Page 23 of The Elusive Billionaire

What will be left of my house, my property, after this?

It could be the perfect excuse to head back to California, but I won’t do that to Sage. Not when he’s found his place on the football team here. And even if I’m loath to admit it, helping coach the quarterbacks has given me back a piece of my life I’d refused to acknowledge I’d missed.

“I am sorry.” Her soft confession picks at my conscience like a child plucking at a newly formed scab.

“Are you hungry?” I ask, ignoring her statement. There’s no going back, so I will no longer weigh myself down with her nonsense.

“No, thanks.”

“Stop doing that,” I hiss.

“Doing what?” She sits up, my T-shirt so large it hangs off one shoulder.

“Being…demure. This isn’t you. You’re loud and brash. Just stop fucking lying.”

My eyes widen as her face turns a shade of red that makes me almost fearful that she’s not breathing.

“I’m not lying, Grey. I don’t apologize either, yet here I am. I’m trying because I know I screwed up. I know I broke your trust and that I’ll never fully get it back. But I’m here, throwing myself at your mercy because the only people I consider family live in this town and I will not be the reason they can’t have all their friends and family in the same place.”

I stand, reaching for my lucky coin, only to remember I left it in the nightstand upstairs.

“Apology accepted. There, now will you cut the shit?”

The heat from her body alerts me first. When the air shifts and I catch the scent of her and sex, I know she’s directly behind me.

Looking at her now would be the equivalent of staring straight at Medusa herself, so I keep my gaze on the bare wall in front of me.

“There’s a reason I don’t tell anyone about my past, and if you can’t accept that, then fine. But when it comes to being a surrogate, it had nothing to do with you. You can believe that or not, I really don’t give a shit at this point, but we will not be the reason my best friend doesn’t get her happily ever after. Do you understand?”

“Perfectly.”

She sighs, and it feels fragile as it hits my back.It’s not my responsibility to fix her.If I say it enough, perhaps I’ll finally believe it.

Everything suddenly falls silent. The wind that’s been pelting my home for the last two hours disappears like a whisper. No glass breaking, no sounds of wood or metal hitting the walls.

Eerie, deadly silence.

“Do you think the storm’s over?” There’s fear in her tone, and if I were a nicer guy, I’d face her and offer comfort.

But she had the nice version of me before, and look what she did to him.

“No, I think the worst is yet to come.”

Her fear is alive, and it takes every ounce of control I have to ignore her and grab a protein bar before sitting back down to wait this shit out.

CHAPTER SEVEN

SAVVY

Grey was right.

As the hours went on, the storm became angrier, ruthless, and relentless. The longer the silence stretched between us, the more my fears took control, until I was once again sitting with my head between my legs, breathing into a paper bag that he handed me.

As much as he hates me, he also can’t suppress the good guy he attempts to shield under his pissed-off assholery facade.

“We can’t stay in here forever.” Ugh, that came out bitchy. This man pushes my buttons even when he isn’t trying.

We’ve been sitting in silence for close to an hour now, and I’m getting antsy.