spending longer and longer hours at work, chasing the dream, and less and less time with my wife. I took her for granted.”

I tried to swallow the lump building in my throat. “At first, she was fine with it. She loved the money and was good at spending it. She worked with a designer to decorate our high-rise apartment in Chicago. But when she was done with all her projects, she realized she didn’t have a husband around to enjoy things with. She began complaining.”

Nicole didn’t say anything. She just let me go on.

“What did I do? I ignored her. I even spent some nights at the office so I wouldn’t have to listen to her. I didn’t understand what her problem was. She had plenty of money to spend, and I knew she liked to spend it.”

I tried to rub out the creases on my forehead.

“One day, in the middle of the day, I went home to get some paperwork that I’d left there. I found Mandy in our bed with a guy I worked with. She was having an affair and had been for a while.”

“Well, shit,” Nicole finally commented. Her hand found mine and held it.

“It was all my fault. I couldn’t see what I’d become, what I’d done to Mandy and our relationship, until it was too late. She was lonely and turned to another man. I screwed everything up, and I still regret it. I have no excuse.”

“What did you do then? Try to fix it or—?” Nicole’s voice fell.

“I begged her to stay,” I said simply, reliving that terrible time like it had just happened.

“She refused to give me another chance. She wanted to be with the other guy. He gave her the attention she deserved.”

“Ooh, that’s harsh.” She squeezed my hand. “You know, maybe you weren’t the best husband to her, but she’s not exactly innocent here. She was a married woman and had an affair with another man. That’s not okay. No one deserves to be cheated on. God, that must have hurt.”

I nodded. “Anyway, she married him and has been living happily ever after, as far as I know.”

“So why is she here? I don’t buy her story about scouting out photo shoot locations.”

“I wonder about that too.”

Nicole opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again. Finally, she asked in a voice so quiet I had to strain to hear, “Are you still in love with her?”

“No. I was torn up for a long time and eventually got some professional counseling. The past is in the past, and I don’t want to go back there. I’ve learned some valuable lessons, and these days I try to live in the here and now. Regrets are nothing but misery, and I don’t want to live that way.”

“Wow, you sound like a healthy, well-adjusted man. The first one I’ve met, actually.”

He tickled me in the ribs. “You’re funny. Didn’t you have older brothers, uncles, or a dad that were ‘healthy and well-adjusted?”

“I’m an only child. I have one uncle that I haven’t seen since I was about five, and my dad definitely doesn’t fit into the same category as you. He didn’t rise from the ashes of his crushing disappointments—one of them being me.”

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