Billionaires in New York Boxed Set: Billionaires in the City Books 1-3 by Laura Burton (learn to read books .TXT) 📕

“No, I’m all right.”

“Why don’t you take a seat?” Emily brushed cookie crumbs off the couch and motioned for him to sit; they sat side by side, staring at each other.

“I like you too.”

Emily started and blinked several times.

Is this what’s eating him up inside? Her shoulders relaxed.

“Is that it? Goodness David… the way you were acting. I thought you were going to tell me you murdered someone and needed help hiding the body.”

David chuckled to himself with the faintest smile. Emily caught sight of something flash behind his eyes. She couldn’t help but wonder if he had more to say. David cleared his throat and clasped his hands together.

“I’m sorry to show up so late, I was just thinking….”

“Yes?” Emily leaned down to look into his eyes as she placed a hand on his knee. He flinched against her touch.

Why did he do that? Emily had replayed their kiss on repeat in her mind, it kept her awake at night. And they had been shamelessly flirting all afternoon. Now he’s flinching at my touch? She eyed the hollow of his neck and suppressed the urge to trace her fingers along his collarbone. David turned his head and looked at her, he placed a hand on top of hers and his lips curved upward. Emily forgot what they were talking about. Sitting this close to his face, that beautiful masculine jaw, and those tender lips… her breaths became shallow and uneven as a hunger grew within the pit of her stomach.

“I do think we should be living together.” His low grunt sent flurries of excitement through Emily’s midriff.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit soon?” Their faces were less than a foot apart, and she could sense the heat rising off his cheeks.

“People will wonder why you keep coming back here.” He looked around, a twinge of disdain washed over his face before he corrected himself with a casual smirk. Emily frowned and crossed her arms.

“Do you know how expensive it is to have an apartment in the city… for normal people.”

“Oh, and you’re normal?” David laughed.

“I’m not a bazillionaire!”

“A what?” They both threw their heads back and chuckled. “That sounds like a dinosaur.”

Emily loosened her arms and rested her hands in her lap. David leaned in close and brushed her cheek with his knuckles. “And anyway, you are not normal, Mrs. Marks.”

Emily inhaled deeply, taking in his scent. Once again, her brain emptied all thought or memory of their conversation and she became lost in the moment. Her instincts woke up like a sleeping lion, starving. She licked her bottom lip, his eyes darted down showing her he noticed. She gulped. Their chemistry was electrifying, and Emily was sure that if someone were to walk in, they would see strobes of light ricocheting off the walls. What was David doing in her apartment? Why did she think she could act serious, sitting on her crumb-infested couch, wearing a sweater with a giant bunny on the front? This was so far from the respectable businesswoman exterior she liked to put on. David was still wearing a suit, but the top two buttons of his grey shirt were undone and his hair was tousled in waves around his ears. Emily wondered if he grew it out, would his head be covered in curls? David turned to her as if to say something but he remained silent.

“Why am I not normal?” she asked as she gave him a nudge. David tugged at his collar, a flush of color rising up his neck. Is he nervous? Why are you so shy now, Mr. Marks? She leaned in to kiss him, the luring scent of his cologne and the faint blush over his cheeks were too much to resist. She wanted to place her hands everywhere and kiss him until morning. David stood up as Emily froze, leaning awkwardly to the space David had been. She tilted her head to the side to look up at him, a giant in her living room.

“I should go.”

“But you just asked me to live with you?”

“Right,” he said, slightly breathless. “We should go. Do you need help packing your bags?”

“Excuse me? You think I’m just going to come along and play house in your fancy top-floor apartment?”

“It has three bedrooms; you’ll have your own space… I’ll make sure you’re comfortable.”

Emily slowly rose to her feet and folded her arms as she looked at him with the most self-respecting, serious pout she could muster.

“Oh really?” She surveyed his face. There it was again, a flash of something behind his eyes. What is going on in that gorgeous head of yours?

David walked over to the kitchen area and opened the cupboards, looking for something. He found two mugs and pulled them out and set them on the counter. Emily watched him open the refrigerator.

“What are you doing?”

David’s head popped up past the breakfast bar and he puffed out the air in his cheeks.

“Do you have any milk?”

“No, I’m dairy-free.”

“Got any dairy-free milk?”

“David, what are you doing?” Emily repeated, this time her bafflement turned into irritation. He was behaving oddly. She couldn’t work out why.

David’s shoulders slumped and he kicked the refrigerator door closed with his foot.

“You know what, because you’re doing me a massive favor, I’m going to buy you a whole new wardrobe tomorrow. Just come as you are.” He eyed her up and down and Emily tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Are you sure? You really want me to move in?”

“Well, just for now, at least. Until my grandmother….” He didn’t finish the sentence. But he didn’t need to. Until she died. So that was his plan? Is this his conscience kicking in? Lying to your terminally ill grandmother just to get your inheritance seemed pretty low. Yes, Emily lied too, but that was different. That was to pacify obnoxious, narrow-minded investors who thought it was the 1950s and a woman couldn’t run a successful matchmaking business without being