The Billionaire Player (In Too Deep)

“Just let me explain, please?” I knew I was basically begging, but I didn’t care. I’d lost her once and the universe had put her back in my path. There had to be a reason for that. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since the lake house. I’m not a saint, but I’m not what she tried to make me sound like, either. I haven’t been with anyone else for weeks, but then last night I got drunk and I thought it was time to put myself back out there.”

“Weeks?” she said disbelievingly, then pretended to give me a round of applause. “Congratulations. That must’ve been really difficult for you. I’ll be in touch about the house, okay?”

Spinning around, she took off and stormed toward the traffic light on the corner. Scrambling to follow her, I broke into a jog. The light changed and she ran across the street to where our cars were parked.

“Will you stop for a second?” I asked. “Just give me a minute. Please? I know how terrible all that sounded, and—”

She finally slowed down, turning to face me, but she kept walking backward. “I’m not into playboys or players or whatever you call yourselves nowadays. Just leave me alone. Let me go, and we’ll talk soon.”

I fell back, holding up my hands as I realized she was too upset to listen right then, and I couldn’t blame her. For that matter, I couldn’t blame the redhead either. I hadn’t been expecting to see Larisa again and I’d been trying to get over the idea of what we could’ve been, but the timing couldn’t have been shittier. Now, all I could do was hope that once she cooled down, she’d still take the job.

If she did, I might have one last shot at proving myself to her, but if she didn’t, I was shit out of luck.