Page 92 of Bribed by the Billionaire Bad Boy

Lex’s thumb swipes across my leg, something horribly seductive and defiant in the motion. “Likewhatexactly?”

“To fool around.”

Lex breathes a laugh. “I’m not fooling around.”

His hand on my thigh feels like a direct contradiction to that statement. Every careless flirt. All the moments he invaded my space without hesitation.Sleeping with him. It all feels like one whim away from fooling around, and yet I can’t argue with Lex’s response. Lex is Lex. And he’s a gentleman.

Never once has he made me uncomfortable without pulling back immediately and apologizing.

“Why don’t you introduce us?” Mr. Hawthorn asks, cutting into a slab of his steak.

Lex serves me a piece of the roast—like I’ll really be able to eat—then gives himself a helping, before answering, “Calypso, this is my father, Alexander Hawthorn.”

My heart thumps. Lex is a junior?

Too many things come undone with that knowledge, and I can’t help feeling like there’s a reason Lex is telling me hisfather’s full name. It’s a secret message. To pass along an odd understanding between us.

“Father, this is Calypso Kole. My friend.”

Lex’s father’s head dips in some sterile sort of greeting. “How have you come to know Alexander?”

My lips part, and a bubble pops in my throat, but I force words out past it. “Lexand I are classmates at Olympus College of Fine Arts.”

“Ah.” Disappointment cracks through that single sound. “And how are you faring in college? What’s your major?”

Lex squeezes my thigh. “You don’t have to get her life story.”

“I don’t have a right to know the company my son keeps while I’m paying for his tuition?” The venom in the older Alexander’s face snaps a darkness through familiar green eyes.

They look much too alike.Oh, Lex…

Letting one of my hands drop over Lex’s on my lap, I say, “I’m not majoring in anything right now. I’m attending on academic scholarship and completing my electives locally before making a life-changing decision too soon.”

Mr. Hawthorn’s brows rise, as though the response is unexpected. “A smart move. However, there are other local colleges if your interest was to accomplish your electives. Could you not get scholarships to any of them?”

“Iaminterested in the artistic aspects offered at Olympus. Also, it has the most prestige in this area. Any transfer out, should I decide, would go easier.”

Mr. Hawthorn nods along, taking a thoughtful bite of his food. “How was your high school experience?”

“Public, but high honors.”

“I take it you come from a modest home.”

“It would fit in your garage.”

He laughs.

The man laughs.

Lex’s hold on me flinches, his fingers almost spasming at the sound of his father’s laughter.

Mr. Hawthorn regards me seriously for the first time since his cold gaze fell on me. “Alexander doesn’t have many friends, but I can see where you’ve sparked his rather flippant interests.”

Am I supposed to take that as a compliment? Like father like son, I’m ever the exotic creature to this family it seems.

How have Lex and I gone from a moment so soft to something so hard?

Mr. Hawthorn’s assistant clears her throat, lifting a napkin to her lips. She’s been largely silent since the meal started, but now she looks at me directly. “My name is Ophelia Denvors. You may call me whatever is most comfortable for you. I’m Alexander’s father’s personal secretary.”