Page 22 of A Billionaire for Christmas
It was him.
Levi was standing in front of her, wearing only a towel knotted at his waist. He looked her over with an alarmed expression as she stood, stark naked, arms and legs spread wide. He did a double take. ‘Jesus Christ, not you again!’ he moaned as she let out a piercing scream.
‘Calm down. It’s just me!’ he barked after a few seconds of her screeching at an ear-splitting decibel.
Molly’s scream trailed off. She blinked rapidly. What cruel twist of fate was this? Who had she harmed in a previous life? What bad karma was at play here?
Levi tightened the towel round his waist, his eyebrows knitted together. ‘Mind telling me what you’re doing? Is this some sort of bizarre Satanic ritual?’
‘No!’ Molly’s hands whipped down to cover herself. Had anyone everactuallydied of embarrassment? Because if not, she feared she may become the first.
‘Are you breaking and entering?’ he asked. He flicked his eyes over her naked body. ‘You don’t exactly look dressed for it. I hate to imagine where you’ve hidden the crowbar.’
Molly shook her head violently. ‘Of course I’m not! I wouldn’t have the first clue what to steal.’
Levi raised an eyebrow.
‘Well, I would,’ she said, nodding towards a solid-gold bust of Buddha with a ruby for a third eye, right next to where he was standing. ‘But you’re right, I shouldn’t be here,’ she said, panicking. ‘Please don’t tell anybody. I’m so sorry. You see, I?—’
‘It’s not often you hear of thieves taking a quick wellness break before they steal the family jewels. Or is that a thing now? It’s so hard to keep up,’ he said drily. ‘Good mental health is so important.’
Molly felt embarrassment surge through her, bringing her back to her senses. She grabbed her towel to cover up.
Levi remained disgruntled. ‘Bit late for that, isn’t it?’
She grimaced.The mortification of it. My naked body no longer being of any surprise to him whatsoever. Shoot me now.
‘I heard moaning. I thought someone had had a fall.’
Moaning?
Oh my God. He’d heard her on the massage chair. Had she subconsciously manifested him a second time? Perhaps her brain was in urgent need of rewiring.
The timer alarm went off on her phone, causing them both to jump.
Levi screwed his eyes in confusion. ‘Okay. Can you please tell me what you’re doing?’
Did he mean why the Vitruvian Man pose or did he mean ‘doing’ in the wider sense?
‘Never mind whatI’mdoing. What areyoudoing here?’ she said, hurriedly wrapping the towel around herself. ‘You have a guest room over at the Cigar Lounge.’
‘And I also own this lodge.’
Have these billionaires never heard of renting?
‘But you’re on holiday. A holidaymaker. Here for the wedding.’
He frowned. ‘I’m staying here with my family, but you knew that, didn’t you?’ In one tiny second, the atmosphere was charged with tension.
‘No! I didn’t. I came here to avoid you, not to be trapped in the same house.’
‘Avoid me? I don’t believe you.’
Molly tried to make sense of what was going on. She watched Levi sit down on the opposite bench as though it was the most completely normal thing to do when faced with a naked woman who has twice imposed herself on him and should by rights be hauled in front of some sort of civil liberties tribunal.
Levi screwed his eyes. ‘Seriously. What is happening? Are you following me?’
‘What? No! Of course not. I’m a chef!’
