Rocked by the Billionaire: A Billionaire's Club Story by Mandy Baxter Read Free Book Online

choices. Luke had money. A decent career. A trust fund that guaranteed security. He could make her come in thirty seconds flat with the right motivation. What was so wrong with him?
    Ryder seemed to think he was damaged goods or some shit. Jase had always been the “good” brother. The kind, conscientious one. The kid with good grades and an even more pristine reputation. He never broke hearts or stepped a toe out of line. Never got caught with a bottle of peppermint schnapps at school. Didn’t walk out on people who counted on him.
    You’re a first-class fuck-up, dude
. His own brother didn’t think he was good enough for Kayleigh. Didn’t he deserve to be happy, though? Ryder had Lara, and Jase had hooked up with a hot little chef who rocked his world. Didn’t Luke deserve that, too?
    The doorbell rang, the sound pinging around in his brain like a pinball against the bumpers. Thanks to Ryder’s visit, Luke’s mood had soured past the point of salvation. There was no way he’d be able to work now and the walls of the bedroom were starting to close in on him. Maybe he’d saddle up one of the horses and go for a ride to clear his head. He hadn’t done anything like that in long time.
    From the top of the stairs, the sound of a woman’s voice caught Luke’s undivided attention. It latched onto his heart with sharp hooks, digging deep until he felt the bite. What was Kayleigh doing there? His feet moved of their own accord, taking him down Ryder’s handcrafted staircase. He stopped short of the living room and leaned against the archway, careful to stay out of sight.
    “Can’t you make him leave, Ryder?”
    Luke’s stomach plummeted to the soles of his feet, taking his heart with it. Kayleigh didn’t want him beneath her, beside her, or anywhere near her.
    She wanted him gone.
    ***
    Ryder’s lips pursed as he regarded Kayleigh with an emotionless stare. The eldest Blackwell was steel under pressure, never revealing his hand. Not much had changed since they were kids. He was still as intimidating now as he’d been when she was fourteen.
    “This is his home, Kayleigh, and he hasn’t been back for so much as a visit since he left. I’m not kicking him to the curb. Sorry.”
    She should have known that Ryder would side with his brother. What in the hell was she thinking coming here? “You’re right. I’m the one who should be sorry for suggesting it. It’s just … seeing him again. It’s too much. You know?”
    Ryder’s eyes bored through her, the exact whiskey brown of Luke’s. “Just because he’s in town doesn’t mean you have to see him.”
    True. But when he showed up on her doorstep looking like sex on a freaking stick, what was she supposed to do? “I’m twenty-six-years old. You’d think I could be an adult.” She gave a rueful laugh. “But there’s something about your brother that turns me into an irresponsible kid. One that can’t make a mature decision to save her life.”
    “Is this about Spencer?”
    Kayleigh groaned. “You know about Spencer?”
    Ryder laughed. “
Everyone
knows about Spencer. Did you forget what living in a fishbowl is like?”
    Their tiny suburb might as well have been freaking Mayberry. Not much had changed in a decade. People still talked. Gossip flowed like a river in spring. “We’d only been dating for a couple of months. Seriously, I have no idea what Spencer was thinking! I would have turned him down either way. I was—Luke just—God, it’s like my brain short-circuits when he’s within a five-mile radius of me.”
    Ryder’s brow furrowed and a flush rose to Kayleigh’s cheeks. She was standing here talking to Luke’s older brother like he was her therapist or something! Good Lord, they were friends, but this had to cross some sort of line. “I’m sorry, Ryder. This really isn’t anything you should have to worry about and I’m just standing her blathering like an idiot. I shouldn’t have wasted your time. This is my problem. I’ll