Taking Control (Babysitting a Billionaire #3)

“Are you avoiding me?” Declan lounged back in his big leather seat, but he felt far from relaxed. His hand gripped the phone, his fingers tightening at the silence on the other end of the call.

“Yes,” she finally answered.

He hadn’t seen her alone in the five days since he’d gatecrashed her date with Harry. She kept to her word, and she was part of the job; she’d accompanied him to two dinners in the last week, and she’d been the perfect girlfriend as long as she was in company. But she always managed to slip away before he could maneuver her somewhere alone. And the guys followed her like hawks. They were doing a better job guarding her than they were him.

He was pissed off and frustrated as hell. And he couldn’t get her words out of his head. Did he need to work out what was wrong with his life? Was there even anything wrong? Or was everything fucking wrong? He didn’t know anymore.

“Are you going to tell me why?” he asked.

She was silent for a long time.

“Jess?”

“Sorry, just working out what to say to make you bugger off and leave me the hell alone.”

“Why not go ahead and try. I’ll tell you if it’s working.”

“Hmm… How about it was fun for a while, but rehashing old affairs never really works.”

“And how would you know that. Have you extensive experience?”

“Enough.”

The strange thing was he was pretty sure she had very little experience. She’d been a virgin when she’d first gone with him. He could still remember the surprise that had dealt him. She’d been so wild, even though she’d been only seventeen. She’d dressed like a tart and mixed with an older crowd. He’d just presumed.

Back then she never talked about her family. He’d guessed they were fairly well off; she’d been attending private school. And when he’d met her sister that had been confirmed, though Jess and her sister had seemed almost like different species.

So why had she been the way she was? What had made her crave danger? She’d pushed him and pushed him as though she needed to see how far he would allow her to go.

Why did he suddenly feel like he had let her down all those years ago?

“Declan, you still there? Or did it work.”

“So you’re bored with the sex?”

“Yeah.”

She was lying.

But why?

“Come here and tell me that to my face.”

“Thanks for the invite, but I think I’ll pass.”

“You can’t avoid me forever.”

“I think I can.” She was silent for a moment. “Anyway, after tomorrow night the trial will begin, and once you’ve given evidence, then this whole thing will be over.”

It would never be over. He knew that now. He just needed to convince Jess of that. She was definitely running scared, but he wasn’t sure exactly what she feared.

Trusting him again, obviously. He’d let her down. But he suspected it was more than that.

“Come over tonight,” he said. “We can talk.”

“We have nothing to say. Besides, I can’t. Girls’ night out.” And she broke the connection.

…

Okay, so she shouldn’t be here. It was over.

Jess had been doing a great job of avoiding Declan, but since that phone call earlier, she hadn’t been able to settle.

She’d convinced herself that the only way she was going to convince him that she was serious about the no-more-sex thing was face-to-face.

Delusional or what?

But somehow she had found herself out on the street, hailing a cab and giving the address of Declan’s office to the cabbie. And now here she was, sitting in reception, trying to give herself a stern talking to about the meaning of face-to-face, and how it did not mean chest to chest or pelvis to pelvis.

Or she had been doing until one minute ago when the elevator doors slid open and Declan had emerged. With a woman. A very beautiful, smart-looking woman, who he ushered out of the elevator with a hand at her waist. Now he was standing by the reception desk, leaning in toward her, listening to something she was saying, a small smile on his face. He obviously knew her well; it was there in the body language.

Steve and Rick, today’s bodyguards, had followed him out, keeping a discreet distance. Jess scowled as she caught Steve’s gaze and shook her head slightly.

Maybe now wasn’t the time to do the face-to-face thing. Maybe now was the time to work out what the hell was going on in her brain.

Because her first inclination was to head over there and rip that woman’s hand away from Declan’s arm. Then probably drop-kick her to the ground and tear out her perfectly styled hair.

And that was way beyond rational.

She was in so much trouble.

The thing was, she didn’t actually believe there was anything going on between Declan and Ms. Perfect. But that was beside the point. She had this voice screaming in her head.

Mine. Mine. Mine.