Page 37 of Marrying a Billionaire

Reed scoffed and then pushed his hands through his hair, spraying water around him. “I guess that’s only fair. It was my idea after all.” His expression grew serious as he focused on the water. “I was engaged once.”

Lillian’s heart picked up speed. He was telling her about Hannah. She swallowed as she studied him.

“I’m sure my mom or Cassie told you.” He glanced over at her, and she shrugged. He groaned and muttered something about never keeping things quiet. “Well, I loved her, and she broke my heart.” He swallowed which caused his Adam’s apple to bob up and down. “Well, broke’s not the best term. Ripped it from my chest. Pulverized it.” He paused and then nodded. “Yeah. That sounds about right.”

Lillian’s heart squeezed at the thought of him hurting. What kind of fool did that to Reed? From what she knew, he was the kindest, most considerate person she’d ever met. Ten times better then Joshua.

“Thing is, she was seeing my half-brother on the side.” He scrubbed his face with his hand. “He got her pregnant. And now, he just might take over the company that I’ve worked my whole life to build up because of my grandfather’s stupid stipulation that says I have to be married to become CEO.”

Lillian watched as his expression went from anger to sadness. What a horrible year it must have been for him. It almost made her feel bad about wallowing in her depressing past.

“I was married,” she said.

Reed’s gaze shifted over to her. His eyebrows rose. “Married?”

She swallowed. What was she doing? Why was she getting emotionally involved with this man? That was the last thing she should do and yet, she couldn’t stop herself.

“His name is Joshua. I married him young. I thought we were prefect for each other.” She sighed as she pressed on her stomach. “Apparently, we wanted different things. He wanted to be free and I held him back.” Well, her and the baby. The memory of him staring her down, threatening her that if she didn’t abort the baby, he would leave, rushed through her. She closed her eyes. It hurt too much to breathe right now.

The sound of Reed walking through the water caused her to open her eyes. He must do water aerobics because he was inches from her. The feeling of his hand surrounding her arm sent shivers across her skin.

“Lillian,” he said. His voice was low, and she reveled in the sound of her name rolling off his tongue. He dipped down so that she had to meet his gaze. “That man is an idiot. Who plans their life without someone like you in it? He was a fool to let you go.” He gave her a small smile.

Her heart hammered so hard in her chest that she thought it might explode. No man had ever talked to her like that. Or looked at her in such a way that made her believe for a moment that what he was saying was true.

And then a fluttering sensation raced across her stomach bringing her back to reality. This wasn’t real. None of this was. It was a contract. A legal document that needed to be fulfilled. And Reed knew how to accomplish his obligations. She was even starting to believe him.

She twisted her elbow, breaking contact with him. “You have to say that because you’re my fake husband.”

He parted his lips and from the look on his face, he wanted to say something to contradict her statement. But she couldn’t allow herself to stand here and listen. Instead, she dove into the water and swam away. She couldn’t fall for Reed Williamson. And she was moments away from doing just that.

Chapter Fourteen

Reed stood in the water, watching Lillian as she swam away. His skin still tingled where he’d made contact with her. He ran his thumb over his fingertips. What was happening to him?

One minute he’s basically complimenting her figure and the next? Turning into some emotional buffoon, begging her to tell him her deep, painful secrets. He must really be losing his mind.

Letting out a growl, he dove into the water and began swimming. Anything to get his mind off his horrible mistakes. Why had he said anything? He was obviously way more invested in this relationship then Lillian was.

Ugh. Even saying the word relationship made his stomach flip.

Hadn’t he been the one to make the deal that they weren’t going to fall for each other? Leave it to him to be the one to break that pack.

Thirty miinutes later, he stumbled onto shore. His legs and arms burned, but he felt more grounded. Nothing like adrenaline coursing through his veins to help clear his mind. It really was his grandfather’s fault. Not allowing Reed to move on. Forcing a relationship on him.

If it wasn’t for his grandfather, he would have stayed as far away from women as possible. Hide away in his office and drown himself in his work.

But because of this ridiculous stipulation, Reed found himself very confused and very tongue tied around this beautiful woman whom he was supposed to marry and pretend as if they loved each other more than anything.

As he pushed through the sand, he saw Lillian lying on the beach. She’d brought down one of the recliner deck chairs down from the house and set it up in the sand. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun and she had on large sunglasses.

Reed couldn’t help but let his gaze trail down the smooth lines of her body. Cursing himself, he pushed the water out of his hair and trudged up the beach.

“Where’d you go?” Lillian asked, shielding her eyes with her hand so she could glance over at him.

“I needed a swim,” he said. She shifted, pulling up one of her legs while the other one lay flat on the chair. A very male feeling rushed through his body. He had half a mind to turn around and swim another half hour just to dispel the thoughts that were building up in his head.

He passed by her and up to the house where he went straight into his room and jumped in the shower. At least here, Lillian couldn’t distract him.

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