Page 22 of Her Billionaire Bargain (Kensington Square)

“Because you’ve already seen his appeal. Not just the green eyes and the walking sex persona or hell, the tattoos. He’s a decent guy. He hides it well, but he is. And man, those are rare nowadays.”

“Yeah. I asked for ten percent down and he gave me twenty. Check’s sitting in my purse, and I’ve had to stop myself from staring at it all the way to my parents’ house. I’ve never seen that many zeroes, Ice.” I told her how much and she whistled.

“Damn. He came to play ball.”

“He did. I’m trying to be chill about the whole thing, but if I don’t hyperventilate at some point, it’ll be a damn miracle.”

“He has faith in you. You need to have faith in yourself.”

“I do. Just it’s all kind of overwhelming.”

“That’s Dex in a nutshell. He seems like the biggest good-time guy ever, but he can blast the panties off a girl. She’ll still be smiling when he walks off. Somehow all his exes are still his friends.”

“I wouldn’t be friends with him after.”

“Uh oh.”

“What uh oh?”

“A statement like that means he’s got his claws in you already.”

“No. Not me. A decade ago, maybe. Maybe pre-Berry. But I’m not the me I used to be. I don’t take those kinds of chances anymore.”

She let out a windy sigh. “I hear you, girl. I do.”

“But?”

“But I really hate your ex, and I’ve never even laid eyes on him.”

“Dex has.” I swallowed deeply before telling her briefly what Dex had said about my ex-husband.

“Confirms what I already know about the dude. He’s a complete asshole, and I’ve never even laid eyes on him. Don’t want to.”

“I’d say I wish I hadn’t, but I won’t wish away my girl. She’s the best of both of us.”

“And you’re an amazing mother. I’m just sorry he was such a prick.”

“Me too.” Blinking away the sudden heat in my eyes, I turned on my signal and drove into my parents’ cozy neighborhood.

It was filled with tree-lined streets and houses with neat vegetable gardens in back and kids’ bikes tossed carelessly on the lawns. The kind of houses meant for raising a family.

I’d been lucky enough to grow up here with my older brother Casey, who had split at eighteen to go make his fortune as a tattoo artist in LA. We were both artists of a very different sort. He rarely made time to come home, but we loved each other even though we didn’t know each other as well as we should. In my mind, I’d practically been an only child.

I didn’t want that life for my own daughter, despite no prospects for changing that circumstance on the horizon.

“He told me I could bring Berry while working on his house,” I said quietly, bypassing my parents’ driveway at the last minute.

Maybe I wasn’t quite ready for this unexpectedly magical day to come to a close yet.

“Sounds like Dex.”

“Is he really like that?”

“Yeah. He really is. Oh, he’s not perfect, but he wouldn’t use your kid as a bargaining chip, so no worries there. He’s too cognizant of his own father’s marital games to be that thoughtless.”

“Thanks. I appreciate your perspective.”

“Don’t worry about him, Shelb. He barks but he doesn’t bite. And if he makes an agreement, he sticks with it. Plus, his bottom line is crazy. I know, because I do his calendar. Work calendar,” she amended, as if she knew I was already assuming social calendar despite his various comments to the contrary.

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