Read The Billionaire's Longshot: Betting on You Series: Book Three for Free Online

her face was flushed. “Are you okay?”
    With a forced smile she answered, “Ross, look at my head. I can’t go out like this. You were right; it looks like a horn coming out of my forehead.” Tears welled in her eyes.
    I’m such a jackass. He hadn’t meant to hurt her when he said that. He was only trying to get to her sit still so he could take care of her. There was no backpedaling from this one. “Not a horn, but it does look painful. I can have something delivered if you would prefer.” The curve of her lips was his answer. “What do you feel like? Seafood, Italian, Chinese?”
    Shrugging her shoulders she answered, “Pizza and beer?”
    He laughed deeply and said, “My two favorites.” He took her topping request, which ended up being nearly all the toppings available, and placed the order. “They said thirty minutes, so why don’t we sit down, and you can tell me more about yourself.”
    “Not much to tell. I have an older sister named Donna, who lives in Boston with her husband and two children.”
    She had so much to say when it was business she was rattling on about. Her personal life seemed to be different and actually the only part that interested him. He’s never been one to give up. “Parents?”
    More softly she said, “Deceased.”
    Can I really fuck this up any more? So much for being a smooth talker. “I . . . I didn’t know.” Most times he didn’t get along with his mother, but he still loved her. He knew he should drop the topic, move on to something safe, non-confrontational, but instead he asked, “What happened?”
    She sat quietly for a moment. Her eyes began welling with tears before she started to speak. She blinked several times and looked to the ceiling in an effort not to cry. “They were coming home late one night from a play in Providence. It was foggy and lightly raining. Dad was driving—Dad always drove.” She let out a shaky sigh, probably in an effort to hold her composure. “Donna and I were so excited about something. I don’t even remember what we were so excited about, but we just had to wait up for them. So when one a.m. came around and they still hadn’t come home, we called the police. When they found them in the morning, they confirmed their car had rolled over into a ditch. The police said it appeared a deer had run in front of them, causing my father to lose control. There was nothing they could do. They were already gone.”
    A single tear rolled down her cheek. Gently he brushed it away with the back of his forefinger. “I’m so sorry.” He watched her cover her pain, pulling from strength deep within her. Ross should regret pushing the subject, but it revealed so much about her he was glad he did. Someone who had endured so much was not a weak, delicate flower but needed to be treated like one. He knew he was attracted to her fire and beauty, but her inner strength meant even more to him.
    Sniffling a bit, she forced a smile and said, “That was eleven years ago.”
    Yet the pain is still there. It was time for a bit of redirection. “Tell me, do you like New York?”
    Jill perked up noticeably, the tears disappearing from her eyes like they had never been there at all. “It’s okay. I mean, it’s good. Well, I really miss having a yard. But that is what you give up when you move here. What about you? Do you like the city?”
    Not as much as people think I do. “It serves its purpose, but it’s not where I like to be for any length of time.”
    Puzzled, she asked, “I never asked where you grew up. I assumed it was here. Do you still live with your parents?”
    God no. He laughed slightly. “Not since I graduated from high school sixteen years ago.”
    Her jawed dropped open. “I didn’t realize you were so old,” Jill said sincerely, her hand against her chest in shock.
    Totally taken back, he responded, “I didn’t realize I was so old, either.”
    Jill shook her head. “You don’t look it at all. I really thought you were