Baby Love: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance by Vesper Vaughn

“You don’t only want to fuck her. She’s your woman, isn’t she? Like, a real one.”
    Roger shook his head. “How do you figure that one, Liz?”
    Liz pointed around my penthouse. “His place is clean. It’s spotless. It’s never spotless. You’re messier than all five of my kids on the weekend when my nanny and maid don’t work.”
    “That’s an exaggeration,” I replied.
    “Hardly,” Roger added helpfully. “And Liz’s kids don’t leave condoms and Skyy vodka bottles on the bathroom floor.”
    “Not yet. Give them time,” Liz joked. “So what is it? Her rack? She has huge tits. I knew Scott was pissed he couldn’t offer her anything with that licensing deal. He wanted a hug.” She stuck her chest out and mimed hugging Roger across the table.
    I laughed. “Scott can go fuck himself.”
    Liz sighed. “I wish the rivalry you two have would just work itself out. It’s exhausting. It’s the reason I didn’t want you on the show.”
    I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “You petitioned to not have me on the show?” I glanced at Roger who nodded.
    “I didn’t feel like spending a month in Chicago each year. I prefer New York. It’s much more…”
    “Piss-stained and polluted?” I offered. I was only half-joking. “Admit it, Liz. You New Yorkers hate Chicago because you know at heart this city has the potential to be better than New York ever was. Our buildings are prettier, our water is better –“
    “Your winters are like Satan’s asshole fell into a dry ice machine,” Liz interrupted.
    I guffawed. “Okay, yeah. You got me there.”
    “But seriously, what is this thing between you and Scott?” Liz continued.
    Roger answered for me. “Net worth discrepancies. At any given moment after Wall Street’s opening bell, Zane and Scott are within a few million of topping one another. Drives Scott absolutely mad that a guy thirty years his junior has that much money.”
    “It really is unseemly,” Liz said.
    “It’s not just net worth. Scott’s a dishonest guy. He has no ethics.”
    Roger finished off his glass of wine. “Here we go again with the moral high ground bullshit.”
    “No, seriously. The guy would sell his own grandmother if it bought him another skyscraper.”
    “And you’re not like that?” Liz asked me, biting into a wonton.
    I shifted in my seat, thinking about the deal I’d offered Rachel. It wasn’t the same. It couldn’t be the same. “Not even a little,” I responded confidently.
    But deep down I had my doubts.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    RACHEL
    I stayed out late at the library after my meeting with Zane. I was hiding from Callie. I’d lied on the way out of the office and told her everything was alright. She hadn’t believed me but I made it to the train before she could catch me and tucked myself away in the stacks of the main Chicago branch for hours.
    They were closing soon, though. I’d have to face her eventually. I snapped closed the fifth Nancy Drew book I’d torn through over the last several hours. My stomach rumbled as the librarian locked up behind me. I only had a few dollars in my wallet. It was either buy a snack and walk all the way home in the dark or go hungry and take public transit. I chose the subway, the shrieking train rails rumbling beneath my tired feet.
    When I got home all of the lights were off except for one in the kitchen. I was relieved that everyone seemed to be asleep. I dug through the fridge to find the Kraft singles I’d kept hidden. I pulled out butter, artisanal bread, and a knife. It was grilled cheese time.
    “Hey.”
    I jumped about a foot. I’d thought I was alone. “Patrick!” I hissed, clutching my chest. “You scared me half to death.”
    He grinned at me and ran his fingers through his blonde hair. It stuck up every which way. He’d clearly been fast asleep.
    “Did I wake you up?”
    He shook his head. “Nah. Well. Sort of. I was waiting for you to come home. I wanted to hear about your day,” he said, walking