Free MINE FOREVER (BOOK III: The Billionaire's Obsession) by J. S. Scott

of its fierce, wild and raw power.
    She remembered her mom once saying that true love was not for the faint of heart, but the rewards were worth the risk. Kara had been young, not even a teenager, and she hadn't understood the meaning of her mom's statement.
    Now, with Simon, the meaning of those words was crystal-clear and she understood exactly what her mom had meant. And she had finally found the man who was well worth the risk.
    Sending a silent thank you to her mother for the words that it had taken her many years to understand, she allowed Simon to guide her out of the hallway and into the kitchen, a silly grin on her face.

Chapter 6
    Simon popped open the door of the refrigerator with a flick of his wrist. "Diet Coke or water?" He reached for the Diet Coke, already knowing how she would answer.
    "Diet Coke," she affirmed, her attention distracted.
    He flipped the top on the can and handed it to her. Opening a regular Coke for himself, he chugged half of the container down in seconds. Christ, no wonder Kara had been thirsty. He hadn't been in the steamy room as long as her, but he was parched.
    Lifting the can to her lips, she drank, but her gaze was fixed on the archway that led to the dining room.
    Shit, he had completely forgotten his earlier errands. "Happy Valentine's Day." He gulped the rest of the can of soda and tossed the empty container in the trash.
    Following her into the dining room, he scowled. She hadn't said one word. Maybe Nina and Marcie had steered him in the wrong direction. Would she like any of it?
    He'd tried to be organized about delivering stuff to the dining room: Flowers on the table, candies on the chairs, jewelry and perfume gifts on the floor. Yeah, there were teddy bears and other miscellaneous stuff scattered around the room, but he had thought he had arranged things fairly well. "You don't like any of it?" Damn it, he was firing his assistant and secretary in the morning. They had specifically told him that these were the things that made women feel good, special.
    "Oh Simon, what did you do?" She ran a fingertip along the velvety surface of a red rose and gently tapped one of the heart-shaped balloons, watching it sway back and forth through the air.
    "Okay. Those two are definitely fired in the morning!" Fuck! He wanted to please her. Instead, she looked like she was traumatized. He knew he should have gotten other things, but the Veyron and the Mercedes had been full.
    "Who are you firing?" She turned and looked at him with a puzzled expression.
    "Nina and Marcie. They told me that these types of gifts make a woman happy."
    Oh hell, he couldn't fire either one of them. They did their jobs too well.
    Honestly, it was his fault that he didn't know a damn thing about how to romance his woman. But he was willing to try until he got it right. "We could go shopping. Pick something else." he suggested, hoping she'd let him take her, see what she thought was romantic.
    "You asked Nina and Marcie for advice?"
    "Yeah."
    "Simon, this is incredible. I don't know what to say." Her voice was tremulous as she bent down and picked up a fluffy brown teddy bear and held it against her chest in a death grip. "I think Marcie and Nina were giving you suggestions. They didn't mean for you to buy everything ."
    Damn it. She sounded like she was going to cry. He fucking hoped she didn't. "I don't know your favorite flower. Or what kind of candy you like. I don't really know your favorite color. Shouldn't a guy know those things? Shouldn't I know how to please you?" he answered, his voice disgruntled.
    Dropping the stuffed bear gently to the floor, she turned to him. "You didn't need to do all this. I've never even gotten flowers before."
    What did he do? He went shopping. Big fucking deal! Sure, he'd usually rather have a root canal than go shopping, but for the first time, he'd enjoyed it. "I went shopping. It wasn't exactly a big effort." At the last minute, because he had only just realized that it was