Page 8 of Billion-Dollar Dating Game

Of course, the truth was he’d wanted all that since he’d been eighteen and guiltily watching her comb her hair at her window across the courtyard and up one floor from his. And he’d not been allowed then, had he? Her father had informed him he’d never, ever be good enough for her. And yeah, he certainly wouldn’t be good enough in that man’s eyes now.

Only now here she was in front of him again. He’d not expected her to be so tartly defensive. She’d verbally lashed him like a little wild creature caught in the bushes. Except she wasn’t so little. Not in the good places. He’d reacted. So had she. Sexual tension had taken command of them both.

‘Maybe I am,’ she huskily countered.

Sexual tension wasdefinitelystill in charge. His muscles bunched as he watched the tilt of her chin and the antagonism build in her eyes.

She’d grown up in that third-floor apartment opposite his. A pretty, petite brunette with the biggest brown eyes he’d ever seen. He’d struggled with his own issues back then—all that time it had taken to heal after the accident, the risky moves he’d been making with his online trading platform, desperately trying to make money to get out of there, but she’d been a constant in the background. A fellow battler on the block. Another only child of a solo parent. She’d been better than him though—she’d beengood. She’d been so intensely focused on her studies she’d won one of Reed Helberg’s prestigious scholarships.

And she’d gone.

But the shy, pretty girl he’d occasionally seen had come back from her fancy new boarding school for the holidays and somehow been completely different. She’d sat on her balcony in the shade and studied all damned day, only moving to make her father meals or fetch his drinks when he returned from work. The only time Zane saw her leave that apartment was to go for a morning run. A new routine. He’d seen her smile and heard her soft laughter as she’d chatted to her father. They’d seemed close. And Zane had been so smitten, he’d loitered in the courtyard at her run time like a lovesick fool. And one morning, for just a few stolen moments, he’d tasted her.

Before she’d turned her back and betrayed him.

He’d not seen her again before she’d gone back to school and then he’d left town. They’d been at that stupid dinner at his old school where he’d been guest speaker a couple years later. He’d been flattered by the invite and had said yes. He’d not made that mistake again. Reed Helberg had been there and Skylar had been so perfect and polite. She’d not even looked at Zane; everything had been about Reed. He’d been infuriated—because of her desperation to please, right? She’d won what he’d been denied but his irritation hadn’t been because of that. He’d hated that demure demeanour—that her docility was so underpinned by anxiety. Wide-eyed and terrified by the supposed importance of the old man who’d dominated the dinner conversation. Those stupid scholarships might supposedly be life-changing, but in Zane’s opinion, the price paid by the winner was too high. It was all so wretchedlycontrolling.

But now Skylar Bennet was entirely grown-up and all alone and apparently here to make things hard for him. Well, she’d succeeded.

‘So you did come here to see me,’ he said, feeling visceral pleasure at the thought.

She stared at him—basically breathing fire. His recklessness surged as he watched the enmity battle the interest burgeoning in her deep brown eyes. He wanted to turn that gleam into sleepy satisfaction. He lost track of everything else. Where he was going. Why. What he was meant to do and not do...none of it mattered. Because he could see only her and right now he wanted nothing but her.

That old desire slammed back into him. He’d wanted her so much back then—with all the ardour of inexperience and youth. She’d been tantalisingly close, yet so out of bounds. Maybe that was why it was back so fiercely now. She’d been his first crush—wholly forbidden fruit.

‘You don’t usually come to this party.’ His throat tightened. He’d liked touching her hair. It was long, silky, fragrant, and he battled the sharp urge to release it from that tight band now.

She stiffened as he stepped closer.

He suppressed his smile with difficulty. It was harder to suppress everything around her. ‘You still don’t party much? Ever the hard worker, Skylar?’

She was quiet and dutiful while he wasn’t. Maybe it was the simple, strong magnetism of polar opposites, because she couldn’t seem to take a step from him. Nor could he from her. The defiance in her brown eyes deepened.

‘You’ve not bothered to pay attention to the dress code, I see,’ she said coolly. ‘At least I’ve made the effort to do as asked.’

‘Of course you have,’ he murmured insolently. ‘I bet you always do as you’re asked...’ He couldn’t resist stepping closer. ‘Like a good girl.’

Her eyes narrowed.

‘You always were soobedient,’ he growled, scrambling to stop the racing thoughts rising from his own damned words. ‘Sucha pleaser.’

God, he wanted her to please him. And he wouldn’t just please her back. He’d destroy her.

Because all those years ago she’d gone up in flames in his arms. He’d almost lost his footing she’d been so passionate—she’d wanted him every bit as much as he’d wanted her. But she’d not defended him when her father had thought the worst of him. How she’d silently abandoned him as they’d faced her father’s wrath and rejection. He couldn’t forgive her for that. But nor could he forget thatshe’dbeen the one rubbing against him in the most arousing of ways.She’dbeen the one moaning.She’dbeen the one shaking. It had taken every ounce of his utterly limited experience back then to try to slow them down. Because it had been a conflagration. And he was so close to every brain cell burning up again now.

‘While you’re a taker,’ she replied tartly.

He smiled wolfishly, enjoying her attack. ‘You think?’ Spreading his hands wide in innocence, he shot her a look. ‘But tell me, how can I wear all white when I’m prone to getting a little dirty?’

Her eyes widened and twin spots of colour deepened in her cheeks. He was unrepentant. She was the one who’d started this—even if that earlier innuendo had been unintentional. But they had chemistry and it wouldn’t be curbed. Zane was all for fireworks now they were adults. Fireworks were fun.

‘Or maybe it’s just that you think the rules don’t apply to you,’ she said.

‘Rules?’ He faux shivered, as if she’d raised a horrifying spectre.

His little nemesis rolled her eyes. ‘You won’t ever do what others ask of you,’ she said with soft precision. ‘You’re too arrogant.’

Every rule jumped out the window.

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