His Desire (Billionaire Blind Date Book 5) Read Online Free Page B

And the La Costa—”
    “Why are you telling me this? So I’ll feel . . . guilty?”
    “No, I don’t want you to feel guilty . I wanted to give you those things.” I was grasping, and I could feel my fingertips slipping off the ledge one by one. “Just be reasonable enough to see that asking for a few weeks or months of a pretend marriage shouldn’t be that big a deal in return for all of it.”
    “You want me to feel indebted, then. And I refuse. I won’t.”
    “Sophie—”
    “This ring, half a million, that’s a drop in the bucket to people like you, isn’t it?”
    “Yes. What—”
    She slammed the door shut, damn near catching my fingers as I tried to hold it open. As the cab pulled away from the curb, she hurled the ring out the window at me, where it bounced off the pavement behind me.
    “Don’t call me again,” she shouted.
    I picked up the ring and stared at it a moment. Those terrible feelings were back, the realization that I wanted something I couldn’t have. 
    But you could have it. Or at least you could have before. Maybe not now . . .
    I called the driver to pick me up, turning the ring over and over in my hand, feeling more lost than I ever had in my life. An elderly couple walking down the sidewalk laughed about something, and the man, who walked with a cane, kissed the woman on the cheek and said I love you, even when you’re grumpy . They laughed again, and despite having no idea what prompted the comment, I smiled.
    “How long have you been together?” I asked, and wondered why my voice was so shaky.
    “Fifty-seven years,” the man said proudly. “Fifty-seven looooong years,” he said with a wink. She gasped oh you and slapped his arm, giggling.
    “That’s remarkable. Here.” I grabbed the man’s hand and pressed the ring into it. “It’s worth half a million dollars, and will look beautiful on your wife’s hand. Or take it to Heinway & Sons on 16th street—he’ll give you a fair price for it.”
    They spoke over one another— we can’t accept this, it’s too much, what are you —but I held my hand up. “It’s just a gift. Enjoy it. Take care.”
    I got into the limo and waved at them before the driver closed his door. My uncle’s voice echoed in my head.
    Everything isn’t a business deal, Grant.

Six – Sophie
     
    When the cab pulled up outside my building, I’m not sure how long I sat there.
    “Miss?” The driver’s voice was loud and panicked. He’d apparently spoken to me several times before I heard it.
    “Yes, yes.”
    He made me assure him that I was okay before he let me walk away from the car, and I spared a warm thought for him, concerned about a stranger. But most people were good and decent, weren’t they? I thought so. I liked to think so. Most people understand the struggle life could be, and didn’t mind helping out a fellow human being.
    I dragged myself to my door and dropped my keys and purse as soon as I was inside. My purse toppled off the side table I’d placed there for that purpose. I didn’t pick it up.
    I went to the bedroom and undressed, sighed as I slid between the cool sheets, hugged my pillow to me, and lay there thinking of nothing and everything for a very long time. When I woke the next day, my pillow was damp, so either I’d cried enough before I slept to soak it, or I’d cried in my sleep. Or I’d woken up and cried from time to time.
    I felt so fuzzy, so numb, I had no idea which it was. 
    I managed to get up to use the bathroom, get a drink of water, and think about eating something. Nothing sounded good, even though my stomach growled its hunger at me a few times through the day.
    I did all right, as long as I could focus on things that had nothing to do with anything of importance in my life. Was Pluto really a planet or not? How long would Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt really stay together? Should I get a full Brazilian wax one of these days just for the experience, and to say I had?
    But now and then, ugly