AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m a hard man to pin down.”
She took the cigar out of my hand and took a puff. She tried to be sexy, but then she had to cough a little because she couldn’t pull it off. She dropped it into the ashtray. “Want to get out of here?”
“As tempting as that is, Chloe…I have somewhere to be.”
“But you’re the big boss man, right?” she asked. “You don’t have to be anywhere you don’t want to be.”
I started to stand up, forcing her to get off my knee and balance on her heels. “True. But I’ve made a commitment to someone—and I keep my commitments.”
She narrowed her eyes as she studied me, trying to solve a puzzle without any hints. “What kind of commitment are we talking here?”
“Monogamy.”
Both of her eyebrows moved up her face. “Bartholomew is committed to one woman and only one woman?”
“My dick is, at least.” I started to walk away. “Have a good night, Chloe.”
* * *
Want to stop by?
Just reading that message made me hard. I had a hot little woman sit in my lap in the bar and I felt nothing, but reading Laura’s words was like foreplay.Damn right I do. I had a couple things on the schedule tonight, but I delegated them to Bleu and others so I could swing by her apartment and make her come.
When I reached her apartment, I let myself inside because I knew the door would be unlocked. She sat at the small dining table, enjoying a bottle of wine by herself. She was in the same little black robe she’d worn before, and she made that piece of fabric sexier than the skimpiest lingerie.
I took the seat across from her and poured myself a glass. I preferred the stronger stuff like gin and scotch, but I’d come to appreciate the palate of a wine drinker. All those subtle differences in the harvest, of the bold reds and the sweet whites. It was a little fancy for my taste, but being a billionaire had inadvertently made me a little fancy.
As I studied her face, I noticed the small changes, differences that her closest friends probably wouldn’t notice. Her skin was a little fairer, her eyes were more guarded but also more vulnerable at the same time. While she was dressed for business, her mind seemed elsewhere.
She wanted me here for a different reason.
So she could talk about her problems.
And I could listen.
That was not what I’d signed up for. I came to fuck—not to play therapist. But instead of being an asshole like I always was, I patiently waited for her to start. A part of me was curious what had brought her down, because she was as still as a mountain when she told me what happened to her seven years ago. “What is it, sweetheart?” I couldn’t be patient any longer, needing to know what would faze a woman like her.
Her eyes lifted to mine, her fingers still on her glass. “My uncle died.”
I gave a slow nod. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She took a drink. “It’s his own fault.”
“Drunk driving?”
“Being a crony of my father’s.”
Now I gave another nod. “I see.” Another reason she wanted nothing to do with that life, and now I wondered how this conversation would end. Would it be another reminder that sleeping with me was a bad idea? I hoped not—even though she was right on the money. “Were you close to him?”
“I used to be.”
“Have you spoken to him since you left?”
“Called me on my birthday every year. We never talked about anything real, just the weather and French cuisine…shit like that.”
I loved the way she sounded when she cursed. Like she didn’t give a damn about anything or anyone. “He was your father’s brother?”
“Yes. Losing his wife wasn’t enough…”
