Free The Hotel 2 (The Billionaire Seduction) by Lola Darling

longest walk of my life. But he doesn’t follow.
    I’m on my own.
     
    I
go to the basement to collect my car, somehow holding back my tears,
my hurt and my rage until I get home to the apartment.
    Callie flings the door open
before I’ve even turned the key. I look at her and a tear rolls
down my face.
    “Oh honey.” She
gathers me into her arms and pulls me inside. “What did he do?”
    “It’s more like what
he didn’t do. Like tell me he used to be married.”
    Callie
pats my back and sighs. “That asshole!”
    I wipe my eyes and flop down onto
the couch. Emily comes out with a plate of fresh baked chocolate chip
cookies. She looks upset. “I was making these to welcome you
home.”
    “Bring ‘em here,”
I demand. “I need to eat my feelings.”
    The three of us jam onto the
couch with the cookies and I tell them everything.
    “So, he’s divorced,
or not?” Callie asks.
    I shrug. “I don’t
know. She made it sound like maybe it wasn’t final.”
    “So it’s recent,
too.” Emily looks grim.
    “I don’t know what
hurts more.” I mope, “That he was possibly still married,
or that he didn’t think enough about us to tell me about it. I
mean, isn’t that something you’d mention sometime?
Especially on a ten hour flight to Paris! It’s not as if he
didn’t have an opportunity.”
    Emily puts a hand on my shoulder.
“You care about him, don’t you?”
    I shrug, but I know they see
right through me. “A little. A lot.” Callie gives me a
look. “OK, I’m completely head over heels for him,”
I finally admit. “I told myself to keep it professional. But I
just…I couldn’t help but be swept up in it all. He’s
not like any other man I’ve ever met. As cliché as that
sounds.”
    “But now what?” Emily
asks.
    “I don’t even know.”
I think for a minute. I can’t go back to not caring about him.
It’s not that easy. I can’t block him completely out
since I’m still his intern.
    So where does that leave me?
    The doorbell rings and we all
look at each other.
    Emily gets up. “You better
not have ordered pizza, Callie. I’ve got lasagna in the
oven!”
    She opens the door wide. A man
stands there with a long white box tied in a red ribbon.
    “Juliet Evans?”
    I brush crumbs off my shirt and
get to my feet. “That’s me.”
    He hands me the box. Callie and
Em peek over my shoulder. There’s a card on the top, and I open
it right there in the doorway.
    “What’s it say?”
Emily asks.
    I’m sorry.
    It’s written in Dominic’s
flowing cursive. It’s only two little words, but I read them
again and feel a surge of regret. Does he mean it, or is this another
lavish gesture that won’t mean anything in the end?
    “Oh, he’s smooth. See
what’s in the box!” Callie impatiently pulls it open.
    It’s one of the dresses
from the boutique in Paris. Laying on top is a diamond necklace that
matches my bracelet.
    Callie snorts. “Girl, you
must be really good in bed.”
    I know I should laugh off the
attempt to buy my favor, but my emotions are a mess. Then there’s
the sound of footsteps on the stairs. The delivery guy moves aside,
and then Dominic is in front of me, filling the doorframe.
    My heart flutters in my chest.
    “That’s our cue,”
Emily says, dragging Callie into the back room. The delivery guy
leaves.
    We’re alone.
    I stare at Dominic, still hurt.
“You’re supposed to be at the party.”
    “I need to be right here.”
A muscle jumps in the side of his jaw. “We have to talk.”
    “So talk.” I take a
breath to calm my nerves. I can’t believe just a few hours ago
I was on cloud nine, and now I don’t even know how to feel. I’m
hurt, betrayed. But his pull on me is still going strong.
    Dom looks tense. “What do
you need to know?”
    Everything.
    I start with, “How long
have you been divorced?” I ask, sounding calmer than I feel.
    He doesn’t look at me. “A
month or so.”
    I think back. We met roughly a
month ago…so, was he still