Page 52 of My Three Billionaire Rockstars

“You don’t.”

Her head snaps toward me, eyes narrowing, trying to figure out if I’m bluffing. But there’s more in her eyes. A challenge. The knowledge that she feels it too. The tension. The pull. The impossible desire that wraps around both of us.

“I do.”

I pull out my phone, already dialing before she can argue further.

She sees it, and her eyes flicker with irritation. She reaches for the phone, but I hold it just out of her grasp. The charged tension crackles between us.

“Don’t.”

I don’t stop.

“Redemption Diner, Lara speaking. How can I help you?”

“This is Xander Harlow,” I say. “Willow’s on delivery tonight.”

“Oh, yes,” Lara says quickly. “She is.”

“She’s done for the night,” I continue, keeping my tone even. “I’ll cover the shift. Double whatever she would’ve made.”

Willow moves toward me, reaching for the phone. “Give me that…”

I shift just enough to keep it out of reach without turning physical or dramatic, keeping my attention on the call rather than her.

Lara laughs softly. “Well, in that case, she’s absolutely done for the night. Bobby’s in now, anyway.”

“Appreciate it.”

I end the call before she can get a word in. The silence after that settles in, heavy and thick with unspoken words.

“You didn’t just do that,” she says.

“I did.”

“You don’t get to call my workplace and decide I’m done working.”

“I didn’t decide,” I reply, hiding the fact that everything inside me is tense and stretched too thin. “I arranged it.”

“That’s the same thing.”

“It’s more efficient.”

Her jaw tightens, frustration in her eyes, but beneath it, there’s more. I can see it. I can feel it. The crack in her armor.

“Efficient,” she repeats. “Right. Of course it is. Just throw money at the problem and it magically disappears.”

I hold her gaze, watching the shift, the way she doesn’t look away. The way she’s still here, even with everything hanging between us. And I know, without a doubt, that I’ve just removed the last excuse she had.

“You’re still free to leave,” I tell her.

That gives her pause. It’s not what she expected, not what she was braced for.

“I just removed the reason you had to.”

NINE

Willow