Page 5 of The Billionaire's Temptation

With a groan, she turned and flipped the four locks, then disengaged the two chains before pulling the door open. “What?” she snapped.

Gone was the tailored suit from three days ago. Levi Harris was wearing a pair of ragged jeans and a button down cotton shirt, nothing tucked in. And yet, he still looked like he was worth more than Zeus!

“You haven’t even read through the documents yet, have you?” he demanded, stepping into her apartment without waiting for an invitation.

Clarissa heard her neighbor’s door open and quickly shut her own. She pressed her back against the door as she shoved a hand into her box of cereal. Popping a handful into her mouth, she glared up at the man. “No. I haven’t read the documents you left with me. I’ve been busy.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, the movement causing the material of his shirt to pull against the muscles packed onto his arms. She choked on a piece of cereal, blushing as she recovered.

“What do youwant?” she demanded, her tone belligerent now. She hadn’t been in the mood for a practical joke three days ago, and she definitely wasn’t in the mood today. It was Friday and all she wanted to do was read her romance novel and forget about the outside world until she needed to go back to work on Monday morning.

Clarissa walked over to the chair and sat down.

“I want you to read the damn will!” he snapped, following her with his eyes while his hands fisted on his lean hips.

Since there wasn’t another chair for him to sit on, she smirked triumphantly. “I had other priorities this week.”

He rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Clarissa, you are an heiress now. Your father left you–”

She shoved her hand loudly into the box of cereal, the crunching interrupting him. “My father was a bum who abandoned my mother three days after she told him she was pregnant.”

He shook his head. “Your father was a billionaire, Clarissa. And now,” he stepped closer, bracing his hands on the arms of her chair so he could look her in the eye, “youare a billionaire.”

He pushed away. “Get up and put on some shoes. I’m taking you to one of your homes. The closest one is here in Philadelphia and,” he looked around, assessing and quickly dismissing the barren expanse of her apartment. “…you’re going to like it.”

“I don’t believe you,” she said, and popped two more pieces of cereal into her mouth, still watching him.

He huffed in annoyance. “Where are the documents?” he demanded.

“Don’t know.” She knew exactly where they were, but telling him they were stuffed into the drawer in her kitchen seemed like it might be the spark that would cause his temper to explode.

“Where. Are. They?” he snarled.

She laughed, not intimidated by his anger. She shifted in her precious chair, getting more comfortable. It felt…oddly good…to watch his temper boil. “Why do you care?”

They stared at each other for a long moment, then he turned away, lifting his phone to his ear. He dialed a number while Clarissa admired his back. There were additional muscles on display from this angle, not to mention, the man had a great backside! She’d never really cared much about men’s butts before, but Levi’s was extremely nice!

“Ms. Donata doesn’t believe me. I need you to come to her new residence and confirm to her that the will is legitimate.”

There was a long pause before he continued, “I don’t give a damn what time it is. Your client requires your attention.” He didn’t yell. He merely over-enunciated his words, then ended the call and turned to face her again.

“Come with me.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere except to bed.”

He lifted a dark eyebrow and Clarissa felt her cheeks heat up. “That can be arranged.”

She leapt to her feet. “Notwith you!” she hissed.

His eyes dropped lower and Clarissa suddenly remembered that she wasn’t wearing a bra. She pressed the cereal box over her breasts, clenching her teeth when he chuckled. It was another one of those low, sexy, growly laughs.

Ignoring the shivers, she glared at him. “I’m off for the next fifty-four hours, Mr. Harris. I’m going to sit in this chair with that fan,” she pointed behind him, “pointed directly at me. I might or might not order pizza for dinner tomorrow night. Other than sleeping and reading, I’m not moving from this–”

Levi bent over and grabbed her by the upper arms, easily draping her over his shoulder, grabbed her apartment keys, and walked out the door.

“What are you doing?” she yelped, grabbing onto his waistband to balance herself. He felt another stirring of lust when her fingertips brushed against the small of his back, but ignored it.

“The sooner you accept your inheritance, the sooner I can get back to my life,” he said, depositing her into the passenger seat of his luxurious sedan. He knelt down, looking into her furious brown eyes. “I understand you don’t believe me. But your step-siblings are currently maneuvering to sell off as many items of yours as possible. And they aren’t going to do anything productive with their proceeds. The money will go right up their noses. So, you need to get over there, kick them out ofyourhouse, and take control of your inheritance. You also need to make some decisions. There’s no more time to hide your head in in the sand, Clarissa.”

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