Page 32 of The Billionaire's Rival (Bad Boy Billionaires)

He looked far too innocent sleeping on my couch. I’d thought he was an overconfident asshole who had everything he wanted. Now I thought he might be more fucked up than I was. I wanted to know more about the real Jay. Worse, I wanted to help him. I was such a fool.

I forced myself to walk away. I hurried upstairs, shut the door to my bedroom, and turned the lock in case Jay came looking for me in the night. If he slid under the covers and wrapped his body around mine, there was no way in hell I was going to stop him from having me a second time.

* * *

When my alarm went off, I felt like I’d only been asleep for a few minutes, mostly because as tired as I’d been when I went to bed, I’d tossed and turned for ages. I couldn’t stop thinking about Jay downstairs on the couch. What the hell was I going to say to him when he woke up? How much of the night would he remember?

I was also running through the conversation I needed to have with Miles. I had to confront him about Jay being threatened. One way or another, I was certain he knew what was going on, and he was damn well going to tell me. The protective streak I now felt for Jay hadn’t faded overnight. I was going to make damn sure he was safe, and I wasn’t going to justify that to Miles or Worth or Carter.

I decided to shower and get dressed before confronting Jay. Once I’d stalled as long as I could if I was going to make it to the office when I meant to, I took a deep breath before opening my bedroom door. When I reached the first floor, I saw that Jay was still on the couch in the same position as when I left him.

“Are you alive?” I asked. When he didn’t respond, I repeated myself in a much louder voice.

Jay rolled over and squinted at me. “Where am I?”

“My house.”

He blinked a few times, then sat up. He was pale, and his eyes were bloodshot. “Did we really….”

I narrowed my eyes. “What do you remember?”

“I…I fucked you.”

“You did, but it’s probably best if we don’t talk about it now. Or ever. I need to get you out of here so I can get to work. Do you think you can make it upstairs? If so, you can use my bathroom to shower. I left you a towel and some other things.” As I said it, I realized I should have put his things in the guest bathroom. At least he looked too hungover to try anything this morning.

“I’m not even sure I can stand up.” He pressed his hand against his forehead, and I could imagine he was probably trying to keep his head from rolling off his shoulders.

“Give it a try.”

He rose to his feet, stood there for a moment, then fell to his knees and put the trash can to good use. When he was done, I handed him a towel from the kitchen so he could wipe his mouth.

“God that was…. You already hate me and now….”

“I don’t know how I feel about you right now.” I wasn’t sure why I spoke so honestly, but I knew he felt like shit, and I didn’t need to make it worse. “You can clean this up after you’ve showered.”

“Okay. I think…I think I can make it upstairs now. Last night, did I—”

“We’re not talking about last night.” I took his arm and helped him up. “Come on. You’ll feel better after you’re clean. There’s a toothbrush and toothpaste in there for you too.”

“Thanks.”

When I sent Jay into the bathroom, he didn’t bother to shut the door behind him. While I was debating whether I was going to stay and watch him, my phone buzzed, startling me. I looked around until I saw where I’d left it on my nightstand. Worth’s name showed on the screen. What the hell was he doing calling me?

I answered it, and instead of walking downstairs like I should have, I stood there, staring into my bathroom, watching a very naked Jay who was brushing his teeth in front of the sink.

“Worth, what are you doing up at this hour?”

“I haven’t been to bed yet.” That made more sense.

Jay had put the toothbrush down, and he was looking around for something. He probably didn’t want to interrupt my phone call or maybe he was too hungover to put the right words together. When his reached for the handle of the one drawer I absolutely did not want him opening, I called out, “Wait. Don’t open that.”

“Is someone’s there with you?” Worth asked.

“Um….”

“Who is it?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

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