Page 113 of Anyone But The Billionaire

Alice rolls a large whiteboard into the room. Thomas stalks forward, pulling it out of her grasp. “Did you push this here yourself?” His voice is harsher than usual. “You should’ve called someone.”

Alice flushes, and I’m about to call my brother out for being a douche, when the normally timid marketing exec places her hands on her hips and glares at my brother. “I am perfectly capable, thank you very much.”

“Uhhhh…” I look to Bell for help, but she just continues to smile.

Alice flips the board, revealing blueprints, sketches, and swatches of carpet and fabric.

“Ta-da!” Bell does a weird jazz-hands gesture at the whiteboard.

“Um, what’s this, ba—” I pause at her death stare. “I mean, Ms. King?”

“It’s the plan for your new offices. Alice and I contacted an architecture firm and got all the blueprints made up. We’re taking this boring monstrosity and dividing it into two offices.” She looks between Thomas and me. “One for Chuckles and the other for you. Construction starts on Monday.” More jazz hands. “Surprise!”

God, I love this woman.

I step up to her and cup her cheek with my hand. “As awesome as that sounds, we’ll have to leave the office as is for a while.”

Bell’s smile falls. “But why?”

“Because now that Stan has been dealt with and the Moore brothers are back in action, my brother is going to give me the month off to fully apologize to you for being such an ass hat.” I shoot my brother a look. “Isn’t that right?”

“Typical.” Thomas’s expression remains aloof, but I don’t miss the way his eyes keep glancing at Alice every few seconds. “But, yes, you may go.”

Bell’s lips twitch slightly as she settles her palms against my chest. “And just how are you planning to redeem your past ass-hat tendencies?”

I rub my nose against hers. “First I’m taking you to Pittsburgh so we can visit the Andy Warhol Museum.”

A full-blown smile lights up Bell’s face. “Really?”

“Really.” I shift the hand at her jaw into her auburn hair, my other hand wrapping around her waist. “Then we’re off to Memphis, where I’ve scheduled a private tour of Graceland.”

Her mouth drops open. “Graceland?” She whispers the words like it’s some sacred, religious site. Which, I guess to her, it is.

“And finally, I’m going to spend two weeks in Texas impressing you with my inner cowboy at your parents’ house.” I kiss the tip of her nose.

“Inner cowboy, huh?” She chuckles, tears forming in her eyes.

Alice clasps her hands to her chest and sighs.

I knew I’d get this romance shit (aka Grand Gesture) right at some point. “That’s right, baby.”

Bell doesn’t even object to the pet name this time, just continues smiling, her eyes glassy with emotion.

I lean in to kiss her, but she stops me with pressure on my chest.

“But there’s one thing missing.”

“And what’s that?” I lean to the side, kissing the column of her neck. She shivers, and I pull back, eager to watch the arousal burn out the tears in her eyes. They may be happy tears, but after recent events, I’ve promised myself never to make her cry again.

“This is hardly appropriate,” Thomas intones, only to be shushed by Alice.

Bell’s eyes, the ones I fell in love with as hot coffee burned my areolae, darken with desire, but they also spark with mischief.

Tipping forward on her toes, she brushes her lips against mine. “We’re going to need to bring Mike Hunt.”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the many reasons why I love this woman.