Page 101 of The Billionaire's Wake-up-call Girl

“You’ll have to access an alternate food supply for your savagery,” I say, trying to remind us what we are. Just two people who want no-strings sex. “To tear through and devour.”

“Why not get loans or…”

“With my credit?”

“And you just rule out investors? Do you have any millionaire friends? Let me think…”

Himself, he means.

I give him a hard look.Now entering full Mason flashback territory.

“Sorry,” he says. “No involvement in your business whatsoever.”

I twirl my fork by one tine, like a music box ballerina, impressed at how well he can read my expressions.

Theo isn’t oblivious at all. Or it’s more like he’s totally oblivious to everything on the planet except the things he’s passionate about, and those things get the full force of his brilliance, the full spotlight of his passion.

And when that spotlight shines on you, it’s beautiful. It’s nearly blinding. Could it be dangerous?

“I want you to understand something. My ex, Mason, loved taking part in the business. He took over control little by little, and I let him. It’s on me that I allowed it. I got lazy, I guess. Just wanted to believe a fairy tale. Anyway, he’s the reason it crashed. He’s down in the Caribbean or somewhere. With more money than I thought it was possible to squeeze out of me.”

Theo’s grim look is back. “The loan sharks were his doing.”

“And I had no idea. I was so shocked when Lenny’s guy showed up. Armed.”

He grits his teeth, like he’s angry on my behalf. “It wouldn’t be that hard to hunt down your ex and try to get some of that back.”

The dark pull of him feels so strong. Am I being a fool? “He probably hid it. Anyway, we don’t know for sure that he’s in the Caribbean.”

“Yes, we do,” he says.

“How?”

“Well…my PI tracked him as far as St. Thomas.”

Alarm bells start going off. “Your PI? An investigator? You had meinvestigated?”

“I background everybody I deal with. And you were so elusive for so long...”

“So of course you had to dig into my background.”

“It’s not like that. Not in a sinister way.”

He always does his homework. He always gets what he wants. Am I playing with fire? My Mason flashbacks are going full-tilt now.

I stand and grab my purse, feeling upset.

“It’s just a routine thing. Nothing to be upset about.”

“Routine to you, maybe, but think about it. You offered to invest in my company after I asked you not to get involved. And you had me investigated.” I hug my purse, still wanting him so bad it hurts. “And here you are telling me I shouldn’t be upset.”

I wait.Say something different,I think.Say something better.

Finally, he says, “It’s new for me not to be in the driver’s seat. I’m not good at it.” He looks back up, and I want to die in the beauty of his eyes.

My pulse races. “Ineedyou to be good at it.” I don’t want to go, but it’s time. I turn and leave.

Twenty-Nine

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