Page 29 of Billionaire In Vegas

He smiled, “Yeah, I know. I even creeped myself out. Forget I said that. Okay, no sex or sex-like behavior. Boring. Now, what’s number two?”

I frowned. What was number two? And then I remembered. “No emotions. We need to stay focused on why we’re doing this and emotions would just make this arrangement messy.”

He nodded. “I get it. I’ll do disgusting man stuff on a daily basis so that you don’t fall in love with me.”

I guffawed. “You’re so arrogant. If anything, you’ll fall in love with me.”

“You think so? Wanna bet on that?”

I was tempted. God, was I tempted, but what if I lost? I stared at Jude, taking in the way his hair fell across his face. He was so handsome, so playful. Quick-witted and fun. He was the opposite of the men I usually dated and that was so intimidating. No, I wouldn’t make a bet that I’d lose and I knew I’d surely lose this one. I was just your girl next door and he was one of the world’s most eligible bachelors. This was all a charade. I was a tool to get his inheritance, or maybe he even saw me as an obstacle. It didn’t matter. As much as I wanted to tell myself we were equals on the playing field, I knew we weren’t. I was outmatched. Jude was in full control of the ball and I was just running around hoping that maybe he’d pass it to me once or twice.

I was glad he couldn’t read my emotions as I said as nonchalantly as possible, “Maturity. Remember, Jude? We were going to be mature about this. Let’s just stick to the plan and to the rules.”

He seemed ready to argue, but then upon seeing the steely look in my eyes, decided against it.

“So what’s the plan?” he asked me.

I didn’t have a ready answer, but apparently, he had something in mind. He gestured for me to sit down. “Well, you handled the rules, let me handle the plan.”

I sat down and warily said, “Do I really want to know what your plan is?”

“Hey, trust me...”

But I didn’t trust him. Not even a little bit.