Page 76 of Most Eligible Billionaire

“But you’ve been doing each other.”

“We have.” I toss a bottle cap into the trash. “And it’s amazing. He’s amazing.”

“I thought he didn’t trust you. Like you’re this weasely scammer who stole his company,” she says. “What happened to that?”

“We’ve gotten to know each other—deep down, beneath all the bullshit of this situation. We click. It’s amazing. And I’m giving the company back.”

“Hold on—what?!”

“Don’t tell him. I didn’t actually tell him, but I implied it. Carly and I have that twenty-one-day waiting period thing and promising is the same…”

“Bernadette gave it to Smuckers and you because you two were her only friends in the universe. She wanted you to have it. That is your security. You and Carly. You would give that up?”

“It doesn’t feel right to keep it.”

“What part of going from scrabbling along to super wealthy doesn’t feel right to you?”

“All of it. Carly and I were getting on fine. We have a great life just how it is. And the company was never ours.”

“So, let me get this timeline straight.” She sets a hand on my shoulder and her eyes bore into mine. “He’s an asshole to you. He plays dirty tricks. It doesn’t work. Then he decides to be charming. And weknowthe tales of him in the sack. I'm sorry. I know he’s hot. He’s smart and fun. But he’s not one of us. He just wants that company.”

I’m shaking my head.

“No, you listen.” She tightens her grip. “He’s spending time with you and he’s all that. And suddenly you’re handing over the company. You—who hate rich, entitled assholes until this one decides to wrap you around his worldwide cock.”

Something twists deep my belly. “I know how it looks.”

“Is that or is that not the timeline?”

My pulse races. “I don’t care.”

“You need to start caring. This rich boy is playing you,” she warns. “Your first instinct was not to trust him. You need to honor that.”

“My instinct is to trust him now.”

Warmth slides over me. I turn to see Henry coming toward me alongside Bron.

Latrisha swears a blue streak, but I’m not listening.

Henry’s all sweaty and wearing his big gloves. They’re carrying something they made out of the rebar. Henry smiles at me, and the smile hooks to something deep in my belly.

“Don’t be a fool,” Latrisha warns, voice hard as steel. “This guy is leading you by the vajeen.”

Twenty

Henry

Our eyes lockand she smiles, and hell if that smile doesn’t light up the raw, cavernous space. Her true habitat. Cool as shit.

Her pink work shirt stretches tight over her tits in a way that reminds me of the roof and gets my cock stirring. Though that would suggest my thoughts have left that roof. The way she felt.

They haven’t.

Latrisha is so serious beside her.

I glance down at my watch and back up at Vicky. She rolls her eyes. We’ve developed our own code, way beyond spray-painted scribbles on the ground. The way we click blows my mind.

Her strange promise in the elevator has me hopeful for the first time in weeks. She asked me to trust her. I do.

---