Page 19 of The Billionaire's Angel

Mrs. W had texted that there was leftover chocolate cake hidden in the vegetable drawer of the fridge where Amelia was sure not to look. I wasn't going to pass that up, even if the chocolate might keep me awake. It's not like I was sleeping anyway. I’dtried.

I’d washed my face, drank a cup of my normal sleepy-time tea and had dutifully gotten into bed. Nothing. I lay there staring at the ceiling for two hours before giving up, pulling on my robe, and coming in search of the mythical chocolatecake.

Standing in the doorway of the kitchen, Gage grinned at my shriek, and I felt my cheeks turning pink. If I could get through one day without embarrassing myself in front of this man, I could die happy. So far, it hadn'thappened.

It didn't help that just the sight of him made me blush. It wasn't my fault. Gage Winters was hot. His face was beautiful, those blue eyes, sharp cheekbones, and full lower lip. But his body… Every inch of him was chiseled, the muscles of his biceps straining the sleeves of his T-shirt and his forearms—I’d never gotten distracted by a man's forearms before. I couldn't remember the last time I’d been distracted by a man at all, and then definitely not by hisforearms.

I could stare at Gage allday.

“Hungry?” he asked, his eyes scanning me from head to toe, something in them making my blushhotter.

“Huh?” Why was he staring at me like that? His expression was almost predatory, but I didn't feel threatened. The way he was looking at me was… It was like he wanted me. But that didn't make sense. I wasn't Gage Winters’s type. I couldn’t be. Not in a millionyears.

“You're standing in front of an open refrigerator,” he clarified, “so I assumed you werehungry.”

“Oh,” I said, stupidly. “Not hungry, exactly.” I opened the vegetable drawer and spotted the cake plate nestled among stalks of broccoli and a bunch of asparagus. I lifted it out and showed it to Gage. His eyes widened in appreciation, and hegrinned.

“I take it Amelia doesn't know about the cake?” heasked.

I shook myhead.

“How doyouknow about the cake?” he probed, pacing closer. I resisted the urge to back up. Instead, I carefully placed the cake on the kitchen island betweenus.

“Mrs. W told me,” I said, opening the drawer to retrieve twoforks.

“She told you about chocolate cake, and she didn't tell me?” Gage took one of the forks and dug into the generous slice of cake. “I can't believe it. I'm herfavorite.”

Without thinking, I said, “I know. But I think she felt like she owed me one after the bugs in the lamp incident.” I took my own forkful of cake, smaller than Gage's, and lifted it to my lips. Bittersweet chocolate melted across my tongue and I closed my eyes in pleasure. Gage made a low sound in his throat, and my eyes flew open. He was staring at me again with that samelook.

Predatory. Possessive.Hungry.

I watched him lift a forkful of cake to his own mouth, my eyes riveted as his lips opened and his straight, white teeth pulled the cake from the fork. When his tongue flicked out to catch a stray crumb, a shiver went down my spine, and heat bloomed between mylegs.

This was bad. I should have left. I should have put down the fork and gone back to my room. I had no business staring at Gage's mouth. Even if I put aside the fact that I worked for his family, that I was, in a way, his employee, Gage Winters was the last man I should look at to break my dry spell. For so manyreasons.

I should have put down the fork and gone back to my room and made a list of all the reasons I should stop staring at Gage'smouth.

I didn't. I watched him take another bite of cake, and the heat between my legs grew. So stupid. I was so stupid. Stupid, and helpless beneath his bluegaze.

I dug my fork into the cake for another bite. I wasn't paying attention, and I ended up with mostly frosting. I licked it off the tines of the fork and Gage made another low sound in his throat. Risking a quick look at his face, and I saw his eyes narrowed onme.

I stood there, frozen in place. My first instinct was to run, a gut response to the tension in his muscles, the heated intent in his eyes. I stayed where I was. If I ran, he would chaseme.

Gage Winters was the predator, and I was theprey.

But that wasn't why I didn't run. I wasn't afraid of Gage. I probably should've been. He was twice my size, and I was alone with him. Not only was he a lot stronger than me, the night we’d met he’d proven he wasn’t quitestable.

I wasn't afraid of Gage. I was afraid ofmyself.

Gage moved, breaking the stillness between us and digging his fork into the slice of cake. I didn't expect him to bring it to my mouth, the cold metal of the fork urging my lips open. The chocolate melted on my tongue, sweet andrich.

Gage set the fork on the island with a click of metal on marble. Lifting a hand, his fingers slid along my chin, his thumb brushing my lowerlip.

I swayed into him, the heat of his skin a magnet. He dropped his head and whispered, “You have chocolate on yourmouth.”

Then he kissedme.

All thought of running dissolved as his lips slid over mine, light as a whisper. I made a sound somewhere between a whimper and a moan, and Gage's arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me flush to his hard, tallbody.