Tell Me You're Mine (The British Billionaires #1) - J. S. Scott Page 0,42

word of it.

CHAPTER 14

Damian

“THIS PLACE IS amazing.” Nicole’s tone was filled with awe, and her big blue eyes sparkled as she admired the view from the patio of my borrowed beach house. “You’re steps away from the ocean, and literally right on the sand.”

All the glass doors were open, and it was a clear, balmy early summer morning in Newport Beach.

When Nicole had called me earlier, I’d asked her to meet me here at the house since her office was closed on the weekends.

I’d also wanted the advantage of having her in my territory in case she’d decided against taking on Lancaster International as a client. I’d have a better chance of changing her mind if she couldn’t just slam her office door in my face.

“Can we sit here?” she asked, gesturing toward the lounge chairs on the patio. “Since I’ll definitely never own one of these homes, I’d like to admire the view while I can.”

“Make yourself at home,” I insisted. “Can I get you some tea? I don’t think I have any coffee.”

She held up a supersized to-go coffee that she’d brought in with her. “I came prepared. I stopped for my own coffee. I’m not that big on tea. I’ve never really understood the British obsession with it.”

I grasped my mug of Taylors of Harrogate black tea as I plopped down on a lounger beside her. “How can you not like tea? There’s a blend for everybody.”

She shrugged. “It’s not that I dislike it. But how can it ever compare to a good latte?”

Obviously, the poor woman had never had a good cuppa. “Very easily. With tea, there’s a blend for every occasion, and you never run out of new ones to try. Coffee is just…coffee, no matter what you put in it.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to even try to argue with a tea-loving Brit.”

I shot her a mock warning glance. “Best not. Never argue with an Englishman about his tea.”

“Do you ever drink coffee?” she asked curiously.

I shook my head firmly. “No. Nasty stuff.”

She laughed at the look of disgust on my face, and for some damn reason, all I wanted was to keep her laughing. It might sound a little dramatic, but the sound was like music to my soul.

Fuck! When in the hell had I gotten the least bit poetic about…anything?

Not until…her.

I studied Nicole, still trying to figure out why she made me so fucking crazy.

Her blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her attire was casual—jeans, a lightweight red summer top, and a pair of sandals.

Nothing different there. It was the way most people dressed in this coastal city.

She had a serene smile on her face as she gazed out at the water, and when she turned her head to look at me, that expression turned into a full-fledged grin.

My dick was completely hard in seconds, and for some damn reason, there wasn’t a single thing I could do but smile widely right back at her.

Nicole had some kind of inner radiance that spilled out when she was unguarded, and damned if that shit wasn’t contagious.

Maybe I was drawn to the way she could find so much humor in a single comment. Or the way she’d made me feel alive—again—since the second she’d walked through my door this morning.

I cleared my throat. “How was the date last night?”

Okay, so maybe I hadn’t quite been able to forget about that. And dammit! I’d certainly tried. Hard. Nothing had worked. Not even my voice of reason.

She smiled. “It was good. Kylie, Macy, and I always have a good time at the beach on our standing date nights.”

I frowned at her. “You had a date with…Kylie and Macy?”

She nodded. “Every Friday night. Going to the beach is a standing date for all three of us unless one of us has a real date or something. We’ve been doing it since I moved back to California.”

Okay. I have to admit that I grinned like a damn idiot. Maybe I should be annoyed with myself for jumping to conclusions, but the only thing I could feel was a profound sense of relief. “So that’s why you turned down my dinner invitation?”

“I’d already told Macy and Kylie that I was going,” she explained.

“No problem.” I could be pretty magnanimous now that I knew that there wasn’t a single male at their standing date. “So you like my loaner house?”

She let out a sigh that made my cock twitch. “I’ve always loved these houses. How