Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 28523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 143(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 143(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
Though he hadn’t outright admitted it, I suspected that he’d been motivated by the opportunity to offer Samantha a job. It gave him the kind of access to her that I would have given every penny in my bank account to have with Faith.
The situation being what it was, and with my desire to remain under the radar, I’d stayed long enough to hear Noah’s speech, listen to him grumble about Samantha’s dress, and keep him from murdering a teenage punk who kept trying to get her attention. Then I ducked out early.
Which meant there was no way I’d met or spoken to this woman during that event or any other.
“You said I danced—”
“Stop,” I ordered, more irritated that she was taking my attention from Faith than the fact that she was clearly lying. “We’ve never met, I assure you. Now, I’m very busy—” My words cut off when she leaned over the table, showing off more of the plastic bubbles on her chest than anyone should have to see as she placed her hand on my arm.
I was about to calmly tell her not to touch me when I felt eyes on me. My heart dropped into my stomach as I glanced back to the door and saw Faith watching us. Her expression was crestfallen, but the second she realized I’d noticed her, she’d hurried over to her friend, who was setting their food at one of the other outdoor tables. Faith said something, and Olive glanced in my direction. The second she spotted me, her eyes jumped to the redhead, and Olive’s mouth twisted in disgust. Then she glared at me briefly before turning back to mutter something to my girl.
Fuck.
2
Rush
Having been born with a trust fund worth over a billion dollars, I was used to women throwing themselves at me, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. My interest in entertaining shallow relationships and one-night stands had been a product of teenage hormones and lasted about as long as a breath mint.
I knew what women saw when they looked at me…in addition to the dollar signs. My body was shredded because I liked being healthy, and it made me an effective firefighter. With my hazel eyes—framed with thick dark lashes—angular face, chiseled jaw, and straight nose, I wasn’t considered classically handsome, but I was attractive enough to end up on a list of the world’s sexiest bachelor philanthropists multiple times.
Despite my desire to stay out of the limelight, the paparazzi still found interest in me from time to time. And that was usually when women like this one came out of the woodwork. They assumed that I was such a manwhore, I wouldn’t realize that we’d never met and armed themselves with enough details of my whereabouts to make it seem plausible that I’d simply forgotten them. Usually, I brushed them off firmly but politely.
However, this time, I was enraged that she hurt my woman.
“Get your hand off me,” I snarled as I jumped to my feet. “Run the fuck away, and if I ever see you near me or my—anyone important to me, I’ll have you arrested for stalking.” The irony of that threat did not escape me, nor did it deter me.
“But…um, we—you,” she stuttered as she stumbled back a few steps.
I didn’t wait around for her to make a decision or try to play another hand to snare me as her prey. I quickly weaved my way through the tables until I came to Faith and Olive’s. They both looked up as my shadow fell over them.
“Do you mind if I use you ladies as a decoy?” I asked with my best puppy dog eyes.
Olive’s eyes narrowed, and she leaned over to look around me before sitting back and staring at me haughtily.
“A decoy?” Faith asked, perking up minutely. She was trying to appear cool, but curiosity colored her tone.
I cringed. “At the risk of sounding like a pompous ass, when you have a bank account the size of mine, it can draw the wrong kind of attention.”
Both girls winced and gave me a look of sympathy. “Been there,” Faith sighed.
My eyes narrowed, and I bent over the table until my face was inches from hers. “I want their names. Now.”
Faith’s eyes rounded, and her pretty lips formed a cute little O. It was so fucking hard not to kiss her, to thrust my tongue into that mouth and finally taste how sweet she was. But my obsession was already showing too much, so I forced my eyes away from temptation and straightened back up. She’d get used to the intensity of my obsession eventually, but I needed to get my ring on her finger and my baby in her belly before she saw the true force of it.
“Um, I didn’t keep a list, but that’s really sweet of you.” When I looked back at her, she smiled warmly, seeming genuinely pleased by my actions. Probably what she’d interpreted as a gallant gesture rather than the sudden blood rage that it had actually been.