Page 117 of The Billionaire's Christmas Bride

"You think I opened up to you?"

"You did." She steps close and our toes bump, her nipples brush up against me; that chocolate and honey of her scent intensifies. My heart begins to pound and my chest hurts.Shit. Let go of her, get her out of here. Walk away; don’t look back. Release her from that stupid-ass arrangement that never was.

"You’ll get your money. All of it," I snap.

She blinks, "Excuse me?"

"The million a day for six days? It’s yours."

"You think this was only about money?"

It had to be."What else could it be about?"

"Did you think, for even one second, that maybe I wanted to be with you?"

"You wanted to be shut up with me in a cabin with no electricity, over Christmas?"

"Why not?"

"You wanted to spend Christmas getting to know my family?"

"It’s the first time I’ve felt at home anywhere." She sets her jaw.

My guts twist. Shit, this isn’t easy. Why do I feel like I am tearing out my heart? Why the hell do I care that she seems close to a break down? You’ve barely met her... You know everything about her. I know nothing of what she wants… She wants you, that’s clear. She needs you as much as you are drawn to her. She senses the connection that binds you together…

And that is the fucking problem. I don’t want it. I can do without it. I have enough demons of my own to contend with. I don’t need this beautiful, gorgeous angel who swept in and threatens to upset my carefully structured life… Which had, by the way, gone down the shitter since she’d flounced into that cabin and turned my life upside down.

"Too bad; they are not yours."

"Too bad for you." She tips up her chin, "I’m yours. You know it and it scares you."

"You think I am scared?" I laugh.

"I think you are petrified. For the first time, you don’t have a plan and it terrifies the hell out of you."

"The only thing that terrifies me is that I’ll have to hold you while you have a breakdown, and trust me, Princess, that’s not on my list of most-wanted things to do right now."

"I don’t believe you." She clenches her fists by her side. "All of this is an act."

"That…" I tilt my head in the direction of the bed, "was an act. Guess I’m good, huh? I take credit."

"For what?"

"I won the bet with myself."

"What bet?"

"Making you fall in love with me… Remember what I told you?"

She squeezes her eyes shut, "That you’d break my heart."

"Have I, Princess?"

She stiffens, opens her eyes, stares straight into mine, "Mine is not the only heart that’s breaking; and you know what else?"

I tilt my head.

"You care about me. You’re in love with me, but you don’t want to admit it. By the time you realize it, it will be too late. You’ll come begging for forgiveness, and guess what I am going to do then?"