Give Me More--A Sexy Billionaire Romance A.C. Arthur (the giving tree read aloud .TXT) 📖

High cheekbones, slender nose, plump lips. Need pulsated through his body like a sickness, and he furrowed his brow. Closing his eyes, he hoped for more restrained thoughts. He had to think about this clearly, to see beyond the face he’d once thought he would look at every day of his life. But with his eyes closed, memories of her laugh—the light giggle that inevitably morphed into a throaty chuckle—made him want to repeat whatever he used to do to bring it out, again and again. The way her hair always tickled his face and chest when she leaned over while riding him. The straightness of her back and the way her glasses slid down on her nose whenever she was sitting at her desk typing on her computer. How she chewed spoonfuls of Raisin Bran as if it were the best cereal in the world—which it was not. Her scent, soft and sweet like honey. The feel of her fingers as she massaged his shoulders after a long day at the office.

“Dammit!” His eyes shot open and he pounded his fists on the desk, shaking the laptop. Why’d she have to come back, and why now of all times?

He released his fingers, put them over the keyboard and began scrolling through articles she’d written. There were pictures of her at charity functions, one with the ASPCA. She’d always had a soft spot for dogs but had said she wanted a house in the suburbs with a large yard and kids before owning one. Hadn’t he tried to give her that house, kids and a dog? Anything. He would’ve given her anything she wanted as long as he could go home to her every night and wake up beside her each morning.

Apparently, she hadn’t wanted those things with him. It’d felt as if she’d ripped his heart from his chest and carried it out the door as she’d left the restaurant that night. The velvet blue Tiffany box open with a Soleste cushion-cut diamond engagement ring had sparkled up at him from the table where she’d left it. He didn’t recall how long he’d sat there—twenty, forty, another sixty minutes, perhaps. He’d been unable to move, every part of his body shocked into stillness, covered in embarrassment. Eventually he’d left and taken the ring with him, carrying it home to his penthouse in Manhattan and throwing it across the room. Anger, heartbreak, betrayal all soared through his body that night and in the days that followed. Major said he’d been as mean as a rattlesnake for the following month. His mother had been a little easier with her words, declaring him sullen and temporarily displaced. He’d just wanted to break something, anything, everything in his house for starters. Everything Grace touched, from the door handles to the pots in the kitchen. On a rage one night he’d ripped the sheets from his bed and tossed out every set he had, only to have to go through the annoying task of ordering new ones the next day. But eventually, he’d gotten over her.

At least he’d thought he had.

Staring at her on the screen now, seeing the accolades she’d garnered over the years, he noted her smile, the flecks of deep amber in her eyes, that little scar on her chin where she’d fallen down the steps at eight while trying to be a majorette.

She shouldn’t be here, and she definitely shouldn’t be writing about his family. Dragging his hands down his face now, he wondered what to do. How could he handle this so that no one in his family had to know what was going on? Bringing up this feud now, days before Riley and Chaz’s marriage, would ruin everything. His sister had fought long and hard for her happiness, and Chaz was the one for her. Ron and Tobias had put that grudge to rest, deciding that their children—Tobias had raised Chaz after his sister died in a car accident—deserved to be happy and unhampered by mistakes of the past. It had been a valiant stance for both men to take, and RJ had been extremely proud of his father for giving Riley his blessing. Not that Riley needed it—she was going to be with Chaz whether or not anyone in either family approved. RJ loved his sister’s tenacity.

He loved his family, period. His parents would celebrate their thirty-sixth wedding anniversary in four months. His father was retiring and the new plaque on RJ’s office door would soon read Ronald Gold III, Chief Executive Officer. The position he’d been groomed for his entire life was in arm’s reach, and he was eager to step into the big, impressive shoes his father would be leaving.

What he wasn’t about to do was let Grace and whatever words she planned to write hurt them. If that meant he had to go head-to-head with the woman who’d crushed his heart and made it impossible for him to ever love again, then so be it. First thing tomorrow morning he was going to find Grace Hopkins and send her on her way. If she protested—which she would because Grace was as ambitious and ruthless as him when it came to her career—then he’d resort to other measures. Pulling up his email, he started a message to his assistant instructing her to find out who Grace was working for and whom she’d already contacted within the fashion industry in the last few weeks. He wanted to know everything she’d done in the last decade, everywhere she’d been, every guy she’d been with...gritting his teeth, he took that last part back. He didn’t need to know who Grace had been involved with. Even ten years later, his heart couldn’t take that pain.

CHAPTER FOUR

RJ AWOKE THE next morning to thoughts of Grace. Aside from the obvious physical attraction—as noted by the semi-erection he’d returned to his hotel room with last night—memories circled in his mind. After dating for a year and a half,