Page 8 of Billion-Dollar Baby Shock

Hi baby bro, got into the party, just letting you know where I am.I’ll check in with you tomorrow.Tara X

She put the phone back in her bag and looked at herself in the mirror and groaned.Her hair was a wild tangle on her head, more resembling a bird’s nest than the elegant chignon she’d aimed for earlier at the budget hotel where she was staying.

She pulled out the pins and let her hair fall around her shoulders, doing her best to make it look presentable.Then she pinched her too pale cheeks and washed her hands.

She took a deep breath and came out of the bathroom and made her way back to the main living space that reminded her of an art gallery, especially when she saw the vast canvases on the walls.They surprised her becausethey were full of colour and passion in contrast with the otherwise very white and stark space.

The man had taken off his jacket and was standing with his back to her at the open French doors, hands in his pockets.Tara’s insides clenched.Was he having second thoughts about bringing her here?After all, she was nothing special really, and that had been driven home spectacularly when she’d seen the other women at the party, each one more beautiful and lissom and golden than the last.

Tara had no real fashion sense, not like her sister Lucy.She rarely wore make-up.She never went to the gym so any muscle definition was down to sheer luck and genetics.

He turned around and Tara’s whirling thoughts stopped.He’d taken off his bow tie.She gestured to her hair, feeling self-conscious, ‘My hair…took a bit of a battering from the helicopter.’

‘Sorry about that.’

‘Oh, no, it’s fine, it wasn’t as if I had it done professionally or anything.’Tara mentally closed her eyes and cringed.She had to learn to filter her thoughts.She realised her feet were aching in the high heels, also something she wasn’t used to, and lifted one foot, saying, ‘Do you mind if I take them off?’

He shook his head.‘Not at all.’

She slipped them off her feet and put them to one side.The marble floor was deliciously cool to the touch.

‘Can I get you a drink?’

Tara put her bag down on a table and walked forward.‘Sure, what do you have?’

‘Whatever you’d like.’He went over to a panel in thewall and pressed something and it slid back to reveal a well-stocked bar, lit up with golden lights.

Tara made a soft whistling sound.‘Impressive.’

She wrinkled her nose as she looked at the vast array of products and confessed, ‘I’m not much of a drinker actually, a water would be fine.’

‘If you’re sure?’

She nodded.He poured her a sparkling water and added some ice and lemon and handed it to her in a crystal glass.She hoped she wasn’t behaving too gauchely but she knew she wasn’t equipped to deal with this situation.

Should she now be lounging seductively on a couch and waiting for him to come and ravish her?Or should she be the one making the first move?Like a strong woman in charge of her sexuality?

In a bid to avoid overthinking, Tara went over to stand in front of one of the big canvases.He came to stand beside her.She looked to her side and up.He was so much taller now she wasn’t in heels, but she didn’t feel vulnerable.She did trust that if she didn’t want anything to happen he wouldn’t push it.There was something inherently proud about him.

She asked, ‘Did you choose this?’

He glanced at her and seemed slightly wary.‘I did, actually.I like this artist’s work.What do you think of it?’

Tara cocked her head to one side.‘There’s a lot in it.And yet everything around it is so…white and still.’

‘I like the contrast.’

‘I get that.’She wondered if it hinted at what she could sense under the suave surface of this man—the same passion that had sprung up between them and this totally spontaneous night.But then…maybe it wasn’t all thatspontaneous.Maybe this was a well-worn routine.She went a little cold.

He came and stood between her and the painting, eclipsing it.He said, ‘I also like something else in here.’

Tara gazed up at him.She had to ask.‘Is this…usual for you?Do you bring women here in some sort of showy gesture?’

He looked at her and she could see that he appeared slightly shocked.Maybe he wasn’t used to women questioning him.

But then he shook his head.‘Not at all.You’re the first woman I’ve ever brought here.This is somewhere I usually come to be alone, take time out.’

Something inside Tara melted even as she castigated herself for needing reassurance—after she’d agreed to spend a night with a total stranger!‘You’re not just saying that?’