Bedding the Billionaire (Book 3) (Legacy Collection) (17 page)

Lil smoothed the hem of her skirt down to buy some time.
“I w
asn’t snatched,
”
she hedged.

“
Seriously, are you under some sort of home arrest?”

Although she was tempted to say yes, she grudgingly
admitted
,
“
No
, Dominic is worried that Colby and I might be in danger since my
interview
stirred up so much interest
with the press.” Lil shuddered.

Her friend didn’t look
surprised
.
“
He’s
right.
Your face is everywhere right now.
And your sister really could not have picked a more
high
profile boyfriend.”

“But I’m not…”

“It doesn’t matter if you have money.
It would be the potential of what you’d be worth to Dominic.”

Lil
imagined
what he must have thought of her to send Jake to
fix
her.
“This week, I’m sure
that’s
not
very much.”

Alethea
rolled her eyes.
“I would have brought wine if I had known this was going to be a pity party.
You know I hate it when you martyr out on me.
”

Lil
glared at
her as you can only openly
do
at someone you’ve been best friends with
for more than a decade.

Alethea
was not concern
ed.
“Glare all you want, but I’m likely to be the only one who won’t clock you in
the
head if you try to say how horrible it is to be forced into a life of
luxury and leisure.
How will you survive with around the clock maid service and an uptown address?
No,
no, I want to pay my own college loans off.
You can’t make me take your money, Dominic.
”
Alethea
mimicked Lil’s voice in the most unflattering way.

“Shut up. It’s not like that.
”
Lil smacked her hand down on the arm of her chair.

Alethea
just met her eyes without a word.

Lil said,
“Ok
ay
, I can see how this would look wonderful to some people, but I don’t want to owe anyone anything anymore.
I’m so tired of being the one who doesn’t know, who can’t know, who everyone thinks can’t survive on their own.
I’ve made mistakes.
And I’m still making mis
takes
.
”
The memory of
how
easily she had fallen into Jake’s arms
made her almost as uncomfortable as the realization that she longed for something more serious with him.
She continued on, her pitch rising with each word.
“
Huge
s
tupid mistakes.
I admit it.
But this doesn’t have to be me.
I can change.”

At the show of emotion,
Alethea
sat forward, “What did you do?”

“Nothing,” Lil said and blinked back tears of frustration.
Unsure if she could admit the fullness of her folly to even her closest friend.

“
You might as well tell me now,”
Alethea
said, grinning. “
You know I’ve studied
Bauer
interrogation
techniques.
I’m not afraid to
use them on you.”

“Sometimes you scare me a little,
Al
.”

Her friend
only laughed. “Spill it.”

Lil let her head drop back to the cushion behind her head. “I slept with Jake.”

One of
Alethea’s
hands shot skyward.
“
Hallelujah
!”

Lil peeked out from beneath her mostly closed eyelids.
“How can you say that?”

“
Let’s see.
My best friend g
ets dumped over a year ago by an
asshole.
She swears off men and
goes from being
someone who enjoys a good adventure now and then to a complete and miserable stick in the mud.
The universe sends her not only one of the hottest men on the planet, but also one of the richest and she takes advantage of the opportunity.
Yeah, I can see how
bad I’m supposed to feel for you
.”
Alethea’s
sarcasm was replaced by amusement. “
At least tell me he was
awful
in bed.”

Lil blushed at the memory. “
We didn’t make it to the bed.”

Alethea
nodded and joked,
“Ok
ay
, now I might hate you a little bit.
” Her tone turned serious again. “
Lil, you really need to lighten up and enjoy the ride.”

“Oh, I did,
”
Lil drawled and the two shared a laugh.

“
Now
,
there is the Lil I know.
”

Lil raised her head and both her eyebrows at that. “
Are you
calling me a
slut?
”

Her friend’s r
esponse was thick with sarcasm. “
Yeah, because
sleeping
with
two
guy
s
by the age of twenty five
is everyone’s definition of a whore.
” Her tone grew more serious. “
Besides, who would care if you were
one
?
Slut, whore…those are just words men use to judge what they cannot control.
And, more specifically, they were
the
words your ex used when you proved to him that you could survive when he left you.
Don’t let him have any place in your head.”

Lil
left her seat to join
Alethea
on hers and simply hugged her. She really should have called her last night instead of spending hours chasing her own thoughts around.
Al always knew
just
what to say. What’s better than a friend who knows all the ugly corners of your soul and loves you anyway?

Alethea
hugged her back and then said, “So, details, details.”

Lil shrugged.
“It was good, but it doesn’t really matter.
It won’t happen again.
I’m not his type.”

“Apparently.”

“No, seriously, we agreed that it was a mistake.”

Alethea
shook her head in mock sadness.
“You mean you said it first.”

Lil held her fear in.
He would have said it
if
I’d
waited.
Sometimes the anticipation was worse than the actual desertion.

“Well, what did he say?”
her friend prompted.

“He agreed that it was a mistake.”

“And then?”

“And then he left.”

One line appeared on
Alethea’s
for
e
head, a sign that she found something puzzling.
“And you haven’t seen him since?”

Lil looked away.
“He came
back,
made sure I had groceries
and
watched
Colby so I could study for my exam.”

Alethea
barked out a laugh.
“Wow, he sounds like such
a jerk
.
You are so right to feel bad about the whole experience.”

Lil didn’t expect her friend to understand.
Alethea
was used to getting any man she wanted.
“
He
only came back because Dominic had asked him to make sure I had settled in.”

“Yeah, probably.
Not because he’s hot for you and wanted to see you again.”

“It’s not like that,
Alethea
.”

Alethea
turned Colby around on her lap and started bouncing her again.
“Lil,
I get why you are like you are.
Your parents left
you,
A
sshole left you, now you feel like
your sister left you.
You don’t want to care because you’re afraid
this guy will leave you, too.
I get it.
But while you wallow in all that fear, you’re missing out on some life changing opportunities.”

“
I have to be more careful.
I have Colby to think of…”

“I respect that, but don’t you think that you’ve whipped yourself enough for one mistake?”

Lil was
instantly
furious.
“She
is
not
a mistake.”

Alethea
smiled
and handed Colby back to Lil
.
“Exactly.
Remember that.”
She
stood and tucked her blouse pristinely back into her slacks.
“Well, I’m off to test the security system for
a new optical fiber laser company.
I
got the contract through that guy you referred to me.
Thanks.”