Page 41 of Off-Limits Silver Fox Billionaire

The entire time, I kept reminiscing about the time I spent with her here, and the sound of her laughter that always seemed to make every other thought fade away. Bree’s lightness had seeped into me and she was making her way into my heart.

When I got to the beach stand where we had spicy taco chips the other day, I spotted her sitting in a corner and staring at the plate in front of her.

“Bree?” I called when I drew closer, and she heard me even though the loud music playing practically drowned out my voice. “Why are you avoiding my calls?”

I sat next to her and saw the plate full of taco chips she had ordered. She had quite an appetite today, and she seemed like she had a terrible night just like I did. I hated the way Iris found out, and that was the reason why I was hoping to apologize.

“I was craving some chips, so I came out here, and now I don’t want to eat them anymore,” she said in a low tone, but I heard the whimper mixed up in her words before she hiccupped and dragged in a deep breath.

Bree angled her head to look at me and I saw a tear slide down her cheek. “And I don’t know why I’m crying over taco chips,” she continued before bursting into tears fully and sniffing some more. “This is just stupid.”

Hating to see her cry like this, I took out my wallet, paid for the chips with cash, then led her away from the stand so we could walk.

Bree leaned into me as we walked and I cradled her close, not wanting to let her go. “We’ll figure things out,” I whispered to her. “You don’t have to worry about anything. I only came here to apologize for what happened with Iris yesterday. I didn’t want her to find out like that.”

We got in my car, and I turned to look at her. “I’m so sorry.”

“I know,” she answered in a low voice, then nodded. “I’m sorry too,” she added before I hugged her tight again and let her rest her head on my shoulder.

18

BREE

Afew days passed after the night with Josh on the beach and in that time, I went over the decision of getting my own place in my head a few times before I finally made the move.

House hunting turned out to be easy. With Allison’s connections with the locals, and we visited an apartment block not far off from the beach that evening. The owner of the building was leasing out a room, and considering he knew Allison personally, he was willing to cut the process and let us pay the deposit on the rent if it was what I wanted.

“This looks mice,” I complimented as I admired the walls in the living room, then ran my finger over it. “A bit too old, but nothing I can’t work with.”

“You just need to put up some fresh wallpaper, do a little cleaning and viola… the place is brand new,” Allison suggested with a smile, then her phone rang, so she excused herself and stepped into the empty kitchen to take the call.

“So, what do you think ma’am?”

“I think it’s nice,” I answered the man with a soft nod. I walked over to one window in the living room, opened it, and looked outside to enjoy the view. “It’s not so close to the beach, but it had a nice view from up here.”

“You’re on the third floor, so it’ll be an amazing view even in the winter,” the man said. He took me into the two separate bedrooms, then showed me the kitchen after Allison ended her call.

“I think it’s great,” I told him when she joined us in the living room again. “I just need to go over the paperwork now right?”

He nodded. We finished the visit and drove back to the inn because Allison needed to handle some issues with a guest who had a mistakenly got booked into the wrong room. It reminded me of our visit to Hawaii the summer my mom got married.

My dad met Allison and fell in love with her that summer and his life had changed ever since. Iris and I also met that summer and remembering the lovely times of our teenage years we spent together on the island nearly brought me close to tears.

Almost everything brought me close to tears these days, and it was getting exhausting hiding the baby from Allison and my dad. Iris and I hadn’t seen or spoken to each other since that day, and I was trying to give her time to cool off before reaching out to her again.

I just needed to make sure that when we got to talk, she wasn’t too angry not to listen to me. The drive back home with Allison was quiet. The only sound besides the cool whoosh of the evening breeze was the song playing from her radio, and as we approached the bend leading to my father’s beach house, she turned off the radio and glanced at me briefly.

“You are incredibly quiet these days,” she commented before keeping her eyes on the road again. “It makes me wonder what’s going on with you.”

“Nothing,” I said, but when she gave a knowing smile, I sighed and said. “Okay maybe something, but you’ve got to promise that you’re not going to tell my dad until I get the chance to tell him myself.”

Allison did a cross sign, then she smiled. “I swear it.”

I sighed, then blew out air from my lips and wrapped my hands around my abdomen. “I have been seeing someone,” I began as she slowed her drive, climbed the speedbump, then picked up her speed again. “I’ve been seeing Josh Sanders.”

It took a while for her to understand what I was saying, but as soon as the meaning of my word sank in, she gasped. Allison’s eyes widened, and she looked at me, then fixed her eyes on the road again before exclaiming. “How did Iris take it?”

“How did you know she found out?”

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