Billionaire: Billionaire Romance: Billionaire Tiger (A Billionaire New Adult Shifter Contemporary Romance) Read Online Free

saying, "I can take it off by myself just fine, I promise."
    Oh, I'll just bet you can,
Lara thought. She had no way of knowing that the leopard woman actually was opening his coat, but her frustrated heart told her it must be so.
    Gemma's voice came back, "At least let me go with you back to your door. We can say good night there."
    "Escorting a lady back to her door is what the gentleman is supposed to do, Gemma."
    "That works well enough for me, Manik."
    Assuming the one being escorted actually is a lady,
Lara silently added.
    "See me home, then," Gemma pressed. "We'll have a last drink together at least."
    "I've had enough to drink tonight, Gemma. And so, I think, have you."
    "Manik! That was naughty!”
    "If it was, I'm sorry. We should call it a night before it gets naughtier, then."
    "Will you at least call me?" Lara heard a definite pout in Gemma's voice, like that of a little girl being sent to bed without dinner--or what Gemma so clearly wanted.
    "I'd rather not make any promises," Manik answered. "To be honest, I'm not interested in starting anything just now. I'd prefer to be by myself."
    Lara's eyes widened at this point. She just
had
to risk a peek at Gemma's reaction to that. Leaning carefully back around the corner, she saw Gemma taking a step back from the tall, dark, tiger-faced Englishman--and gratifyingly, she saw the front of his opera coat
closed.
She withdrew around the corner once more, relieved, as Gemma said, "Then can I call you?"
    Gently but firmly, Manik answered, "It would be best, I think, if we just said good night."
    With this came a moment of dead silence. Not a sound came from the outer hall, and Lara could only imagine the disappointment playing on the supermodel's face. It was the only time since the evening began that she felt the slightest pang of sympathy for Gemma. Finally, she heard Gemma say with the shreds of dignity that she had gathered up in that silent moment, "I'm sorry you feel that way, Manik. The rest of tonight could have been much nicer than the party. Much,
much
nicer."
    "Could I see you out and hail you a cab?" he offered, gallant as ever.
    "No, no," Gemma replied. "I can manage. Just walk me to the elevator and I'll be fine. I'm sorry, Manik."
    "Don't be sorry," he said. "Just be well."
    No more words came from around the corner. Lara heard the door open and close. She imagined the two of them walking in silence down the hallway outside to the elevator to the lobby. Manik, she knew, was not going to change his mind. Gemma the leopard woman would live to hunt another wealthy mate at some other party. At least Lara would never see her again. Nor, she thought sadly, would she see Manik.

 
     
    CHAPTER 3
     
     
     
    The party ended and Lara said her good-nights. On the street outside, snug in her wrap, she stepped to the curb and cast her eyes about, seeking a cab for home. Across the street lay an exclusive five-star hotel with a restaurant and bar on the ground floor. She would not have paid the place any more mind than she would any other enclave of the well-to-do, had she not spied a particular figure with a drink at a table near the front window--a tall, brooding figure in a black opera coat. She permitted herself the gasp that she had stifled while eavesdropping in the penthouse. It
couldn't
be...
    All thoughts of going home for the moment fled as Lara crossed the street. The closer she came to the front of that hotel, the more she knew:
Yes, it is.
Walking up to that window, she looked at who was sitting inside, swirling the drink in his glass. The coat was the same, except at some point he had donned an immaculately pressed white dress shirt under it. The hair was the same. But that face... Lara's breath caught in her throat at the sight of that face. She almost toppled over in her high heels. She had never gazed upon such exotic handsomeness in her life. Everything wild and free, and everything gentle and lordly, lived in those features. He was as beautiful as a