Page 28 of Who Needs a Billionaire

“It means that I can tell you’re loving this. You get some kind of sick pleasure out of torturing me.”

“It is kind of fun seeing your face turn all red like that.”

“My face is a perfectly normal color. Your words have no effect on me whatsoever.”

He rounded the island and came to stand directly in front of her. “Challenge accepted.”

“That wasn’t a challenge.”

He leaned in close as he whispered in her ear, “You affect me, Merritt.”

She tried not to shiver at his tone or his warm breath against her neck. “What are you doing?”

“Whenever you’re near, I feel …”

She stepped back and eyed him.

“Annoyed, repulsed, irritated. Take your pick.” He was teasing again.

Her eyes rolled as she stepped around him and made her way to the coffee maker and poured a cup, still trying to shake off the effect his nearness had actually had on her. She was disgusted with herself for feeling anything at all. Her hormones were stinking traitors.

“What’s your day look like?” he asked.

“Work, work, and more work.”

“What’s the first thing you’ll do with the money?”

“Hire a team.” She took a sip from her mug, enjoying the most deliciously rich coffee she’d ever tasted. “What is this coffee?”

“It’s special from Panama. Good, huh?”

“This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”

“It better be for how much it cost me.”

Her eyes met his. “How much did it cost you?”

“Two-hundred.”

She nearly spit the coffee out. “Dollars?”

“No, doubloons.”

She gave him a look of disapproval. “You could feed a family for a week with that much money. Why can’t you just buy regular priced coffee like normal people?”

“Because I’m not normal.”

“That’s for sure.”

“Ha. Ha. You’re hilarious, you know that?”

“I’m not kidding. People are struggling to put food on their tables, and you pay that much for a pound of coffee.”

He shook his head. “Not a pound.”

“What?”

“That was half a pound.”

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