Her Billionaires(32)

“It’s fine,” she assured him. “I understand. You loved her. You can’t separate that from who you are and what you feel in any given moment.”

He flinched but kept eye contact, obviously shocked by her words. His reaction surprised her, but she knew she hadn’t said the wrong thing. Her usual insecurity was gone, replaced by a steadfast calm. Whatever she said, it had been from the heart, and that is all that really counted.



How could she read him so well? Freakishly well. He felt like a complete idiot for talking about Jill right now, and yet somehow Laura made it seem fine. Natural. Like another extension of himself, just a perfectly typical part of life. Against all hope he had thought there might—just might—be a woman like this out there for him and Dylan. Someone sweet and nice and understanding and accepting. Not quite convinced she was out there, he had basically given up, and now Dylan had found her on a damn online dating site, of all places. The kind of place where men trolled for sex.

Dylan, though, had been seeking something more. And now here “more” was, standing before him, telling him that who he was was totally fine. That talking about his dead girlfriend was OK because it was how he felt.

What had he done to deserve this—and how could he keep it all going?

Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her again, this time with more urgency and a deeper acceptance. Less questioning, more certainty. Was he imagining that she felt it, too? Her lips were less tentative, more confident, as her tongue slipped in and did its own claiming, her hands pressing against his shoulder blades and pushing him into her, her hips lifting up against his. She was shorter than he was used to, a good foot smaller than he, but her curves were addictive. His hands wanted to touch every inch of flesh, especially the expanse of softness from the spot where her ass met her thigh, up through to her breasts. Handfuls of Laura and her little sighs of pleasure made him harden even more—if that were possible—and by God, if they weren’t heading toward dusk on a mountain where it wasn’t safe to be unprotected at night, he’d have spent the next five hours devouring her, right here, right now.

However, if they stayed, the bears might very well do the devouring, so with great reluctance he pulled back, cradling her face in his hands, smiling down at her lovely, flushed cheeks, those eyes eager and bright. “We need to go down the mountain now before it gets dark.” He pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “I wish...” He couldn’t finish his thought, too overwhelmed by the crushing chaos of turbulence inside him.

She nodded, making his head bob slightly, in turn triggering a grin on his lips. “That would be an inauspicious first date. ‘Woman eaten by bear.’”

“Why do you assume the bear would eat you?” He laughed and opened his eyes. She was looking at him with a half-smile.

“Because I have more body fat and you can run faster.”

“I would help you climb a tree.”

“Guys do that so they have an excuse to stare at our asses.”

He craned his head behind her body and looked down. “I don’t need an excuse.”

She blushed and looked up, a tight, amused smile on her lips. Had he gone too far? “First date?” she said. She seemed to be forcing herself to make eye contact.

Puzzled, he frowned. “Uh, yes?”

“That implies there might...”

“...be a second?”

She nodded.

“That’s up to you, Laura.”



Not telling Dylan about Laura really was going to kill him, but he needed this second date to confirm his suspicions. When he came out of his bedroom and found Dylan hunched over his laptop, naked except for his boxer briefs, shoulders curled and face staring intently at the screen as he chowed down a bowl of cereal, Mike couldn’t help himself. He snickered.

Dylan practically climbed the walls, startling, his face panicked and body spidery with a fight-or-flight stance. “What the fuck, Mike? Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Creep up on people like that!” He had one hand on his heart. “Fucking gave me a heart attack.”

“Hey, I didn’t do anything weird. I walked into my own kitchen to grab breakfast. You’re the freak. Why are you in another world?” A quick glance at the screen gave him his answer: the online dating site.

With Laura’s picture and profile.

Fuck. Suppressing his jealousy, Mike opened the fridge door and grabbed a half gallon of milk to pour a glass as he popped two pieces of bread in the toaster.

“I’m—ah, hell, I guess I’m stalking Laura.” A rush of protectiveness hit Mike in the solar plexus like a punch. He knew Dylan wasn’t going to harm her. Knew it was just because Dylan was crazy about her. Knew all that.