The corners of his mouth curved up as he walked over to me and ran his thumb across my lips.

“You didn’t seem to be complaining when I was on top of you totally naked.”

I gulped as I remembered that night and the things he did to me.

“That was different. We were having sex. We’re not having sex now, so please go and clothe yourself.”

“Fine. I will. But don’t be surprised if later, the clothes come off.” He winked and walked away.

My stomach fluttered at the thought. I set dinner on the patio and a few moments later, Alex walked out wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a short-sleeve polo shirt.

“Better?” he asked as he held out his hands.

“Yes. Much better.”

As he sat down at the table, he looked around. “Where’s the salt?”

“No salt. It’s bad for your blood pressure. Starting today, I’m going to make sure you eat properly.”

“Shit. I love salt.”

“You’ll learn to live without it. So, since I told you my life story, I want to hear all about Alex Parker. How the hell did you become a billionaire by the age of thirty?”

“How did you know how old I was?”

“I googled you.”

He raised his eyebrow and gave a small smile. “Why?”

“Because I needed to find out who the stranger was that my brother was sending me to stay with. And by the way? What sort of brother does that?”

“He obviously trusts me.” He chuckled.

“Big mistake on his part.” I smiled.

“Apparently, after what happened the other night.”

I laughed. “Go on, tell me about yourself.”

“I came from money. My grandfather started the company, my father took over when he died, and I did the same when my father passed away.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know he passed. How long ago?”

“It’s been about five years.”

“And what about your mom?”

“She and my father divorced when I was seventeen and I haven’t seen her since. She moved to Hawaii.”

“Oh nice. I mean, not nice for you, but Hawaii is nice. I was there for about four months. I loved it.”

“Of course you were,” he spoke as he ate his steak.

“May I ask why you haven’t seen her?”

“She was the reason they got divorced. She had met someone else and left him. I don’t like the guy she’s with, so I never bothered to keep in touch with her. She didn’t even have the decency to come to my father’s funeral.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nah, don’t be.”

I could hear the pain that resided in his voice as he spoke about her.

“So you inherited the company. Were you ready to take over?”

“I sure was. The board didn’t think so and they thought it would be best if I waited a few more years, but I stood my ground and showed them that I could take the company further. That’s when I invested in some hotels, made a national chain, and made the company billions.”

I held up my wine glass to him. “Congratulations. I’m very proud of you.”

He tipped his glass to mine. “Thank you, Miss James.”

“Tell me what you do for fun. Because since I’ve been here, you don’t do anything but work.”

“I have sex with beautiful women. That’s what I do for fun.” He smirked.

Ouch. For some reason, that stung. The thought of him being with other women sent a fire burning through my veins.

“Besides sex, you nympho. Do you have any hobbies?”

“I golf.”

“Of course you do.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He glared at me.

“You’re a corporate billionaire and they all golf. I bet you conduct business on the golf course too.”

“And what if I did.”

“Ha!” I pointed at him. “I knew it. Typical corporate man!”

“I don’t appreciate being stereotyped like that.”

I rolled my eyes. “Then step out of the ‘corporate man’ stereotype and do something different.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Think about it and get back to me.”

He chuckled. “Okay. Because I have time to do that.”

My light and fluffy mood changed to seriousness. “Alex, I’m serious. You had a health scare today and you need to slow down. You’re so fucking filthy rich that you’re set for life. You don’t need to keep going at the rate you are. Life is too short to live that way. You need to let go and discover who you are outside of the corporate world. Relax and have some fun.”

“You mean become irresponsible with life like you? No thanks.”

Fuck. Did he really just say that? It was nice to know what he really thought of me.

“I’m not irresponsible, Alex.”

He laughed. “Come on, Emerson. Yes you are. You travel around the world without any care or responsibility. You don’t take life seriously. Isn’t that why Adam forced you to come back here? So he can put an end to this irresponsible life you’re living?”

Burn. Burn. Burn. Who the fuck did he think he was?

I set down my fork, took the napkin from my lap, threw it on my plate, and pointed my finger at him.

“This is my life and nobody tells me how to live it. I have no regrets with how I’ve lived because I’ve been to hell and back a thousand times over! So you can take your irresponsible words and shove them up your ass, Parker.” I turned on my heels and stormed into the house, going to my bedroom, locking the door, and throwing myself on my bed. I refused to cry.

Chapter 14

Alex

Did she really just tell me to shove my irresponsible words up my ass? I sat there shaking my head. I didn’t say anything that wasn’t the truth, and the fact that she got so pissed off by it showed that she knew it was true. I sighed as I got up from my chair and cleared the table. Seeing her so upset by what I said was starting to bother me, so I went to her room and knocked on the door.

“Emerson, let’s talk, please.”

She didn’t respond.

I turned the knob, only to find it was locked. “Emerson, open this door! This is my fucking house,” I yelled.

Suddenly, the door opened. “Stop yelling. I bet your blood pressure is sky high right now.”

“You make me yell,” I spoke as I stepped inside the room.

Walking over to her, I placed my hands on her shoulders. She pushed away from me.

“Don’t touch me.”

“You don’t really mean that,” I spoke as I placed my hand on her cheek.

“Yes I do.” She looked down but didn’t pull away.

“I’m sorry if I sounded harsh. Sometimes, things just fly out of my mouth.”

“I know and it’s annoying.”

I smiled as I lifted her chin and softly brushed my lips against hers.

“Do you forgive me?”

“No.”

“Is there anything I can do to make you forgive me?” I smiled softly as my hand traveled up her shirt and over her breast, pulling down the cup of her bra and taking her nipple between my fingers.

“No.” I saw a small smile escape her lips.

“Are you sure?” I took her hand and placed it on my hard cock.

“Yes.”

“Yes you’re sure or yes you want this?”

“I’m sure.”

I unbuttoned her shorts and took them down along with her panties. I kneeled down, and my mouth tasted her. She was wet and I knew damn well she wanted me. She moaned as I plunged a finger inside her.

“Still sure?” I whispered.

“Damn you, Parker.” She placed her hands on my head as my tongue explored her. I smiled as I stood up and lifted her shirt over her head. Unhooking her bra, I tossed it to the floor and let my mouth devour her beautiful breasts.

I lightly pushed her back on the bed and hovered over her as she moaned to the pleasure I was giving her. The sweet sounds that escaped her turned me on and I couldn’t become any harder than I already was. She threw her head back and let out a soft cry when I inserted another finger and sent her into ecstasy as she orgasmed. Standing up, I stripped out of my clothes and lay down next to her, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her on her side so she was facing me.