Page 17 of A Billionaire for Christmas
7
YOU MUST MAKE A CHOICE TO TAKE A CHANCE OR YOUR LIFE WILL NEVER CHANGE
The two men couldn’t have run away from the scene fast enough. Molly was reeling. What had she done? In fact, if she hadn’t flung her costume so far out of reach, she would have leapt from the hot tub herself and fled the scene. As it was, she had an excruciating wait of what seemed like a thousand years before she heard Levi yelling through from the living room to enquire whether she was decent or not. ‘I hadn’t realised you would be so… quite so, uh, on display like that.’
Horrific. Simply horrific.
‘I threw my costume too far away,’ Molly yelled back miserably. ‘And now I can’t see it for the steam and the snow coming down. In fact, I might have flung it over the balcony altogether.’ She was rambling, her self-esteem plummeting to new depths. ‘I misjudged the situation. I thought you… I thought that we’d…’ The words caught in her throat as she unexpectedly burst into tears.
Levi raced through onto the patio. His eyes were wild and wandering, looking anywhere but at Molly. He threw a hand over to cover them. ‘I’m sorry. Please don’t get upset. None of this is your fault. It was an easy mistake to make.’
‘Mistake?’ Molly bawled. ‘So youaren’tinterested in me?’
‘No. No, I am. I was. I mean, who knows what could have happened?’ Levi sounded unconvinced. ‘I’m really not in the habit of doing this sort of thing. I should never have got in the tub. But the point is, please don’t get upset about it.’
In all honesty, Molly thought,he could have sounded a bit less adamant about not sleeping with her.
‘I’m decent. You can take your hand away.’ Covering herself with her arms and up to her chin in the water, she smiled weakly at him, but Levi was clearly on edge. He was flustered, his words tumbling out as he backed away from the hot tub, hands splayed in front of him as though she was a wild tiger on the loose. ‘Okay, I’ll find your robe, you can get covered up, and we’ll get you straight out of here.’
Oh Christ, he thinks I’m a liability.
Another wailing sob escaped from Molly. This wasn’t just about her beinglaid bare. This was about her feeling lost. Her inability to come to terms with Ava’s death. Her inability to let go of a life that was obviously slipping away. Her inability to carry on without her best friend there to guide her.
Levi picked up her dressing gown and knelt at the side of the hot tub. He waited for her sobs to subside. Poor man. He must be wondering what the heck was going on. Thank goodness he had kind eyes and a warm-hearted nature.
‘Take your time. I’ll be in the living room when you’re ready to come out. My brother’s gone. And if you want to talk about this, we’ll talk.’ His voice was surprisingly tender. ‘I take it this is about more than a hot tub.’
Molly nodded her head slowly. If she started talking about Ava, then they’d be in real trouble. She had been known to burst into tears and not stop sobbing for days on end. So far, she’d not mentioned her circumstances to a single soul since she’d been working at the hotel, for fear of that happening again. The grief needed to stay buried deep inside her.
‘That’s very kind of you.’ Her lips were trembling so much she could barely speak. ‘I’m so embarrassed that I read the signals all wrong. You must think I’m such an?—’
‘No. Don’t do that. Don’t second-guess yourself. Everything you thought was going to happen…’ Levi paused.
Molly dared to meet his gaze. Her vision was blurry as she sniffed up her tears.
Levi’s tone was soft and reassuring. ‘Everything you thought was going to happen would have happened. I’m sure of it.’
Molly’s heart stopped as his words sank in.
It actually stopped beating.
So kind.
So lovely.
She stared gratefully at him until he began to shift uncomfortably. He cleared his throat. ‘So, anyway. I appreciate the moment has well and truly passed. So I will leave you to get dressed and you can keep the robe. I have a ton of unworn sweatshirts and sweatpants if you don’t want to get back into that costume.’
Oh.This was him politely asking her to leave and never come back. She should take the hint. She looked from his utterly gorgeous face to the hot tub bubbling away. The champagne bottle was lying empty next to her abandoned glass. When would she ever get another chance to tick this off the bucket list? More importantly, when would she ever get another chance to make him see that she was more than the hot mess sitting before him? She took a deep breath in and decided to take the plunge. ‘How about if we start over? Just give me a second chance. Maybe if you got back in, we could?—’
‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘No, thank you. I’m sure you have family or friends who must be wondering where you are.’
Mortifying.Molly shook her head.
‘You’re here alone? For the Burlesque Night?’ Levi sounded shocked. ‘You’re a lot younger than most of the women members who come here for… well, that kind of thing.’
Molly inwardly cringed. Why had she lied?
‘Honestly, I’m not as young as I look. I’m thirty-five.’ Molly felt a stab of guilt as he let out a small sigh of relief.Lies upon lies upon lies.She would seek professional help. ‘Well, no, I’m twenty-nine. I’ve just led quite a sheltered sort of life for the past few years. But, honestly, I’m quite sane and mature for my age, trust me.’
