Read The Billionaire's Bridal Bid for Free Online Page B

he’d been just around six feet. Was it possible he was even taller now? Or maybe it was just that his shoulders were broader. Either way, he seemed larger than life. Certainly larger than her life.
    And he was entirely too close. Close enough to read every emotion as it crossed her face. Nervously, she licked her lips and then wished she hadn’t when his gaze traced the movement of her tongue as if she were a temptress.
    “I must have read about it in the paper or something.” The Raven battery project had put FMJ on the map. Matt had gotten nearly a dozen patents because of that project. It had made him millions, shot the price of FMJ stock through the ceiling and revolutionized the rechargeable battery market. All of which she’d known because she’d compulsively followed his career in the years following their breakup.
    He grinned, sliding his hands into his pockets. “You had to read some pretty technical articles to know that.”
    She gritted her teeth. “Then maybe it was something someone mentioned in the diner.”
    “Which you remembered all these years? Ah, Claire, I didn’t know you cared.”
    “I don’t.”
    “Either way, you obviously haven’t been able to leave your fascination with me alone.”
    “What can I say, people pick at scabs.”
    He threw back his head and laughed. Great, she’d meant to repel him with the analogy and instead she’d amused him.
    “Are we going to go somewhere in this plane or did you just have me come out here to show it off?”
    “We’re flying to San Francisco. But not yet.”
    It was on the tip of her tongue to ask why he was taking her to San Francisco instead of Palo Alto. Yes, the two cities were just a short drive apart, but she’d just assumed he would take her to the city where he lived. But she certainly wasn’t going to press the issue. Palo Alto was their old stomping grounds. It’s where they’d dated and fallen in love. If he hadn’t planned on rubbing her nose in the past, who was she to bring it up? Instead, she asked the other obvious question.
    “Why not yet?” Just then, another car pulled onto the tarmac. She frowned, watching the green Toyota maneuver toward the plane. As soon as she recognized the driver, she whipped back around toward Matt and narrowed her gaze. “You have got to be kidding me.”
    He just smiled, walking toward the Toyota and holding open the door for the driver.
    Out hopped Bella, the bubbly, overeager, annoying-as-hell reporter for the Palo Verde weekly paper.
    “Thanks so much for calling me!” she effused, slinging the strap to her camera around her neck.
    “No problem.” Matt flashed Bella a charming smile.
    Claire’s stomach turned over in revulsion. How dare he try to manipulate this young woman? “Matt, you’re wasting her time. Our date can’t seriously be considered news.”
    “Oh, it certainly is!” Bella enthused. “Everyone in town is curious about why… I mean, everyone wants to know where he’s going to bring you.” The younger woman widened her smile. Gazing up at Matt like agroupie, she sighed. “I bet you have something really fancy planned.”
    Claire tried to resist rolling her eyes. Not that it would have mattered, since Matt was concentrating on charming Bella and Bella seemed determined to let him.
    Sheesh, did young women these days have no self-respect?
    And when had he turned into this smooth playboy?
    The boy she’d known had been straightforward to the point of being blunt. He’d been all rough edges and geeky brilliance.
    Of course, despite her earlier protests, she had followed all the gossip about him. She knew the kind of women he dated, so she’d guessed he’d changed, but reading about it in the papers and watching it from a front-row seat were two entirely different things.
    “Why don’t you two pose in front of the plane and I’ll take a couple of shots?” Bella gestured them closer together, directing them toward the nose of the aircraft. Then she stepped