Billionaire Unmasked(9)

“I never asked him. He probably assumes I’m staying with Grady. And Grady probably assumes I’m staying with Dante. I’m hoping they don’t talk about it.” Every one of the Sinclair siblings had a home here on the peninsula, although Grady was the only one who lived here full-time.

“You can stay here with me. It’s not like I don’t have the space,” Hope told him earnestly.

Jason had his private jet parked at the airport outside of town, his pilot ready to leave whenever Jason was ready. “I’ll probably just fly out. The jet’s on standby.”

“Unlike the rest of you, I had to actually fly a commercial plane like most normal people do,” Hope teased. “Evan is taking me back to Colorado, though. And then he’s flying on with Dante to California. He has some business there.”

Jason swallowed the last of his burnt marshmallow s’more. “Why is it you never wanted me to manage your funds for you?” Hope had never asked, but he would have been happy to invest her fortune like he’d done for Grady and Dante, built her sizable inheritance into billions. It was what he did best—making some money into a lot of money.

“The money never meant that much to me, and you’re busy. Money is nice when I need something, and it lets me have my freedom. But I don’t really care if it grows or not. I have more than I could ever spend in a lifetime, even if I was extravagant, which I’m not.”

“I’m never too busy to take care of you, Hope. What are you doing with the funds?” he asked gruffly.

She explained how she’d stored her fortune once she’d received it and Jason cringed. Not one penny was in solid stocks or investments. Christ. “Money market accounts and bank accounts aren’t making you much money, Hope.” The investor in him recoiled in horror. “I can’t believe Evan didn’t step in.”

“Nobody needs to step in,” Hope replied angrily. “It’s my money and I don’t care how fast it grows. I told all of my brothers that, and they finally stopped hounding me. I rarely spend any of it. The only things I’ve purchased since high school are a small condo in Aspen and my vehicles. I went to college, remember? I can actually work.”

Shit, she looked fabulously irate. Her green eyes flashed fire at him, and it just made Jason even harder. Hope had always been independent, which was why her loser boyfriend had always been a mystery to him. She was sweet, but she’d never been the type to put up with a lot of crap from a man, even her bossy brothers. “You’re not working right now. You need to be generating more income,” he argued irritably. “Especially if you’re going to keep picking guys who don’t have a damn job.” Fuck. That rankled. There was nothing that annoyed him more than thinking about any man except him touching Hope.

“I am—” Hope clamped her mouth shut and took a deep breath, not finishing her comment. “I’m doing fine,” she finished more calmly. She averted her gaze away from Jason’s face.

“Are you really fine, Hope?” he asked fiercely, breaching the short distance between them to grasp her chin and force her to look at him. “Or are you feeling just as damn lost as I feel right now?” Jason knew his control was slipping, but he couldn’t bring himself to give a shit. Who watched out for Hope? She’d just split with her boyfriend. Was she heartbroken? Was she happy in Colorado? Why did she stay there if her relationship was finally over?

“I’m doing good,” she answered quietly and looked into his eyes this time.

“What about your ex-boyfriend? How can you be okay?”

She shot him a weak smile. “I think it was time. We just weren’t right for each other. I’ll get over it.” She paused. “What’s happening with you, Jason? Is something wrong? You seem…troubled.”

For some reason, the fact that Hope sounded like a concerned friend made him completely insane. “Nothing’s wrong, but I definitely have a problem.”

“What?” Hope asked gently.

“You,” he growled as he grasped her hand and pressed it against his throbbing erection. “I can’t stop wanting you. I’ve wanted you for what seems like forever. I can get on my goddamn jet and fly back to New York, but distance isn’t going to work anymore for me. I’ll be thinking about you anyway, getting myself off on fantasies of being so deep inside you that you can’t think about anything else but me.” He snaked his hand behind her neck and covered her mouth with his before she could say anything else, or deny the heat between them. He came completely unraveled as she straddled his lap, pushed him down to the carpet, and covered his body with hers. She fisted his hair and kissed him as if her life depended on it. Her tongue met his stroke for stroke, as if she had never felt physical desire before and had to have it—now that she’d discovered it.