Page 60 of Ruthless Financier
My lips ached to kiss her now, but I said, “So you’ll stay married to me?”
She lifted her chin but her eyes stayed open as she said, “Yes, but let me talk first.”
Right. I wrapped my arm around her back and said, “Okay.”
She scooted her knees to rest on my leg as she said, “I was afraid of falling in love. I was always the moneymaker of the family. I never wanted to be distracted and I didn’t believe in the fairy tales. So I never really let myself kiss that many frogs.”
My ears buzzed. I tapped my chin and asked, “But?”
Her cheeks and face turned a little red as she said, “Yeah … But then I met you, and I don’t ever want to kiss anyone else. I don’t want to be anywhere else but at your side. And that scared me.”
A zap of awareness rushed through me, but I didn’t dare move a muscle. I said, “I didn’t expect that. Though I wouldn’t mind your opinion about something.”
Her gaze narrowed. “What’s going on?”
She’d been honest, and now it was my turn. Ever since we’d met, she’d asked me about my own dreams, beyond getting even with my father. I said, “Russ and Frank both told me I’ve been so focused on my business plans against my father that I’ve not lived.”
She tilted her head and her eyes were softer as she asked, “Have you decided what you want to do?”
In part, she inspired me. She kept her parents’ good deeds alive, and it was time for me to do a little for my own mom. I’d never honored her. I lowered my voice, as this was a secret, and said, “Part of Sun and Moon Trust is a bookstore chain.”
Her lips pressed together like she didn’t understand and she asked, “Yeah?”
Energy coursed through me, but I let it roll off as I said, “Don’t get me wrong. I will sell off most of the companies and continue business as usual, but I’d like to honor my mother’s favorite hobby and ensure the book chain flourishes.”
She traced my buttons on my shirt and asked, “Your mom read a lot?”
A memory flashed. I never remembered her without a book while she waited in the car line to pick me up from school. I could see her reading as I watched some movie on our one TV in the one-bedroom apartment we shared. I nodded and said, “She had stacks of books from libraries, and from shelters we’d stayed at. I want to turn those stores around in her honor.”
She loosened my tie and said, “I’ll help with PR.”
Did she want me? Desire now bloomed inside me, but I didn’t dare move. I said, “Thank you.”
She laughed and took my tie off as she said, “And maybe one day you’ll figure out what you want to do that makes you happy.”
Right now, her bedroom came to mind as a goal, but I pressed my hand on her back and asked, “Other than being with you?”
She unbuttoned my top button and I knew at once what she wanted. She said, “Yes, but you have time.”
I’d fuck her until she couldn’t think straight anymore. But for now, I stilled as she stood up, and I asked, “Would you want another wedding where your family can come?”
She motioned for me to get up, so I did as she said.
“No. I liked that it was just us. But an extended honeymoon, without needing to meet anyone, would be nice.”
She unbuttoned more of my shirt as I asked, “So you want a week, uninterrupted, with me.”
She stopped and said, “More like a month.”
I laughed and she undid my last button as I asked, “Two weeks?”
She untucked my shirt from my belt and winked at me. “Deal. Being a billionaire is hard work.”
I stopped her for one second and took both her hands in mine as I said, “Honestly, I focus on business for about four hours out of my day. The rest of the time, I can follow you around.”
“I’m looking forward to our life, together,” she said and closed her eyes.
I pressed my lips to hers and her kiss sent me off course. Her in my arms was everything I wanted, and more. I might never have enough of her, ever.
