The Billionaire Playboy Read Online Free Page B

as
she poured cream into her coffee. “I'm meeting with the town administrator in
about thirty minutes to assess the damage down by the river. And the first
shipment of supplies from the foundation is arriving later.”
    Charlie didn't
reply. Rather she studied him over the rim of her coffee mug. “Do you always go
where the foundation gives out aid?”
    Jake nodded. “There
have been a few times that I haven't, but I try to get there.”
    She made a
surprised sound in the back of her throat but didn't comment.
    He didn't know
why she was surprised by his answer. She probably knew that he was in charge of
the Falmouth Foundation. It wasn’t a secret. “You seemed surprised?”
    Stepping away
from the coffee so someone else could get some, she took a sip before answering.
“I assumed you were more of a poster boy for the foundation. I didn't picture
you as the hands-on   type.”
    Annoyance swept
through his body. She didn't see him as the hands-on type after all the work
he'd already done.   “And how do you see
me?”
    Perhaps hearing
the anger in his voice, Charlie's eyes narrowed and her back became ramrod
straight. “You’re not exactly described as the hardest working man alive in the
media,” she answered matter-of-factly. “According to them you're out with a
different woman every night driving around in expensive cars. I assumed someone
like that wouldn't be interested in physical labor.” Her tone wasn't rude. Rather
she sounded as if she was reciting facts from a book.
    The media was
great at portraying people in a way that was best for their ratings. Very
rarely did they get the truth right. This wasn't the first time someone had
assumed he was nothing more than a spoiled rich playboy and he was confident it
wouldn't be the last. Normally, he would shrug it off. If someone wanted to
believe the media's image of him he wouldn't bother with them. However, this
time it troubled him. For some reason, he wanted to prove the doctor wrong. He
wanted to show her the real Jake Sherbrooke.
    “I'm not going
to lie. I like fast cars, but a different woman every night isn't my thing. You
can't always believe what you read.” Jake clenched his teeth to keep his anger
from creeping into his voice. “Why don't you spend the day with me? See what I
really do.” He expected her to say no.
    Tilting her head
to the side she studied his face. “When do we leave?”
    Jake forced
himself not to smile. “Meet me by my truck in ten minutes.”
    Once again
Charlie nodded and then headed in the direction of the kitchen. Jake couldn't
help but watch and admire her retreating form. There was no mistaking her
confident no-nonsense step. By inviting her along he knew he'd made his day
more difficult, but he didn't regret his invitation. Not one bit. Only an
insane man would regret having a beautiful woman by his side all day.
     
    After unwrapping
the blueberry muffin he'd grabbed before coming outside, he raised it to his
mouth. It was still warm from the oven and his mouth watered just looking at it.
He bit into it just as his phone rang. With his free hand he pulled the smart
phone from his pocket and checked the number.
    Blair again . She'd called earlier that week and he
thought he'd made it clear that he wasn't interested in getting back together. Part
of him wanted to ignore the call and let it go straight to voice mail. If he
answered all he'd get was a repeat of their past conversation. If he ignored
the call though, she'd only call again. Swallowing his mouthful of muffin, he
answered the phone.   Better to get the
conversation over with now. “I don't have a lot of time Blair. I have an
important meeting soon. What's up?”
    “I'm heading up
to New York City this weekend and I wanted to see if you would join me. I
thought maybe some time alone would be good for us.”
    Jake held back a
groan. Time alone would only accomplish one thing; to remind him how ill-suited
they were for each other. “I'm in the field