Page 17 of The Billionaire's Promise

I let her drift off beside me for a few minutes. The apple scent of her shampoo enveloped me, familiar from all those days working together at her desk and somehow exotic in the dark room. An explosion on the screen woke her, and she sat up, blinking and pushing her hair off her face.

"I think I need to go pass out," she said. "Sorry. You can hang out and watch the end of the movie if you want."

"No, I'm good. I've seen it."

"I'll walk you out," she said, straightening the couch pillows while I found my shoes. She followed me to the front door, her eyes sleepy and unfocused.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked. "I can stay, sleep on the couch."

Magnolia shook her head. "I'm fine. I have to get used to it," she said.

"Yeah, but you don't have to start tonight."

"No, I'm okay. I promise."

I wasn't convinced. I knew I needed to go, but I didn't want to leave her. Facing her, I cupped her cheeks in my palms and met her eyes. "You're going to be okay, Magnolia. You're so much better off without him. I promise you."

Her eyes filled, tears glazing the blue with a watery film. Those tears were my downfall. I hated to see Magnolia cry. It killed me. I did the exact thing I'd sworn not to do.

I kissed her.

I knew it was a mistake. I knew it. The moment her lips touched mine, soft and warm, I no longer cared. The little gasp she made went straight to my cock. I ran my tongue along her lower lip and groaned. Fuck, she was sweet. I'd imagined kissing Magnolia for two years. The reality, even this brief taste of her, blew every fantasy right out of the water.

Before my common sense had the chance to kick in, I tilted her head and deepened the kiss, sealing my mouth over hers, taking everything I could get. At first, she kissed me back, her tongue sliding along mine, her body leaning into me. When she took a step closer, fitting her soft curves against me, I almost lost my mind. My cock was screaming,yes, but my brain was sounding the alarm.

Too fast. Way too soon.

Unfortunately, my brain didn't get the message through in time. Magnolia wrenched herself away and stared at me, her eyes wide with horror. She pressed the back of her hand against kiss-swollen lips, her shoulders heaving as her breath came hard and fast.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest, her posture so defensive she might as well have been carrying a sign that said,Stay Back.

"I wanted to.” Bad answer. Magnolia's expressive eyes shut me out, turning opaque and hard.

"Don't ever do that again," she said.

"Magnolia—" I started. She cut me off.

"No. We'll pretend it didn't happen. It's not a big deal. Just forget about it."

My mind raced, searching for the right thing to say that would erase the last few minutes. I'd meant to kiss her, but not yet. I needed an excuse. A reason. Anything was better than,I wanted to. I was supposed to be charming, for fuck's sake.

I ran out of time.

While I was still searching for words, Magnolia swung the door shut in my face, softening her rejection with a quiet, "I'll see you tomorrow."

The one time I cared about a woman, and I'd already fucked it up. Now I had to figure out how to fix things before she came up with an excuse to shut me out forever.

CHAPTER SEVEN

VANCE

ONE MONTH LATER

Magnolia was true to her word. I made a single attempt to mention our kiss the next day, and she shut me down, saying only, "We're not talking about it. It never happened."

I let it go. It didn't fit my plan to start something with Magnolia when she'd just lost her fiancée. I'd been giving her time, occupying myself by switching between plans for our first date and fantasies of what she'd look like naked. I had to be sneaky about the date. I couldn't just ask her out. She'd say no. I was going to have to take her by surprise. My current favorite plan was to invent a business trip. We had a few investment opportunities that could require travel. I had a feeling it would be easier to change things between us if I could break the pattern of our daily lives. Little did I know how true that would be.

I was forced to stick with fantasy and plans for the moment. I had a show coming up in a few weeks, and between that and some problems with a project we'd invested in, we'd been putting out fires right and left over the past few days. Things had been so crazy we'd missed lunch. I'd stopped for groceries on the way home from a meeting and was hoping I could talk Magnolia into letting me cook for her at my loft.