Billionaire's Bounty (Plus Size Loving) BBW Erotic Romance by Adriana Hunter

Stone,” Jeff growled, grabbing his dazed sister by the elbow and dragging
her from the restaurant. Miranda made no protest, her mind in a whirl as she
looked back for one last glance at Jude’s handsome face set in stone.
    ***
    “So what are we going to do?”
    Miranda was
standing in the middle of Jeffery’s office. She had the just-delivered sheaf of
documents on the desk in front of him. He stared at it, and then looked up at
her. “Rip it to shreds.”
    “What?” she
gasped, staring at him aghast. It was less than a week
since he’d practically had to haul her home from London. In that time, she’d
waited with bated breath to hear from Jude. She’d always known he would keep
his word, but she’d been looking forward to more than just the pile of papers
that now lay there before them.
    Jeff rose , his face rigid with anger. “I meant what I said back
there, Miranda. Our dignity is more important. It’s bad enough that you thought
you needed to sell yourself to him –”
    “I don’t need
you judging me, okay?” she said with flashing eyes. “Last time I checked it was
a free country. And besides...it never felt like I was selling myself or anything . Because I wanted it,
Jeff. I wanted him .” Her eyes
held his defiantly. “I think I always did. But I guess I needed that excuse of
telling myself it was for the company – even though it was never about
that.”
    “Oh my God,”
her brother gasped in almost comical dismay. “You’ve fallen in love with him.”
    Miranda turned
away, sighing deeply. He came up to where she stood, taking her shoulder and
spinning her round to face him. “How could that happen? You know it’s not going
to pan out, right? Jude Stone is...”
    “I know what he
is.” But what Jude was had been different from what she’d expected. She hadn’t
expected to enjoy being with him as much as she had – and she certainly
hadn’t expected to miss him as much as she now did.
    “Then you’ll
know it’s best to forget him,” her brother said, his voice gentling as he
placed a hand on her shoulder. “You made a silly mistake, but let’s put it
behind us if we can.”
    “How can I put
it behind me if you refuse to consider taking hold of the company?” she asked,
glaring up at him. “I know you said it didn’t matter, but...”
    “We’re not
going to talk about this, okay? I’ve made up my mind. I’m sorry if it feels
like you went through it all for nothing.”
    You have no
idea, Miranda thought as she looked away, her eyes
downcast. She couldn’t say it was completely accurate. She had come away with a
lot more than she’d bargained for. With Jude, she’d felt real, fiery passion.
And beneath the cold, hard facts of their agreement, there had been times when
she’d seen a spark in his eye when he looked at her. And the way he’d made love
to her...she could never, ever believe it had all just been part of the game.
But it didn’t matter now. It was over. The only thing thing left to do – and this was the hardest part of all – was to try and
forget he ever existed.
    ***
    Carly wasn’t
sure which was worse: brooding Jude, or quick-tempered Jude. He hadn’t been the
same ever since they returned from the eventful London trip. She’d missed the
main event, by his account. Apparently, Miranda Quinn’s brother had shown up
and rescued his sister from the vicinity like it was a hostage situation. Now,
they’d just had a gruelling meeting with his board, and he’d more or less
bitten the heads off most of the top-ranking members, over little or nothing.
He was getting really tough to work with, and she was concerned for him. Not
just as a boss or someone running a business, but as a friend.
    “How long are
we going to go on like this?” she asked mildly, and saw him look up from his
desk, cocking a quizzical brow at her.
    “What are you
talking about this time, Carly?” he asked on a sigh of exasperation.
    She waved her
hands expressively. “You’re