Ensnared (The Accidental Billionaires #1)(63)

I was done playing games. But I wasn’t leaving until he heard everything I needed to say. “I played your silly cat-and-mouse game in the beginning because I wanted to get to know you. I have no problem admitting that I also wanted to end up in your bed because I was so damn attracted to you. But I ran into a problem somewhere along the way.” I took a deep breath and looked at him as I continued. “I ended up wanting more, Eli. Even though you made it pretty clear that you didn’t. This isn’t really your fault. You were honest. It was me who fell in love with you. I didn’t want to, but it happened. I should have gotten the message when I didn’t hear from you after we slept together. And it definitely should have sunk in when you texted me about how you felt. But I wasn’t sure if you needed time to sort through everything that happened with your brother. Or if you didn’t call me because you were so sick. I foolishly thought that you might eventually realize that you loved me, too. But you didn’t. So I have to move on. Empty sex isn’t going to ever be enough for me. I’m not made that way. I’m sorry.”

“It was never empty, Jade,” I heard him say as I moved like lightning toward the door.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. I had to leave before I ended up making a bigger fool out of myself.

I pulled out my cell phone as I moved down the hallway as fast as my high-heeled shoes would take me.

“Huge tip if you get my BMW to the front door before I get down the elevator and outside,” I said to the valet on my cell.

“I’m on it,” the valet answered.

I jumped into an open lift and pushed the button for the lobby, thankful that nobody else had entered the same one.

I let my head fall back as I rode down, trying unsuccessfully to hold back the tears that desperately wanted to escape from my eyes.

“You can do this, Jade. You can do this,” I whispered to myself.

Maybe I would have lasted another week if Eli hadn’t touched me. But what good would it have done? I couldn’t make him love me, and I loved him so much that I couldn’t take the pain of being close to him every single day and not want more.

When the elevator opened, I strode across the marble floors, my heels clicking wildly as I made my way outside.

My BMW was just pulling up to the curb.

“Hey, Mr. Stone said to hold up,” a second valet called from near the building.

The guy who jumped out of my car hesitated, but I pushed several twenties into his hand as I said, “Mr. Stone doesn’t always get everything he wants.”

I hopped into my car and left, and I finally had the very ugly cry I’d been holding back. It lasted all the way to Citrus Beach.





CHAPTER 28

JADE



I found out later that day that I had gotten an interview for my dream job as a researcher/scientist in San Diego, so I knew I had to pull my shit back together.

It was Friday, and I had to be coherent by Monday.

Maybe I should have called Skye or Brooke, but I didn’t want to do much of anything except lie on my couch and devour as much ice cream as possible.

My food drug of choice was Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream that was made by Ben & Jerry’s. And I was well stocked. Besides the carton I had in my hand, there were four more in the freezer.

I dug my spoon into the caramel and chocolate-covered-ice-cream-cone mixture and shoved it into my mouth before I picked up the remote and started flipping through the channels.

Yeah, I realized that I couldn’t sit and eat Ben & Jerry’s every night, but I needed some time to get my head together.

Maybe approaching Eli to follow through on his offer to act as an intern hadn’t been a good idea, but I didn’t regret it. I’d learned a lot, and those few weeks had helped me gain some confidence in a world I knew nothing about.

I also didn’t regret the new wardrobe. I’d need it if I was going to start interviewing.

The makeover had boosted my confidence, and I finally felt okay in my own skin.

I was over my guilt about becoming a billionaire. I was more interested in figuring out how I could make a difference with my wealth.

At some point over the last several weeks, I’d changed. I’d stopped being the shy student, and had decided to be the best person I could be.

Eli had helped me get there, so I didn’t regret the time I’d spent with him.

What I really felt devastated over was the fact that Eli hadn’t returned my feelings, and I wasn’t so sure I was ever going to feel the same way about a man again.

I stopped changing channels when I got to Shark Tank, and tossed the remote back on the coffee table. I could listen to the show while I was answering my emails.

I opened my laptop and started deleting all the junk mail I got on a daily basis. It seemed like I unsubscribed from a million places, but I still had more ads in my box the next day.

I clicked on a notice from the DNA site I’d used when I’d discovered that Evan was my half brother. I went to delete it because I got ads or notifications almost every day, but I hesitated when I saw the first line.

I have a new match?

I clicked to the site and looked at the current entry. I scanned with a little more interest when I saw that I had a new relative match.

Relationship—Niece.

“What the hell?” I mumbled. “How is that possible?”