Without Warning: A Billionaire Romance (Playboys of New York Book 5), JA Low [book suggestions .TXT] 📗

The way my brother demanded she gets us coffee when I can certainly tell she is not his assistant made my blood boil. I could see in the flare of her chocolate-colored eyes that she was pretending to stab him at the request.

My brother is a twit. Honestly, does he think a woman like Ariana would be interested in him?

She doesn’t look happy to see me, which I completely get, but I need to explain to her that what happened the other night was a horrible mix-up, and I want to apologize to her.

“You have five minutes to get out of my office before I kick you in your fucking balls,” she tells me.

Okay, this might take a little longer than me flashing my megawatt smile and baby blues.

“I’d like to see you try.” Raising a brow in her direction, I dare her to come over here and touch me. My mind wanders back to our night together. My eyes fall to her lips, remembering the way she kissed me. Then I remember the moans that fell from those same lips. My dick twitches, thinking about the way she responded to my tongue. Would she be like that again?

I move closer and place my hands squarely on her desk.

“What the hell do you want?” She moves back in her chair, keeping a large space between us. “Do you want to humiliate me a second time?” I can see on her face how embarrassed she is by what happened. I don’t want her to feel like that. It was an honest mistake that turned out to be something so much more than I ever expected. So much so, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her.

“Did you come in here to make sure I take your dirty money?” She reminds me of one of the stupidest things I have ever done. Those chocolate eyes flare as flecks of gold flicker with anger. “Oh, I know, is it to pretend as if I’m a stranger again.” She throws her hands up in the air.

“You were a stranger that night,” I try to explain to her. “You don’t know the full story.”

“I don’t need to know the full story. All I know is I’ve never been so humiliated.” Her eyes turn a little glassy as she explains how she feels to me.

Dammit! I’m the biggest dick in the world. I move around her desk and take a seat on the edge. She rolls her chair back, getting as far away from me as she possibly can.

“The person you were talking to wasn’t me,” I tell her. She stills. “I found out after you left that Ricky Bailey, the bellman, was impersonating me because his girlfriend dumped him.”

Her eyes widen as she listens. “Bailey?” she states.

“Yeah. I found out he was using my picture and first name online.”

Ariana looks devastated as she realizes what I’m saying.

“Just before arriving home, my friend joked that he got me something to celebrate my arrival back home.”

“And you saw me standing there in my underwear and thought I was the something.” The realization hits her as she works out where the mix-up had been.

I understand now why she knew who I was, and she understands why I thought I knew who she was.

“That’s why you gave me the tip.” Sad chocolate eyes look up at me.

“I’ve never paid for sex before, honestly. I had no idea what I was doing,” I confess. “My friends have joked about it, but never have I done it,” I try to explain to her.

“My friends don’t joke about buying prostitutes for each other.” She’s giving me some sass.

I let out a sigh. “You see… I’m going through a messy divorce.”

She shakes her head as if what I’ve just said is the icing on the cake. “Of course, you are.” Rolling her eyes as she stands up and moves out of her chair, she wraps her arms around herself as if they will protect her from my words.

“She ran off with my best friend.” The words tumble out quickly as if that little tidbit of information will stop her from bolting from the room. I walk around the desk and stand in front of her. “That’s why I’ve been in London. I was over the drama of it all.” There’s a slight frown pressed against her forehead as if she doesn’t quite believe me. “I’ve come back as she’s trying to take my company away from me.” Might as well throw all my emotional baggage right out in front of this gorgeous woman. Not like I will ever get a second chance with her.

“Why?” she asks softly.

“I have no idea. Money probably.” Shoving my hands in my pockets, I shrug.

“What do you do?” She changes the subject. “Are you an architect?”

I shake my head. “I have a degree, but no, I’m not an architect, never wanted to be part of the family business.” Her brow raises at this little nugget of information. “I own luxury vacation rentals and boutique hotels.”

Those chocolate eyes widen, and I can see the wheels turning in her mind. “Well, I guess we can call Saturday night a series of unfortunate events.” She gives herself a self-deprecating chuckle.

“I definitely wouldn’t call anything about Saturday night unfortunate, other than the ending.” Reaching out and cupping her face, she stills as my fingers caress her cheek. I knew as soon as I did it, it was a stupid idea, but for some reason, my mind goes haywire around her.

She takes a step backward, breaking our connection. “Thanks for explaining yourself, R-Rhys,” she stumbles over my name. “But I should really get back to work.” She tries to dismiss me.

“I would like to make it up to you… over dinner. Tonight?” Honestly, I don’t want this moment between us to end.

“Don’t think that would be a good idea.” She shakes her head.

“I think it would.” Giving her my flirtatious grin, she simply