Dirty Rumor: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance(29)

“Whoa,” Carolyn breathes. “Did you miss me that much?”

My cock stirs. “More. Come have dinner with me.”

She hesitates for only an instant, her forehead wrinkling, but then the smile is back on her face. “Okay. But I’m not staying the night.” Her cheeks go a little pinker. “This is pathetic, but I’m actually…I’m actually pretty tired.”

I move my arm lower to wrap it around her shoulders, and we step into the elevator together. “What do you think I am, some kind of sex addict?”

“Maybe. I am pretty hot.”

I laugh out loud. After two full days of missing her, it feels f*cking great—this calm, peaceful feeling.

It would be a little more peaceful if my cock wasn’t already pulsing with need for her, but that will have to wait.

I order from one of my favorite Indian places, and while we wait for the food to arrive, Carolyn curls up on my sofa, her feet on the ottoman. She gasps a little when I emerge from the kitchen with two glasses of wine.

“A man after my own heart,” she says, taking one from me and sipping it. Her eyes go a little wider. “This is so good.”

My heart skips a beat at her words, then it recovers. It’s true. I am after her own heart. And more than anything, right now, I want to know more about her. Anything more. Everything more.

I sit in the silence with her for a few moments.

“What made you decide to open a boutique?”

Carolyn purses her lips, considering. “I was tired of my old job. I was pretty high up in a marketing firm here in the city, but it was just…wearing on me. The day-to-day.”

“And you love fashion?”

Carolyn’s mouth quirks into a smile. “I enjoy fashion. It’s not something that makes me go crazy with lust, though.”

I lean in and kiss the line of her jaw.

“That might make me go crazy with lust.”

“I’ll stop,” I say with a grin, pulling back.

She growls a little. “If I end up staying here, I’ll never get to work in the morning.”

I hold my free hand up. “Fine, fine. So…what do you really do, then?”

I expect Carolyn to laugh and say something like “seduce men at the Swan, obviously,” but instead she blinks a few times, shrugging her shoulders. It takes longer than it should for her to answer.

“Oh,” she says with a little smile. “I really do run the boutique, most days. There’s a lot more to it than selling clothes. Travel, inventory selection…all of that.”

“You can’t tell me there’s nothing that captures your interest. There must be some sort of heart-and-soul type of thing.”

She looks away, toward the kitchen, then she turns her head so she’s looking back at me. “Not that I can think of.” Then she grins, eyes shining again, her expression full of playful wickedness. “Last weekend came pretty close.”

Goosebumps play along the line of my spine. Something isn’t quite right. Or am I just looking for something to be…not right?

It hits me hard, straight in the gut. We have to get there first. Carolyn isn’t going to open up with me—not totally, anyway—unless we turn down the heat a little, give things a chance to develop naturally. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t really want to talk to me about the hobbies that take up her non-working hours.

Lately that hobby has been me, but there has to be something else. Perhaps something she’s embarrassed about. I don’t know.

Our conversation is interrupted by the food’s arrival, and the heaviness lurking in the room clears. It’s damn delicious, and finally Carolyn leans back from the table in the breakfast nook. “I want to keep eating, but I can’t.”

“Next time I’ll order less,” I say with a laugh.

“Oh, don’t,” she says, genuinely on the verge of distress. “The leftovers…don’t deprive yourself of that. That’s the best part.”

“You’ve convinced me,” I say seriously, and she laughs again. I stand up and take her plate, but my hand is aching to take hers in mine and lead her to the bedroom. Still, I can see the dark circles under her eyes, the yawns she keeps stifling.

“Oh—Carolyn, there’s something I wanted to tell you.”

She gets up and follows me toward the kitchen.

“What? That I can’t leave with all of my clothes intact?”

This woman. “No, I—” The words stick in my throat, but this lie will be better for us in the long run. “I won’t be able to see you this weekend. I’ve got some things to attend to.”

The corners of her mouth turn down, but only for a moment, and then she smiles. “Thank God. I’ll be able to sleep in!”

Then she reaches up and pulls my face toward hers, kisses me savagely, and heads for the door.





Chapter 27

Carolyn





When Saturday morning comes, I wake up bright and early, put on my cutest exercise outfit, and head to the gym before I can convince myself otherwise. I’m in the lull between the early morning gym rats and the later-morning class attendees, so my favorite treadmill is free and the weight room is sparsely populated. It’s ideal.

I get in a full hour of burn, and then I head back to my apartment, purpose accenting every step. Shower. Breakfast. Then search.