Billionaires Dollar Series

“Yes. With my neighbors’ young, ridiculously hot niece. She’s moved in for the summer.”

“Is she nice?”

“Very,” I say. “Too nice, actually. She comes over with baked goods and helpful ideas and is very understanding about my role as single dad. It’s almost too much.”

“Gosh,” Bella says. “She sounds awful.”

“Oh, she’s the worst,” I agree. “I keep hoping she’ll have some flaw, something humanizing, but I come up short every time.”

“No one’s that perfect. You’ll just have to keep digging,” Bella suggests.

“Regarding that,” I say. “Would you let me dig tomorrow?”

A brief pause. “What kind of digging are we talking about here?”

“It wasn’t an innuendo. That’s a bit on the nose, even for me.” I run a hand through my hair. Do I sound too excited at the prospect? “No, I was wondering if you’d like to come over for dinner.”

“Oh! I’d love to!”

“The girls would be here too. They were the ones who suggested it, actually.”

Her voice turns playful. “I see. You were pressured into making me an offer.”

“Yes,” I say. “They have water guns aimed at my head as we speak.”

“Do you need to be rescued?”

“Think you could handle them if I said yes?”

She snorts. “Handle? Please. I can do one better than that. I can offer to teach them how to bake cookies in exchange for handing over their weapons.”

“You’re right,” I admit. “They’d cave in an instant.”

Bella laughs again. It’s a beautiful sound, feminine and happy. A sound I want to be responsible for drawing out again and again. “I’ll be there,” she says. “Anything to save you from being forced to make advances under duress.”

“Thank you. But just so we’re clear, none of my advances to you have been under any kind of duress.”

Quite the opposite. I can’t seem to stay away.

“Well,” she says, voice dropping low. “I’m glad to hear that, although, after today… I didn’t really think they were.”

My laughter comes out a bit hoarse. “No, I was pretty forward.”

“I enjoyed it. And maybe tomorrow evening, after the girls have gone to bed, I could stay for a little while?”

Holy shit. Just those words, just the promise of it, and my body reacts. The image of her naked resurfaces in my mind like clockwork. Fucking hell.

No less potent.

And my name, whispered… “You should definitely stay after they’ve gone to bed.”Property © NôvelDrama.Org.

“Okay, good.” A smile in her voice. I can see it in front of me-kind, tentative, playful, shy, all of those things rolled up in one. This woman is driving me insane. “Goodnight then.”

“Goodnight, Bella.”

But it’s a long time until my body has finally calmed down enough to settle for sleep, and only after I’ve taken the edge off with my own right hand.

Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough.

“This movie is really good,” Evie tells Bella. “The best.”

“It’s okay.” Haven slumps against the giant cushion fortress she’s built in front of the TV, her little sister lying down beside her.

“Only okay?” Bella asks, not seeing the not-so-subtle shake of my head. This is thorny territory.

Haven jumps on the chance to complain. “Yes, because it doesn’t have a prince in it!”

“No prince!” Evie chimes in happily. A familiar logo appears on the TV in front of us.

“Ah,” Bella says tactfully. Yeah, this movie is a frequent source of conflict in this household-as are all decisions. But I’d implemented a system. The kids each get to choose what to watch every other day. Simple. Fair. An elegant solution.

And always met with complaints.

“But movies without princes are great too,” Bella says. “After all, every movie can’t have a prince in it. And not all princesses need a prince.”

Evie grins, not at all tactful in her victory. “Exactly.”

It’s a great message. Could she also tell them never to date? Like, ever?

Bella glances back at me, smiling.

“Great answer,” I tell her.

She pretends to wipe sweat off her forehead and settles back on the couch next to me. “Felt tricky,” she stage-whispers.

There’s no need to. Once the movie is playing, both of the girls zone out entirely. Bombs could be falling around the house and they wouldn’t hear a thing.

Although, I’m somehow certain that if I yelled who wants ice cream, they’d find a way to break that trance.

I barely watch the film-I’ve seen it enough times. No, Bella is the interesting show here. Stretching my arm out, I drape it over the back of the couch. Just enough that I can curl my fingers over her shoulder.

Bella glances up at me, a smile in her eyes. “Hello,” she whispers.

“Hi,” I murmur back. “No need for a prince, huh?”

She pushes her thigh against mine. Playful, but my body is on hair-trigger alert, and my other hand lands on her leg. “Not actively looking for one, at least,” she teases. “But if you happen to find one along the way…”

“Ah.” My thumb rubs circles on the smooth skin of her knee. Thank God for summer and dresses. “An accidental prince.”