Page 103 of Forbidden Billionaires, Vol. 9

My heart began to race. He invited me back to his apartment and we were all alone.

He was definitely coming on to me. Maybe he realized whatever it was between us wasn't worth fighting.

I couldn't be the only one who felt this amazing spark between us.

I followed him into the main living area.

There was a couch, a TV, a pool table, and a ping pong table.

The ping pong table had several red cups on it, the remnants of a game of beer pong.

The room was open to a small kitchen that was only big enough for one person to cook in.

I wondered if his place came with a rolling pin.

The only decorations in the living room were a few posters of scantily clad women. Gross.

I turned to him. "I like your decorations."

"Why thank you."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"I actually didn't pick those posters."

"Mhm."

He laughed. "I didn't."

I looked around the room again. There was a bathroom next to the kitchen and two closed doors on either side of the living room. "So, where's your bedroom?"

He leaned against the kitchen counter. "That's rather forward of you, Jellyfish Girl."

"What? Oh, no." I laughed awkwardly. "I didn't mean I wanted to hop into bed with you.

Obviously. You know what? You don't even need to show me. I was just curious what it looked like because you mentioned these decorations weren’t yours.

So I was wondering what kind of decorations you chose.

But I'm good. Curiosity killed the cat, you know.

I'm too young to die." What the hell am I saying?

"Geez, I wish I hadn't left my whistle in the lifeguard shed. It could have doubled as a rape whistle. I feel like I'm going to need it tonight." He smiled at me.

"You won't need your whistle. I’m not rapey. I’m a sophisticated lady.” Yeah, right. “Besides, I heard your friend-speech loud and clear. You're completely off limits." I put my hands up.

"If you say so."

If I say so? I don't want him to be off limits. I thought that's what he wanted. What the hell is going on here?

"My bedroom is over here." He pointed to the closed door on the left of the living room. And then he started walking toward it.

I guessed that was an invitation. I followed him into the small room. There were two beds. My lifeguard’s eyes were on me as I leaned down and looked at some photos on his dresser.

"Is this you?" I asked. I picked up the picture frame. There were two young boys in it. They both had the same captivating blue eyes.

"Yeah, that's me and my brother."

I smiled at him. "You were really cute." I set the photo down and leaned against his bed as I looked around the room.

There were more posters of half-naked women in the room but they weren't on his side.

Clothes were strewn along the floor, but it was pretty clean.

For some reason I had pictured four guys living together being a mess.

But I guess I was wrong. I looked back at my lifeguard.

His eyebrows lowered slightly.

I gulped. Why is he looking at me like that? I could feel my face flushing. God, I wanted him. I wanted him to push me against his bed and kiss me again. I wanted his hands on me. I wanted to taste him again.

He pulled off his shirt as he looked at me.

Holy fuck. Is this really happening? Everything below my waistline clenched.

His abs looked amazing. I wanted to run my hands down his six pack, tracking every contour of his muscles.

I remembered how they felt when I was holding on to him on his motorcycle.

But touching them now? I felt like I was going to combust.

He tossed his shirt on the floor. "I'm going to change out of my swimsuit real quick."

I continued to stare at him. He smiled at me. Oh, shit. He's trying to dismiss me, not Thanksgiving turkey me. I stepped backward and stumbled over something, falling to the floor.

My lifeguard started laughing. "Shit," he said. "Sorry, are you okay?" He laughed again.

"I'm fine." Mortified, but fine. "Sorry," I mumbled.

He knelt down next to me. "You are unbelievably cute."

Cute. I didn't want him to think I was cute. I wanted him to think I was sexy. He grabbed my hands and helped me stand up.

I stood there for a second. "Right. You need to change. So, I'll be out there." I pointed to the living room. “Do you have a rolling pin? My place didn’t come with one, which I thought was strange. I’m just going to go look.” I quickly walked out of his room.

I heard him laughing as he closed the door.

What is wrong with me? I needed to calm down.

We had just talked about how we were going to be friends.

I was being crazy. But he had looked at me like he wanted me too.

He liked that I had leaned against his bed.

Maybe he was having the same dirty thoughts that I was.

And if I was flirtatious enough, maybe he would forget about his decision to just be friends with me. I plopped down on the couch.

A minute later he came out of his room. He was wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt. Holy fucking hotness. I crossed my legs, trying to ignore the fact that my body reacted to him in ways it never reacted to anyone before.

"Did you find a rolling pin?” he asked.

I had forgotten to look. But Kristen had said she doubted any beach rentals came with them. So I was going to trust her on that. “Nope. You don’t have one either. So freaking weird. Right?”

He pressed his lips together instead of responding.

“All the locals must be anti-baking. Not that I was using it for that. I was trying to make a pizza. Usually I’m great at making pizza, but it’s harder when you’ve consumed a large amount of wine.”

He laughed. “Is that your way of asking for a drink? Do you want a beer?" He made his way over to the fridge. “We don’t have any wine.”

Could I have a drink and not be weird? Probably if I only had one. I was only bad on margarita night. Or when I had like three beers. Or when I drank half a box of wine. "Sure," I said and walked over to him.

He took two beers out of the fridge and popped off the caps before handing one to me. I took a long sip. Hopefully this would help me calm down a little. I was so turned on I was having trouble thinking straight.

"I liked your room," I said.

"For a second I thought I was going to need that rape whistle."

I laughed. "Oh, come on. Just because I'm attracted to you doesn't mean I have no self-control." Shit did I just say that out loud?

His lips pressed together.

"Where are the paddles?" I almost screamed. I looked away from him. Shit, shit, shit.

"Here," he said and handed me a paddle. He looked pleased with himself. "So what are the stakes this time?" He walked over to the table and tossed me the ball.

Was he trying to see if I was attracted to him?

Was that what this was about? I had just admitted it to him, so whatever game he was playing should be over.

My lifeguard was the most confusing boy I had ever met.

I shook my head, trying to clear away my thoughts.

"Hmm," I said as we hit the ball back and forth.

The door to his apartment opened and my ping pong partner from Grottos came in with his arm wrapped around the girl I had seen at the beach with the huge breasts. They were laughing loudly and almost stumbled into the room. They were clearly drunk.

"Stalker Girl!" my partner yelled and lifted up his hand.

"Hey, you." I said and high fived him. I had never learned his name.

"Oh my God, are we playing ping pong again? Game on!" he said and pointed at my lifeguard.

"Oh, I want to play!" the girl with huge tits said and jumped up and down.

I tried not to sigh. "Umm..." I looked up at my lifeguard. It felt like that night at Grottos all over again. Except this time I knew he just wanted to be friends. Maybe. I didn’t know that for sure. Because he said that’s what he wanted. But he never looked at me like just a friend.

He shrugged apologetically.

"Okay," my partner said and grabbed a paddle. "Me and Stalker Girl against you two."

I laughed. This was going to be interesting.

"Clint!" the girl yelled from across the table. "Let's play strip ping pong."

Hell no. I looked up at my lifeguard and his eyes locked with mine.

"I think that's a great idea," he said. A smile cut across his face.

Holy shit, he wants to see me naked.