Page 94 of The Billionaire's Teacher

The door opened and Jenna poked her head in. “Morning. You said you wanted to go to church with us. That still true?”

“Absolutely. Do I need to hurry? I don’t take long to get ready.” I’d showered the night before, so it was a matter of clothes and a ponytail.

Jenna shook her head. “Not really. We have about ninety minutes before we need to leave.”

“Is there coffee?”

“At the risk of being rude, duh.” Jenna chuckled. “I can bring some up?”

“Don’t do that. I’ll be down in a few minutes. Maybe ten. I can wait.”

“Okay.” Jenna paused. “Did things go okay with Wes last night?”

I thought of Wes’s lips on mine and his hands in my hair and on my hips. Mmm. I fought the urge to clear my throat and aimed for a casual tone. “Yeah. We got Italian takeout. Watched a movie.”

“Yeah? What’d you watch?” Jenna leaned against the doorframe.

Heat flooded my face and I started to laugh. “I have no idea.”

Jenna blinked once then joined in laughing. “That answers my next question, I guess. It’s good. Wes has been a little lost since everyone started pairing up. He tries to hide it, but I think you’re good for him.”

“I want to be.” He was good for me. But it needed to be a two-way street. I wanted it to last.

“Then I think you will be.” Jenna pushed off the wall and stepped back. “I’ll see you in the kitchen when you’re ready for coffee.”

I nodded.

Jenna pulled the door closed behind her.

I listened as her footsteps receded down the hall. She’d shown me her room on the floor below. I could have had any of the guest rooms—but this one, with the pale blue walls and white bedding. had seemed so fresh and inviting, I’d opted for it. I also enjoyed the sense of being on my own instead of feeling like an imposition as a houseguest.

I tossed the covers back, threw my legs over the side of the bed, and stood. I took a couple of minutes to stretch out the final few kinks from travel before padding to my suitcase and flipping it open. I hadn’t packed a lot. The girls had assured me that casual would work for everything I might do. But I had thrown in a couple of sundresses. Just in case.

Church felt like it might be sundress appropriate.

I bit my lip and considered the options. Which would Wes like best? No. That shouldn’t be my deciding factor. This was church. It was about worshipping Jesus and learning, not impressing Wes. Not that impressing him was likely. I didn’t tend to dress to impress when I was piloting a charter. I went for comfort. And diving? Again, the attire was dictated by the task.

I reached for the dress nearest—it was a simple, solid, pale yellow that Zee had insisted I buy. She said it personified my name. So okay. I’d go with that.

I stripped off the shorts and tank top that made up my sleepwear and dragged the dress over my head. I loved the way the ruffle at the bottom of the skirt floated around my calves. I smiled and adjusted the cap sleeves. Good enough.

A few minutes in the bathroom to pull back my hair, wash my face, and, after a moment of indecision, slap on minimal makeup, I was as ready as I was going to get. I picked up my phone—its case held my ID and credit cards, because someone out there understood that women didn’t always want to be lugging a purse around—and headed downstairs.

The stairs in Jenna’s house—or, well, Noah’s house—were gorgeous. Oval and open, they were the kind of stairs that demanded to be used as a grand entrance to a ball. I could imagine sweeping down them in some fabulous gown in the dim light of evening to a swarm of well-dressed men and women sipping cocktails and laughing.

I couldn’t have explained why I pictured it as a masquerade—complete with feathered masks on long sticks, but I could go with it.

At the bottom of the stairs, I paused and tried to remember the directions Jenna had given me last night when we arrived. It was a blur. I tried the doors on the right and shook my head as they opened to reveal a cozy game room. There was a pool table. Another table covered in felt. For cards? Probably. A giant TV with a console underneath full of equipment.

And it had no other doors, so it wasn’t the pass-through.

I pulled the doors shut and crossed the large foyer to the set of doors on the other side.There we go. This room was also fabulous—which worked, because that was definitely the word I would use for the entire house—but more of a formal entertaining space.

Formal might be overstating a little. The furniture looked comfortable. Like you could curl up and read or just hang out with friends and chat for hours. It was a good room.

Doors on the adjacent wall were open. I crossed the room and headed through the doors into a grand dining room. The table could easily seat twelve. Or more. And the cabinet on the far wall needed to be filled with glimmering crystal and fine china. Maybe Noah and Jenna would do that after they married.

I continued through the open doorway down a hall, past a bathroom, and finally into the kitchen.

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