Read The Billionaire's Alibi: The Proposition for Free Online Page B

cup of her bra.
    “That’s a cheap trick.” He watched her smug grin dissipate quickly into guilt. “You play this game with all the men you meet?”
    She frowned. “Only the ones who throw their money around to compensate for other deficiencies.”
    “You’re a fun time,” he said without amusement. “Take the money. You need it a lot more than me.”
    He could tell his insult stung her, and she shook her head and sighed, plucking his money from her bra and throwing it back on the table.
    “It was a joke. Relax.” She nudged the money toward him, but he barely shifted in his seat.
    “I wasn’t joking.”
    She pursed her lips. “I shouldn’t be taking your money, alright? You’re right. But you know what? You’re right about something else—I do need this money more than you. That little stunt you pulled earlier cost me my job. I have student loans out my ass, no leads on a steady paycheck, and when I got home, my ex-boyfriend was busy fucking some other girl in our apartment. So yeah, I’ve had a pretty bad day. And the truth is, if I let my pride get in the way of taking this money from you, I’ll have nowhere to live. Because I’m completely broke—no savings, no credit, barely a paycheck from my last employer, and no way to pay rent to an ex-boyfriend whose generosity has dried up.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks, just like earlier after she crashed the SUV. He bit his tongue, trying to decide what to say. He wanted to tell her that her financial problems weren’t his responsibility, but he couldn’t be that heartless, not even to her. And not if he had the means to fix it.
    “I’m sorry,” she muttered. She wouldn’t meet his eyes as she desperately tried to wipe away the tears. “I should have been nicer to you today. It’s not your fault that my life is falling apart. I mean, not entirely.”
    “Stop,” he said lightly. He couldn’t help but feel guilty—he had used her, and regardless of any poor decisions she had made to get to this point, he did owe her something for the part he played in her current misery. “I guess it’s my fault you lost your job.” He nudged the roll of bills back toward her. “Take the money.”
    She shook her head, fresh tears filling her eyes. “I’m trying to blame you, but it’s my fault. I’ve already fucked up twice, and what happened today was just the last straw. Doesn’t matter anyway…” She laughed bitterly, her voice raised and her arms outstretched. “Look at me—I graduated from Northwestern and I haven’t been able to hold a steady job in two years. I always seem to find a way to mess it up and this—this is just the latest in a string of failures.”
    Alexa was beginning to make a scene, Will noticed. The groups at nearby tables were staring at them before leaning in to each other for a whisper. He couldn’t have that—especially not if Morgan showed up. Nothing would be worse than a picture of some girl sobbing in front of him with a fake headline of how he’d broken her heart.
    “I’m going to make a call for you,” he said, desperate to do anything to get her to stop crying. “I’ll book you a suite at the Regency for the next seven days. You can get yourself together without having to go back to your apartment.”
    She looked startled, and he wondered if anyone had ever given her a break in her life. “Thank you,” she said earnestly. “You have no idea how helpful that will be.” And then, she started crying even harder.
    Will glanced around him and shifted in his chair, trying not to panic. What was with this girl? The nicer he was to her, the more she babbled on about her problems. He wasn’t used to girls crying in front of him, especially not in a club where everyone was supposed to be having fun. Where he was supposed to be having fun.
    “Alexa,” Vivian called over the music as she got closer to their table, a man in tow. “Now that you’re single, I wanted to introduce you to—”
    Will cringed as