Bidding on the Billionaire by JM Stewart Read Free Book Online Page B

keep her from doing so. Empowered by the thought, she climbed into his lap, straddling him. His hands warmed her skin even through the thick material of her jeans as he slid them up her thighs. He didn’t, however, lean in to kiss her. His expression grew serious, his green gaze raking over her face. Was he really that nervous? Once again, the thought humbled her.
    She sat back on his knees and settled a hand against his chest. “What?”
    His hands stilled, curving around the tops of her thighs. “Before this goes any further, I need to say one thing.”
    She nodded. “All right.”
    “If you’re looking for permanent, I’m not it. This”—he gestured between them with his index finger—“is all about sex. No doubt incredible sex, but just sex. This doesn’t go beyond this room.”
    She suppressed a grin. His fumbling words ought to offend her, but the emotion wouldn’t come. Rather, they spoke to her and bared his heart. In this instance, she and Cade had a lot in common. She had the same fears, so hearing him lay his on the table made her feel closer to him. Whether he meant to or not, his rule told her a lot about him. Someone had used him as well. “I’m surprised at you, GQ.”
    He cocked a brow. “GQ?”
    This time, she couldn’t help smiling.
    “You look like you stepped off the cover of a GQ magazine.” She smoothed a hand over the curve of one bulging bicep and across his chest. “I’m betting you work out every day.”
    He stiffened beneath her, a shadow of something passing over his face, there and carefully masked again before she caught what it had been. “I’m expected to keep up certain appearances.”
    His hardened expression screamed of secrets hidden and painful disappointments. She couldn’t stop the echo of hurt from moving through her. The questions formed on her tongue, but she bit them back. They weren’t here for love. She shouldn’t care, and them getting to know each other more than necessary would end in her getting attached. That was dangerous, because in the end, everybody left. What she’d liked about their online exchanges was the anonymity. She hadn’t known him and thus couldn’t care or become attached or wait for him to decide he was through with her. Because it didn’t matter. They used each other.
    She stiffened her spine, remembering her role. “Well, I have to admit I expected a bit more finesse coming from a man whose job it is to sway people’s opinion.”
    He held her gaze, bold and unapologetic, but the nervous edge had yet to leave his eyes. His hand trembled as he smoothed it up her thigh. “I’m sorry. When I’m nervous I tend to revert to what’s comfortable. I’m used to presenting the facts, cold and blunt.”
    Determined to relax him, she fisted his red tie and tugged on the end. “Does that speech always work to woo the ladies?”
    The left corner of his mouth quirked, but the smile fell as quickly as it came. His big hands caressed over the curve of her hips and up her back. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never said it to anyone else before.”
    This caught her. He drew clear boundary lines, and she wanted to ask what made her so special. In that moment, though, vulnerability hung all over him. The anxiousness screaming from his gaze told her he was out of his element. Once again, he reminded her how different he was from the image he’d portrayed online. In the flesh, he was every bit as flawed and human as she was. Seeing his human frailty filled her with more questions and nudged something inside, but she shoved the queries aside. In another lifetime, he might have been someone she’d want to get to know better. In another lifetime, maybe they’d lie together in the dark and share wounds.
    Gaze downcast, she forced her mind to focus on the task at hand and worked at undoing the knot in his tie. Like he said, they were here for sex, nothing more, nothing less. She had no desire to date him or get her heart broken again. “Trust goes