Billionaire's Second Chance (Billionaires #16) - Jennifer Hartley Page 0,1
and finding his best friend in bed with his sister was not going to bode well. I got ready to open my mouth and respond to what he had said, but DeShawn put his finger on my lips before I could make a sound.
“Don’t say it,” he said. “Just let me pretend like this is going to be something.”
I didn’t understand how that could possibly be a good idea. We both knew that it wasn’t. In a few minutes, we would both get up out of this bed and put on our clothes. He would have to leave town and get back to running his companies. I would have to get back to helping my brother run our parents’ farm while pretending that I hadn’t just had the most mind-blowing sex that I had ever experienced. That was just the way things had to be. We were lucky to have gotten this moment together. It was only by chance that Scott had to run into town to get a replacement part for the tractor that had broken down for the third time in the past week.
Don’t ask it. It doesn’t matter, so just keep your mouth shut.
“When do you think you’ll be by again?” I asked.
Dammit, I just couldn’t stop myself from saying something stupid.
DeShawn smiled, and I felt his grip tighten around me.
“Just so I can let Scott know,” I said as I tried to backpedal my intention. “I’m sure he’ll be sorry he missed you this time.”
“I’ll be back next month to check on some of the smaller companies,” he said.
I could hear the growing hope in his voice and realized that I shouldn’t have led him on.
“But that’s not really why you asked that question, is it?” he said.
I lay there for a few more moments in silence as I closed my eyes and thought about how much I loved the scent of his skin. Then, like ripping off a bandage, I got up.
I could feel him watching me as I got dressed, and admittedly, I stole a few glances myself. I wondered how many other billionaires were as built as he was. I couldn’t imagine that too many men in the business of owning cybersecurity companies had the time and dedication to be lifting weights and sculpting a body of such massive proportion. Then again, DeShawn had always been driven. His father might have established the business, but DeShawn had turned his parents’ wealth into a holding company of sorts. Now, he was able to flip smaller companies just for shits and giggles. I could relate to how much hard work went into running a business, but I couldn’t relate to the wealth part—not even a little.
Ever since our parents had passed away in a freak farming accident, Scott and I had been working our asses off to keep the farm afloat. I didn’t mind it. In fact, I loved the farm and had a passion for farm life. Scott, on the other hand, felt trapped by it. He had never said so, but I could just tell that he would rather be off doing other things with his life.
He was frustrated with the lack of money coming in and how hard the physical work was. I knew that he was just staying here for me because he thought I couldn’t do it on my own. I thought he secretly was paranoid that I would end up hurting myself or getting myself killed like our parents had. I tried to tell him that at twenty-seven, I was pretty sure he could trust me not to do anything too foolish. But he liked to remind me that being seven years older than me made him more of an expert on most things. I thought that was just an excuse for his bossy behavior because DeShawn was a year older than him, and he never acted that way toward me. I let it slide because I knew Scott was just being a protective big brother and that he meant well. I just wished that he felt like he could be honest with me about how he felt about the farm.
But since he wouldn’t open up about it, I just did everything that I could to carry the brunt of the work myself.
“How is it that you are so incredibly beautiful?” DeShawn said as he walked up behind me and kissed the top of my shoulder just before I pulled on my shirt.