The Billionaire's Challenge - Final Google

“Reid, what are you doing?” she demanded, hurrying after him.

“You need a sweater. Where do you keep them?” he asked, opening drawers. He didn’t stop until he found them. He lifted several of them up, rejecting each one. “No, cashmere won’t work on today’s hike.” He turned to hold the soft material up against her. “But I will enjoy seeing you in this once the weather cools down. He leaned forward and kissed her again. “You’ll look…pettable.”

She blinked, but before she could respond – again – he’d already gone back to sifting through her sweaters. “Nope. None of these will work for today’s hike. You’ll just have to borrow one of mine. I have an extra in my car.”

With that, he closed the drawer and turned to the wardrobes that were built into the wall heading to the bathrooms. “What are you doing?” she demanded, trying to rush ahead of him so she could block him. No way did she want him going through her shoes! She loved shoes! He’d make fun of her shoe collection!

Unfortunately, her rush to get ahead of him and block his invasion only gave him an easy way to torment her further. Leaning a hand on either side of her head, Reid looked down at her, a dark eyebrow raised in question. “Interesting reaction,” he purred teasingly.

“I don’t have hiking boots,” she told him, trying to be firm, but he was just so darn close!

She wasn’t taking the bait though. She could resist making a fool of herself. It didn’t mean anything, the way he was leaning into her. It was just his way. She understood that now. Don’t be a fool, she mentally chided.

Deciding to be straight-forward, she straightened to her full height. Poking him in the only spot she suspected might be soft, the point right under his collar bone. She was wrong. It was just as firm as the rest of him appeared. “Listen to me, Reid. And listen carefully. I’m not one of those silly women who fawn all over you just to give you a chuckle later on, okay?”

He stared at her but she continued.

“You keep leaning into me like this, and I’m sure it works on the other ladies, but I want you to stop. I know you’re not interested in me. Not seriously. So let’s stop the pretending.”

“Are you…?”

“I’m not finished,” she cut him off, holding up a hand to stop whatever it was he’d been about to say. When he closed his mouth, his eyes still confused, she continued. “I have a lot of shoes. I like shoes. No,” she corrected, shaking her head. “I love shoes. And I have a lot of them. But none of them would be appropriate for hiking. Got it?”

Reid pulled back slightly. She’d just thrown a lot at him and he wasn’t sure which to tackle first. He looked down at her, noting her closed off expression. It suddenly hit him why she’d been pulling back whenever he got close. She’d been deeply, cruelly hurt. By a guy pretending to be interested in her? It seemed impossible. But as he watched her, her vulnerability struck him. Hard!

He wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her that whoever had done this to her was an ass. A complete and utter ass! Women should be treated with respect. Someone hadn’t realized what a treasure Selena was and…she’d never fully recovered.

Okay. He understood that. Had suspected it during their previous conversations. But the shoe issue? Why in the world would she care about that?

“Selena, there are a lot of issues I’d like to discuss with you after that little tirade, but let me first assure you that I absolutely love your legs. I love the shoes you wear, so there’s zero chance that I’m going to tease you about the number of shoes you own, simply because watching you walk is like watching art. Your walk is sensuous and your legs are gorgeous! Never doubt that, honey.” He smiled slightly, tilting his head to the side as he observed the confusion and disbelief wash over her. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

She shrugged, crossing her arms over her stomach. “In my experience, men are not the most trustworthy species.”

He smiled slightly. “Okay, fair enough. Something in your past has given you a distrust of men. Interesting comment and we’ll explore that.” He saw the panic enter her eyes and chuckled. “But right now, we need to hit the road. So, since you don’t have anything resembling hiking boots in there …” he stepped back, pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number.