Page 19 of The Billionaire and His Forever

“Not a moment later,” he says, toothbrush at the ready in his hand, watching me smooth my skirt down with a smirk on his face.

I give him one last goodbye kiss, one last squeeze of his cock, and then leave him there semi-hard as I whisk myself out the door. I can only hope nobody’s around to witness my walk of shame. Because despite Graham’s reassuring words—and the very real hope that I have for our future together—in reality, we’re still hiding our relationship. It would be a scandal to get caught leaving his bedroom the morning after, especially looking the way I do.

In the guest wing, down the hall from my room, is the room my father is staying in. I never heard him return last night, but I can hear him moving around in there now—undoubtedly hungover and still stinking of gin and tonics, if I know him at all—as I quietly open my door and slip inside. I’m surprised he didn’t try to find Graham to share a celebratory whiskey whenever he got home from the country club last night, but I’m glad he didn’t.Having Graham all to myself last night was the stuff of dreams.

After a quick shower and outfit change, I put on a little makeup and pull my hair into a ponytail, anticipating another trail ride with Jude at some point in the not-too-distant future.

There’s a firm knock at my door just as I’m finishing up with my hair. With a grin, I fling open the door, fully expecting to see Graham waiting there to escort me down to the dining room. But the person I find standing in the hallway is my father.

Without a word, he walks into my room and shuts the door behind him.

“Uh, good morning?” I say, noticing that he looks fairly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for someone who was out late drinking with an old friend.

“Just wanted to let you know I’m leaving today, as discussed. Everything seems like it’s going well between you and Graham, so there’s no need to linger. I’ll get out of your way.”

I nod, suddenly feeling incredibly awkward. Dad’s not stupid—he must know I spent the night with Graham. That is, if he hadn’t heard the audible evidence himself. How embarrassing.

Cheeks on fire, I clear my throat and try my best to act normal. “Well. Thanks for showing up, Dad. It meant a lot to Graham. And to me.”

“Don’t mention it. That’s what dads are for.” He gently nudges my chin with his fist.

My jaw clenches, even as I force a smile. Did heseriouslyjust say that? Because honestly, my dad has no idea what dads are for. In fact, I’m still not entirely sure what made him step up this time. Presumably the possibility of me not being able to marry into Ratliff money and thus save his ass—which doesn’t exactly put Dad in the running for Father of the Year.

“Should we go down to breakfast, or are you heading out now?” I ask.

“I’ll stay for breakfast, hit the road after. But actually, there’s one more thing I wanted to discuss first,” he says. “Regarding the arrangement.”

“Okay…” I say hesitantly, already expecting the absolute worst.

Really, I should have seen this coming. My dad doesn’t do anything for free. Including, obviously, coming to his daughter’s aid in times of extreme duress.

Is he going to blackmailmenow? Threaten to tell Graham the truth about how I was originally sent here to seduce and extort him this summer? Unless I…what? Push Graham to loan Dad money, or take part in some joint business venture requiring a large investment on Graham’s part? My father is a devious man. Whatever he has to say, it won’t be good.

He interrupts my racing thoughts with, “I just wanted you to know that whatever happens with you and Graham, you have my blessing. I can see how much you care about him and how much he cares about you, too. Makes an old man’s heart happy.”

It’s difficult to keep my jaw off the floor.

“Really? You don’t want me to keep trying to…get something out of him?”

Dad laughs. “What a little cynic you’ve become. But no. You can forget that whole plan. You did your job, but I’m calling it off now. I have some good things of my own coming up on the horizon.”

“Okay,” is all I can say in response. I’m in shock. I can’t wrap my head around this.

I’ve been agonizing all summer long trying to follow Dad’s orders. Beating myself up over my failure to succeed at blackmailing Graham, while desperately trying to hide the fact of my hopeless teenage crush morphing into a full-blown, head-over-heels infatuation. Yet here my father is, suddenly absolving me of all the guilt I’ve been feeling about the whole situation.

Something in my chest expands, and it’s like the weight of an anvil gets lifted off my shoulders. I’m free. Free to love who I love, to pursue my relationship with Graham without hiding or constantly looking over my shoulder and stressing about my dad’s next demand.

“I just want you to be happy,” he goes on.

All I can do is nod. “I am, Dad. But what about our house and everything? You said—”

He waves me off. “Don’t worry about me and your mom. I mean it, Abbie, things are looking up. We’ll be okay. It’s not your place to worry about it anymore.”

A lump forms in my throat. Of course I’m still going to worry about my parents anyway, but I had no idea how badly I needed to hear my dad say those exact words. As he pulls me into a hug, I have to blink back tears. When I start to sniffle, Dad lets me go and pats me on the back.

“All right now, enough of that. Let’s go see what Mary’s got on the table for us. I don’t know what it is, but I can definitely smell the sausages from here.”

When we get to the dining room, we find Jude and Graham already in their seats. Jude’s chattering away happily, showing her dad all the pictures she drew for him while he was gone, and Graham looks like he’s fighting his emotions as he carefully looks over each one.

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