Read One Night With the Billionaire (Men of the Zodiac) for Free Online Page A

daughter.”
    Aggie put her hands on her hips. “And you say I exaggerate! Actually I was going to say—”
    “You were going to welcome Miss Elliot to the island and offer to assist her in any way you can.”
    “Well, for heaven’s sake. Of course I was.” Aggie wiped her hands on her apron and fastened a warm smile on Zoe. “Anything you need, honey, you just let me know. Especially if that boy gives you any trouble. I’ll turn him over my knee in a heartbeat. Now, where are you staying?”
    Zoe glanced at Ryder, who hesitated a beat before replying. “With me.”
    Aggie’s brow shot upward, but she didn’t speak. Zoe caught the tail end of the warning look from Ryder that must have silenced Aggie, and her heart stuttered in her chest. Whatever Aggie wanted to say, Ryder wanted kept quiet.
    “If you’ll excuse us,” Ryder said to Aggie, “we need to finish our tour. Miss Elliot is here to check on the rooms, so she’ll have a master key while she works, but should she need anything else, please help her in any way you can.”
    “Of course. A fine thing to meet you, Miss Elliot. We’ll have coffee soon. Or a shot of whatever you’ll need to put up with that man in such close quarters.”
    Zoe laughed. “I’d like that.”
    “You’d like it more if he’d open that bar. Not much in the pantry worth drinking.” Her tone suggested they’d gone rounds over the topic before.
    “I’ll open it up Friday, just for you ladies,” Ryder said.
    “As long as you boys don’t go getting any ideas.” Aggie punctuated the words by adjusting her ample bosom in an exaggerated huff.
    Ryder laughed and shook his head. “Nothing of the sort from me, but you watch yourself around Hector.”
    “You tell Hector to watch himself around me.”
    Zoe watched the exchange with amusement. She liked Aggie, and seeing Ryder interact with her somehow humanized him. She didn’t need that any more than she needed the taste of him lingering in her mouth or the memory of what he looked like out of that shirt.
    He took her arm, his hand warm against her skin. Rough, but in the good way. A silent thrill crept through her at the thought of him touching her intimately, at what those hands could do.
    She swallowed, but it didn’t help her throat, which was now as dry as the Sahara.
    “A drink sounds great,” she said as he led her away from Aggie. The words were weak, her attempt at small talk unconvincing. As if they could just forget what happened. “I’m already looking forward to the weekend.” Her voice shook, killing any stab at lighthearted conversation. He had her turned every way but straight.
    He didn’t respond, and they didn’t go far. As soon as they rounded the corner, exposing a long, wide hallway with even wider seating areas scattered throughout, he turned to her, propping one hand on the wall near her head. He leaned close and spoke in a low voice. “Why did you run?”
    “It was more of a brisk walk.”
    “Zoe.”
    Her name, two syllables of admonishment that fell from his lips like honey. Messy . “What?”
    He brushed a lock of hair away from her eyes. “What are you afraid of?”
    Falling .
    He edged closer. She sensed tension and wondered if what Aggie said could be true…if Ryder did more running than chasing.
    He reached behind her with one arm, tugging gently on the tips of her hair until she looked up and got lost in the riptide of his eyes. Had he any idea how mesmerizing they were?
    “Unless I’m mistaken,” he said gruffly, “you were the one dragging your thumb across my mouth back there in the room. That’s not the move of a woman who doesn’t want. Say it, Zoe.”
    She blinked his lips into focus. “Say what?”
    “Say no.”
    No ? The word had dissolved from her vocabulary.
    He brushed her ear with a kiss and a jolt of electricity. “Tell me you don’t want me. Tell me you don’t want me to talk dirty, princess, while I fuck you until neither one of us can