Dropping The Ball - A New Year’s Billionaire Romance - Weston Parker Page 0,56

any thought to how difficult it might be for you to be in a relationship with someone who’s semi-famous? I’m not a Hollywood A-lister by any means, but there have been a lot of stories about me and my life in the press.”

“I have thought about it,” he said, opening his hand to palm the back of my head. “I don’t care if I end up being in the public eye. Even if there was nothing real between us, I already agreed to that part the day you asked me to pretend, right?”

“Right, but that’s for a limited period of time. Could you live with it for longer?”

He didn’t look away from me. “Yes. If that was what it took and we wanted to be together, I’d live with it.”

“What about my MS?” It came out as barely more than a whisper. “What if I got sick? It’s always the significant other who ends up having to take care of someone. I never want you to feel like you should’ve tucked and run.”

“I could never feel that way about you.” He moved closer to me until our lips were so close that I felt his against mine when he spoke. “None of that scares me. You were right when you said I already knew about it. I did, and I’ve given it a lot of thought.”

“Really?”

“Really.” His fingers burrowed into my hair, and he touched his lips to mine. The kiss started out slow, as him soothing my fears and telling me he was all in despite everything.

There was an edge of something else there, though. It felt almost desperate. It was in the firmness of the press of his lips against mine, the way the strokes of his tongue seemed more insistent. Almost like he couldn’t get enough and was afraid this might be the last time.

Seems like it’s my turn to soothe some of his fears. I kissed him back with every little bit of emotion swirling around inside me. There was so much of it that the kiss took on a life of its own, an inferno of need, desire, and so much more right beneath the surface.

Just as he slid his hands underneath me and brought me to his lap, he groaned and tore his mouth away from mine. “I can’t do this.”

My heart lurched. “Can’t do what?”

“Can’t keep kissing you until I’ve told you.” There was suddenly so much pain and uncertainty in his eyes that I actually jumped a little.

He always seemed so self-assured, cocky even. This was the first time I was seeing such intense vulnerability from him, and it scared the heck out of me. “Tell me what?”

“Jules has the info sheet on me, doesn’t he? He never gave it to you?” Resignation radiated from him. I nodded once, too tense to verbally confirm what he already knew. “My last name is Demming. I’m from Conroe too. That day at our offices wasn’t the first time we met. I actually used to be friends with—”

“Billy,” I finished for him.

All of the pieces I knew I’d been missing suddenly fell into place. The fleeting thoughts and glimpses of familiarity all made sense now, as did why I felt like I’d known him all my life when I thought it’d been only a few weeks. I had known him almost my whole darn life.

I touched his face, and I couldn’t believe I’d missed it. He was right there in front of me, but it was like I was seeing him for the first time. The slight hook in his nose from when he’d taken an elbow to it during one of his swim meets. The quirk of his lips that made him look like he was permanently trying to hide a smirk. Those eyes… God, how did I not see it before?

“How?” I asked, feeling like I’d had the air knocked out of my lungs.

I felt his shoulders moving on a shrug, but my gaze was locked on his. “I spent a lot of time in the gym, took care of myself, and my facial hair finally came in. I also grew a few more inches.”

My hands fell away from him and I scooted back on his legs when I realized it. “You’ve known who I was all this time, haven’t you?”

He nodded slowly, his features contorting into a mask of regret. “Yeah, I did. I don’t know why I didn’t say something. I’ve been wanting to. I tried to a few times, but