How to Avoid a Billionaire(13)

“I want yours too.”

This time he did grin at her behavior. The truth was he’d thought the exhibit would bore him. While a museum was considered a cultural experience, he had never had the patience or the interest for them. Melanie creating elaborate—false—histories behind the various pieces while still admiring the skill it took to fashion them had made the experience if not fun, at least entertaining. She perplexed him, and he found himself drawn to her for a reason he had yet to sort out in his own head.

He held out his cone, and she stuck out a small tongue. His pants tented, and he thanked his lucky stars he was already sitting down.

“Mmm,” she moaned. “It’s good.”

Ryder glared at her. “Stop that.”

She widened her eyes. “What?”

“You’re asking for it, angel.”

“Fine, tell me about yourself. All through dinner you avoided personal questions, and since I let you hang with me tonight, I think you should give it up.”

Again she played on words. She knew what she did, and he had no doubt she wanted to torment him. What he didn’t like was all evening he had wrestled for control of their date and found himself in a fight. Every woman he’d set to conquer fell to his desires almost from day one. The tougher ones, he easily saw through for the games they played. He noticed the coy glances, the accidental brushes against him. Melanie cast him no shy looks. In fact, it appeared that she made fun of him, something he didn’t appreciate.

“I’d rather take you home.” He enfolded her hand in his. “Or you could come to my place, stay the night.”

She faced him, and the teasing expression disappeared. “I know what you want, Ryder, and I’m not going to lie. I want it too. I really do, but…”

He hesitated, not liking where this conversation was going. “But?”

“I slept with you on the first date. I don’t make a habit of it, although that’s probably hard to believe. I like to know the men I give my body to. If you had a name like John or whatever, I still wouldn’t know your last name. I recognized the name Ryder, but that was my knowledge, not you being honest with me.”

He felt a nerve jump in his jaw as he clenched it. This little beauty was no pushover, nor was she a fool, but then he had firsthand knowledge of her intelligence in the ad she’d designed. “What do you want to know?”

She shrugged and smiled. “Whatever you want to tell me.”

Ryder stood and walked to the trashcan. He threw his half-eaten cone into it and wiped his hands with a napkin. When he returned to the bench, Melanie waited for him, her hands in her lap holding the empty sherbet container. He nabbed that and disposed of it before sharing with her how his mother left him with his father at three. As he spoke, tension tightened the muscles across his shoulders, and he had to make a concentrated effort not to clam up.

Melanie laid a hand on his arm and leaned into him. He let his gaze fall to her cleavage, but the tenderness in the soft brown eyes drew his attention back to them.

“Do you see her now?” she asked.

“No.”

“Didn’t you try to find her?”

“Why should I?”

“Ryder!”

“Growing up, I had all I needed and more, Melanie. You don’t have to feel sorry for me.”

“There’s more to life than money.”

He grunted, and a need to put her in her place came over him. “Every day, I was surrounded by some of the most brilliant minds in business and in science. I got to listen in on decision-making meetings that governed thousands of people’s lives. When I attended a private school, these same men who were CEOs of Fortune 500 companies were on speed-dial and helped me with my homework.”

She peered at him, unimpressed.

“My father taught me how to handle a woman and hosted many parties where—let’s just say my education expanded from lectures to hands-on.”

Her mouth fell open. Why the hell was he sharing all of this with her? He should have allowed her to believe in the possibility that he could fall in love with her. He expected Melanie to jump up and storm out of the museum. Why had he let her get under his skin?

He hitched his shoulders and looked away from her. “Now you know me.”

“Oh, there’s so much more to you than that.”

He studied her upturned face. “Come to my house tonight.”

She offered him a teasing smile. “I can’t. It’s a school night.”

“Did you do your homework?”

“You’re my homework.”

Ryder couldn’t help himself. He kissed that pouty mouth and drew back to see her reaction. She stood and walked away. Ryder frowned. When he caught up to her, he took hold of her arm and turned her gently to face him. “Did I scare you off with what I told you?”