Page 107 of Nothing to Win

The older man wasn’t apologetic.“You two are broken up.The man whose company you’re trying to buy is enamored with her.It’s possible one of your oldest friends was in her panties this morning, and… what am I forgetting?Right!Her family despise you… But, sure, boy, I’ll back out quietly and let you get yours.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Brogan said without acknowledging the sarcasm.“If you knew what it was to go a minute outside this woman’s body, you’d respect that it’s been almost a week and a man can only take so much.”

THIRTY-THREE

STILL ON HER BACK beneath him, her love for the position didn’t totally cloud her mind.

“Wait…” she said, playing through Julius’s words.“Who was in my panties today?”

“Tripp,” Julius answered.

Shock loosened her jaw.He honestly thought… She shoved at Brogan to get him off her.

Sitting up, she tossed her hair from her face.“You think I slept with Tripp?”

“I prefer that visual to the one of you with Gault,” he said.“Though neither are as appealing as you right here.”

Swatting his hand away when he reached for her, Gia shifted further up the bed.

“We’ve been broken up for five days and you think I’m shopping for replacements?Geez, Mister, we were together five weeks and more comfortable kissing than breathing.You think I’d fall into bed with a new guy overnight?You’re just like my father.”

Driving her fists into the mattress, she pushed up to get off the bed.“Babe,” he called out and tried to catch her.Not a chance.She swerved and went to swipe her robe from the floor.“Irish, come on, don’t storm out of here upset… Speak to me.Why did you knock on my door?”

Tying her robe, she put her own emotions aside to be pragmatic.“I have to go to Mexico.”

“Okay,” he said, sliding to the end of the bed to put his feet flat on the floor.“When do we leave?”

“Brogan,” Julius warned.

Politeness won out, so she stayed civil.“Me.Not we.I have to go to Mexico.”

“You think I’d let you go to Mexico alone?The jet is sitting doing nothing.I have a friend with a resort down there.”Leaning forward, he snagged her hand and steered her forward to stand between his knees.“Is this trip time-sensitive?We could sail to Cancun from right here… and this isn’t an extravagant show of wealth, it’s about trapping you out on the water and us sharing nothing but time.”

He’d never been much of a charmer, not until he’d put on his complete honesty hat.

“Don’t you have a company to buy?”

“Thank God somebody’s smart enough to remember that,” Julius said somewhere in the background.

Gia sank onto her knees in front of Brogan, sliding her splayed fingers up the front of his thighs.“Why would I want to be trapped with you?You broke up with me.”

“Julius told me to do it,” he said, touching her face.

“Uh…” the older man didn’t accept that.“I said if you weren’t going to marry her, it was unfair to string her along.”

“You broke up with me because you didn’t want to marry me?”she asked and cocked her head.“Who said I wanted to get married?You told me your views on marriage on our first date.I know who you are, Brogan Spurn, every infuriating, generous, aggravating, precious inch of you.And you broke my heart.”

His hands opened, scooping up beneath her chin to her jaw.

Cupping her face, he tipped her head back.“Which I wouldn’t have been able to do if this was fake.”

And those were the words.The magic words that tilted the world on its axis.

“Do you want me to fake it, Mister?”she murmured.

“Have you ever faked it with me?”

Her eyes drifted shut and he drew her higher as she shook her head.“Never.”