Tell Me You're Mine (The British Billionaires #1) - J. S. Scott Page 0,51

brooding stare. “You want this, Nicole. Do you think I can’t feel that? Your body craves this. Just like I do.”

I met his gaze firmly. I wasn’t going to tiptoe around the attraction between us anymore. “I do. I have no doubt that the sex would be earth-shattering. Maybe I just don’t entirely trust that you’ll be there with me after that happens.”

My heart ached when I saw the disappointment in his eyes, and I instantly knew he wasn’t just feeling defeated over the fact that we weren’t going to rock each other’s world tonight.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

He shook his head. “No. I’ve given you a reason to feel that way. Don’t be sorry. The timing is just so fucked up. But I’ll make it right. Maybe I am a tosser sometimes, but I’m not quite the man you think I am, Nicole. We have time. We’ll figure this out. This kind of attraction is new for me, too, you know.”

I nearly caved in when I saw the turbulence in his gaze, the uncertainty that he couldn’t quite hide.

Should I tell him that I wanted to trust him, that maybe we could go slow and explore the madness of this undeniable chemistry together?

Unfortunately, I never got that chance.

Damian slowly released me with a throaty growl. “I’ll wait until you trust me. You deserve that.” He took my hand. “Walk me to the door and kick me out of here, woman, before I change my mind,” he demanded.

I went with him, and he gave me a brief kiss on the forehead before he left.

When he was gone, I closed the door and sagged against it, feeling relieved and disappointed at the same time.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to breathe slowly, trying to calm my body and mind.

Eventually, I was going to give in to Damian Lancaster. He did something every single day that brought me closer to trusting him.

I very much doubted that he knew what tonight’s early departure had said about him, and what those actions had proven to me just now.

He had to have known that it wouldn’t have taken much to get me to fall into bed with him. God, I’d nearly been there when he’d let me go.

Yet, he’d still wanted to gain my trust more than he wanted to fuck me into oblivion. He could have pushed me over the edge. Instead, he’d backed off because I didn’t completely trust him.

“Oh, Damian,” I said in an awed whisper as I hefted myself off the door and walked toward the kitchen. “You really don’t have any idea how sweet you can be.”

CHAPTER 17

Damian

“NO, MUM, I can’t tell her the truth right now,” I said as I talked to my mother on the phone the next morning.

I’d explained Nicole’s entire plan for improving my reputation with the people of England.

She’d been entirely on board except for the part about not telling Nicole that Dylan had been the source of the scandal, not me.

“It’s not right, Damian. She should know the whole truth if she’s trying this hard to help you. She doesn’t know you have brothers?” my mother questioned.

I let out an exasperated breath as I fastened my favorite Patek Philippe watch onto my wrist. I couldn’t say I was a collector of wristwatches, but I had a lot of them since I lived my life within a very tight schedule of obligations. “She knows about Leo,” I said in a clipped tone. “She doesn’t know I have a twin. Obviously, the enormous check I wrote to make Dylan’s existence disappear from the internet was well spent. Nicole has never said a word about him, and I sure as hell didn’t mention him.”

“Your loyalty to your brother is going to get you into trouble,” she warned stiffly. “And how am I going to explain the family pictures?”

“Take them down?” I suggested. I’d already made damn sure that any evidence of his existence was eliminated from my home in London.

“I don’t understand why you can’t just tell her the truth,” she said firmly. “Certainly, someone will mention him here. You can’t erase his past entirely. He had a life here, Damian.”

“I don’t want to erase his whole damn life,” I grumbled. “And nobody mentions Dylan to me. Ever. I think since most people have no idea where he is or what he’s doing, they assume he still can’t cope with his grief. So nobody says a word about him to me. They probably consider his absence a