Page 75 of The Rebel Billionaire

I didn't bother to ask what he was doing, knowing his work was confidential. He'd said enough to give me the impression he was some kind of good guy hacker.Good guymeaning he wasn't going to get arrested for most of what he was doing. That was allIknew.

He had an amazing ability to focus. Despite the noise, he never got distracted. And it was seriously noisy in Casa deCharlie.

I'd switched up the renovation schedule, trading my master bath for the kitchen. I don't know what I'd been thinking when I started the project. I could do without a luxurious bathroom. Not so much without akitchen.

The first floor of my house was chaos, but it never seemed to bother Lucas. I figured if it got bad enough, he could suggest moving over to his place, but heneverdid.

In all this time, I'd never seen the inside of his house, even though it was justnextdoor.

Weird,Iknow.

Not seeing a guy's house was usually a good indication he was married or was cheating on someone, but I knew that wasn't the case. I also knew his house was in much better shape than my own, and I would've bet his bed was far more comfortable than myfuton.

Day by day, we rubbed along like an old married couple, bickering about little things, enjoying comfortable silences, then fucking like crazy allnight.

Okay, maybe not like an old married couple. Maybe more likenewlyweds.

I thought I understood about his house. As long as he never brought me next door, he could compartmentalize. I was there to protect and to fuck. If I got comfortable in his house, we'd start a quick slide into relationshipterritory.

I got it, but it stillbuggedme.

His house beckoned from across the narrow strip of lawn between our driveways, mysterious, the source of all things Lucas. Everything he kept from me. Everything he wouldn'tshare.

I didn't say anything about it. What was there to say? It made sense to stay at my house, practically speaking. It was convenient if lesscomfortable.

Lucas never complained. NeitherdidI.

I would take him however I could get him, for however long he was willingtostay.

Yep, that's what I was reduced to. I'd agreed to this wholefuck buddies/friends with benefitsthing thinking it would be no big deal. It never occurred to me that Lucas would insinuate himself into every aspect of my life. Without meaning to, he'd become essential to myhappiness.

I was totally screwed. Well, yes, Iwastotally screwed. I liked that part of it. Sex with Lucas only got better the more we did it. I knew things now. That spot on the inside of his thighs that was so sensitive I just had to blow on it and his cock would surge inmyhand.

Lucas was the same with me. At this point, all it took was a certain look, slanted from beneath his dark lashes, and I was instantly wet, instantly ready tobehis.

Yep, totally screwed. For him, it was about our bodies and hanging out and keeping me safe. I had no illusions that I'd made a place for myself in his heart, the way he'd taken residenceinmine.

Lucas had been watching over me, nonstop, for three weeks, and other than progress on my house and a lot of sex, nothing had happened. We still didn't know if my stalker was Bruce Hayward or someone working for him, but either way, they were leaving mealone.

Both Aiden and Lucas thought that Lucas's constant presence had scared them off. If that were true, it left us in a bind. As long as Lucas was never more than a few feet away, the stalker wouldn't make another move, and we'd never have the chance tocatchhim.

Since I wasn't eager to give Lucas the perfect excuse to leave me and I wasn't interested in being bait for another violent attack, I let things stay as they were. I didn't want to do anything to rock the boat—a problem, since I had a question to ask Lucas. One that had been bothering me for weeks. There was a benefit tomorrow night and I hadtogo.

And if I was going, so was Lucas. I'd put off mentioning it for weeks, at first because going to a benefit with me was a boyfriend thing, not a fuck buddy thing. I wasn't going to ask just to hear him turn me down. Once Lucas became my bodyguard, he'd have to come with me if he was going to keepmesafe.

Still, I hadn't said anything. Now, I was outoftime.

I wasn't ready to find out how much of our relationship was a job and how much was about us. It didn't help that he'd been irritated with meallday.

Apparently, Lucas was not on board with my plan to trade my sedan for a used pick-up truck. I don't know what his deal was. He drove a pick-up, though his was new and much nicer than the trucks I planned tolookat.

My car came to a stop, startling me out of my reverie. Lucas turned to look at me, a scowl marring his handsome face, and said, "Are you absolutely sure you want todothis?"

"I told you I was," I said irritably. "I don't know why you're making such a big dealofit."

"You should get somethingnicer."

"I don't want to spend that much money," I said for what felt like the fiftieth time that day. "I don't need a car payment right now and I don't want to drain mysavings."