Page 8 of Marrying the Billionaire Single Dad

"Not."

I click my tongue. "That’s the first thing you’re changing, this inability to speak your mind."

"Oh, I am more than capable of saying what’s on my mind. And right now, you don’t want to read my thoughts, trust me."

"On the contrary." I release her, take a step back, only to circle her wrist with my fingers and tug.

She squeaks, but her body follows my direction as I twirl her around to face me, bend her arm behind her, and curve her back. I lean in close enough for us to share breath. "I want to know every last thought of yours, your deepest most intimate secrets, your fears, your desires, what you hate, what you run from…" I frown. "What are you running from?" I lock my gaze with hers, peer into the depths of her green gaze, past the golden embers that crackle and swirl. My breath catches in my chest and sweat pops on my brow.The hell? What am I doing? Why am I holding her captive?

She can do as she wants. I don’t know her. I have no claim on her. If I want a woman, all I need to do is snap my fingers and she’ll throw herself on the floor, part her legs and offer up everything I desire… Except, I don’t. The thrill of success, of fame, of easy lays and meaningless shags that took a piece of my soul with every interaction… All of it pales in comparison to the vital, feisty woman I hold in my arms. How curious. How not what I need right now. What an irritation this is getting to be.

Why the hell had I kissed her in the first place?

I release her and she stumbles back. "Not that I care." I flick my fingers over the front of my leather jacket. "Have a nice life." I brush past her, head toward where Amelie and Weston track my progress. "Your friend was just coming." No pun unintended. I compose my features into a polite facade.

"Rockstar," her voice reaches me.

I swagger forward.

"Aren’t you forgetting something?"

Likely not. I always pay my debts, never let another get in the way, nor play with my emotions, so no, I don’t think I am. I move forward.

Footsteps sound behind me, then she draws abreast.

"Stop," she demands.

I chuckle. No one tells me what to do. Definitely not my friends. Absolutely not this chit of a woman I’ve just met.

"If you don’t, you’ll never find out about the proposition I have for you."

4

Julia

"Proposition, huh?" He stiffens, then pivots and fixes me with the full force of his blue eyes. Storm clouds before the rain falls, the depths of the sea that I had gazed into, on a trip to Byron Bay. I blink and the mirage clears.

"Wouldn’t you like to know?" I force out the words through a throat gone dry.

A slow smirk curls his lips. He bends to thrust his face into mine, "You tell me, babe." He drags a finger down my cheek, "Would I?"

"I think…" I tip up my chin, "you’re intrigued." I tug on my earlobe, then shuffle my feet.

"Is that what this is about?" He hooks his finger in the V of my blouse, "You trying to catch my attention? If so, you have it, sugar."

What am I doing? I should have let him walk away, then left here and begun job hunting in earnest. I should be searching for my next job as a nanny, while working on my clay artistry skills. And then what? A lifetime of taking care of others’ children…? Not that I don’t thrive on that. When I am with little ones, something raging inside of me quietens. This need to give, to nurture, that is so much a part of me, finds an outlet.

Other girls dream of being doctors and pilots… Me? I want kids of my own, a large family, a husband… None of which is looking likely very soon, so… Considering I caught the eye of this… Man, who is definitely out of my comfort zone… My one chance to live voraciously.

To throw caution to the wind and indulge myself in all the ways he’d offered. I mean, why not? I’ve walked the straight and narrow, and look where that has gotten me? Single, with no prospect of a relationship in sight, while my friends are settling down. Not that it is any reason to offer myself up to this god-like man… Ugh, I am pathetic, putting him up on a pedestal.

So, he is a rock star…and tabloid fodder, a face that launched a thousand memes… And me, the stupid woman who tilts her chin up and declares, "One night."

"What?" he frowns.

"You heard me." Thank god, my voice doesn’t tremble, "Give me one night; you and me."

He takes in my features. "You're serious?"