Bedding the Billionaire (Book 3) (Legacy Collection) (42 page)

Tears welled in Lil’s eyes.
She wanted so badly to believe, but she couldn’t.

He asked,
“Do you think your boss would let you take an extended lunch?”

“I think he’d be fired if he didn’t,” Lil said with a rueful sm
ile. Working for Dominic’s company wasn’t exactly like getting a job on
her own
merit.
There was a price to pay for being associated with such a powerful man, but Lil was becoming more comfortable with it each
day.
Life could be much worse.
Curiosity got the best of her. “Why?”

“I have a surprise for you.
”

Instead of heading out the front door, Jake led her to the elevator and pressed the button for the roof.
There in the middle of the landing pad was a luxury helicopter with a huge red ribbon on the side of it.
Lil had seen helicopters before, but none like this.
It was longer than most and had two distinct sections, a front area for the pilot and a
passenger area that looked as comfortable and private as a limousine.
Lil
cupped
her eyes and
peeked into one of the round windows.
Jake opened the door to the passenger compartment and said, “You can look closer than that, it’s yours.”

Lil
looked at the six
ivory
, leather seats that flanked a lushly-carpeted,
center aisle and
turned back to Jake
.
“You got me a helicopter?”

Jake shrugged.
“I heard you hate flowers.
The interior is completely soundproof so you don’t have to worry about headphones for Colby.
”

“This is crazy.”

“No, this is
how we start over
.” He handed her a card. “Call this number and a pilot will be here in about thirty minutes.
Boston to New York takes about an hour and a half, bu
t you’ll never fight traffic.
Colby’s car seat will clip right in.”

“
So you want me to
come down to New York more often?”

“If you w
ant to.
Or I’ll come up here.
I know how to be your lover.
I’m working on the rest of your list.”

Best-friend?

Hero?

He’s
serious.

Oh, God, he’s serious.

“I have one other surprise,” he said.

Lil wasn’t sure she could take another one, her heart was already beating double-time in her chest. “I’ve hired a real estate agent and he compiled a list of lofts available in both Boston and New York.”

A loft?
Had Jake decided that instead of marrying her he would stash her somewhere
convenient? “I don’t think
–
”

Jake pulled her against him and tipped her chin up so she was looking at him. “Let me do this for you. I know you want to do everything yourself, but it will just be a large empty space.
You’re the one who will have to hone your craft and fill it with artwork.”

“What are you
saying
?”
Then she understood and gasped, afraid to believe she had heard him correctly.
“You’re looking for an art studio for me?”

“If you want one.”

“If I want one?”
She laughed and cried at the same time.
Somehow this man saw past what she said and knew her heart. She wasn’t walking away this time.
“Ok
ay
.”

“Ok
ay
, y
ou’ll accept
the helicopter? Ok
ay
, you’ll let me buy you a studio?”

“Ok
ay, I’ll marry you,” she said simply.

He swayed a bit on his feet then
crushed her to him.

She added, “I do love the helicopter, but what really got me was…”

“My charm?” he asked with a tint of humor.

She shook her head with a smile. “Not quite.”

He gave her a playful squeeze.
“My persistence?”

She laughed up at him. “
It took you long enough to show up here.”

He smile back at her, knowing that she would eventually tell him what he was waiting to hear.

Lil looked him in the eye and said,
“What got me was how well you know me. Not
the me
I pretend to be or the one I was convinced I had to be
–
just me. Somehow you sorted through all the crap I said and heard what I needed.
”

Jake shook his head and said, “I hate when Dominic is right.”

That piqued Lil’s
curiosity
.
“About what?”

Jake leaned down and
kissed her until she forgot
what they were discussing
.

Until
her only thought was that
dreams
really
do come true.

When he finally rested his forehead on hers and their
ragged breathing began to calm
, he said,
“I know you’re looking for a hero, Lil, but
you’ve already earned that title.
Our server is clean and ready to go online, issue free.”

Even though the topic meant downshifting a bit emotionally, Lil know it needed to be discussed before they could move forward.
“I’m so glad.
Jeremy had the solution?”

“He had a large piece of the puzzle.
My parents worked the rest out. However, his insight was invaluable as far as debugging the system in time to meet our deadline.”

Lil
absently
played with the hair
just behind one of his ears.
“
Speaking of you parents
–
are they staying for the wedding?”

“
I have no idea. For now, they are staying with the
Andrades
.
It’s going to take us a while to put the past behind us, but they seem to sincerely want to be part of my life.
”

“You should have Dominic invite them, Jake.
They’re family.”

He smiled down at her. “
Is this what I’m signing on for–
a lifetime of you telling me what to do?”

“
Absolutely,” she said without missing a beat.

He sobered suddenly and said, “I love you, Lil.”

She kissed his lips softly.
“And I love you, Jake.”

“Do you want to go back to work now?”

Lil rubbed herself playfully against him. “Surprisingly, not as much as I thought I
would
.”

Within moments she was grateful that Jake had invested in
a large
and remarkably private
helicopter
interior
.
He whipped open the door and laid her across the
off-white
carpeted flooring.

With precision, he undressed himself and then her. Then his
hands
slowed as they
explored her, worshipped her,
guided
her to a place where coherent thought was no longer possible.
Although the passion remained strong between them, this time there was no need to rush.
Knowing that they had the rest of their lives added a depth to their lovemaking. Each touch meant more. Each kiss lingered longer so they could savor it.

He paused to put on a condom and whispered against her lips, “I want to do this right.
First marriage and then a houseful of kids.”

She laughed against his lips.
“Don’t you mean first marriage, then sex, then kids…
”

“Oh, no, I never agreed with that order,” he said and claimed her mouth with his.

She lost herself in his touch, his kiss,
the
feel of him teasing her wetness and said, “I could be
persuaded to your way of thinking.”

“I’ll do my best,
”
he said
, and his best did not disappoint.

Completely spent, she collapsed onto his chest. He rolled onto his side and tucked her head onto his strong bicep. “
Convinced?”

She winked at him and said, “I’m not sure yet. We might have to do that again.”

He growled down at her and said, “Really?”

“
The whole thing or just that last part. Whatever.”

He ran a teasing finger from her jaw, lightly across the swell of her breasts and down the curve of one of her hips.
“
I’ve always loved helicopters, but now I have an even deeper appreciation for them.
”

Lil reached down,
wrapped her hand softly around the part of him that was already comi
ng back to life and asked,
“Is your private jet this comfortable?”

He hardened in her hand. “
I’ll
have new carpeting put in all of my vehicles.”

A good idea, but one that would have to wait.

For now, the
helicopter provided just enough privacy for Lil to confidently trail kisses down Jake’s flat abdomen and lower.

The noise of three generations of
Andrades
was not as overwhelming as Jake remembered it being, especially not since it included a dash of
Corisis
and even some
Waltons
.
The rehearsal dinner was certainly not a high society event, but it was filled with laughter and plenty of children.

Colby bounced happily on Jake’s knee while the main course was being served.
Other families might have sent the children to another room to eat, but
the
Andrades
merely extended their table and their hearts to include all in what could only be described as a feast.

Lil was seated next to him, happily chatting about babies with
one of Stephan’s cousins.