Victoria The Billionaires Maid

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She swallowed, eyeing me up and down. “You have on boxers?”

“Yes. Figured it was easier than grabbing my trunks. Okay?”

“Sure. Same thing, pretty much.” She sucked in a breath and slipped into the water, submerging all the way up to her neck in a surprisingly graceful slide. “That feels so good.” She closed her eyes and gripped the sides of the tub, her legs rubbing along mine before she moved them slightly away. “Bubbles are the best.”

“They are. We should’ve ordered you some champagne before we got in here.”

“Why? What are we celebrating?”

“Lots of things. You took your first cross-country flight today. You’re on vacation in Vegas. First, stay in a hotel. You have probably never had champagne either.”

“Busted.” She lifted her voice over the bubbling of the tub. “But I’m not much of a drinker.”

“Vacation,” I reminded her, flicking my fingers over the back of her hand on the side of the Jacuzzi. Her eyes opened warily, but no fear resided in their depths. She might’ve been initially uneasy about getting in there with me, but her anxiety was already disappearing. “You’re allowed to do things outside your comfort zone. Even encouraged to.”

“The last time I drank more than a glass or two of anything was, hmm, probably at my parents’ going-away party after they sold the B and B.”

The mention of the B and B made me draw my hand back into the water. It reminded me of what she’d lost, and how much the business had meant to her. Easing away was my kneejerk response to anything emotional.

She frowned as if she was surprised I’d stopped touching her. I definitely hadn’t wanted to.

And that was dangerous all the way around, friends or not.

“Did you get loaded?”

She smiled at that, idly itching her calf with the opposite foot. “No. A little tipsy, but I stopped after three. I’ve never been all the way drunk.”

“Not even at college? How is that possible?”

“Some of us went to school to study, you know,” she teased.

“I do know, actually. I wasn’t a partier either, not in prep school and not in college. And I didn’t have sex until I was nineteen, so before you think I was out there spreading my seed far and wide…not so much.”

Why had I shared that with her? It wasn’t relevant at all. Yet she leaned forward, her heavy breasts bobbing slightly out of the water. Big, taut nipples made my throat go dry, and much as I tried to keep my gaze above her neck, I simply could not.

“See, that’s the look.”

“Hmm?”

“That look, right there. The one where you get all wolfish.” Her teeth grazed her plump lower lip and my cock twitched. It was a miracle it didn’t pop over my damn waistband. “You really are attracted to me,” she said after a moment, almost to herself. “Me, specifically, not just because you’re horny.”

The thought that it could be otherwise was so ludicrous that I laughed. And kept right on laughing as she stared at me until that lip she’d been tormenting trembled and she glanced away, hiding her face from my view.

“Sage. Look at me.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does. It matters very much why a beautiful woman like yourself needs to constantly search for validation.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Then explain it to me.”

“I’m not completely without self-confidence. It’s just if you have enough near misses, you start thinking you’re the problem. Especially if the guy you’ve told yourself will be the one who can’t even get it up when you’re on top of him.”

I nearly laughed again, but I swallowed it down. One more careless reaction like that would send her fleeing from me, and I didn’t know if she’d ever peel open her shell again after this vacation.

Carefully, I inched forward in the tub, slowing but not stopping as she looked back at me, pupils wide. My legs slid against the outside of hers as I moved as close as I could without completely invading her personal space.

“Any man who wouldn’t treasure being intimate with you is a goddamn idiot.”

She shut her eyes for an instant, and I was deathly afraid she was crying. But when she opened them again, they were clear and dry. “You of all people know I have my flaws.”

“You sure do.”

“Hey, making me feel better or what?”

My lips twitched. “As do I. But you’re a gorgeous woman, and you’re trusting and sweet and probably too good for any asshole who ever tried to touch you.” I gripped the sides of the hot tub to keep from reaching for her. Proving my asshole status for sure.

Not yet. Let her come to you, in her own time. Or maybe not at all.

“You swear when you’re turned on,” she murmured, her breath hitching. That small, involuntary sound was enough all on its own to make my body strain toward hers.

That she was already learning my tells? Well, that was just the bonus round.

Before I could figure out an appropriate response to that, she slid forward in the tub, slipping her legs over mine until our chests and our centers were far too close. Loosely, she linked her arms around my neck, testing my resolve to keep my eyes directly on hers.

“You give good hugs.”

I took that for an invitation and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her in so that she was practically straddling my lap. But I didn’t grind into her or line up our mouths or any of that. I just drew her in and inhaled the fresh scent of her hair. Then she twined herself around me so trustingly, as if

we’d never fought about anything, and I was a man she could lean on rather than despise.

She sighed, so softly that I almost missed it. Her forehead rested against mine and we just breathed together in the steamy, fragrant air.

“I make bad choices,” she said into the silence. “I pick emotionally unavailable men.”

The term would’ve made me roll my eyes any other time. Not now. Because as awful as it was, and as much as I didn’t want her to suffer any pain ever, I couldn’t help owing a debt of gratitude to those faceless, nameless men.

Thanks to them, this woman was in my arms.

“Like you,” she added after a moment. “If I were to pick you-which I’m not, by the way, not at all-but if I were to, you’re unavailable.”

“Doesn’t seem like it right now, seeing as you’re almost in my lap.”

Her mouth curved. “You know what I mean. You don’t want a relationship. You just want sex.” She wet her lips and shifted higher on my legs, gazing down at me with her face framed by the sexy blond tendrils of hair that had escaped her ponytail. “I agree. I’ve decided relationships aren’t for me. They’re too hard-” She swallowed, casting a quick look between us. “Difficult.”

“Putting a different name on something doesn’t change the reality of what you want.” Saying it was worse than I expected. It meant I had to acknowledge her truth and abide by it.

More than anything, I didn’t want to be another man who hurt her. Even unintentionally.

“No, it means that I want both things-sex and love, and if one doesn’t come with the other, well, believe me, I’m okay with the one for now. Someday, I’ll find my big love.”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to, since Sage was good at filling in all the awkward silences.

“Ally found hers years ago. That’s why she was a virgin, why she saved herself for Seth though she didn’t fully realize that’s what she was doing.”

“Can we not talk about my sister-in-law’s virginity? Unless your goal is to kill my erection, and if so, aim achieved.”

Her big green eyes sparkled as she circled her bottom on my lap, just enough to have me stifling a curse. “Not even close.”

“Vixen.”

But her gaze had taken on that faraway look again. “My parents too. My daddy always said the first time he saw my mama, he knew she was the one for him. They met in grade school. Isn’t that romantic?”

“Your mama looks just like you, so I believe it.”

Sage blinked and tilted her head, considering me in a way that made my skin prickle. “You can be sweet. I see now why you get so many women to go to bed with you. I have to admit, I didn’t understand the appeal before.”

There was no stopping my laughter this time. “Say exactly what you mean, why don’t you?”

“Did you sleep with Ursula last night?”

I hadn’t been expecting that one. “You knew about our date?”

“Of course. You know how big Crescent Cove is. And you’re a mover and a shaker.”

Lord, this woman. But for some reason, I was inexplicably glad I could tell her that I’d spent last night alone.

Not because I wanted to influence her or convince her that I was a decent guy, one like Seth.

Worthy of being a big-time love.

Impossible. Me? I was the kind of man a woman mentioned in passing in her diary.

Skilled lover. Made a mean balsamic salmon. Didn’t call after the second date.

“No, I didn’t sleep with her. We canceled our date.” I kept my gaze trained on hers. “We’ve actually never slept together.”

“No way.”

“Yes, way.”

“No way.”

I had to chuckle. “No, we have not. Trust me. I was there.”

“But she’s beautiful. Poised.” She sighed wistfully. “She has a game.”

“Xbox?”

Now it was her turn to laugh. “Guess your knowledge of pop culture isn’t as complete as you believe. No, silly. I mean, she has skills. The game at attracting the opposite sex. Talent at keeping them interested.”

“Just in case you’ve forgotten, you’re sitting on a man’s lap right now.” I glanced down between us. “And I can verify he’s very interested. Painfully so.”

“You aren’t shy. You’ve never asked me out.”

“You haven’t asked me either.”

She sniffed. “That’s usually the man’s job.” She sighed again. “Especially if the woman is a big ol’ coward. Besides, we fight all the time.”

“So? Fighting is foreplay.”

“Is it?” She cocked her head again. “Is that what I’ve been doing wrong all this time?”

“Listen to me. You have done nothing wrong. You’re perfect just as you are. Any man who can’t see that is blind or stupid or both.”

“Is this your erection talking?” she asked dubiously.

“I do get more charitable at certain times, yes.” The corner of her lips lifted. “But no, that has nothing to do with this conversation. And as for being a coward, what about Moose? Don’t tell me you didn’t intend to invite him over for some barbecued brisket and sweet tea.”

“I stopped making that when we sold the bed-and-breakfast.”

“Damn shame. Best in the state. Hell, best north of Louisiana.”

And I could now verify she’d bewitched me in some unknown way, because here I was, praising her down-home cooking when I had the hard-on from hell.

Her cheeks flushed. “Aww, thank you. You really think I should make some for him?”

I nearly growled. “No. You couldn’t even find him on Facebook, Ally said.”

“No, that’s true, but-”

“Forget him.” In a second, I’d be pounding on my chest like a caveman. “If you want to try out your cooking skills, I’m game.”

“Are you asking me out?”

I tightened my hold on her. She was a glorious armful, and I liked her just that way. “More like I’m asking me in.”

“Oh.” She blinked. “Ohh.”

“I didn’t mean”

“Okay. I’m game too. And if we’re being honest about our wants and all…” She took a deep breath. “I’d like to watch you make yourself come.”