Page 70 of The Billionaire Who Saved My Cat From The Mafia

Special K lowers his lips to mine and gives me the sweetest kiss I think I’ve ever had.I feel his hands on me, sliding all along my wet skin.I hear myself make a noise that sounds a lot like a purr.

Then he pulls back and looks into my eyes.“You’re quite the talented stripper,” he says.

Well, fuck.

CHAPTER 35

Special K

I wish that hadn’t come out of my mouth.

I didn’t plan to say that.

I didn’t intend to imply that she’s a stripper.I wasn’t even sure my suspicions were correct until right this second, as her eyes flash at me in warning.

Wariness.Caution.Suspicion.

And now I have to figure out how to tell her that I don’t give a shit if that’s how she makes a living.Because I truly don’t.

Did I just step in it?Did I just lose all the progress I’ve made with her?I hope I didn’t trample all over whatever trust she’s decided to place in me.

“We should go back,” she says with a curt nod.

“I don’t care, Boots.Please hear me out.”

She looks away and down.I place my fingertips under her chin and gently lift up her face to me again.Under the heavy fringe of her lashes, I can see that the light’s once again left her eyes.The curtains dropped.

“C’mere.”I gather her up, her wet flesh firm and silky smooth under my touch.I lower the both of us down until the steaming water is up to our chins, our bodies buoyant in the mineral-heavy pool.The heat envelops us.I hold her against me, and she tucks her head into the side of my neck.

“Whatever you do and however you choose to live your life is none of my business.”

“Damn skippy it’s not,” she says.

“I don’t care what your life’s like, and I don’t need to know.The only thing I care about is you… the woman here with me right now.The only thing I want from you is this.”

I feel her gasp and stiffen in my embrace.

“I have no plans for you, Frankie.Only that you’ll find a way to believe that you’re safe with me.”

She stills.

“I don’t care if you’re a house painter or a pole dancer or a rocket scientist.Seriously.I give zero fucks one way or the other.”

She doesn't move and she doesn’t say anything more.

I take a deep breath, knowing I gave it my best shot.“Okay, Boots.I’ll take you back.But at least enjoy the spring for a bit longer.It’s the only hot water in a ten-mile radius of Washoe Ridge.”

Frankie slips from my embrace.I watch her float away while facing me; the steam rising around her pink cheeks, her wet hair plastered against her head.I can’t read her expression, and it isn’t because of the fog.She’s shut down.

I’ve fucked up, big time.But we were going to get to some of these questions sooner or later, I suppose.

Frankie paddles her hands in the water until she’s backed up against a rock ledge as far from me as she can get.She finds a comfortable spot and leans against it, slipping deeper into the water, tipping back her head, and closing her eyes.

She’s had enough of this conversation.

I make my way to the backpack and take out the shampoo and body wash.Only then do I notice that Pussy is seated regally on a flat boulder at the pool’s edge, looking down her nose at me in judgment.

“Mrrrp,” she says.