Page 43 of Dating the Billionaire
“So tell me about your brother,” Teo implored her, and he seemed genuinely interested. Most of the men she’d dated in the past had only wanted to talk about themselves. She already knew Teo wasn’t like that, though. He was more like Grant.
She shrugged. “There’s not much I can tell you. He’s a pretty private guy.”
“Must run in the family,” he mused. “Maybe if I get you drunk, you’ll share all your secrets with me.”
“You can try,” she challenged him. Even though she rarely drank more than one cocktail or glass of wine, she could hold her liquor. Maybe it was a family trait, because Grant was known to have a hollow leg when it came to alcohol as well.
“Champagne cocktail?” he asked.
It was what the bar was known for, so she nodded.
Holding up his empty glass, he gestured at the bartender for two. Either the service was very good, or the bartender knew who Teo was because the drinks were delivered quickly.
“Merci,” she murmured in appreciation.
“Merci,” the bartender replied with a big smile of appreciation of his own—for her.
Her face flushed with embarrassment. After spending so many years in uniform, she wasn’t used to how men occasionally reacted to her when she wore street clothes—like the dress she currently had on.
“You look beautiful,” Teo said, “as always. Stunning actually.”
She wasn’t wearing one of Tony’s gorgeous designs. In fact, she’d only packed the dress because she could wad it up in her carry-on, and the stretchy fabric didn’t wrinkle. It did cling to her curves, though. “I figured you probably had an event here,” she said. “That’s why you wanted a date.”
He shook his head. “No event. Just a meeting earlier today.”
“Then why did you need a date?”
“I didn’t need a date,” he said.
“But you left the message...”
“For you,” he said. “I needed you.”
Her pulse quickened with excitement. Could he want her as much as she wanted him? Could he really need her, too?
He drew in a deep breath as if to steady himself. “I needed to share this city with you. Being alone in Paris is no fun.”
She’d always been content here on her own, sightseeing, stopping in cafés and bars, but that had been before she’d met him. Now she wanted to share it with him, too.
“What are your plans for the evening then?” she asked. “Besides getting me drunk?”
He grinned but didn’t deny his plan. “I have a reservation at Le Cinq,” he said, glancing at his watch. “Soon...so getting you drunk with have to wait.”
Given the three-Michelin-star reputation of the restaurant, it wasn’t easy to get a reservation. She’d never managed one before, and she’d been eager to eat there. Until now.
Now she wasn’t sure she would be able to manage with her stomach already churning with nerves over her decision to tell him the truth. But the truth would have to wait, too, until they were alone and in private.
But hours later, after a delicious dinner and a carriage tour of the city, she didn’t want to make her confession. She didn’t even want to talk, like they had at dinner and during the carriage ride, of their favorite cities, favorite museums, favorite restaurants. She didn’t want to talk at all. Neither did Teo as he pulled her into his hotel suite at the Four Seasons George V and kicked the door shut behind them.
Then, finally, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders, she clung to him, pressing her body against his long, muscular one. His erection strained against his dress pants, rubbing against her lower abdomen.
A moan burned in her throat as the heat of passion streaked through her. She wanted him so badly.
No. She needed him. And that scared her as much as telling him the truth scared her. She didn’t want to need him, didn’t want him to become this obsession he was becoming for her. But at the moment, her need for him was greater than her fear, so she focused only on her need.
And on him...
She needed to be on him. She pushed against him, walking him backward until his knees struck the edge of the bed and he tumbled back onto the mattress. But he took her with him as he held her tightly in his arms.
