Power Play (The Billionaire's Club: New Orleans) by Mallery Malone Read Free Book Online Page B

him like old times.
    “Thank you for this,” she said, polishing off the last of her green-tea ice cream. “I haven’t had a night like this since …” She had no idea. Running the restaurants took all her energy, maybe more than they should have, but when her evening entertainment consisted of putting her feet up and breaking out her tablet, it was easier to stay at Choux or Lovelace instead.
    “Believe it or not, I haven’t, either,” he said, giving over his ice cream before she couldsteal it. “I’m appreciating this just as much as you are.”
    She snorted her disbelief. “Somehow I find that hard to believe.”
    “Why?”
    She gestured around the now-closing restaurant. “This hardly seems like your usual hangout spots. After all, there are no cameras, so screaming crowds of adoring fans, and dinner isn’t going to break fifty bucks.”
    “This is different,” he insisted. “This is comfortable, relaxing.” He caught her gaze again. “Real.”
    “Come on, Raffie. You don’t really expect me to believe that you’re not a man about town with a different woman on your arm every week.”
    “I was a good poster boy for the high-roller lifestyle before my injury ended my career,” he said. “When I took the reins at JerTech, I took the role, and the responsibility, seriously. That means I can’t fall asleep in meetings because I was partying until four in the morning.”
    “I bet your girlfriends weren’t happy about that,” she said, then instantly regretted it.
    “They were never my girlfriends, and they knew that. But no, the last one wasn’t happy that my glamorous jet-setting lifestyle was over. Dashing young billionaire CEO was all well and good but not if it meant staying in Baton Rouge. It was better to end it sooner instead of later. I told her to go talk to Gabriel.”
    “You didn’t.” Gabriel Devereaux, the few times she’d met him, came across as cold and dangerous, the extreme opposite of Raphael’s sunny disposition. While she knew that there was more to Raphael than what could be seen on the surface, she didn’t want to know what lurked beneath the cool dark of Gabriel’s eyes.
    “I did, and she went.” He shrugged.
    Macy blinked. “Wow, that’s …”
    “That’s all there is to say about that.” That Caribbean blue gaze caught her. “I didn’t think you’d be so concerned with my love life or lack thereof, Macy.”
    She opened her mouth to deny it, but no words came out. She’d spent years feeling hurt and angry over being abandoned by him only to discover that he had come for her but she’d taken off. He had probably had the same feelings of hurt and abandonment that she’d had, and he’d be completely justified if he were angry with her, but he wasn’t. Not yet. When she finally told him everything about Paris, he’d probably never speak to her again.
    “We should probably go,” she said lamely, pushing away the empty ice cream bowl. “We both have businesses to run, empires to build.”
    He stared at her for a long moment before climbing to his feet. He dug his wallet out of his back pocket, extracted a hundred-dollar bill, then left it on the table. “Thanks for eating the last of my ice cream, by the way. I might actually be able to fold myself back into that matchbox of a car.”
    She stuck her tongue out at him. His eyes widened a fraction, his gaze narrowed onto her mouth. “Just for that, you owe me a ride.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “On my bike.” He gave her a teasing grin as he held the door open for her, as if he knew exactly where her mind went and heartily approved. “This weekend. I know those are probably busy days for you, but maybe Sunday, if the weather holds, we can take a ride and have a picnic.”
    Her ears heated. It was still difficult to reconcile this Raphael with the dear friend she remembered. He’d always been intense but he’d never been so … overtly male and sexual. Shegripped her purse tight, fighting the urge to