Going in Deep (Billionaire Bad Boys 4)

A little while later, they were cuddled beneath the covers, something he couldn’t remember doing with her in the past. This need to stay close to any woman, and to her in particular, was new to him.

He held her close, inhaling her warm, fragrant scent that was delicious. He nuzzled his nose into her neck and shoulder, licking behind her ear, and she giggled.

“Silly.”

“I’m just happy.” And he was, which was a unique feeling for him.

“Why? What makes you happy right now?” she asked.

He drew a deep breath. “You. And the fact that you still trust

me or you wouldn’t let me spank you.”

“We click sexually,” she murmured. “But yes,” she admitted. “I’m coming to trust you. Not again, because I just can’t think about the past as something that was honest. Or real. But I’m coming to trust you now.”

It was fucking amazing to hear those words from her beautiful lips. He didn’t kid himself. They had a truckload of obstacles ahead of them in the form of her family. But for this moment in time, he had everything he wanted.

* * *

The next morning, Julian left Kendall’s early because he had a conference call, but not before he’d claimed her once more. If he was in the room with her, he desired her. That wasn’t new. What had changed was the realization that there was so much more between them than sex.

No, it hadn’t been that long since she’d forgiven him, but in that short time, he’d opened himself up to her. Been honest about himself and his past, and he hadn’t been disappointed. She’d accepted him, faults, flaws, and all. Leaving her this morning hadn’t been easy, but it was necessary.

He walked out of her building with Steve on a leash. The dog hadn’t left his new girlfriend without a fight. He’d cried as Julian put his leash on and dragged him away from Waffles.

He stopped at a corner café to grab a cup of coffee, and it took awhile before a taxi willing to pick up Julian and Steve stopped for them. The ride was short, the sun hot through the back window, as Steve pressed his nose against the glass during the trip.

Julian hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, and that was okay with him. He had a damned good reason. The woman he’d left sleeping in her bed, hair tousled over her pillow and face, a soft smile on her lips when he’d kissed her good-bye.

“We’re here,” the driver said, pulling up to the curb by Julian’s apartment.

He slid his credit card into the slot and handled the payment and a nice tip for taking Steve, too, before climbing out of the cab. He was walking across the sidewalk into his building when he heard his name. It was a soft whisper, but it was enough for him to turn.

A young girl with long, dark curly hair met his gaze. Her hands were shoved into the pockets of a hooded, zippered sweatshirt that had seen better days, and her jeans were ripped and faded. But it was her eyes that triggered his instant recall.

“Alex?”

“You … you remember me?”

She was older now, her hair longer, her expression sadder. But her vivid eyes were so light green they often appeared blue. Just like her brother’s.

“Of course I do. Billy’s sister,” he said of his one-time friend, although drug buddy would be a better term.

During the time after college when Julian was high more often than not, he’d hung around with Billy and his group of friends. Julian was lazy and didn’t do much beyond drugs and occasionally showing up for whatever menial labor job he could find, but Billy had been more hard-core.

He was currently doing time for possession and dealing, and his arrest had been the catalyst for Julian to clean up his act—because but for the grace of God, Julian could have been with him. And he couldn’t have afforded to end up behind bars, abandoning his baby sister the way Billy had. Alex had been left with no one to fend for her, and she’d ended up in the foster care system.

He met her gaze. “How did you find me?”

She pulled her sweatshirt tighter around her, her hands never leaving her pockets. “I was wandering near where I used to live with Billy when I thought I saw you. You were busy with a woman and I didn’t know if I should bother you.”

“I knew someone was following me. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I had to work up the nerve,” she mumbled. “Then I Googled your address on the computer at school.”

She obviously had something she needed from him, and getting it out of her was going to be like pulling teeth. “Are you hungry? There’s a place on the corner that makes killer pancakes.”

Her eyes lit up. “I guess,” she said, her casual words at odds with the longing in her expression. The kid was hungry.