Page 46 of The Billionaire's Promise

"What do you mean,I have to ask? You say that like it was obvious."

"Itwasobvious," he said. "It was obvious to everyone except for you, apparently."

"I didn't know," I protested. "You slept with so many women, and you never said anything."

Vance shoved his hands in the back pockets of his jeans and looked a little sheepish. "Yeah, well, I knew I didn't have a shot with you while I was drinking, and you were with Brayden then anyway."

"And after you stopped drinking?" I asked, cautious but curious.

"Just because I wasn't drinking, it didn't mean I had my shit together," he said, stating the obvious.

"You were still sleeping around a lot," I said, sounding exactly like a jealous girlfriend. I didn't care.

"Not as much as before, but yeah. You were engaged to someone else," he said, defensive.

"I didn't know," I said. "You sometimes made comments about my ass, but you never said anything real.”

"And if I had? Would you have left him? Or would you have quit working for me and shut me out?”

I thought about that for a minute. From where I was standing just then, after a night in Vance's bed, the thought that I would've quit my job and cut him out of my life was insane. We'd been friends.

But for a long time, I’d been determined to make things work with Brayden and I'd been positive there was no chance of anything with Vance. Would I have dumped my fiancé to find out?

"I don't know," I admitted. "I don't know. But I'm a lot happier with you than I ever was with him."

"Obviously," Vance said, rolling his eyes at me. "For one thing, my dick is way bigger than his. And for another, I actually know what to do with mine."

I burst out laughing at his arrogance. He was kidding, but only kind of. That's because while his words were funny, they were also accurate.

"You were really thinking about me that way, all this time?" I asked, crossing the room to him.

"For years," he said. "I've wanted you for years."

I stopped in front of him and reached for my zipper. Lowering it slowly, I shrugged my dress off my shoulders and let it fall to my waist, exposing my breasts in a lacy black bra. I hadn't had time to go shopping lately, not in a store, but I could do a lot of damage on the Internet with a credit card.

Vance's pupils dilated, his eyes fixed on my bare skin.

"Did you know I’d been thinking about you too?" I asked, reaching for the open collar of his shirt. "Pretty much since the day we met."

"Really?" Vance’s voice was thick and slow. "What've you been thinking?"

"Why don't you let me show you?” I said, peeling his shirt off his shoulders and down his arms.

CHAPTER TWENTY

MAGNOLIA

Vance's shirt dropped to the floor. I'd have to act fast if I didn't want him to take charge. Not that I didn't like it when he took charge. The night before had been a lesson in everything Vance knew about making a woman come, but this time, I wanted more than that.

I wasn't ready to tell him how I felt about him. As much as I wanted to have confidence in what was happening between us, the truth was I just didn't. But I wanted him. I wanted Vance and I loved him, and I needed a way to show it to him, to tell him what this meant to me without having to actually tell him.

Knowing Vance, he'd probably understand me better if I said it with sex anyway. I rested my hands on his chest and pushed, urging him backward until his legs hit the wide sofa. My hands went to the snap of his jeans. I flicked it open with my thumb and lowered the zipper.

He stood there, his hands at his sides, watching me, the faintest tremble to his fingers telling me he wasn't nearly as relaxed as he seemed. Good, because I was nervous. Turned on, desperate to touch him, but nervous. Most of my sexual experience was limited to Brayden, and he hadn't been adventurous in bed. Neither had I.

That was behind me. I had Vance, right here, waiting to see what I was going to do with him. I lowered the zipper on his jeans, tugging a little to get it down, his erection pressing into the fabric, waiting for me. I hooked my thumbs in the belt loops and pulled, dropping to my knees.

His jeans fell to pool around his ankles, leaving me face to face with his cock. Vance had a beautiful cock. No question. Seeing it in broad daylight, I was a little shocked something that big had fit inside me.