Love and War with the Billionaire

CHAPTER 20

Maddox still wasn’t sorry that Parker had fallen sick. It gave him the excuse he needed to bring Mila over. And having her captive like this wasn’t bad either.

Her eyes flashed in anger when he brought up the gym, which only made her more appealing.

“So I suppose being transparent hasn’t made me less attractive,” he said drily. He knew he was prodding her just to get a reaction, but he realized he’d enjoyed that about her almost from the start.

Mila’s jaw flexed. “That was different.”

“How?” Other than the gym itself, Maddox wasn’t sure what was different between the two of them that day.

“You were different.” She shifted her eyes to the window.

He supposed she was right. Maybe. “And I assume I was also more attractive to you then.”

Her eyes snapped back to him. “That’s not what I said.”

He suppressed a smile.

“I don’t like smarmy men,” Mila added with an edge to her voice.

His smile faded. “Well, I don’t like difficult women.”

She made a face. “I don’t know how you would know. From what I’ve seen, you give up pretty easily.”

Maddox stared down at her. “I weigh what the effort is worth before investing my time.”

“You made up your mind quickly with me.” She folded her arms closer to her chest.

“And I should thank you for being frank because it spared me wasting more time.” From the way the fire in her eyes faded, he immediately regretted his response. “That’s not what I meant,” he added quickly.

“I think you did.” Mila focused on the scenery and scooted closer to the door.

Maddox adjusted his position. This was not how he wanted things to go right now. “Look, that’s how I felt at first. But things have changed.”

Without looking at him, she said, “Do you only think about dating when it’s advantageous to your agenda?”

Maddox sucked in a breath. “Not lately.”

The edges around her face softened though she still watched the scenery.

“I could,” he added. “There are some women who might be useful. But to tell you the truth, it hasn’t crossed my mind recently.” Why did it matter when he had Mila with him almost every day now?

Her shoulders relaxed and she finally met his eyes again. “Why not?”

As he gazed at her, he knew the answer perfectly well. But this wasn’t the time to say it out loud. “I just don’t want to.” Because of you, he added in his head.

Something flickered in her eyes. There was more to say. At least, that’s what he hoped. But it would have to wait.

Mila should have been absorbed in her surroundings, but she could only think about Maddox’s response to her question. She knew they couldn’t have much of a conversation right now and it made the day feel like it would never end.

Maddox had another dinner meeting that night, so after cinching everything up for the day, she changed and went to watch a movie in Parker’s room. At least it distracted her from thinking about Maddox. Or it helped. A little.

They got room service, and Parker seemed a little better than the day before.

“Is everything going okay?” he asked–or croaked.