Give Me More--A Sexy Billionaire Romance by A.C. Arthur (detective books to read txt) 📕

“No. I mean, yes.” She paused, shook her head and huffed again. “It is mine. It rolled off my balcony and I had to come get it.”

Her arm moved as she spoke, and he was barely able to focus on her words because he was staring at that toy and the way her nipples were now pressing against the material of her T-shirt. “So you were gonna use the vibrator in your room, but somehow it rolled off your balcony. I stepped on it and almost busted my ass, now you’re standing here holding it like—”

Like she was giving it a hand job, which made him uncharacteristically jealous.

“Yes,” she replied, and squared her shoulders as if trying to find some semblance of control in this very awkward situation. She licked her lips and RJ couldn’t help it—he groaned.

Her eyes widened and dammit, she licked her lips again. At least this time she figured out the error of her ways and dropped her gaze from him, looking down at the vibrator again. With a shake of her head she folded her arms across her chest. Now he could only see the globular top of the sex toy tucked between the warmth of her arms.

He swallowed, hard, and then cleared his throat.

“This is a crazy way for us to meet again.” Her chuckle sounded nervous, but Grace was the most courageous woman he’d ever known. “It’s good to see you.”

It was great to see her, too. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed looking into her eyes until right this moment. When they lived together he’d spent his days at work looking forward to walking through the door into his penthouse and seeing her sitting at her desk typing, or lounging on the couch watching one of her favorite sitcoms, laughing heartily at some line she’d heard a billion times before.

“Yes. It’s really nice to see you, too.” After all this time...and after she walked out on him. He sighed. It was time to stop letting confusion rule this conversation. “Strange that we grew up in the same city, lived together for a year and now we’re running into each other here, when we’ve managed not to see each other for the last ten years.”

The memory of her walking away from him in that crowded restaurant was still so fresh in his mind. He gritted his teeth to keep the pain and irritation at bay. It annoyed him how quickly he could flip from heartwarming memories of their time together to simmering rage for the gaping hole she’d left in his heart.

She nodded. “You’re right. It’s been that long. And I’m still living in New York.”

“Yet we haven’t seen each other until now.” He knew he was repeating himself. It was hard not to. He was still grappling with everything that had happened in the past few minutes.

“Well, that’s not actually by chance.” She cleared her throat and shifted so that her arms moved a little. The action pushed her breasts up higher and his throat tightened.

“What do you mean?” It occurred to him then that Grace was a journalist. “Did you find out from one of your colleagues in the press that we were here?” Although, no one in the media was supposed to have that information.

“Not exactly. I’m writing a story and when I reached out for an interview, I was told you’d be here.”

Damn, this night just kept getting better. Standing a few feet away from his ex, who was still gripping a vibrator, wasn’t going to be the worst part of this night. He could feel it in the lump that had just formed in the pit of his stomach. “You’re writing a story about what or who? And who exactly told you I was here?”

“Well, not you, specifically.” She tilted her head again, and strands of her hair brushed along the line of her neck, touching that soft spot just above her collarbone he used to love kissing. The jolt to his already burning desire wasn’t enough to keep his mind from churning over each word she was saying.

“Why don’t you just tell me specifically what you’re talking about?” Even though he had a sinking suspicion he wasn’t going to like it.

She dropped her arms to her sides and lifted her chin. This time his gaze focused on hers.

“I’m writing a story about the fashion house rivalry between RGF and King Designs.” His fingers fisted the moment she named his company. “More precisely, it’s a story about Ron Gold and Tobias King. I have an interview with Veronica King. She’s the one who told me this is where I could find the entire family in one place. To make it easier to speak to everyone integrally involved in the feud.”

RJ’s nostrils flared and the temper he was typically good at holding at bay was on the brink of implosion. “Are you serious? Why would Veronica tell you we’re here? She knows Chaz and Riley wanted the location of their wedding kept secret.” She couldn’t really mean what she’d just said. Of all the people in this world, Grace knew how he felt about the feud, and she knew how protective he was of his family. This had to be a cruel joke, like the manner in which they’d reunited.

“I’m very serious about this and I don’t know why Veronica gave me the information instead of just granting me an interview back in New York. And listen, before you go off about this, I’m the best person to write this story and you know it. I know you and your family, and I—”

“You,” he said in a tone that was deathly calm, but as lethal as he’d ever sounded in his life, “will go back to your room, pack your stuff and get the hell off this island. And there will be no story. I’ll see to that.”

If he had to burn down whichever newspaper, magazine or other outlet