Free Blank: Alpha Billionaire Romance by Cassie Wild Page B

this professional.
    He must have picked up on my reticence. “Preslee,” he breathed, “I can’t forget that last night happened. And I can’t pretend that I don’t want to see you again.”
    I flushed. So the attraction was mutual. He wasn’t just taking advantage of a confused and frightened girl last night. My eyes scanned his, searching for the deceit I’d felt seconds earlier, but all I found was raw openness. As much as I wanted to trust him, that flicker, the way he diverted his eyes when he mentioned the money held me back.
    I sighed, torn. “I keep feeling, somehow, like this is wrong. Like we shouldn’t be doing what we’re doing.”
    His face fell.
    “But,” I continued, “I think if I tell myself to shut up and give in often enough, I’ll forget why I was so resistant in the first place.” I smiled. “I want to see you again too.”

Chapter 10
    Preslee
    I needed to get a grip on my life. So much had already slipped through my fingers due to my comatose state, I couldn’t let myself fall further down the rabbit hole. I prayed that my memory would eventually return, but I couldn’t keep waiting.
    When Kris dropped me off, he hopped out of the car and opened the door, cornering me in the small space between his body and the car. He towered over me, all raw muscle and heat. The way he bit his lip as his eyes roved my body made me forget the hesitation I felt at the diner. His pupils dilated as he sucked in a breath. With a groan, he closed the sliver of distance between us. I opened for him, moaning into the warm dance of his tongue massaging mine. His heat wrapped me in a cocoon of safety and need as I pulled him even closer.
    “We have to stop,” he panted, pulling away suddenly. The air between us grew cold and empty, but his eyes were far from it. “As much as I want to throw you over my shoulder and take you in the stairway, I doubt the neighbors would appreciate the noise.”
    His words lit a fire down to my core. “You’re right,” I pouted, ducking under his arm and climbing the stairs to my temporary home.
    Kris wanted a place in my life, but I didn’t even have one. I needed to sort through what I did have and come up with a plan. As I settled at the tiny kitchen table, I made a list of everything I needed. Since my purse still hadn’t been found, and with it, my wallet and all forms of identification, I had to request copies.
    Ava had made sure to take a box she’d found in my room, full of important documents such as my passport and birth certificate. She’d filled out a change of address card for me at the post office too, so all of my mail would be routed to her instead of to my old apartment. So at least that was done.
    Now, on to the rest.
    She went with me to the DMV where I got a new driver’s license, after explaining what happened and providing the documents they requested. I hadn’t expected them to be so understanding, but they were.
    “Let’s write this one down for posterity,” Ava joked as we were leaving. “A pleasant, helpful experience at the DMV.”
    Thanks to Ava’s brilliance, I was also able to get a new credit card after calling the company and giving them my social security number – with the help of the card from the box of documents – to verify my identity.
    “You didn’t even have a balance on it,” she told me. “You always paid it right off.”
    She had kept all of the bills organized and checked that there weren’t any suspicious charges while I was in the hospital. I was thrilled to see over five thousand dollars in my bank account. I could start paying my own way, help Ava with food bills and buy some clothes that actually fit.
    Next was the matter of going to school to see my advisor. I had no intention of being away from college any longer than I needed to, and I definitely didn’t want to pass up on the opportunity to take advantage of a scholarship.
    “Your friend explained the situation, Preslee,” Professor Morgan told me