Bound to Her: Three Dates With a Billionaire Read Free Page A

it pressed against her back. But she was panting too, pulling in breath desperately.
    I climbed off her and went into the bathroom, disposing of the condom and taking the fastest shower I’d ever had in my life. I wanted her there when I got back.
    She was lying on her side, the sheet pulled up to cover her breasts. I smiled down at her. “Grab a shower if you need one. Then we’ll talk.”
    Swallowing, she clutched the sheet for a moment before she pushed it away and slid off the bed. Going into the bathroom, she closed the door. I listened carefully but I didn’t hear any crying. If I had I’d have braved everything and gone to her. The shower came on, but I heard no sobs.
    I had an idea. Going to the tallboy, I grabbed a pair of black silk pyjama bottoms and a muscle shirt. They might work, because my body still tightened and not in a good way when I thought of sharing the bed with her. She’d touch me in the night and that could be fatal. I might hurt her—or myself.
    In the night? Yeah. I didn’t want her to go home. I wanted her close.
    What could I say? How did I start this?
    When she came out of the bathroom, a towel tucked under her arms, she stopped and stared at me. “If it makes you more comfortable, there are T-shirts in the top drawer.” I nodded toward the tallboy. Nodding, she went and helped herself. The neckline was scooped low on her, the short sleeves nearly at her elbows. It fell to the middle of her thighs. She looked adorable.
    “That’s much better than that dress.”
    A smile quavered over her lips.
    I flicked back the sheet. “Come to bed.”
    She swallowed, but she did as I told her, climbing in next to me and stretching her legs out flat. She lay on her back.
    I sat up, still unsure what to say. “Cassie, I’m sorry.” Wow, that came out before I was ready.
    “What?” The word was harsh. “I didn’t think people like me deserved treating properly.” She spoke bitterly.
    My heart went out to her. “I deserved that. I’m sorry, I mean it, baby. I know I apologized earlier, but I couldn’t say everything there.”
    She blinked. I hadn’t used the endearment accidentally, but I hadn’t meant to say it yet. “I never know what to think with you.” Her voice softened, became more vulnerable. Anybody who hurt her when she was in this mood was a complete bastard. That would be me, then.
    I smiled, loving her feisty attitude. So I had to do the full grovel, did I? Just as well I was feeling it. I leaned up on one elbow, gazing into her face. “When I left you that note the other day, I was hurt. Upset. I thought I’d found you all by myself, you see, until I found that card.”
    She lifted her hand, then dropped it.
    I carried on, bound and determined to finish this. “Then things fell into place. That attitude equated me with Witney, brought me down to his level. I was looking at women as things, objects to use and then discard. And I deserve for you to think that of me. Yes I do,” I said when she opened her mouth to protest. “I’ve used Madame in the past, you see.”
    She nodded. “I guessed. Otherwise how could you have known about the business card?”
    “I badly wanted to believe that what happened between us was real, and then—I saw the card. You could have been faking it all along.” She deserved the truth. “But what do I do for a living? I fake, and I work hard at learning to fake. Baby, you don’t. What we shared was real. Wasn’t it?”
    With what sounded suspiciously like a sob, she said, “Yes,” and turned her head away.
    I wanted to hold her so badly I would nearly have risked letting her touch my naked body. Nearly.
    I touched her chin, urging her to look at me again. “Whatever you do, whatever you are, you are a person and you deserve more than I gave you. I’ve been screwed up recently. I guess you know that.”
    She shook her head, then nodded. “I sensed something. And then I read the blogs.”
    “Sure you did.” I gave her a smile to