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14 - The Darling Boys
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Two Billionaires and A Bride 15
They spent a few hours on demo, getting disgustingly sweaty. After that, Rebecca showered and cooked a nice lunch for everyone. She expected the twins knew this would calm her, because they didn’t volunteer to chop. Their friend Jesse ate more than he talked but seemed knowledgeable about construction. He was a class ahead of Pete and Charlie, and they obviously looked up to him. Just as obviously, he looked up to his father—whose firm Rebecca planned to Google the second the boys left.She didn’t bring up the obvious: that Pete and Charlie could save her money by moving home again. They paid for their housing with part-time jobs because their independence was important. No matter how much she missed them, she had to let them practice leaving the nest.That, however, wouldn’t come to pass today. Relaxed now and happy to have them near, she lingered with the three of them at the kitchen table, sipping coffee while Pete and Jesse teased Charlie about a girl he liked. Given their circums
Two Billionaires and A Bride 16
The email with Rebecca’s proposed employment contract arrived later that evening. It was long, but if she understood the legalese correctly, it was weighted more in her favor than TBBC’s. The salary seemed astronomical, the signing bonus overkill. She supposed Trey’s company paid the most to get the best, but could this be normal? She read the thing three times at the kitchen table to make sure she wasn’t overlooking a hidden catch. Maybe he’d lied about not sleeping with her again. Maybe she was secretly agreeing to be his sex slave.You’re neurotic, she reminded herself. Can’t too good to be true really be true sometimes?Constitutionally unable to bring herself to sign so quickly, she went down the steps to the cellar to mull over her alternate concern. Funnily enough, the gloomy old cellar looked better torn back to studs. Being her, she couldn’t resistcarrying a flashlight to the crack in the foundation. Now uncovered, it ran in jags from the wall’s top to its bottom. Though it
Two Billionaires and A Bride 17 - Common Ground
WELL, hello, Zane thought, his inner skirt-chaser perking up. A little blonde was hurrying toward him on the Public Garden’s pedestrian bridge. The temperature was near ninety, for which he was grateful. The pint-sized bit of booty wore a strappy Harvard T-shirt with a shelf bra built in. She had great arms, slim but muscled, and truly mouthwatering tits. Jiggling on her ribs with the energy of her strides, they were no bigger than oranges but beautifully shaped and high. Her lack of stature aside, her legs and hips were great— precisely the sort of limbs faded blue jeans were meant to drape. Her hair was a Peter Pan pixie cut. Cute, he thought, and ideal for showing off her cheekbones.Observing that she seemed to be looking for something, Zane stepped politely into her path.“Need help?” he offered when she jolted to a stop.She had big gray eyes, startled at the moment and unexpectedly piercing. Without warning, his throat tightened. For a second, he had the odd sensation that he k
Two Billionaires and A Bride 18
Like his CFO, Zane Alexander packed an extra punch in person. For one thing, he was plain old big—6’4” or 5” with muscle packed onto his muscle and shoulders she was certain could still play quarterback. Staring at him from her height-challenged state easily could have overwhelmed her.Rebecca was fortunate she was ballsier than she looked.Her hormones had a harder time digging in their heels. He was a hunk and a half. Great body. Great face. Killer smile and blue eyes. If Trey was quirkily good-looking, Zane was flat out handsome. His hair was a thick sandy color, expertly styled to create a just-rolled-out-of-bed, finger-combed casualness. He wore the same uniform as the rest of the magazine staff: straight-legged jeans topped by a short sleeve Henley with the Bad Boys logo on the left breast. No one looked bad in it, but as he leaned forward over his knees on that willow- shaded bench—the better to meet her gaze—he was drool worthy.The gray waffle cotton hugged his torso lovingly
Two Billionaires and A Bride 19
Rebecca lived in a single family two-story Victorian. The residence wouldn’t have been fancy even when it was new, but Zane supposed it had character. When he picked her up, she’d explained her brothers’ basement apartment plan. Zane had assured her the strategy wasn’t stupid, and that she’d have no trouble learning how to be a landlord.“You’re a boss already,” he’d said. “You’re used to keeping on top of things.” The dumpster hulking in her front yard was less obvious in the dark. As he parked his old silver convertible in her driveway, Zane reminded himself she had a lot of pressures on her: new job, changing home, boys becoming more independent and expecting her to let them. For a person as tightly wound as Rebecca, this wouldn’t be easy. She might not be in the mood to hop into bedwith him.This, needless to say, wasn’t a thought he was used to having about women.Overall, tonight had left him off kilter. He wondered why he’d told her about his father hitting him. Because she wa
Two Billionaires and A Bride 20 - On the menu
TREY had Elaine arrange his Wednesday appointment with Rebecca. He told himself it made sense to talk at the Lounge. Rebecca could confirm that the kitchen and dining room were set up to suit her. Yes, Zane was back in Boston and, yes, he might read something in Trey’s body language if he saw him with her. That wasn’t why Trey didn’t want Rebecca at headquarters. He had no plans to pursue her. Anything Zane might misinterpret was moot.Aware the excuse was slim, he shook his head and opened his laptop at one of the dining room’s finished booths. He’d come early, and Rebecca wasn’t there. Possibly, he should have had sex with Zane more than once this morning. The thought of his new chef arriving made his libido feel antsy.He’d left the street entrance open, but Rebecca knocked anyway. Trey’s palms broke into a sweat as he went to greet her.“Hey,” he said. “Glad you made it.”This wasn’t very bosslike, but he was grateful anything came out of his mouth. His pulse was going haywire, hi
Two Billionaires and A Bride 21
The call was close, but Rebecca escaped The Bad Boys Lounge without jumping Trey Hayworth’s bones.He’s your boss, she repeated. Sleeping with your employer is asking for trouble.Too bad she wanted to ask for trouble. And ask and ask and—“Shut up,” she snapped to her rearview mirror. As she pulled her car into traffic, her face was hot—not merely from arousal but also annoyance.Trey would have Elaine forward his stylist’s info? The man couldn’t peck one email with his own fingertips?Oh Lord, what was her problem? An email wasn’t a lock of hair. And she didn’t need a memento of her non-relationship with him. Maybe most absurd, because she’d refused Trey’s referral of a stylist, now she was hoping Zanewould call her. It was tomorrow. Twelve hours into it, to be precise.Stopped by a red light, she glared at her shoulder bag, which she’d thrown on the right-hand seat. Her cell phone was in there, and it wasn’t ringing.She could ask the twins for fashion advice, but they wouldn’t be
Two Billionaires and A Bride 22
It was beautiful. She was beautiful. For the first time in a decade, Rebecca acknowledged that. Her face held a hint of the girl she’d been, but her body was a woman’s. She looked seductive in the thin clinging silk: firm where she ought to be, soft where a man would like. She was better than naked wearing it. She was enchanting.Squeezing her feet into the teetering sandal heels brought her back to reality, but she was determined not to do this half-assed. She’d always taught the twins the best thank yous were wholehearted.As a precaution, she gripped the handrail when she went down the stairs. Zane was in the living room, working on his laptop. He looked up at the clack of her sandals. His reaction was priceless. He rose to his feet, hand on heart, as if she were a bolt of lightning that had struck him.“Wow,” he said and swallowed.“I have to keep this,” she confessed, laughing. “It looks too nice on me.”“It looks amazing.” He took her hands as she reached the bottom, holding the
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