Free All of Me (The Billionaire Next Door Book 7) by Violette Paradis

~Chapter
1~
    “If Louis can’t fix it, then I’m afraid you’ll
have to buy a whole new machine. I know it’ll be expensive, but you won’t be
able to run your practice without it. Uh-huh… Mmmhmm… Okay. Not a problem. You
too.”
    I hung up the phone and looked up. I was
sitting by the fountain in the Jacksonville
mall. Glittering but tasteful holiday ornaments decorated the interior of the
mall, contrasting fiercely with the sun and palm trees which could be seen from
the large windows and skylights.
    “What was that about?” Jason asked, startling
me. He had gone into the sporting goods store while I took a call.
    “One of the followers of my blog. She’s from Miami. Her x-ray machine
broke and she was asking for some advice on fixing it.” I furrowed my brow as I
tried to figure out what Jason was hiding behind his back. “What’s that?”
    “You’re nosy.” Jason smirked as he tried, but
failed, to hide two large stick-like objects behind his back.
    “Nosy?” I raised my eyebrows. “It’s not like
you’re doing a good job of hiding those - whatever they are.”
    “It’s the holidays - you shouldn’t be asking
me what I bought. For all you know, it might be a gift for you.”
    I raised my eyebrows. “Only a fool would go
Christmas shopping for his girlfriend with his girlfriend.”
    “I guess I’m a fool then.” Jason smirked and
pulled the stick-like objects out from behind his back.
    “What are those?” I screwed up my face.
    Jason laughed. “They’re skis.”
    “Whats?”
    “Skis,” Jason repeated. “You strap them to
your feet and glide down the side of snowy mountains with them.”
    “That sounds absolutely terrifying.”
    “Terrifying? No way. It’s fun! But you can
find that out for yourself because these are yours.” He held the skis out in
front of me. They were bright red, shiny, and incredibly intimidating.
    “M-mine?” My eyes were wide as I looked at the
skis, making no effort to touch them.
    “Take them!”
    Without saying anything, I shook my head. My
face was pale white. “When would I ever use those? I’m a Florida girl!”
    “Well, I thought maybe as a holiday treat we
could head out west and hit the slopes.”
    “Hit the slopes?”
    “Yeah! Colorado
has some awesome ski hills this time of year.”
    “But - I can’t ski.”
    “I’ll teach you.” There was confidence in his
face and demeanor.
    “But - I’ve never even made a snowball. I’ve
never even touched snow! The heaviest thing I own is a rain jacket.”
    Jason laughed. He put his arm around my
shoulder. “That’s okay. We’ll get you what you need. Now if only there was a
giant place which would sell us everything we needed.” He put a finger on his
chin and looked up, as if lost in deep thought.
    “Jason.” I pushed him and he laughed.
    “Let me put these in the car, and we can shop
for you, okay?” Jason held up the skis, which looked monstrously large and
intimidating.
    Letting out a sharp exhale, I crossed my arms.
“Fine. But don’t take too long or I might buy you a surf board.”
    He smirked and balanced the skis on his
shoulder before heading off towards the parking lot.
    ***
    “You’re going to need this, this, and this.”
Jason piled a winter coat, some gloves and a pair of goggles into my arms.
    “Goggles? What are we going to do - science
experiments?”
    “They’re so you keep your vision clear, and so
your eyes don’t get cold.”
    “So my eyes… don’t get… cold? You do realize
I’m from Jacksonville,
don’t you?”
    Jason smirked and his devilish eyes suggested
that he was planning something naughty - evil even.
    “I want to get this Jacksonville girl out on the slopes. Oh! You’ll definitely need this.”
    He put some thick wool socks on top of the
pile.
    I wrinkled my nose. “I’m pretty sure my
grandpa used to wear those.”
    “Oh come on, you’ll look sexy in them,” Jason
joked.
    Looking at the giant pile of stuff in my arms,
I wondered if