Page 95 of The Billionaire Is Back

“Did you want me to bring you a clean pair of?—”

“No, I’m good. C’mere.” He jerks his head while buckling his belt.

I approach him like a classy grown-up who totally didn’t just walk in here in her underwear during his Zoom meeting. A classy grown-up who still has his semen dripping down her leg.

He holds my chin and leans down to give me a quick kiss on the lips. “That was hot.”

“It was, wasn’t it?”

He tucks in his shirt and combs his fingers through his hair. “Get outta here. Start boiling the linguine in twenty minutes.” He gives me a pat on the bum as I walk away. “Close the door behind yourself.”

“Yes, sir!”

Twenty-three minutes later,I hear Grady call out from his office, “Claire Sweeney. Can you come in here for a minute, please?”

Dammit, the linguine needs two more minutes. “Two minutes!”

I get no response.

Fine. If he’s moping, he’ll understand once he swirls my perfectly al dente noodles around his fork and tastes my lemon butter sauce.

After draining the linguine and coating it in sauce, I remove my apron and return to his office—fully dressedin jeans and a T-shirt.

He’s sitting in his desk chair, which is facing the window, his back to the desk and the door.

I rap on the doorframe. “What’s up? Dinner’s ready.”

“Miss Sweeney…”

“Mr. Barber…”

“I’ve been expecting you…” He continues staring out the window as he talks, like a Bond villain.

“Yeah, well. I live here. How was your meeting?”

He spins around in his chair dramatically. In his hand is a Nerf gun. It’s pointed at me.

I hold up my hands. “I come in peace.”

“Oh, Little Sweeney. That is not how you come.” He shoots me with a foam dart. Straight to the heart. He hasn’t changed at all. “Meeting went fine. I told Erickson I had to help you unload things from the car.”

I snicker. “More like I helpedyouunload.”

Grady doesn’t laugh. He puts the gun down on his desk and pats his lap. “Get over here.”

I do. I go over to him and sit on his lap. “Like I said, dinner is ready.”

“And I can’t wait to eat it.” He rubs my back and my thigh, gazing at me thoughtfully.

“What’s up?”

“I just want to make sure I say this the right way…”

Oh, here we go. He’s going to kick me to the curb.

“I love you. I love living with you so far. But this is a huge merger… I hope you take it for the compliment that it is that you drive me crazy and you made me lose my mind today, and it would not be okay for me to screw up a multibillion-dollar business because I can’t keep my hands off of you. So that can’t happen again. Not when I tell you I’m working. Okay?”

I nod. “Okay.” I guess if he’s going to reject my future attempts at seducing him in his home office, then that’s the way to do it. I stand up, reach for the Nerf gun, and point it at his heart.

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