The Billionaire’s Big Bold Woman: A Single Father Instalove Romance (The Billionaires’ Club)

Jenna blinks rapidly, her expression full of surprise. I don’t think she was prepared for me to ask her to come home with me. Fuck, maybe I shouldn’t have asked. I barely know her. She barely knows me. I have the girls to think about. She has her own life in Nashville. The same obstacles and issues that existed half an hour ago still do.

But I heard her with my girls. Any other reporter would have pried, regardless of the fact that the girls are only five. They would have tried to keep them talking, just to see what they could shake loose. Jenna didn’t. She didn’t even hesitate to let the story slip through her fingers. She didn’t just brush them off, ignore them, or make them feel badly for the way they feel, either. Instead, she soothed both of their fears as if it were second nature to do it.

In ten minutes, she showed my girls more empathy and understanding than their mother did in the entire first three years of their lives. I never imagined one single conversation could change the course of my life, but I think the one I just shamelessly eavesdropped on did just that.

I want this woman. My dick is fucking throbbing for this bold, beautiful woman.

But that’s not why I want her to go home with me, as much as I wish it were.

‘I’m not asking you to sleep with me,’ I murmur, keeping my voice pitched low in case the girls come back. They’re sneaky little shits when they want to be. ‘Not yet. I have a conference call in an hour. If I reschedule, it’s going to set our timeline back by weeks.’

‘You need me to watch Finn and the girls?’

‘For the record, I’m not some asshole who just runs off and leaves his kids with random strangers,’ I say, holding my hands up. If she were anyone else, I wouldn’t even ask. But some instinct or intuition or something is absolutely certain I can trust her. Plus, I know her brother. I know what kind of man he is, and I know he wouldn’t have asked Ian to meet with her if he didn’t trust her implicitly. ‘I’ll be right down the hall the whole time. Ian and Holly were going to keep them occupied while I handle this, but…’

‘But she’s being admitted,’ Jenna says, her voice soft. ‘Of course I’ll watch them, Mac. But, um…is it okay if we stay here?’

‘You don’t want to go home with me?’

‘I do want to go home with you.’ She tips her head back to meet my gaze. ‘That’s the problem. If I go home with you, we’re going to do something you might regret. And I already love your girls. If we go there and then you regret it, things will be awkward and weird, and you probably won’t let me visit them. And I’d really like to visit them, Mac. They’re so sweet!’

Fuck. Where has she been all my life?

‘You’re turning me down for my girls, dimples?’

She opens her mouth and then snaps it closed, seemingly at a loss for how to respond to my question. And then pure mischief glints in her eyes and spills from her lips. ‘Obviously,’ she says. ‘They’re cat-burger pirate princesses. That beats billionaire any day.’

‘Smartass.’

‘You asked,’ she says, shrugging.

‘There’s just one problem with what you said,’ I murmur, stepping even closer to her.

‘Yeah? What’s that?’

I glance over my shoulder to make sure we’re still alone. The girls are taking an unnaturally long time to find the nail file, which means they’re probably up to no good. But I know Ian hides all the dangerous and dirty shit from them, so whatever they’re doing in his room, they’re safe.

‘You didn’t say you might regret it.’ I pull her into my arms. She topples into me, her soft body colliding with my chest. And fuck me. She feels even better in my arms than I thought she would. Which is saying something since I practically had her in them outside half an hour ago.

Her hands land on my shoulders, her tits against my chest. That cotton candy scent wreaks havoc on my senses. I want to taste those plump lips and the dip where her neck and shoulder meet. And then lower, between her beasts. They’re so goddamn sexy. She is sexy. There isn’t a single spot on her that I don’t find ridiculously appealing.

‘Would you regret it?’ I ask, my lips against her ear. And even though I shouldn’t do it, I can’t resist taking a small taste of her. My lips touch her neck. I flick my tongue out, feeling the way her pulse goes wild beneath it. Whoever designed her was an alchemist because her skin is the perfect combination of salty and sweet.

‘Never,’ she vows, her voice shaking. Because she means it? Because she’s turned on? Both, I think.

‘Then we have another problem, princess.’

‘W-what problem?’

‘The one where I wouldn’t regret a goddamn second of getting you in my bed,’ I growl.

‘Mac,’ she whispers.

‘You want me? I’m yours, Jenna. I’ll give you exactly what you need. But I come with two little girls and chaos. If you’re not ready for that, you gotta walk away now, dimples.’ If she doesn’t, I already know we’re going to fall in love with her. My girls will idolize her. She’ll ruin me for anyone else. And it’ll rip my heart out of my fucking chest if she decides to leave later.

She cranes her head back, staring up at me with wide eyes. ‘We have a third problem then, Mac.’

‘What?’

‘I don’t want to walk away,’ she whispers.

‘Fuck.’ My hands flex around her hips, desire ripping through me like a gale. Trying to keep from claiming that sweet mouth here and now takes every bit of willpower I have. But I can’t let the girls walk in on me devouring this woman alive. If we’re going to do this, for their sake, we have to do it right. Baby steps.

I’ve never wanted to take a shortcut so badly in my life.

‘We’ll stay here,’ I say. ‘You can break into Ian’s shit with the girls and cuddle Finn. Once I’m done with this fucking meeting, I’ll cook us dinner. We’ll watch a movie with the kids.’

‘And then?’

‘And then it’s the king’s turn to play with Princess Jenna.’

She moans quietly.

‘Don’t worry, princess,’ I whisper in her ear before nipping it. ‘I’ll be gentle. At least for a little while.’

‘Mac,’ she says, half groan of desire, half protest.

Even though I’m dying to kiss the shit out of her, I don’t. I press my lips to her cheek, breathe her in, and then let her go. She’s still swaying on her feet, her eyes closed like she’s in another world. I can’t wait to see her wearing that same look after I’ve played with her for a little while. If she’s ever had another man, I plan to make her forget all about him. This bold woman is mine, and I won’t share her with anyone, not even a memory.

I hope she’s ready for me and my girls because I’m not taking any prisoners. Princess Jenna is going to be my queen. And I’ve got two secret weapons to help topple her right into my arms.

‘I already can’t wait for this fucking meeting to be over,’ I mutter, crossing to Holly’s desk and rifling around until I find what I need. She always has random shit piled up. She says she needs it all, and maybe she does. Her mind works like no one else’s I’ve ever seen. She’s good for my brother. I just hope like hell she and the baby are okay. If anything happens to them, it’ll destroy Ian’s entire world.

I find a piece of graph paper and a pen and quickly draw out a map, keeping my ears peeled for little feet. If they’re trying to break into Ian’s closet again, I’m padlocking the damn thing. They found one of Holly’s vibrators once. Bella was using it as a light saber. Holly couldn’t look at me for a month after I confiscated and returned it.

‘What are you doing?’ Jenna asks, drifting closer to me.

‘Making your afternoon a lot easier,’ I say, chuckling. Once I draw a rudimentary map, I quickly crumple it up to make it look older and then smooth it out and fold it like a map.

‘You drew us a map?’ Jenna’s expression softens from curiosity to something perilously close to awe. I’m beginning to realize why Jason never told me about her. The fucker probably knew I wouldn’t be able to resist her. I’m guessing he’s been beating men off her with a stick for most of her life.

‘Mmhmm,’ I say, squeezing past her. There’s plenty of space to go around her, but when my body brushes hers, she makes a little sound in the back of her throat that I find far too appealing. I grit my teeth like that’s going to help control my visceral reaction to her, and then cross to Ian’s desk.

There’s nothing important in his drawer. I think he keeps it locked specifically to drive my daughters insane. They’re insatiably curious about every fucking thing under the sun, and they prowl through his shit incessantly in search of treasure. It’s his own fault for living in a house that looks like a castle. And also for paying them to bring his stuff back to him.

I’m pretty sure they ruled entire kingdoms in a past life. Or they were criminal masterminds. Either is equally possible.

I feel under the lip of the desk for the key, causing Jenna to laugh in delight when I pull it out. It takes all of two seconds to put the map inside the drawer and then lock it back. I slip the key into my pocket just in case they decide to give up and go looking for it.

Their little adventures may push the boundaries of what’s acceptable for two little girls, but I don’t give a fuck about that. I want them to follow their hearts and be brave and seek out adventure. I want them to know the thrill of triumph and how good it feels to follow things through to fruition. I want them to know just how much they’re capable of doing when they try.

They’re dainty and adorable and I’ll protect them with my life. But they’re also brave and daring and full of life. No one gets to dull their shine or try to make them fit into a little box. My girls can be whoever they want to be in life. I’ll let them break into Ian’s shit every day if it teaches them that they don’t belong in a box. I’m not raising obedient little girls. I’m raising future women. I’m raising warriors.

‘You really are wrapped around their fingers,’ Jenna says, smiling widely.

I don’t tell her that I plan to be wrapped around hers too.

I also don’t tell her where the map leads. She’ll find that out soon enough.

‘I’ll go retrieve my thieving children,’ I say, reaching out to touch her cheek. ‘They can go anywhere in the house except the gym and the pool.’ I pull Finn’s monitor out of my pocket and hold it out to her. ‘The girls can show you where the nursery is. All of Finn’s stuff is in there. He may not be up before I’m finished. He just went down before you got here.’

‘We’ll be fine,’ she promises. ‘I used to babysit all the time. I can handle the three of them.’

‘I’ll be in the study downstairs if you need help.’

‘Go,’ she says, shaking her head. She’s smiling though, so I don’t think she’s too annoyed with all my instructions. ‘We’re going to break into Ian’s drawer and then see where this map leads.’

‘Have fun, dimples.’

‘Always, bossy.’

Fuck, I can’t wait until she falls in love with me.