Bring the Heat by Margot Radcliffe (13 ebook reader .txt) 📕

him. Even if her dad hadn’t shown much emotion, she’d always known that she was loved and cherished, and listening to Oliver and knowing what she knew about his life, she wondered if he’d ever felt that way. Secure in the knowledge that someone loved him just for him. She yearned for that for him—he deserved to be loved wholeheartedly.

And then, just as she knew she should leave, the door to the bedroom flung open and revealed Oliver standing there, his face red with anger.

When he saw her he took a step back, his expression going completely blank. “Molly,” he said, clearing his throat. “I thought you were upstairs.”

“I, uh, was going to have a shower,” she explained, her voice sounding uncertain.

He sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I’m sorry you had to hear that,” he said. “But I expect it to only get worse. They’re not too happy I’m not doing their bidding anymore. Recalcitrant sons get no reprieve.”

“I hate that for you,” Molly told him, wanting to reach out to him, but the waves of wrath emanating from him were enough to make her keep her distance. “I guess I knew you’d left the job, but I didn’t realize that it was such a big deal to your family.”

Oliver’s shoulder lifted. “I’m the oldest child and my sister isn’t too keen on working in the firm, either. It’s tough for them to let it pass out of their hands. I’ll still be on the board of directors, but I won’t have a hand in any of the day-to-day operations like my dad currently does. But it’s not like it will be in trouble—there are good people who can run it. My parents just want me under their thumb and they can be difficult when I’m not.”

“I see,” Molly said, wondering exactly what the word difficult meant in this context and if it was why he’d lied to them about knowing her.

“I had to tell them I don’t know you,” he explained, his expression serious as he read her mind. “Or else they’d run background checks on you and your entire family, call your bosses, the works. They don’t like it when people get in their way and if they think you are, it’ll be not great. So please don’t take that personally, Molly.”

She nodded, but couldn’t believe anyone could be so underhanded, especially someone’s own parents. “Is Lila someone you dated?”

Oliver snorted. “Lila is a lovely person and they want me to marry her, but we’re not dating, have never dated and will never date. It’s just part of this delusional plot that my family has that once I get married I’ll settle down and take the reins of the firm despite the fact that I’ve given no indication of ever doing that.”

“So they’ve been wanting you to get married?”

“Yeah, that’s nothing new, though,” Oliver dismissed.

Molly searched his face, so many emotions for him running rampant. She knew Oliver’s life, while certainly charmed, hadn’t been perfect but she hadn’t known exactly what that meant. That he was under that much family pressure. That the people in his life who were meant to protect him were the ones making him miserable. She wanted to smooth his scowl and make promises she might not be able to keep to make him smile.

“What did they want you to do that got you so angry at the end of the conversation?” she asked.

Oliver’s nostrils flared and his fists clenched. “They threatened to vote me out of my board of directors seat, which, it’s difficult to explain, but that would have some bearing on the amount of money I pull from my trusts because of the way my grandfather’s will was structured.”

“So what do you have to do, then?”

“The same as always, get married, do what they want, but it’s not going to happen. I don’t need that money.” He pinned her with his gaze. “They don’t understand what I’ve been doing for the last five years, Molly. I’ve been stockpiling, investing my own money using firms and businesses outside of ours because I always knew it would come to this. My family loves me, but it’s with limits, and the longer I hold out, the faster I’m approaching those limits.”

Molly didn’t care if he didn’t want her affection then—she took his hand and squeezed, raising it up to drop a kiss on his knuckles. “Well, they’re going to miss out on being part of your life.”

“Yeah, I don’t think they’re too worried about it.”

“They don’t deserve to know you, then,” she pressed, hoping he knew that she valued him, that she cared for him regardless of what he did or how much money he had. “After all, I like Oliver the person in spite of you being a rich asshole.”

He gave her a small smile then. “Thank you for that.”

“I’m glad you didn’t marry Lila, too.” She met his eyes, giving his hand a squeeze. “I really needed this vacation.”

Shoulders shaking with laughter, he pulled her into him and pressed his forehead against hers. “There was never a chance.”

Scooting him back toward the bedroom, she marveled at how she needed to touch him. It was insane that she couldn’t go an entire day without jumping into bed with him, but he needed that now—they both needed the connection.

She stopped near the bed and slowly pulled off his shorts, pushing them aside with her foot before taking off her own cover-up and bathing suit. She’d been ready to lounge all day in the water, but first there was the quick detour of making Oliver feel better to indulge in. Standing in front of him, totally naked, she smiled. “One time only, I’m completely at your mercy. Anything you want from me, I’ll do.”

A corner of his mouth quirked and it made her feel like a million dollars that after his shitty conversation she could make him feel a little lighter. “Have you been holding back things from me before?” he