Page 5 of Billionaire Bachelor
I can’t remember the last time I was alone with this woman, but one thing I know for sure. I won’t waste the opportunity. I did enough of that when we were kids.
Rosie leans her elbows on the granite countertop, sipping her mimosa. “When are you heading home?”
“Next Saturday,” I reply, flipping the eggs with a practiced flick of the wrist.
“And you came here for a quiet vacay?”
I nod. “Things are about to get really crazy at work, so this is my attempt to ward off the inevitable burnout I feel during an acquisition. I figured a change of pace would be good, and you can’t really find peace and quiet in LA. Or snow,” I add, gesturing toward the wall of windows where large flakes are steadily falling. “What about you? Long weekend?”
She nods. “Yeah. My flight leaves Tuesday morning.”
“So, you’re stuck with me for three whole days then.”
Rosie’s teeth press into her lower lip. “And nights.”
“And nights,” I repeat with a smile, thinking about our one-bed situation.
I don’t care how stubborn she is. There’s no way I’m letting Rosie sleep on the couch. And knowing her, there’s no way she’ll letmesleep on it either. She wasn’t kidding when she said I’d hang off of the damn thing. This is a one-bedroom cabin, which leaves us with only one option. I’ll be hard as a rock all night, dying to touch her, but I can be a gentleman if that’s what she wants.
But I really fucking hope that’snotwhat she wants. The universehas handed me the perfect chance, and I’d be a fool not to grab onto it.
I slide the golden, flawlessly cooked eggs onto two plates and add a couple slices of toasted sourdough. Placing the dish in front of her, I join her at the island with my breakfast and freshly topped-off mimosa.
“Thanks, this looks amazing,” she says, her eyes lighting up as she takes her first bite. “I was planning to hit the grocery store on the way here,” she continues. “But then Sylvie called, and I got distracted.”
“We should go into town after we eat,” I suggest. “I was planning on it anyway. The weather forecast calls for heavy snow this weekend, so it’s better to be prepared.”
Rosie nods in agreement, sipping her drink. “Sounds like a plan.”
“How’s Sylvie doing, anyway? She recently got married and had a baby, right?”
“She’s disgustingly happy.” Rosie laughs, her eyes sparkling with genuine affection for her cousin. “Living in oversexed wedded bliss—her words, not mine.”
“Oversexed wedded bliss, huh?” I grin. “Sounds like my kind of marriage.”
The laughter fades as we share a prolonged look until Rosie sets her glass down with a soft clink. “Do you ever see yourself settling down and getting married? You know, in the future?”
Her question is heavy with implications, so I take a moment, considering my answer carefully.
“I’m definitely not opposed to it,” I finally say, meeting her gaze squarely. “With the right woman. If I ever get to that point in life, I want it to be a onetime deal. You know?” I clear my throat. “What about you? One minute I’m getting an invitation to your wedding, and the next, you’re no longer engaged. What happened there?”
I can’t say I wasn’t relieved when Rosie called off her engagement. There’s no way I would’ve skipped the wedding, given how close I am to her family, but the thought of watching her marry a guy who clearly didn’t deserve her had been eating me alive. Hell, if I’mbeing honest with myself, I can’t stand the thought of her marryinganyoneelse, no matter how awesome the guy might be. I don’t normally believe in woo-woo stuff, but the fact that Rosie’s here withmeon the day she was supposed to marry that douchebag, makes me wonder if there are cosmic forces at play, finally workingwithme instead of against me.
What I don’t know iswhyRosie left him. The only time I get to see her these days are during Morales family get-togethers. They’re a tight-knit group, so that happens on a fairly regular basis, but I can’t exactly get her alone under her brother’s watchful eye. I’ve thought about asking Ry more than a few times, but I didn’t want him to get suspicious about the reason behind my curiosity.
Rosie sighs, the lightness in her eyes dimming. “Well, it’s about as cliché as it gets. He proposed last Valentine’s Day, and as you know, we planned to get married this Valentine’s Day. But right before Christmas, I caught him in bed with our neighbor. I’d left to do some last-minute shopping, but when I got to my car and realized I’d forgotten my phone, I went back upstairs to grab it. I was gone less than ten minutes, Logan. They must’ve been waiting for me to leave the apartment and jumped into bed the second I walked out the door.”
I curse under my breath, gut clenching at the thought of someone hurting her like that.
“Afterward…Julian admitted they’d been having an affair since last June. The asshole begged me to stay. Said she meant nothing to him and promised it would never happen again. But I was done the moment I caught them. He was screwing her inourbed. The cheating was bad enough, but that felt like an extra level of betrayal. You know? So, I packed my shit and stayed with my parents for a couple of weeks until I could find a new place. Sylvie saw them at Starbucks just last week, and she was sporting a shiny new rock on her left hand, so clearly she meanssomethingto him.”
“He’s a dumbass.”
And so am I, apparently. I spent Christmas Day at her parents’place, but I had no idea she’d been living there at the time. How in the hell did I miss that?
“Thanks, Logan.” She gives me a dejected smile. “But really, it’s fine. I dodged a major bullet. Better to find out before the I dos, right?”
“Definitely.” I nod, then decide to change the subject to something lighter, because I can’t bear the sadness in her eyes. “But hey, on the bright side, at least you didn’t end up as fodder forStarBuzz.”
