How to Avoid a Billionaire

by Tressie Lockwood

  “Ryder, what are you doing here?”

  He hesitated, considering whether Antwon had said screw him for a chance at keeping this beautiful woman, but then he recalled the voicemail he’d received earlier saying Antwon had arrived in Aurora and was to meet with his manager shortly.

  Ryder smiled and held out a hand, waiting for Melanie to place hers over his. When she did, the movement caused a whiff of her perfume to engulf him, something subtle yet intoxicating like her. “I had hoped to find your plans changed.”

  He tugged her to him until she bumped against his chest, and he looked down into the confused expression. Her mouth called for his kiss, but he held off.

  “I was…I mean I wasn’t…” Her lips pursed as she sought an explanation he knew wouldn’t come without putting space between them.

  “Am I wrong for being eager to see you,” he asked, “that I risked another man kicking my ass?”

  “Please, who could?” She blushed at her admission and pulled out of his hold. “My plans did get changed, but since I had this great dress I hadn’t worn yet, I thought I’d go out and have fun by myself. You can tag along if you like?”

  Definitely a great dress.

  He looked down his nose at her, but the expression meant nothing when she’d already turned away and chattered seemingly about anything that popped into her head. He followed her movements with his gaze as she grabbed a sweater and slung it over her arm and then took up her purse. Moving past him, she brushed a curvy hip against his thigh and didn’t appear to notice. Meanwhile, his cock hardened, and he followed along behind her like a damned puppy. Hours ago, he’d had the upper hand, so how did this woman change that in a matter of seconds?

  They sat in his car, and he hitched his shoulders and rolled his neck before turning over the engine. “I was thinking we could go to Masako’s for dinner.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Anywhere but there. Masako’s is bougie. They charge an arm and a leg and give you a tiny portion of food.”

  Her displeasure took him aback. “Uh, okay. Name the place. I’ll give you what you wish.”

  She offered a pleased smile, and he felt the stirrings of something deep inside. After she suggested a restaurant that was not as exclusive as Masako’s but not on the level of the first place they’d gone to, he agreed and drove off. Dinner zipped by with easy conversation and him turning on the charm. Melanie seemed to melt under his attention, and he judged her very close to falling for him. A little more, and he’d have achieved his goal. After they ate, the pint-sized minx nixed another of his recommendations and dragged him off to what she called an independent artists’ museum, which he had never heard of.

  An hour later, she walked beside him, her nose buried in the brochure she’d picked up with descriptions of each of the sculptures. She stopped short and pointed to a silver monstrosity on their left. Ryder could not figure out why anyone would create what looked like two arms tied in a knot and caught in the act of running on its hands. Nor would he have imagined paying to look at it.

  “Isn’t it amazing?” Melanie chirped. “This museum doesn’t open until six in the evening and closes at midnight. I love it, and I’ve been here so many times. It says here there’s going to be a new exhibit next Thursday. I have to come back, and you should come with me.”

  He eyed her, and she laughed. “Oh don’t be stuffy, Ryder.” She ran a hand down his arm. “If you smile for me, I’ll buy you an ice cream cone. They have them in the gift shop, but you have to eat it in the front area or outside.”

  His lips twitched, but he managed to keep from grinning. She was a very unusual woman. “I think it’s you who wants an ice cream.”

  “They are good.”

  Ryder gave in and guided her back the way they came to the gift shop. He bought her the rainbow sherbet and gave in to her prodding to buy a simple vanilla cone. When they found a vacant bench, they sat down.

  Melanie eyed his cone. “Let me have a taste?”

  He held his cone out of reach. “Didn’t you want that?”

  “I want yours too.”

  This time he did grin at her behavior. The truth was he’d thought the exhibit would bore him. While a museum was considered a cultural experience, he had never had the patience or the interest for them. Melanie creating elaborate—false—histories behind the various pieces while still admiring the skill it took to fashion them had made the experience if not fun, at least entertaining. She perplexed him, and he found himself drawn to her for a reason he had yet to sort out in his own head.

  He held out his cone, and she stuck out a small tongue. His pants tented, and he thanked his lucky stars he was already sitting down.

  “Mmm,” she moaned. “It’s good.”

  Ryder glared at her. “Stop that.”

  She widened her eyes. “What?”

  “You’re asking for it, angel.”

  “Fine, tell me about yourself. All through dinner you avoided personal questions, and since I let you hang with me tonight, I think you should give it up.”

  Again she played on words. She knew what she did, and he had no doubt she wanted to torment him. What he didn’t like was all evening he had wrestled for control of their date and found himself in a fight. Every woman he’d set to conquer fell to his desires almost from day one. The tougher ones, he easily saw through for the games they played. He noticed the coy glances, the accidental brushes against him. Melanie cast him no shy looks. In fact, it appeared that she made fun of him, something he didn’t appreciate.

  “I’d rather take you home.” He enfolded her hand in his. “Or you could come to my place, stay the night.”

  She faced him, and the teasing expression disappeared. “I know what you want, Ryder, and I’m not going to lie. I want it too. I really do, but…”

  He hesitated, not liking where this conversation was going. “But?”

  “I slept with you on the first date. I don’t make a habit of it, although that’s probably hard to believe. I like to know the men I give my body to. If you had a name like John or whatever, I still wouldn’t know your last name. I recognized the name Ryder, but that was my knowledge, not you being honest with me.”

  He felt a nerve jump in his jaw as he clenched it. This little beauty was no pushover, nor was she a fool, but then he had firsthand knowledge of her intelligence in the ad she’d designed. “What do you want to know?”

  She shrugged and smiled. “Whatever you want to tell me.”

  Ryder stood and walked to the trashcan. He threw his half-eaten cone into it and wiped his hands with a napkin. When he returned to the bench, Melanie waited for him, her hands in her lap holding the empty sherbet container. He nabbed that and disposed of it before sharing with her how his mother left him with his father at three. As he spoke, tension tightened the muscles across his shoulders, and he had to make a concentrated effort not to clam up.

  Melanie laid a hand on his arm and leaned into him. He let his gaze fall to her cleavage, but the tenderness in the soft brown eyes drew his attention back to them.

  “Do you see her now?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “Didn’t you try to find her?”

  “Why should I?”

  “Ryder!”

  “Growing up, I had all I needed and more, Melanie. You don’t have to feel sorry for me.”

  “There’s more to life than money.”

  He grunted, and a need to put her in her place came over him. “Every day, I was surrounded by some of the most brilliant minds in business and in science. I got to listen in on decision-making meetings that governed thousands of people’s lives. When I attended a private school, these same men who were CEOs of Fortune 500 companies were on speed-dial and helped me with my homework.”

  She peered at him, unimpressed.

  “My father taught me how to handle a woman and hos
ted many parties where—let’s just say my education expanded from lectures to hands-on.”

  Her mouth fell open. Why the hell was he sharing all of this with her? He should have allowed her to believe in the possibility that he could fall in love with her. He expected Melanie to jump up and storm out of the museum. Why had he let her get under his skin?

  He hitched his shoulders and looked away from her. “Now you know me.”

  “Oh, there’s so much more to you than that.”

  He studied her upturned face. “Come to my house tonight.”

  She offered him a teasing smile. “I can’t. It’s a school night.”

  “Did you do your homework?”

  “You’re my homework.”

  Ryder couldn’t help himself. He kissed that pouty mouth and drew back to see her reaction. She stood and walked away. Ryder frowned. When he caught up to her, he took hold of her arm and turned her gently to face him. “Did I scare you off with what I told you?”

  “No, I knew that was pretty much who you were when I first met you.”

  Irritation rolled over him. “You say whatever comes to mind and don’t hold anything back.”

  “There’s no reason to try to trick anyone. We are what we are. My motto is to just to enjoy myself.”

  “That’s my motto as well.”

  She laughed. “We may use the same words to describe it, but something tells me our outlooks are vastly different.”

  Ryder scanned their surroundings, taking in the various people entering and leaving the museum. He spotted a small hallway to their left and took Melanie’s elbow to lead her in that direction. When they were out of sight of most visitors, he backed her to the wall, ensnared one of her wrists in his hand, and then raised it above her head. Her breath caught in her throat, and he had the very satisfying pleasure of watching her chest heave.

  “Tell me you don’t want me to lift that dress and take you right here.”

  Her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t. We’re not hidden, Ryder. Anyone could come along.”

  “Say you don’t want it,” he repeated.

  “Ryder, I—”

  He leaned closer to her protesting lips, and they stilled but remained parted. “Better yet,” he whispered. “Tell me how bad you do want it. Tell me you want me to slip your panties off and eat your pussy, angel.”

  His name mixed with a moan this time as she arched into him, and she shut her eyes. From the corner of his eye, Ryder spotted a man stopped in the entryway. He pierced the man with a glare that made him stumble backward. When he seemed about to say something, Ryder held up a finger to his lips. The man escaped around the corner.

  He turned back to Melanie. “Well?”

  She looked at him. Lust had deepened the color of her eyes. “I want it, but…”

  “But?”

  She tugged on his hold, and he released her. She moved away, turning her back to him and straightening her dress as if he’d already raised it. He found no reason not to enjoy looking at her round ass. If she let him in her bed, and he knew she would, he would ride that ass.

  Melanie peered at him over her shoulder. “Let’s go to my place.”

  He grinned. “Of course.”

  Chapter Four

  “Wow, you’ve been seeing Melanie what a month? I’m beginning to wonder if she has you wrapped around her little finger,” Christian commented as he and Ryder left a meeting.

  Ryder tightened the hold he had on his cell phone. The email he had been perusing lost its appeal. “Why should you think that? I’m on schedule.” His cousin followed him into his office, and he shut the door. “This weekend I’m taking her in the jet to Paris. She’ll like that.”

  “You mean you haven’t told her about it?”

  “I’ll tell her when I pick her up.”

  Christian laughed. “Something tells me Melanie Cai will refuse you. She’s got a personality on her.”

  Ryder frowned.

  Christian held up defensive hands. “Whoa, bro. I have nothing against her. She’s cute, and those breasts—”

  “Watch yourself.”

  His cousin pointed at him. “See? That there is what I mean. You’ve never been touchy when I talked about the other women you’ve bedded. We even joked about how good they were or how fast you could dump them when you found them cold. One word about Melanie, and you’re ready to take my head off. You haven’t been dating that long.”

  Ryder made an effort to relax. “We are not dating.”

  “She doesn’t let you fuck her without taking her out. No late night calls just for good sex. I’m telling you, she’s a whole different caliber of woman than the others. Bro, you’re my hero when it comes to the amount of pussy you get without strings, but I’m starting to think you’re in over your head.”

  A knock sounded at the door, and Ryder sighed in relief. He didn’t have to knock Christian on his ass for insinuating he’d gone soft over a woman. Sure, much of what his cousin said was true, such as Melanie wanting him to take her out before he spread her legs, but he had had mistresses before who liked him to spend money on them and to be seen on his arm. That was nothing new. The cleverer of the bunch figured the more time he spent in their presence, the likelier he would be to fall in love. They had been wrong, and if Melanie felt the same, she was as well.

  “Come in,” he called, and Jodie opened the door. She held a white box with twelve red roses inside and handed it to him.

  “Are you sure you don’t need me to get a carrier to deliver these?”

  He shook his head. “No, I’ll handle it. Thanks. I’m going to be out until my four o’clock.”

  She made an immediate note in her planner. “Where?”

  After he’d passed on the information, she turned and left the office, closing the door behind her. He liked her to know his whereabouts should an emergency arise and she couldn’t get through to his cell phone.

  “Lunch with Melanie today?”

  Ryder flared his nostrils. “Don’t say it. I’ve brought women by the office before. As easily as I can give access to come up here, I can revoke it.”

  “I didn’t say a thing.” The triumph in Christian’s eyes said it all. “I get to meet her.”

  “You get to leave my office with your head intact.”

  Christian laughed his way out.

  A short time later, Jodie buzzed to let him know Melanie had arrived. He eyed the roses but left them where they were and headed out of his office. Melanie stood with her back to him looking out at uptown Charlotte through a window. He strode up behind her but didn’t touch or move too close. “My view is better.”

  She glanced at him, and when she spoke her breathless tone tempted him to kiss her. “We’re on the fifty-sixth floor. I think I can see China.”

  He laughed. “Come into my office.”

  She followed him inside, and as soon as he’d shut the door, he drew her into his arms and backed her up against the door. Her mouth tasted like strawberry candy, and he enjoyed a good five minutes of it before he let her catch a breath.

  He left her where she stood and scooped up the roses. “This is for you.”

  Her eyes widened. “Thank you. I love roses.”

  “I know.”

  She tilted her head to the side, and her indignant yet amused gaze roved from his feet to his face. “Do you think you know everything about me?”

  “Not everything.”

  “Hmm.”

  They left the office, and Ryder swore when they ran into a pack of reporters. Normally, he would have driven, but Melanie had wanted to dine at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, which wasn’t that far.

  Cameras flashed. “Mr. Neyland, care to comment on the hostile takeover of Robert Bean’s corporation?”

  Ryder ground his teeth but kept his expression neutral. “Don’t be ri
diculous. Bean’s corporation was in trouble. I bailed him out. Simple.”

  “But you did offer less than the company was worth, a business that had been in his family for generations.”

  “Bill, are you reporting financial news or doing a human interest piece?” The man’s face reddened, and Ryder continued. “The fact is three thousand, two hundred twenty-one jobs were saved. Now, if you’ll excuse us?” He placed a hand at Melanie’s lower back and guided her into the building. A guard stepped between the two of them and the entrance. Ryder sighed. “I apologize. We’ll have to take the car. I should have known better.”

  She gazed at him, her eyes unfocused. “How often does that happen?”

  “Not often. They’ll move on to someone else soon enough.”

  “You knew that reporter’s name.”

  He shrugged. “I gave him an exclusive a while back. Besides, I know all of their names. I make it my business to know.”

  “I can’t imagine the amount of information rattling around in your head.”

  He chuckled. “Are you saying my head’s empty otherwise?”

  She stuck her tongue out at him. Playful. That’s what I like about her. Realizing where his thoughts headed, he shook himself, and they accessed a private elevator to the floor where he’d parked his car. Ryder thought the subject of Bean and the reporters had passed until Melanie brought it up again over lunch.

  “Ryder, did you offer Robert Bean less than his company’s worth?”

  “It’s standard practice, Melanie.”

  “Hmm, you must be irritated. You didn’t call me angel.”

  “Would you rather me call you angel?”

  She tapped her fork against her lip. “Did you save as many jobs as you said? Were they in danger?”