Page 9 of Unstoppable Billionaire

She stares into my eyes, reading me, and I sense the depth of her understanding primal human nature.That's what makes her so compelling."I hope you can handle my secrets, Aurei."

"I will, Wild Thang.There's a big difference now too."I close in for another peck."We are committed.Forevermore."

The look in her eyes shifts from doubting me to hope, and instead of just pecking her puckered mouth.I give her a soft kiss.

When I pull away, she shakes her head."Youaredifferent from other men."

"Affirmative.I am."I state, determined that she understands that I get her and I'm good with who she is and what she does.Otherwise, she won't let herself fall hard for me, and when shit hits the fan…."Humans lust for beautiful things.They look; they lust.I understand what you do is exotically charged entertainment."

Bullseye!

She stares at me, dumbfounded."I don't know what to say to that.It's… dead on."

Excellent!I smile and pick up my fork again, then scoop up a mouthful of omelet, letting her digest my acceptance.

"So you saw me dance last November?"She asks, curious now.

"Yes, the weekend before Thanksgiving."I nod, then smirk as I look away with a dreamy expression, remembering how fucking hot she was and how I felt."When you bounced out from behind the curtain, I almost fell out of my chair."It sounds like I'm exaggerating, but it is 100 percent true.

She pushes me playfully, making me laugh and own it.

"I'm serious.When you danced.Fuck!It was all over for me."

She laughs, happy with my confession, and continues questioning me."How many times have you seen me perform?"

"Twenty-three," I smirk.

Her eyes widen."Twenty-three?That's … specific."

"Yep."I chuckle."Twenty-three torturous times.I'm a specific kinda guy."

She shakes her head, comprehending the information, then calculating it."November to February.That's every weekend."She looks at me, shocked."You flew to Vegas every weekend to see me dance?That's…."

"Hardcore?"I finish the sentence for her."That's who I am."I reach for her hand, and she gives it to me.I stroke hers with my thumb as I think about telling her the truth without telling her the truth.To say I love you this early only trivializes the meaning.She needs time.I have a big head start.My gut tightens with the significance of the moment."I fell for you."

She gives me that same sincere expression of hope, and the tightness moves to my heart.I take a deep breath, then wink to break the seriousness, stand, and take our plates to the sink to wash.

"The first time, you were working over a birthday boy tied to a chair on stage.Damn.Those gold chains swaying when you bounced down the runway were hypnotic, but nothing compared to when you started spinning, and they started unwinding…."I finish the dishes, turn the water off, and turn around to look at her.She's coming around the counter, smiling, so I grab a hand towel to dry my hands and lean against the sink."I couldn't get you out of my mind.That damn song and the vision of you giving him one helluva lap dance kept playing over and over on a loop."I shake my head, "You are so fucking contagious."

She stops in front of me and grins."I hate I didn't spot you in the crowd.I would have flirted with you and teased you terribly."She reaches for the hand towel, but I wrap my arms around her, then toss it on the counter.

"Good thing you didn't 'cause I was having a hard enough time fighting off the urge to drag you off the stage by your hair.If our eyes would have locked …" I lean down and kiss her hair."Death."

She laughs out loud.

"Someone would have died.After that, I sat where no one was blocking my view or patting me on the back and far enough away not to be too tempted by you.I knew one fuckup, and I would be banned from the club.And THAT, Wild Thang, would have been torture worse than death."I push her away, "Let me finish getting ready.We need to get going."

She follows me into the bedroom and asks, "Did you catch a Surreal performance?"

"I saw J-Lo dancing in the crowd on New Year's Eve," I say as I put my arms in the shirt sleeves and pull it over my head, then down my body.

"Did you?Are you sure?"

I sit on the bed and pull on a pair of socks."If that was Surreal, she is wicked good."

She laughs, "Duh!Of course, she is wicked good."

"Is she a friend of yours?Surreal, not J-Lo.Duh, again."