The Billionaire Book Club

“Fashion design school in Italy?” Jared asks and Lena nods. “For how long?”

“I’ll be over there about a year.”

All of a sudden, Jared looks surprisingly sad. I’m not sure I understand why, though. This is exciting news.

Cap squeezes my hips, seemingly to communicate something to me. What it is, I have no idea, but I decide to keep my mouth shut just in case.

“Congratulations, Lena,” Cap declares with just enough enthusiasm that his father turns his frown around. “We’re all really excited for you. Right, Dad? Mother?”

Vicky nods noncommittally, but Jared pulls Lena in for a hug before whispering in her ear just loudly enough for the rest of us to hear.

“I’ll miss you, Leenie Bean. But if this is what you want, I couldn’t be more thrilled for you.”

“Thanks, Dad,” she says quietly as she melts into his side.

“Congratulations,” I say, and even though it feels awkward coming off my lips, Lena’s responding smile is thankful.

Jared, Cap, and his sister dive into a conversation about her plans and what she’s hoping to get out of fashion and design school in Milan, but I have a hard time following their chatter.

The intensity of the moment—hell, the intensity of this entire night—begins to weigh heavy on my shoulders.

The dancing.

The fact that I actually told Cap my narration name.

His penetrating, damn near addictive gaze.

The almost-kiss.

It all feels too…intimate.

And now, standing in the middle of his family circle, overhearing their conversation and indirectly getting to know more and more about the larger-than-life man standing beside me, it’s simply overwhelming.

The room starts to feel a little too warm, and the urge to flee the scene is too strong to ignore.

“Excuse me,” I mutter to the group and then, on my tippy-toes, whisper into Cap’s ear, “I need to head to the ladies’ room.”

Thankfully, this time, he lets me go.

I step away from their group and away from the dance floor—away from the weird bubble of hormones Cap and I created right where he still stands.

And as I walk in the opposite direction of them—of him—I’m a mix of many things, but I’ll be damned if I can tell which part of me feels the strongest.

Relief that I just managed an escape…or disappointed that I’m no longer standing within his embrace.

Cap

It’s Monday night, and I’m doing what almost no guys do on a Monday night—heading straight for a pretend poker game that serves as a secret cover for a book club.

But, obviously, it isn’t just any book club.

It’s the Billionaire Book Club. Which pretty much makes it the best fucking book club around, no matter if its foundation was built on my ulterior, Ruby-inspired motives.

Vin, my driver, expertly navigates the roads from my office to Thatch’s apartment, and I stare out the window, watching the buildings and streetlights and pedestrians pass by in a blur.

I’m lost in my thoughts. Lost in my own damn head.

Lost in whatever the hell is happening between Ruby and me.

She looked so damn beautiful at my dad’s birthday party Saturday night.

We danced.

We almost kissed.

She even met my insane family without fleeing the premises like her ass was on fire.

Which is a damn miracle when it comes to my mother alone.

But Ruby did end up excusing herself from the party a little too fucking early for my liking.

When it comes to her, I’m finding that the path is rocky, and every time I think I make two steps in the direction of progress—in the direction of her gloriously naked body in my bed—she flips the fucking map and navigates us three steps back and another ten in a different goddamn direction.

It’s like she’s semi-immune to my charm or something.

Which, let’s face it, pretty much never fucking happens.

Hell, where did it all go wrong the other night?

Before I can begin to recount the events of Saturday in my head, for what has to be the fiftieth time, my phone serves as a distraction, chiming loudly from my jacket pocket.

I pull it out to find a text from my sister.

Lena: So…dear brother…why don’t you go ahead and spill the deets on your new lady friend?

I sigh. Apparently, I’m not the only one whose brain is fixated on Ruby.

Me: She’s my intern.

Lena: And…

And hopefully, very soon, a woman screaming my name and her orgasm in my fucking bed…

Me: I see what you’re trying to do here, but there’s nothing to tell.

Lena: God, you are so full of shit, and you know it.

She’s annoyed. It makes me grin.

Me: I’m the best brother in the world, and this is how you treat me? Wow, sis. What happened to the sweet little Lena I used to know?

Lena: Oh, cut the crap, Cap. And don’t try to change the subject.

Me: And what subject are we talking here? English? Math? A little history? Or shall we delve deep into fashion and design just to get you up to speed for Milan in the winter?