Lazer Focused: A Jet City Billionaire Romance (The Billionaire Matchmaker Series Book 1) Read Free Page A

eye. "Ad hominem attacks won't make your case. Why shouldn't we hide from you?"
    "Denial won't make your case, either." She smiled so sweetly it took my breath away.
    The buzz in the room was growing louder. The crowd on TV roared at something the Ms had done. She glanced at the TV overhead and whooped. "Go, Mariners!"
    "You're a Mariners fan?" I gave her points for paying attention to the game.
    "Usually I'm more of a Yankees fan. But when in Rome…"
    Double points.
    She yelled over the noise. "It's a proven, scientific fact that married men live longer than their single counterparts. You want to live a long time, don't you? Long enough to spend all your billions, anyway?"
    "Babe, I couldn't spend all my billions in a dozen lifetimes."
    I couldn't tell whether she was as aware as I was of the attention we were drawing. Every single guy in the place was listening and watching us. I had no desire to yell over the noise and broadcast our conversation to the masses.
    I leaned close to her and whispered in her ear, catching the scent of her shampoo. She simply smelled delicious all the way around. "I'd love to continue our conversation someplace where we don't have to yell. I haven't eaten yet. Have you?"
    Suddenly a cheeseburger was sounding pretty damn good.
    She shook her head.
    "Good. I'm starving." I grinned. "I know a quiet little place on Lake Union just a few blocks away. Fresh Dungeness crab cakes. Steaks. Clam chowder. My treat. Are you in?"
    She grabbed her purse. "Lead the way."
    As I closed out my tab for the evening, the game was still playing overhead. The Ms were up. Bottom of the fourth. Bases loaded. Two outs.
    I took Ashley's elbow and guided her through the crowd as our batter took the box. As we stepped outside, the bar erupted in applause. The guys got to their feet in a standing O.
    "The Ms must have scored," I said as I glanced back over my shoulder into the taproom.
    Ashley laughed. "Don't be dense. They're applauding you . They think you've scored."
    "No. No way . You're mistaken." I wasn't being falsely modest, either. I didn't believe her.
    A gentle breeze was blowing off the lake. Ashley brushed a strand of hair out of her face and sighed in the most deeply satisfied manner I had ever seen. As if the satisfaction reached her very soul. "I love this town already! I think it might be the one."

Chapter 2
    A shley
    Oh, Lazer Grayson was so completely, wonderfully adorable and genuine. It was enough to make my jaded New Yorker heart burst with sunny, sappy clichés, and break out in song. And almost restore my faith in humanity in general. And men, specifically. For a man of the world, and a billionaire at that, he was so refreshingly naïve. He reminded me of…
    Well, that wasn't fair. To any of us. I pushed those intruding thoughts away. But, try as I might, I couldn't shove the ripple of sexual awareness aside. This past year my sexual desire had been slowly returning. Inconvenient. Especially given my profession and situation. To be completely honest, I wasn't sure whether I was courting Mr. Grayson for my clientele. Or myself. The moment he sat down next to me at the bar, he'd taken my breath away. And I still hadn't completely recovered.
    Living in New York City these last years, where straight, ambitious, college-educated men were at a premium, and seeing the dating climate through my clients' eyes, my ego and self-esteem had taken a savage beating. For years, my dead heart and lack of desire had been my solace. With my awakening heart, loneliness was creeping in. And damning hope. Maybe there was another soul mate out there for me somewhere. Though I didn't like to admit it to myself, maybe that hope was as much to blame for this trip as my desperation on behalf of my female clients.
    I'd worked with enough clients to know the intricacies of human nature and spot a fake quickly. Lazer really believed his fellow Seattleites in the bar were cheering for their hometown baseball team, not their