Page 57 of A Billion Dollar Romance

Itwasfine.

Or, at least, ithad to befine.

I’d almost allowed myself to forget, but this–our engagement–was abusiness arrangement. This–the nights we shared, the way he looked when he came, the way he made me break apart and reform anew–was aconvenience.

James wasn’t mine.

“No, it’s not. I hadn’t realized she was here, or I would have–”

“What, warned me?” I asked, my smile tight. “Like you did at the fundraiser?”

He grimaced. “I deserved that one.”

I only shrugged. “It’s fine,” I said again. “After all, that’s why I’m here, isn’t it? For your image?” I couldn’t meet his eyes. “These people don’t know you as a… aplayboy literary starfor no reason. It stands to reason that I’d encounter at least one of your former, what, flings? Girlfriends?”

“Edie,” he said, looking pained, but I continued.

“This is what I signed up for. You’d get your slate cleared, and I’d get my time at the end of this. This conference…”

His eyes closed tight, fists clenched by his sides.

“James, this conference…today…this is more than I ever could have asked for.”

I repeated it to myself silently.This is more than you could have asked for, Edie Taylor. You wanted just one night, remember? And he’s given you all this. The business cards in your purse. The dress, the ring, the pleasurable soreness between your legs…

I’dknownthis wasn’t real.

The hurt I felt behind my ribcage was only because I’d forgotten.

“It’s fine, James,” I said.

But the hurt still lingered, no matter how much I willed my words to be true.

CHAPTER29

James

The worst partwas that she was right.

“This is what I signed up for,” she said, shrugging. “You get your slate cleared, and I get my time at the end of this… It’s fine, James.”

Was that really what she thought? Even after…

Last night, after we’d moved from the bathtub to the bed, the scent of warm water and warm bodies still hanging in the air, I’d pushed my way inside her again. She’d been slick and wet with her own arousal and my come, my signature, marking her, claiming her, making her mine, and I’d rocked against her, soft and sweet and slow. It hadn’t felt like this was just a convenient hookup. It hadn’t felt like she was my student, or my employee, or my partner in a ridiculousmarketingscheme, for fuck’s sake.

It had felt like making love.

You have no right.

“It’s fine, James,” she said, then again, “really, it’s fine.”

But it wasn’t.

“I had a busy day today,” she said, yawning widely. “And I brought a few things with me that I wanted to look over before we go back to the office on Monday.”

I nodded. “Alright. We don’t have to–”

“I think I’ll head back to my room.”