The Billionaire Next Door (Billionaire Bad Boys #2)(83)

Working for Crane HQ gave her a discount on hotel rooms, but as she soon found out, even with a discount, the price of a two-week stay was much heftier than she would’ve liked.

She checked a few discounted hotels, and for fun, the Van Heusen, which belonged to Reese Crane’s fiancée. She hadn’t pulled the trigger on that yet, figuring she could talk to Tag tonight.

Over pizza they’d picked up on their way home, she and Tag camped out on the couch, swigged beer from bottles, and talked about their day. Her worries tumbled like shoes in the dryer, banging around in her head, unable to be ignored. Instead of sharing them, she took another drink of her beer and looked out the window at the sky, fading from purple-pink to yellow as the sun set behind the cityscape.

“What is it?” Tag asked.

“What is what?”

“You were chattering and now you’re clamming up.”

“No, I’m not.” Yes, she was. Because her thoughts had turned deep and murky and bordered on terrifying.

“Dimples.”

That one-word nickname bled the truth from her. She sighed and decided to tell him what was going on. From the beginning…then she’d see how far she got.

“My apartment won’t be ready for two weeks. I put a hold on it over the phone today,” she said.

“That’s great,” he said cautiously.

“Bree and Dean need me out by this weekend.” She sagged on the couch. “I was going to stay at the Crane, but my first paycheck is another week out.” Money problems. She hated sharing money problems with Mr. No Money Problems.

Predictably, he offered to fix it with a snap of his fingers. “I can comp one for you, Dimples.”

“I don’t want special treatment on the hotel room, Tag.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“It is to me.” He was a big deal. This was a big deal. They were a big deal. But she couldn’t seem to get any of those words out. Each time she thought of telling him how she felt, she clammed up, afraid to scare him off.

But he didn’t scare off last night.

“So stay here,” Tag said with a shrug.

She blinked at him. Had she really heard that?

His blue eyes held steady.

“I couldn’t ask you to let me stay here for two weeks.”

“You didn’t.” He leaned forward and kissed her. “I offered. Pretty much had to since you refuse to use me for my money.”

His easy smile went a long way to easing her frayed nerves. She shook her head, still in awe of how he kept surprising her. “Thank you.”

“Use me for my body, instead,” he said, kissing her ear. The ear kiss turned to a neck kiss. By the time he’d palmed her breast and she’d turned her lips to his, he was lying on the couch and she was on top of him.

She pulled her lips away and tucked her hair behind her ear. “We always end up right here.”

Large hands encircled her rib cage, warm and comforting. Tag was both of those things, proving to her with his actions she could count on him. Maybe it was time to stop being so afraid of scaring him off. He didn’t appear scared. Not even a little.

“I like you right here,” he said, his low tone trickling through her.

“I…like it too.” Chicken. What an enormous chicken she was. So close to blurting “I love you,” but she couldn’t do it. Because she had no idea what he’d say. She bit down on her lip, her thoughts pinging from topic to topic.

“Now what are you thinking about?” he asked a minute later, smoothing those hands along her sides again.

“The wedding.”

Was it her or had he stopped breathing for a second?

*



He had the sensation of standing on a ledge, about to topple off backwards. Everything Rachel hadn’t said was reflected in her soft, blue-eyed stare. He’d been leaning into this—leaning into her. And suddenly, he wasn’t confident he knew what he was doing.

He didn’t need to label what was going on. They could just be them. Their relationship included overnights, sex, and food. Not… He swallowed, feeling nauseous. Weddings.

When he’d offered to let her stay here, he hadn’t thought about it for more than two seconds. She was at his penthouse often, and she needed help, and as per her usual, she wasn’t going to let him take care of it with money.

Inviting her to stay seemed like a good idea until she mentioned—

“My cousin’s wedding is next weekend.”

“Oh.” He expelled a deep breath. That wedding.

“Tag?”

“Yeah.” Keep breathing. Be normal. Don’t freak.

“You’re sure it’s okay if I stay here?”

“I’m sure.” Even as the words left his mouth, he didn’t feel sure.

Admittedly, him comping a room for her was ridiculous. She was with him whenever she wasn’t working. Her staying here was no big deal. He had tons of space.

He nodded to himself. Six thousand square feet should be enough space to share with one person. That niggling buzz that had started in the back of his mind when she said the W word was frustrating, but it would go away.

He hoped.

“It will only be two weeks,” she said. “I can store my things in the meantime.”