Page 71 of The Billionaire's Rival (Bad Boy Billionaires)

I nodded. “It would make a lovely one.”

“But they live here, just the two of them?”

“My grandmother does host plenty of parties.” I slowed to a crawl and laid my hand over Jay’s.

He turned to face me. “I didn’t think….”

“My grandmother is a huge snob. Don’t pay attention to anything she says that’s…offensive.”

“She won’t approve of me, will she? Not even as your friend.”

“She doesn’t really approve of anyone, honestly.”

“And you thought now was a good time to warn me about this?”

I’d fucked up. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

“I’m not worried. I don’t need her approval as long as she lets me stay here.”

“She would never make you leave, especially not when you’re in danger. She’s…a lot more subtle than that.”

“And your grandfather?”

“He does what she says or spends time in his shop to escape.”

“What kind of shop?”

“He took up woodworking as a hobby after he left the Senate. If you get him started talking about his projects, he’ll go on forever. That’s about the only thing he wants to talk about, other than his dogs.”

Jay face lit up at the mention of dogs. “What type of dogs does he have?”

“German Shepherds.”

“I had a couple of German Shepherds growing up. They’re the best dogs.”

I’d never seen Jay looked so wistful. “I loved playing with his dogs when I was growing up here. He’s always had some. He’d love for you to meet them, and if you’d like, we can take them with us for a walk on the trail through the woods.”

Jay frowned. “You want to walk in the woods?”

I huffed. “As you may have guessed, I wasn’t much of an outdoorsy kid, but when it came to a chance to enjoy time with the dogs, I was willing to put up with the heat, the bugs, or whatever. There wasn’t a lot to do out here.”

“Not a lot of other gay boys running around?”

“There was one gardener….”

“No way.”

I laughed. “I know, it’s almost too cliché to believe, but yes. He was too old for me, but he was sweet and gentle. I needed that.”

“As opposed to now when you need it rough and hard, like a punishment.”

“I don’t always need that.”

Jay looked like he was thinking about seeing if we could turn around and find a place for a quick stop. Knowing what he wanted was going to make it even harder to pretend we were just friends, but if I brought him in as my boyfriend, my grandmother would break him.

I brought the car to a stop in front of the entrance to my grandparents’ house.

“Don’t worry,” Jay said as I opened my door. “I’ll do my best not to embarrass you.”

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