One Night With the Billionaire: Book Four (A Billionaire Romance) Read Online Free Page B

elbows on the table, completely interested in the turn this conversation has taken. Jason’s hand stills on her back. She turns and gives him a soft smile, then rests her hand on his thigh, not wanting him to get too uptight over things that happened years ago.  
    “Sounds like those bleachers saw a ton of action.” Chase says.  
    “So did the people under them.”  
    Chase lets out a loud laugh. “I like you,” he says to Kaia. Then, he turns to Jason. “You hang onto this one.”  
    Jason gives Kaia a soft, smitten smile. “I’m planning on it.”  
    A swarm of butterflies slams right into her ribcage, knocking the breath right out of her. She’s never wanted to be held onto so badly in her entire life.  
    “Being from Iowa, did you ever go cow tipping?” Chase asks.  
    Kaia shakes her head. “No way. Not all of Iowa is desolate farmland, and that’s a total bumpkin stereotype! How would you like it if I did that to you?”  
    “Stereotype?”  
    Kaia nods. “Yeah, like, assumed that you two…I don’t know, stole a Lamborghini or something.”  
    Jason barks out a laugh. “No, no Lamborghinis.”  
    “We did take Kyle’s dad’s Maserati out once though, remember that?”  
    With a soft laugh, Jason’s hand resumes its comforting circuit, up and down her spine. Kaia leans into it.  
    “Guess they’re stereotypes for a reason, then,” Chase laughs.  
    “And look at you now!” Kaia raises her hands, gesturing to both Chase and Jason. “You’re both fine, upstanding citizens. Who would’ve thought?”  
    “It’s amazing what growing up will do for you.”  
    Kaia looks over at Jason, and smiles. “It is. Really amazing.”  

CHAPTER FOUR

    Jason sits on the edge of his bed, watching Kaia through the open bathroom door. She’s standing in front of what he’s quickly starting to think of as her sink, brushing her teeth. She’s wearing nothing but a bra and a flimsy pair of underwear. Her hair is down, and she looks as gorgeous as he’s ever seen her.  
    He likes knowing that after she puts the toothbrush down, she’s going to tie her hair back, and rub a cloth across her face that removes all of her makeup. After that, she’ll carefully pat moisturizer into her skin. Jason likes the way it smells when he nuzzles up close to her when they’re trying to sleep.  
    This, he realizes, is intimacy . It’s something that he’s run away from for almost his whole life, and now he finds that he craves it.  
    With Kaia.  
    When Chase left this evening, Jason walked him out, as Kaia started clearing the table. Once his old friend was in the elevator, before the doors closed, he leaned forward and said, “Don’t you dare fuck that up.”  
    Jason wouldn’t dare. He wants Kaia with him always, and he feels that down in his bones.  
    He knows that’s a feeling he probably wouldn’t have if the heaviness of the past were still weighing on him. As angry and as shocked as he was when Elise told him the truth, he finds that it quickly fizzled out. In a perfect world, he’d still be able to think about his mother and father and feel unwavering pride and respect. Knowing what they did is troubling, to say the least. It would be so easy to let that infect his memories of them, and he’s entertained that more times than he cares to admit. But he believes what Kaia told him is true. Jason is their son, and despite what deception they were involved in professionally, they loved him, more than anything.  
    He felt loved and protected as a child, until it all fell apart. He’s hung onto that pain and fear for so long, he wants to let it go.
    It’s time to let it go. To imagine a future free of the burdens of the past. That’s what Elise gave him when she decided that the present and the promise of the future was more important than keeping his mother and father up on a pedestal.  
    Jason thinks it’s about time he thanked her for that. She’s given him more than she even