Bedding The Billionaire

this.”

“Ooooo-kay.”

Lil’s back stiffened at her friend’s tone. “Don’t say it like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re disappointed in me. Do you know how bad this could go if you’re wrong? I can’t do this.”

“When did you become so terrified of being wrong?”

When I realized that my actions don’t only affect me and my future. “Considering the consequences of your actions does not make you a coward. If we had proof, nothing could stop me from telling Abby. But, Al, we don’t know any of this for sure. I’m not going to Abby without something definite. Can Jeremy get that?”

“He might be able to remote access Jake’s personal computer and see if he left an email trail. Maybe he got sloppy and mentioned what the payoffs were about.”

“That sounds illegal,” Lil said.

Aletha’s tone turned droll. “Well, you could always go up to Jake and ask him if he and Dominic are using your sister and if they intend to dispose of her when they’re done.”

“Now you’re just trying to scare me.” Lil shuddered.

Alethea sighed impatiently. “No, I’m trying to get you to see how serious this could be. We need to know what Dominic is hiding and the only way to do that is to find out what he has Jake looking for.”

“And we can do that without Jake knowing we did it?”

“Jeremy is good. He can get in and out without being detected.”

Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.

This was exactly the kind of thing Lil had told herself she would never do again. But what if Abby really was in danger? She’d never forgive herself if she could have prevented it but had let her fear stop her from getting involved. “Okay, do it.”

Instantly, Alethea was all business. “Is Jake still up in the Boston area? We need to find a way to keep him off his computer for a few hours.”

“I have no idea where he is,” Lil said definitively and perhaps too quickly.

“So you haven’t from him at all?” Alethea asked slowly with growing suspicion. It’s not easy to get anything by a best friend.

Lil covered her face with a hand and reluctantly admitted, “He was here earlier tonight.”

Sounding disgustingly happy about being right again, Alethea said, “Oh, he has it bad. This will be a breeze. Call him up first thing in the morning and make a date for Thursday.”

Lil shook her head at her friend even though she knew she couldn’t see her. “I can’t. I told him it’s over.”

“Well, tell him you changed your mind”

A wave of emotion washed over Lil. “It’s not that simple.” I told myself it was over, too.

“Do you want to know if your sister is safe or not?”

“I do.”

“Then call Jake. Take him somewhere public if you’re that worried about sleeping with him again.”

She was more worried about getting her heart broken. “Fine. I’ll call him, but he might already be back in New York.”

Alethea chuckled. “I highly doubt that.”

“Goodnight.”

“Text me when you have a set time.”

“Be careful, Al.”

“Always, Lil. Always.”

Mid-morning, Lil hung up at the first ring of Jake’s phone as she continued to debate her present course of action. None of this was a good idea. Hacking someone’s computer was definitely illegal, probably prison kind of illegal.

Dominic and Jake might not be breaking any laws and that would make the only criminals in the scenario-her and her friends.

Or Alethea was right and Abby had gotten mixed up in something dangerous.

Please,Universe, please don’t let me be wrong here.

Or, if I’m wrong, please don’t let it screw everything up for Abby.

Just this once, give me an outcome I don’t regret.

She dialed Jake’s cell again.

“Lil?” Jake asked, sounding a mixture of surprised and concerned.

“Hi, Jake.” Don’t overthink this, just jump. “I was wondering if you were still in Boston.”

She heard him catch his breath.

“I’m still here.”

Just do it. Just ask. “Would you want to spend an hour…three hours tops…” Oh, hell, how long did it take to hack into someone’s computer? “Maybe the whole morning with me and Colby tomorrow? If you’re not busy. I mean, I know you’re busy, but it doesn’t have to be the whole day. Maybe we could go to breakfast or lunch or something…” She tapered off lamely. “I think we should make it a public place, though.” When he didn’t say anything at first she added, “Could we try to be…friends?” She groaned inwardly.

“How does nine sound?”

She swallowed hard. “That would be fine.”

“I’ll pick you up.”

Well, this couldn’t possibly be more awkward.

“Great. See you tomorrow, Jake.”

He said, “Lil?” with a hint of anticipation that made her clench her phone.

“Yes?”

“I’m glad you called.”

Suddenly feeling shaky, she sank into one of thickly cushioned chairs in her living room. You wouldn’t be if you knew why. “Me, too,” she said softly and hung up before she said anything stupid. God, help me. Me, too.

Jake hung up the phone and smiled.

She wants to see me.

Common sense should have told him that his best course would be to return to New York now, but common sense had pretty much deserted him days ago.

He wanted to prove something tomorrow-prove it to Lil as well as to himself. What they had didn’t have to be cheap. He was drawn to her on more than one level. No, he wasn’t looking to marry her, but that didn’t mean that his only interest in her was sexual.

He called Marie.

“Marie, I’m still in Boston.”

“Good.”

“I need your advice on something.”

“With Lil?”

There was no reason to hide anything from Marie. Where he was concerned, she had an uncanny ability to know how he felt about something before he did. She called it a mother’s intuition; something he’d always scoffed at since she didn’t have children and she certainly wasn’t his mother.

He spoke to his actual mother as little as possible. Neither of his parents were particularly affectionate people. Bi-annual phone conversations provided ample contact in his opinion and he was pretty sure they were in complete agreement.

He couldn’t imagine Lil ever having that relationship with Colby. The mere idea of it made him smile. In-law apartments were created for mothers like Lil. She’d want to be right there for all of Colby’s life milestones.