Page 57 of Untouchable Billionaire (The Hardcore Novels: Special Editions #1)

A slow smile spreads across his face, and I see that crinkle return to his eyes. He looks back at the road and says. "That's for damn sure! You most certainly are not an easy piece of tail."

I ignore his response and look out at the road too, but the silence screams between us, so I confess further. "I'm not that kind of girl either."

"No, you certainly are not that either." He states flatly, agreeing to be agreeing.

Annoyed, I turn to study his profile. "Don't agree just for the sake of agreeing. It's akin to lying in my book. Shits do that." I cross my arms under my breasts.

He looks over, and I can feel his eyes devouring me, making my nipples grow again. I turn away to look out the window, and the reflection confirms both.

"I need to clear the air right now." He states, and the edge is back in his voice. The truck stops, and he turns in the seat to face me, but I don't look at him. Instead, I continue to watch his reflection. "Siri, you don't know me either. But I'm not a liar. As a matter of fact, I'm too honest."

I almost laugh at that and look back at him. "Too honest? Can someone be too honest? I don't think so."

"Well, it's true. That's why I'm an asshole." I raise one doubting eyebrow, and he chuckles at my exaggerated, skeptical look. "You see, I place a high value on honesty. I don't sugarcoat shit for anyone. I tell it like it is. It's who I am."

"An honest asshole," I smirk and nod. "I can see that."

He smirks too. "My bros call me Hardcore."

I grin, liking that name. "Hardcore, huh?"

"Yeah. I give it straight line. Not curved."

"Why are you telling me this?"

He smiles that sexy smile. "I don't want you staring out the window annoyed that I don't say what you expect to hear and won't change my tune when you confront me with it."

"Hmm." I purse my lips, then say softly. "There's nothing wrong with over-the-top honesty."

"No, there's not, and I want you to understand from the very beginning that's the way I am. I'm not mean. I'm direct. Always. I want you to get to know me well enough that you decide rationally, not emotionally, about who I really am. I want you to give me … us, a real chance."

The words 'us' and 'a real chance' wash over me.

"So be warned, you might not like what you hear from me, but you can always believe it to be true, and I hope you value that."

I twist to face him in the seat, then slowly lift my leg to lay on it.

His eyes drop to watch my dress ride up, and I see lust fill his eyes.

I purse my lips together and tease him in my best imitation of a secretary reading back boring dictation.

"So let me clarify what you just said. Asshole, as a noun describing you as a man, is defined as answering a question with such brutal honesty that it will cause me to freak the fuck out therefore wanting to flee, but that I shouldn't, because I should value this unique delivery method called straight line, not curved.

Is that right, Hardcore?" I squint my eyes together and purse my lips even more.

He chuckles. "Yeah, that's it."

I nod. "Ok. Thanks for warning me." I smirk at him.

"Now heed my warning on myself, Aurelius Moore.

This is how I roll. I don't take shit from anybody.

You can be an asshole as long as you're an honest asshole.

I value honesty too. I'm not a liar, and I don't tolerate liars in my life.

So don't agree just to appease me. Honesty, even brutal honesty, is better than any flowery, fluffy lie. Always!"

First, he smirks, then he grins, then his big beautiful smile baths me in the darkness.

"Perfect." Then he turns his attention back to the road and starts the truck creeping forward again.

The silence sounds comfortable. But he breaks it.

"Siri, from the first time I laid eyes on you, I haven't been able to get you out of my mind. "

"I like that straight line delivery. The first time I laid eyes on you? Ditto."

He cuts his eyes at me and flashes that beautiful smile. My heart starts to sing, and its song is sweet.

He starts to say something, but I beat him to it.

"So, back to the original issue." I rewind and begin again.

"I said, 'I'm not that kind of girl,' to which you replied,' No, you certainly are not that either.

' So the question I want answered with brutal straight-line truth is, how could you possibly know I'm not that kind of girl?

How do you think you know me well enough to know that about me?

Don't you realize you are assuming too much about me? "

He shakes his head. "That's three questions."

I laugh. "Well, ok. The three questions I want answered are those."

"I'll answer the last one first. I'm not assuming anything; the second answer is, I know you better than you think I do; and the answer to the first one is long, so be patient and hear me all the way out. I'll explain."

"Please do."

"I have a buddy coming in for some additional flight training. He asked for my help renting a place. I stopped by Dogwood Court to check it out. I saw you coming out of Building A. I watched you walk across the parking lot. I couldn't believe it. There you were."

"So, the first time you saw me, wasn't Sunday morning?"

"No, it wasn't." He glances over at me.

I realize I interrupted and say quickly. "Oops. Continue."

"When you walked across the parking lot, I couldn't take my eyes off you.

I watched until you drove out of sight, then I went into the office and asked Lucy to see the vacancy in Building A.

She scheduled Mrs. Smith to show me the apartment on Sunday morning.

Before I left, I asked her about you." He wags his finger and gives me a great impression of Lucy.

"'You flyboy. You no good. You leave her alone.

She lady. She sweet. She work. She home alone.

She good girl. She no party girl. You leave alone.

' And that's how I knew you weren't that kind of girl. "

I laugh out loud. It all makes sense now. Even the cold shoulder she gave him at the elevator. "So Lucy vouched for me?"

"Affirmative."

Our eyes dance in the darkness. My heart feels lighter and happier than ever before.

When he looks back at the road, I take a deep breath.

"I need to clear the air right now too. Aurei, I want you to give me …

us, a real chance too. I want you to get to know me without jumping to the wrong conclusion about the kind of person I really am.

" He glances back, and the sincerity is there.

"Lucy isn't 100% right. I am sweet. I am a workaholic.

I do live alone. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty much isolated.

But a good girl? That's debatable." I wink at him.

"But I am most definitely a party girl. My dress is proof of that. "

He smiles, puts his finger against his lips, and I watch them form a perfect heart as he shushes me. "I'm not finished answering your question. There is more to my explanation."

I smile. "Oops again. Sorry."

He looks away, thinking, then looks back. "Ok. Let me give you my proof, straight line, not curved."

I nod, listening.

"Last Friday, when you reached your car, you dropped your keys."

My eyes begin to narrow, remembering.

"Then you bent over to pick them up the same way you did tonight." He smirks, and I squint. "Only tonight, you meant to flash me but didn't. Friday, you didn't mean to flash me, but you did. You weren't wearing any panties." He grins as my jaw falls open.

"Holy fuck!" I blurt out, and he chuckles, enjoying my shock.

The crinkle is back at his eyes, and they fall to my hemline.

I know now for sure he knows my pussy is bare under there.

I resist the urge to pull it down, but I shift in my seat.

"Hang on now, Hardcore." He chuckles again and looks back at the road.

"Most men would think I was both that kind of girl and an easy piece of tail, just from the view alone on Friday, not to mention tonight in this dress.

But you say, in all honesty, that you don't?" I shake my head. "I find that hard to believe."

"Affirmative. That's exactly what I'm saying. A panty-less pussy doesn't mean you are 'that kind' of girl. It only means you don't wear panties. Which I find extremely appealing, by the way." His eyes fall to my pussy again, and damn, it tingles.

Fuck! I bite my bottom lip.

"And I would never think that your particular piece of tail was easy, especially after seeing you in that dress tonight." He raises his eyes back to my face, and his sexy as fuck sideways grin is there.

"Well, that's opposite of what most men would say."

He pulls into a parking spot and turns the truck off.

"I understand that. And I want you to understand that about me.

I'm not most men. It's not that I know you well enough.

It's that I don't jump to the normal conclusions about people.

I think differently. I think for myself.

" He puts his arm on the center console and turns to face me.

I grin at him. "You're an honest asshole. Most men are lying bastards."

"Exactly." He reaches over and puts my hair behind my ear so he can see my face, then puts his hand under my chin and tilts it so he can search my eyes. "It's a beautiful dress, and you look stunning in it."

I melt completely with the simple gesture. "Aurei?"

"Yes, Siri?"

"I'm really liking this straight line, not curved method. If I ask if my ass looks big, it's because I want to know if my ass looks big." I wink at him.

His smile is so sweet and sincere. "Stay right there. I'm going to come to open the door for you." He gets out, but before he closes his door, he says. "And just for the record, your ass is perfect."