Page 32 of The Elusive Billionaire

“Don’t growl at her.” Savvy swats my chest, her skin hitting mine with the intensity of static magnified by a trillion. “They just want us to get along, Grey. Like it or not, our families are now forever connected.”

Before I can stop her, she lifts the larger of the two coolers and stomps back toward the house.

Stubborn. Sexy. Seductive. Sassy. Snarky.

Savannah Monroe has turned me into a walking thesaurus—a thesaurus that follows her like a baby duckling.

I’m so screwed.

CHAPTER NINE

SAVVY

We siton opposite sides of the bed in silence. The only light comes from the battery-operated lantern that sits between us on the pillow wall that Grey insists on recreating.

Tonight, he’s reinforced it with extra blankets. I’m not sure if he’s pissed that over the last three nights, he’s found out he’s a cuddler or if he’s pissed because it’s me that he’s cuddling with. It’s probably both.

“I have to proof this,” I say, holding up a recording Madi stuck into the cooler for my latest podcast. If we weren’t trying to conserve battery life, I would’ve taken my work downstairs. The last thing I need is his commentary on the one thing I’ve ever been successful at.

He shrugs as his hands fly across the keyboard of his laptop, but he says nothing. As soon as he realized Braxton sent him a battery backup and an external drive, he went to work on spreadsheets and emails his assistant had downloaded for him.

My shoulders droop, and I mentally berate myself. We don’t have to be friends—we just have to be civil.

If you told him why you applied to be a surrogate, he might understand.

Or he’d judge me just as everyone back in Vegas did.

I’ve spent too many years outrunning my past. The very last thing I’m going to do is give someone like Greyson Reyes the power to ruin that.

My stomach growls, and I quickly recall what I’ve consumed today. An apple, half a sandwich, and some protein drink Grey insisted I have.

You’re good, Savannah. You’re not hungry, you’re nervous.

My bedmate turns my way and glares at my stomach. Awesome.

“Ah.” I fidget with the edge of my laptop. “Do you have headphones? I don’t want to bother you.”

His fingers curl and uncurl as though staring at me physically pains him. “You don’t want to…bother me.”

Jesus, the ego on this guy. “Not everything has to be an argument, Grey. Either you have headphones or you don’t.”

My mind and body are at an impasse the second his narrowed gaze lands on the computer in my lap. He’s wearing an expression I can’t decipher, and my stomach cramps tighter, but as quickly as it covered his face, it’s gone, and he goes back to his work.

“I don’t have headphones here. I live alone so have no need for them. Do what you need to do, I’ve gotten really good at blocking you out.”

Damn. Words from haters should never be able to penetrate your armor, but Grey’s are laced with painful poison that cuts me to the quick every time.

That probably means I liked him much more than I allowed myself to believe, but that line of thought is useless, so I press play instead.

Lowering the volume as much as I can, I lean back against the headboard and rest the computer on my chest.

“Welcome toCan We Talk About That? I’m your host, Savvy Monroe.”God, I sound so stupid. I study Grey out of the cornerof my eye to see if he’s listening, but his brow is furrowed, and he appears to be deep in thought as he scans his screen.

“Tonight’s episode is about trust.”

Greyson snorts, and the bones in my spine click into place as perfectly as the teeth of a zipper.

“Relationships, even one-night stands, require a certain amount of trust. Most women can’t climax without some level of it, and so tonight, we’re going to deep dive into all your questions about building, maintaining, and enforcing trust from the first kiss to the final thrust. So sit back, grab your drink of choice, and let’s dig in.”