Page 73 of Auctioned to the Billionaire Surgeon

This was my house; I felt it in my bones.

It was bigger than I needed, but it was one of the smaller homes in a nice new neighborhood that had gone up near the hospital. I hadn’t even picked this neighborhood as one I wanted to look at houses in, but Paolo had changed up my listings with Tiffani Grace this morning. I’d considered it too expensive, but he’d vetoed that. He liked how close it was to the hospital and how safe it was.

“You love it, huh?” Paolo asked, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as we stood outside admiring the yard and the back view of the house.

“I really do.”

“I do, too. I could totally imagine living here,” he said absently.

I stiffened, but he’d already walked off to talk to Tiffani Grace about something. What was he talking about? He’d made it sound as if he wanted to live here with me. But that couldn’t be right. I was pretty sure once our four months were up, he was going to go back to hitting Cayenne a few nights a week and dating debutantes.

I couldn’t let myself get attached. I didn’t want to get hurt again.

I went back through the house while Paolo and Tiffani Grace talked and filled out paperwork. I walked through all the rooms, trying to imagine living here. It would be such a wonderful place.

And someday, if I met the right man, maybe he could move in with me here. Maybe we could start a family. I loved the thought of my future children running and screaming with joy through the backyard chasing bubbles or butterflies or each other.

***

Paolo took me to Salt for lunch, and we chose to sit outside since it was such a nice day. Neither of theSalazar twins seemed to be there, which was a little surprising. But I did know they were spread thin with all of their restaurants. Even though Leo found plenty of time to harass Ardley.

Lunch was… not great. Paolo kept getting phone calls. Instead of ignoring them, he kept taking them and walking off. Like he didn’t want me to hear him talking. It made me nervous. I was probably being paranoid, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he was seeing someone else. He’d always been such a playboy it was hard to believe he’d settle for just me for four entire months. The more calls and texts he answered, the smaller I felt.

I tried to concentrate on my salad, which was delicious, but it was too hard. Him jumping up every few minutes to take a call that lasted five to ten minutes put a huge damper on the day. I finally just stopped trying to eat. I’d lost my appetite.

“Why aren’t you eating?” he asked when he came back from his latest call.

“Just not hungry, I guess,” I said, trying to smile. I didn’t want him to think anything was wrong. I mean, damn. He was buying me a freaking house. I should be able to put up with him being distracted during lunch.

At least that’s what I told myself. But it still hurt my feelings.

“Can we get the check, please?” he asked the waitress the next time she came through. He paid our bill and we left. I figured the day was over, but he surprised me.

“Do you want to walk along the bay front?”

There was a newly finished area of downtown that backed up to the water and had a cobblestone walking area with tons of cute shops along the way.

I started to say yes, but then his phone rang again.

“Sorry,” he winced. “I have to take this.” He jogged down the sidewalk to get far enough away that I couldn’t hear him.

I stood there, unsure of what to do. I could just walk to the condo. It was only a few minutes’ walk from here. But it felt rude. I finally decided to sit on a wrought iron bench and waiton him. He was gone for fifteen minutes.

By the time he came back, all of the remaining joy from earlier in the day had drained away.

“Sorry about that. You ready?”

“I think I’m just going to head home. But thank you for everything.” I smiled, then turned to leave.

“Wait.”

I turned to look at him. He was wearing sunglasses, which only added to his unfair level of hotness. “What?”

His phone rang again. He looked down at it. “I swear, this one won’t take as long, okay?” He didn’t wait for an answer. He just jogged away again and leaned on a railing while he talked and laughed with someone.

I turned and started walking home. I’d gotten all the way home, poured myself some lemonade, and sat out on the balcony watching the people down below. I loved people watching. I’d make up stories for families and couples, deciding what was going on in their lives. Right now, it helped take my mind off Paolo and whatever the hell all those calls meant.

It was another five or ten minutes before my phone started ringing.