Freedom (Billionaire Secrets 2)

“So do you,” she said before she flashed him another smile.

His pulse was racing. Simon could practically hear the blood rushing in his head and it was suddenly difficult to breathe. The way he was already reacting to her unnerved him. Tonight was about putting rumors to bed. If he came across like some love-struck admirer, their careful plans would blow up in their faces. Everything was on the line. Her son. His career.

Simon had been working on trying to get over her. Move on. But tonight, he was going to have to give it his all to set his feelings aside. Heather’s family and Dover’s staff were counting on them.

He cleared his throat and straightened. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, let me just say goodbye to Finn,” she said. “My parents are going to tuck him in and he’ll probably be asleep by the time we get back.”

“I can wait out here if that would make things easier,” he offered. “I know we’re not seeing each other anymore, but I figure you don’t want to confuse Finn by having him officially meet me.”

“It’s not that I don’t want him to meet you.” She inhaled sharply, her discomfort obvious.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” he said. “I totally understand. You’re trying to protect your son from all this chaos, and I respect that.”

“Thank you, Simon.” She let out a breath. “I’ll be right out.”

She stepped back out minutes later and he offered her his arm.

It was probably not a good idea for them to touch like that, but he wanted her to be at ease. Any high school reunion   would be stressful, but with her name in the headlines the pressure must have been intense for her.

Without a word she took his arm and leaned against him, her warm body already making his thoughts spin out of control. As he led her to the car he inhaled the scent of her seductive perfume. The scent reminded him of spices. And something else. Something forbidden.

Simon opened the passenger door for her and then got into the driver’s seat. He navigated the car down the driveway and sped off.

“I called the reporter who will be shadowing us tonight,” he informed her, trying to keep his tone light.

Linda had chosen a reporter from a national tabloid that she trusted to write a favorable story. Tech wasn’t a tabloid’s usual beat, but for some reason the glossy rag loved getting access to young, wealthy CEOs. His scandal with Heather seemed to intensify interest.

“Okay, good,” she replied. “Linda sent me a message with some last-minute tips.”

“That sounds like Linda,” he said with a chuckle.

“She means well,” she murmured. “Besides, I think she really cares about you.”

He nodded. “She’s the one who convinced the board to let us go to the reunion   tonight. I probably wouldn’t have held on to my position at Dover for this long without her. Linda isn’t just good at controlling the media, she’s good at internal corporate politics, too.”

“And corporate politics isn’t your thing.”

“Definitely not.” His grip on the steering wheel tightened. Playing the corporate game had never been his style, and now he was going against everything he believed in. Privacy. Keeping his head down and focusing on the work. Worst of all, he had dragged Heather into this.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to leave relatively early,” she said. “Ten or eleven o’clock would be good.”

“Do your parents expect you back at a certain time?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. They’ll probably stay the night no matter what time I get in.”

“I remember how great your parents were with kids. They put up with my weird antics for my entire childhood.” He grinned.

She laughed. “Are you kidding? They adored you.” Heather paused, and her laughter died. “The truth is, I had hoped Gary would come over to watch Finn, but he flat-out refused. He won’t even take my calls anymore because he wants all our communications to be through our lawyers.”

Anger made his blood boil. What was wrong with her ex-husband? Was he really so jealous that he was willing to ruin his kid’s life to get back at her? “He’s still trying to get full custody of Finn?”