Bedding the Billionaire (Book 3) (Legacy Collection) (7 page)

Like choosing to drive.

Had he demanded the wheel, he wouldn’t
have been
able to study Lil’s profile.

He would have missed the curve of her breast that the seatbelt revealed as it pulled back
one side of her jacket and pushed the material of her blouse aside in the most tantalizing way.
She really was stunning.

Too bad she was completely unsuitable for him.
He preferred a woman with
a
certain level of
sophistication
; o
ne who understood that relationships
worked best
if emotional extremes were avoided.
Pleasant, predictable conversation
with
someone who seamlessly blended with diplomats
and was also good in bed was enough to keep him satisfied.

So why was he ogling her
chest while imagining what it would be like to slip a hand beneath the hem of her skirt and
beg her to pull the car over on a side road so he could
touch her, taste her, fill her?

Because his mind and his body were definitely at odds regarding Lil.

Colby made a sound in the backseat,
reminding him of the reality of the situation.
L
eering f
elt wrong with a child present and represented
another reason his attraction to Lil made no sense.

He didn’t get involved with women
who had
children.

Not
that he and Lil were involved.

Damn.

I should have followed my instincts and stayed the hell in New York.

He
shifted uncomfortably and
turned to look out the passenger window.

Get a grip, Jake
.

If all went according to his
plan, and things usually did,
tonight would see Lil tucked away in her new
penthouse
in
Boston
, the interview nothing more than a quickly forgotten
blip
, and
him
back in New York.

There was no way he was going to stick around
to
bring Lil to N
ew
Y
ork for the weekend.
Dominic could come and get her himself if he wanted her
there so badly.

“Your shirt is open,” he said gruffly without looking away from the lane of traffic outside the window.

“Oh, my God, it is,” Lil said, swerving the car a bit as she
adjusted it.

He caught himself smiling in the reflection of the window, and
then
frowned.
Just because she amused him, didn’t change the facts.

He
was not
t
here to indulge himself. This was business.

Well, business related.

“
Sorry
–
” she
started to say and then stopped abruptly.
When she continued, her tone implied that she’d had a thought that quite amused her.
“
Was it bothering you?”

He whipped around to look at her.
“No,
” he said. “No,” he said again.
And then because he had a mastery of the spoken
language
that had impressed many a politician
,
he added
,
“No,” one last time.

S
he tried
,
but failed to contain
her amusement
.

“
It’s okay
if it
was
,” she said
imp
ishly and patted his leg in a pretense of support
, outright mocking him, right down to the tone he’d used earlier
.
“You have no reason to be embarrassed
around
me.”

His body leapt in response to her challenge even as his mind fought for
control
. He growled,
“You
simply
shouldn’t
walk around with your shirt hanging open.”

“So
it
was a public service announcement?”

“Yes, unless
that’s how
you planned to compensate your
lawyer.”

Her hand flew off his lap and she muttered something that sounded suspiciously li
ke “Jackass” u
nder her breath.

Jake turned to look out the window again, hopefully before his face had revealed
how
much he wanted to kiss that profanity off her sweet lips.

“I thought we were going to see your lawyer.
” Jake
said
as Lil parked her car in front of the Lawson’s home
in
a typical, working class neighborhood
with manicured lawns and children riding their bikes on the sidewalks.

“We are,” she answered simply, opening the car door instead of providing further explanation.
Her friend might not have a fancy city office, but he was brilliant and Lil trusted him.

“He lives here?”
Jake
asked
, perhaps noting the swing that hung from the porch and the flower pots that lined the stairs.

“Yes,”
Lil said in a clipped tone, s
lamming the car door behind her after freeing Colby from her car sea
t
and collecting her diaper
bag
. She turned and fa
ced him. “If you have any smart
remarks to share, say them here.
These people are like family to me.”

He looked
instantly
taken aback. “I would never.”

He probably wouldn’t.

A man like him would have impeccable manners.

He
didn’t
have to try to
m
ake most people feel inferior;
it was a natural bypro
duct of being near someone who
had been born with
too much of…well, everything.

“
Just try to look a little less
–
pompous.”

One eyebrow
rose.

Before moving forward,
Lil
added, “Aaron isn’t like you.
He’s…”
she hesitated.

“Don’t stop there;
I’m dying to know what he is that I’m not.”

“Sensitive.”
Aaron would cringe if he heard her describe him that way, and perhaps the years had toughened his exterior, but to her he would always be the sixth grade boy
whose pride had often been crushed when he’d been the last child chosen for a recess kickball team.

Just as he’d never let her live down how she’d
once
socked a boy in the
nose for teasing him
about not being a
th
l
etic
. Or how,
despite
Aaron
trying
to soften her position, she’d remained u
nrepentant even wh
en brought before the Principal.
Lil had
always believed
that bullies
should get what they deserved
– thus
perpetuating
what Abby call
ed
her
inability to
respect
authority figures.

She did respect them; she just didn’t feel that they were infallible.

Sometimes requesting
a
ssistance from those in charge
simply moved the abuse to somewhere more private. Some things were better addressed head on
and
handled
yourself
.
That philosophy
had gotten her suspended from school more than once and cost her several jobs
.

It had also been
why she’d been dubbed the “geek squad’s mascot” in
the public
high school
she’d attended
.
She never understood why academic excellence
had
equated to social suicide in the very place where education should have been valued the most.
Young
men and women who would likely
one day run their own companies
had hidden
in bathrooms instead of risking public
degradation
at the hands of those who
worshipped
good looks and huge biceps.

That’s how it had been
until Lil
’s freshman year when she’d
had gone nose to nose with
a
beefed up
hockey
player
over something he’d said about the Math Team winning
a regional competition. Lil might not have intervened had the offender not accentuated his comment with a wet napkin assault to the other boy’s head as he passed his table.

When
Lil suggested that he stop
, he’d
asked her
why she cared and if she
were
sleeping
with one of those man-girls.

And she’d slapped him clean across the face.

He’d
leaned down and growled, “You’re lucky you’re a girl.”

She’d growled right back, “So are you.”

If only her moment of valor hadn’t been witnessed by two supervising teachers who
’d
cared only that she’d “laid her hands” on another student.
The full story
had also
failed to
impress
either
the Principal
or
Abby.