Page 28 of The Billionaire and I

He pulled me against his chest and kissed my forehead. “It’s the nicest, Jenny. Especially with you here.”

Cole promptly started snoring.

Sleep eluded me for a few minutes, and I wasn’t sure why. That is until I realized that I was listening to the beating of Cole’s heart and wondering if, just if, he meant what he’d said.It’s the nicest…especially with you here.

Forget about it, Jenny,I thought.He’s just a John.

As Audrey said earlier, I was smart. It was my secret weapon, and I was not above using it on myself.

CHAPTER 15

Cole

Sleeping with Jenny was lovely,and I didn’t mean sleeping with her sleeping with her. I meant sleepingnextto her.

I never let the women I dated sleep over. As in, neverever. As soon as we finished having sex, I was out the door. If it were the unfortunate circumstance that we’d ended up at my place, I’d make some excuse about having to take meetings with my global business partners in the middle of the night. Then I’d call for a car and send the woman on her way.

I never called and asked for a second date. I never texted. I was, as Shirley had once said, about as emotionally unavailable as you could get. But this thing with Jenny was different. She was my paid roommate, so that made her presence “safe.” Having her in my bed was expected. It was part of the deal.

I was surprised, however, by just how much I enjoyed it.

The thing was, she snored. She splayed her legs out and took over more than her fair share of the bed. I usually couldn’t stand anyone touching me while I slept, but when she pressed up against me, I felt comfortable. Despite drinking way too much at the party, I’d slept great.

I was a chronically early riser. So when I woke up, Jenny was still asleep. Sunlight streamed through the windows andframed her pretty face. She looked so innocent, so vulnerable. Something unfurled inside my chest; some sort of grip loosened its hold. I didn’t know what that meant. But I did know that as I watched Jenny, I had this overwhelming urge to protect her. How was someone so sweet stuck working as an escort? How did that happen? I had no idea what her life was like. I just knew that she was funny and beautiful and that she stood up for herself.

She probably has to stand up for herself a lot.It was an unpleasant thought. I didn’t want to picture the dark side of what Jenny had to endure as part of her job.

Sighing, I climbed from the bed. I had a private chef who left meals prepared for me; I’d asked him to make double portions while Jenny was staying with me. I padded out to the kitchen, made myself a coffee, and pulled out breakfast from my enormous refrigerator. It was homemade waffles with berries, and it looked delicious.Yum. I plated everything, then went and watched the sun rise higher in the sky.

My phone pinged with a text from James.

Hope you got home okay last night.

You were pretty wasted.

YOU were pretty wasted.

How’s your date?

He didn’t text back for a minute. Then:

Good. Stop bugging me.

BTW, Todd and Evie want you at the Rehearsal Dinner tonight. Il Pastorne, your neck of the woods.

You stop bugging ME. See you tonight.

If you’re lucky

In typical James style, he didn’t respond. I thought about my friend, remembering the way he’d held on to Audrey at the bar last night. He’d watched her every move. The look on his face told me everything I needed to know he was smitten with her. Big time. The fact that he’d been holding her hand and making out with her in front of his whole family was a big deal. He’d never been affectionate with anyone in public before. Audrey might not know that, but I did.

I wondered if James himself was aware of his feelings. And then I wondered what exactly he was going to do with that escort of his.

“Good morning.” Jenny came into the kitchen wearing my T-shirt again. She looked impossibly beautiful with no makeup on, the morning sunlight glinting off her creamy skin and the gold flecks in her hair.

“Good morning, Jenny. Coffee?”

“Yeah, definitely.” She rubbed her temples. “My head hurts. I drank too much last night.”

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