Page 24 of The Royally Broke Billionaire
Although he was friendly enough, Piper couldn’t curb the belief that Cole felt like his presence was a huge gift for her. Something about his cocky stance and condescending gaze made her feel like he thought she was somehow unworthy of him. She had no idea if the billionaire’s holier-than-thou attitude was intentional or unbeknownst to him, but she didn’t appreciate the way it made her feel.
“We were just on our way out.” She stated the obvious to break the pregnant pause in the conversation, since she couldn’t think of anything else to say to him.
“I can see that.”
His wide grin vaguely reminded her of a wolf, but she forced herself not to cringe away. There was no reason to be rude to him. Her trouble with the royals wasn’t his fault. In fact, he was the only one who had publicly defended her.
“How about if you drop the baby off with someone, so we can spend a little bit of quality time together?”
The hopeful look he gave her made it believable that he sincerely thought he was offering her something grand, but she didn’t appreciate that he didn’t use Liam’s name nor that he always wanted her to dump her son off with someone else.
“Actually, I’m enjoying some quality time with Liam.” She gave the wealthy man a brittle smile, hoping that he would take the hint and make a quick retreat.
Cole pondered her for a long moment as if trying to absorb the meaning of her words. Evidently deciding that she was determined to include Liam in her day, he finally said, “Okay, we’ll drag the baby along with us.”
Piper’s temper flared. One thing she wouldn’t stand for was anyone picking on her child. With her eyebrows angled into a deep vee, she glared up at Cole. “Actually, it would be Liam and I dragging you along with us.”
The billionaire’s vivid blue eyes were wide open in shock as if she had just slapped him. He looked from Piper, down to Liam, and back up again. His mouth opened and closed like a puppet’s, as if he was too outraged to devise a comeback.
After pondering them for a long moment, Cole surprised Piper by tipping his head back and bursting out with laughter. She couldn’t help but wonder if having someone stand up to him had made the wealthy man loopy.
He shook his head and said, “You’re spunky. I like that. Most women are willing to do whatever it takes to spend time with me and make me happy.”
Piper had little doubt that was the case. Vast amounts of money could certainly make people do crazy things, but she had never been addicted to that particular drug. As long as she had enough resources to feed Liam and keep a roof over his head, she would consider herself successful.
Proving that he was at least a tiny bit intuitive, Cole went on. “But you’re not like that. You don’t seem to care a bit about my wealth or what I can do for you.”
Looking perplexed, he shook his head and added, “I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“I guess I’m an enigma,” Piper said flatly.
Cole’s blue eyes sparkled in her direction as he agreed with her assessment. “You’re a delightful enigma.”
The man’s assessing gaze made Piper shift awkwardly from foot to foot. It was almost like he was truly seeing her for the first time. From the way his eyes lit up, it was clear that he liked what he saw.
Gallantly holding his arm out to her, Cole asked her formally, “Will you and Liam do me the honor of accompanying me down to the beach?”
Piper appreciated his inclusion of Liam and his use of her son’s name. There was no denying that some type of positive shift had occurred in the normally self-absorbed billionaire.
Unsure what else to do with herself, Piper decided to give Cole’s new attitude the benefit of the doubt. Accepting his offered elbow, she answered flatly, “I don’t see why not.”
24
For the first time since Piper had met Cole, he didn’t dominate the conversation by talking about himself. Instead, he seemed to honestly be concerned about her fragile relationship with the royals and their open accusation of her.
Although she still felt wary of his motives, Piper found that it was marvelous to have someone on her team. Everyone else at the palace was loyal to the royals––as they should be, but that meant that while the royals were suspicious of her, everyone proceeded with extreme caution where she was concerned.
“So, how are we going to get you out of this pickle with the royal family?” He asked as they stopped to look out over the dark blue waves rolling in to shore.
Piper appreciated his use of the word ‘we.’ She hadn’t realized how alone she had been feeling since this morning’s standoff over the breakfast table.
Giving him a sincere smile, she answered. “I don’t know, but I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know,” he said simply.
Cole’s unwavering faith in her warmed her heart. He didn’t ask her to explain or question her motives. He just believed her.
The solitary, niggling fear that he might have been the one to leak the story persisted, and she felt guilty for it. Despite his confidence in her, she was only ninety-nine percent sure that he wasn’t the rat. That stubborn one percent of doubt just wouldn’t abate.
