The Billionaire Next Door (Billionaire Bad Boys #2)(57)
“You’ll have to come back then.”
With him? She couldn’t reconcile who she thought he was with his behavior. He’d seduced her as hard as he’d wooed her. Her lips pursed in thought. Had she ever been wooed before? Shaun half-assed everything with her. “No need to go out for Valentine’s Day, right, Rach? We don’t need to go out to dinner to know we love each other.”
But she sort of did. Not because she was a princess who needed to be pampered, but because if he’d have made any effort at all, or appreciated hers, she would have felt loved by his actions.
She started to sit, and Tag stopped her with one hand. He plopped into the sand and gestured between his legs. “Sit here, Dimples. We’re doing this right.”
“You don’t act like a billionaire.” She arranged herself and rested against his solid chest.
“I take it you weren’t impressed with the whisking-you-away-to-Oahu-by-private-plane bit? Because I have to tell you, that’s my go-to move.”
“You know what I mean.” She clucked her tongue.
“Having money means getting to do fun things.” He rested his hand with the coffee mug on one knee and leaned in to kiss her neck. “Thanks for coming here with me.”
She reached her free hand behind her to cup his face, his soft facial hair brushing her cheek. “Thank you for asking me.”
In silence, they sat, sipped their coffees, and watched the sun lift over the ocean. Her fantasy was rapidly coming to an end, during a sunrise rather than a sunset. Soon they’d be back to cold, windy Chicago and…and then she didn’t know what came next.
Well, yes, she did. Work at the Andromeda, pound the pavement for a new marketing job, then apartment hunting. She let out a sigh, feeling the heaviness of what was to come.
Part of her never wanted to leave the crook of Tag’s legs, or Hawaii.
He reached forward and threaded their fingers together. “We can talk strategy for the bars on the flight home. Unless you had something else in mind?”
She knew the wicked lilt of his voice when he was thinking of her naked, and she had to admit since she’d met him, she often thought of him the same way.
“You know…” She gave him her weight as she relaxed against his chest. “I think we can fit in both.”
“I like the sound of that.” He kissed her neck and again, the thought of returning to Chicago made her melancholy. “Do we have time to stop by a store to pick up a few souvenirs?”
“Sure. For Bree?”
“Yes, and my cousin. Her wedding is coming up, and I’d like to buy her something unique. She’s getting married at my parents’ house the month after next.”
“Weddings. Yikes.” The statement was throwaway, but for her it dug in like a burr.
“Not one for matrimony?” she asked, frowning.
“No.” His answer was swift and brief. “I avoid any get-together that involves the Chicken Dance.”
“It does get old,” she murmured. It had been on the tip of her tongue to ask if he would be her date, but clearly, weddings weren’t his scene.
“I get invited to a lot of weddings”—a pause while he sipped his coffee—“and I make it a point to avoid them.”
“Didn’t you go to your brother’s wedding?”
He shifted…uncomfortably? “Well, yeah, but I didn’t take a date.”
He’d said that like it was the most obvious statement and Rachel bristled.
“Why not? Surely Reese could afford a plus one.” She was trying not to snap, but her tone had come out clipped.
“It was…you know. The girl I was seeing wasn’t…” He paused as if realizing what he was saying. “Shit, now I sound like a douche.” He took a breath that lifted his chest and pushed her forward a few inches. “Truth is”—he flexed his fingers around hers—“I don’t want to give wrong impressions, and weddings give wrong impressions.”
She turned that over, counting the next three beats of his heart against her back before speaking.
“Makes sense,” she finally said.
“Good. I was burying myself there.” He laughed, back to his at-ease self.
He was a man who didn’t want things to get serious. Not ever. It was a sobering realization, when it should have been a relief for her to hear. With Tag, she’d be in no danger of being asked to stay.
Which is a good thing. So why did it hurt a little?
The truth was, she was damn busy, or would be when she arrived back home. And, she continued justifying, she was in no way ready to settle in with a boyfriend after Shaun—especially one that she’d have to drag along in a relationship.
Living in the lap of luxury would transform back into a pumpkin, and her billionaire prince would find another princess to occupy his time.
Staying had never been on her agenda. She’d come here to enjoy being with Tag and to push her own boundaries. Find her boldness before she launched Rachel 2.0.
But during the quiet times like this one, when Tag’s warmth enveloped her and his lips easily found that spot behind her ear, imagining distance between them became harder and harder.
*
After a long but smooth flight Tag unloaded their bags into a waiting SUV in the swirling Chicago snow. The driver, a young guy about half the size of Tag, had tried to help, but after struggling with Rachel’s largest suitcase, Tag had sent her a wink and stepped in.