Ruth Cardello - Bedding The Billionaire

“I know,” she replied, understanding more than he did what he had difficulty saying. “Don’t forget to tell me how it went.”

“I won’t,” he answered automatically and hung up.

He smiled.

Marie was a genius.

There were two things Jake knew that Lil loved, but the question was if he could combine them. He used the search engine on his phone and reached for a notepad as he began to find exactly what he was looking for.

Who knew that planning a date could actually be fun?

The next morning, even as she readied herself and Colby, Lil wavered. She really should call a halt to this whole insanity. Maybe she should just tell Abby everything and let her decide how to move forward with it.

No, putting the weight of this problem on her sister would be the coward’s way out. Why ruin her happiness if there was a chance that this was all a paranoid conspiracy theory hatched up by Alethea?

Alethea. The mere mention of her friend’s name would be enough for Abby to dismiss any allegations unless there was hard proof of wrongdoing.

Abby had never made a secret that she disapproved of her best friend. She didn’t liked that Alethea had been booted out of every private school before her parents had sent her to public school as a punishment-a punishment Alethea had embraced.

Born to an upper class family, Alethea had no fear of authority and she had the resources to defy them. Abby had spent many nights attempting to explain the danger in the differences between their situations to Lil, but Lil had refused to listen to her. Yes, Alethea broke the rules sometimes merely for the rush of doing it and some of her ideas had landed Lil in some sticky situations but a friend isn’t someone who never makes mistakes. A friend is someone who loves you right through the ones you make yourself.

And Alethea always had.

It had been Alethea she’d called the night Dirk had walked away from her, Alethea who had convinced her to eat if only for the sake of the baby growing within her and had bolstered her confidence enough to tell Abby she was pregnant.

Looking back now, Abby hadn’t said anything wrong when she finally had told her; she just hadn’t said what Lil had yearned to hear-that she loved her and that they would get through it together. No, instead, she had talked about getting health insurance, finding a good doctor, and starting prenatal care immediately.

All very good advice.

And maybe the only way Abby knew how to deal with the unexpected. She’d had to be strong for so long, maybe she’d forgotten how to share a moment of weakness.

It hadn’t been with malice that Lil had chosen Alethea to bring to her first ultrasound and to invite to be her Lamaze partner. As much as she’d known that Abby had been hurt by the decision, it had also been Alethea she’d chosen to be with her in the delivery room. Things had become so bad between her and Abby by then that they’d barely been speaking; neither knowing quite how to remedy the situation or if it was even worth trying to.

Lil had considered explaining her choices to Abby, but none of her explanations would have improved the situation. The simple fact was that birthing someone had been full-on scary to Lil and she’d wanted someone at her side who could overlook any weakness she might reveal in the process.

So, Colby had been held first by a friend and then by her aunt; something Abby hadn’t yet forgiven Alethea for, not even as her happiness with Dominic had spilled outward and given them a second chance at sisterhood.

With motherhood had come the humility to recognize that Abby was not the only flawed member of their tiny family. Abby had always been there for her even if it hadn’t been the way Lil would have liked, but Lil hadn’t returned the favor. Beneath her tough exterior, Lil acknowledged that insecurities had driven some of her-oh, hell, many of her actions.

But wasn’t that what a new day provided?

A chance to begin again?

She was going to become the sister she should have always been. This time she was going to rescue Abby.

Jake Walton in a suit was sexy enough, but the man who had shown up in khaki shorts and a blue polo shirt took Lil’s breath away. His shorts stopped mid-thigh, long enough to be fashionable, but short enough to remind Lil of what he had looked like with much less on.

Lil looked away.

Better decisions could only come from gaining some control over her libido. Seriously, Jake was just another man. An incredibly gorgeous, sexually talented, inspiration-for-dreams-you-don’t-want-to-wake-up-from man, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t keep a clear head today.

Lil snuck another quick perusal

Damn.

Dressed in a simple brown cotton skirt, light green blouse and sandals, Lil was determined that their day together would stay as tame as the clothing she’d chosen. She bent to place her daughter in the car seat. “Come on in,” she said as she collected the necessary supplies for the day. “We’re ready.”

Colby babbled happily as she was secured into her seat. Lil swung her diaper bag up onto her shoulder, reaching down to pick up the car seat.

Jake’s hand beat her to it. “I’ll carry her; I bet she’s getting heavy.”

He smiled down at Colby who smiled back at him and Lil fought the desire to rip her child out of his hands and run. Neither of them had any business getting attached to Jake. Today was not about that. Tomorrow, things would go right back to being over.

Lil took a deep breath and reminded herself that this was for Abby.

“Thank you,” she said and hoped she didn’t sound as stressed as she felt. He was going to get suspicious if she looked like a trapped animal the whole day. Be cool. Be casual. “I couldn’t find my stroller, so hopefully there is one wherever we’re going.”

“I had yours stored in your trunk.”

“Of course.” Lil smoothed her nervous hands on her skirt and picked up her purse. “Then let’s go.”

At least having Colby with them insured that nothing would happen between them.

Bringing her had been a good idea.

Unless Jake really is dangerous and now I put my daughter in jeopardy, too. Oh, shit.

You’re losing it, Lil.

Jake had never given her a reason to think that he would ever hurt her or her child. She was letting Alethea’s paranoia make her nuts.

The trip down the elevator was painfully silent as was the wait for the car to be brought out of the parking lot. Jake opened the door for Lil and handed her the car seat, watching as she secured it.

Not the mannerisms of a madman.

Relax.

Lil jumped when Jake asked, “Do you want me to drive?”

Since her legs were ready to betray her by shaking, Lil nodded. Driving while deceiving was never a safe option. Officer, I’m sorry I didn’t see that red light I was too busy thinking about what Jake was going to say if he ever discovered why I asked him to come out with me today.

She gladly handed Jake her keys.

Buckled into the passenger seat, Lil faced forward, but watched Jake out of the corner of her eye. He’d secured his own seat belt, but hadn’t started the car.

“We can’t be friends, Lil,” he announced to the steering wheel.

“Excuse me?” Lil swallowed nervously. In the movies, this is where he would tell me that I should have minded my own business-that he had hoped things would go differently, but I knew too much to be allowed to live.

Jake looked across at her, the intensity in his eyes trapping her like a deer in headlights.

“I don’t think I have to tell you why it’s not possible.”

Because friends don’t bury friends in shallow graves in the woods?

Lil bit back a nervous giggle.

He said, “I’ve been thinking about how you called what we’re doing cheap. It doesn’t have to be. I do care about you, Lil, and I’d like for us to start over.”

No, no, no. Do not even go there. I like being afraid of you better than this. This path only leads to a tsunami of guilt. “Jake, please…”

He turned in his seat and took her hand. “Hear me out. You took me by surprise and I handled the situation poorly. Everything you said the other day was spot on right. We don’t know each other, but we can change that. I’m not here because Dominic sent me. Today, I’m here because I want to be. I want to give us a chance-not as friends, but as whatever this is-wherever this goes. This is a date, Lil; make no mistake about that. Our first date, one of many to come, and hopefully one that you’ll never forget.”

I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll remember today.

He was waiting for her to say something.

She removed her hand from his. I am going to Hell for this. Yep, forget about prison, this is the fiery after-life kind of wrong. “I can’t promise you anything, Jake.”

His eyes smoldered with emotion as if her words only made him want her more. “You don’t have to.”

Lil turned forward in her seat and clasped her hands in her lap, trying to keep her tone as cheerful as possible. “So, where are we going?”

“I thought I’d surprise you.”

Oh, you did.

Trust me, you did.

“What are we doing here?” Lil asked as they parked her car in front of the Boston Museum’s School of Fine Arts.

Jake walked around the car to open the door for her before he answered. “On Thursday mornings the school has an art program for the very young and their mothers. They make their own paints and sometimes display their creations in the atrium. They have graciously allowed us to join the class today.”