Distracting the Billionaire's Son Read Online Free

my father wasn’t trying to get me to take over
his company, but they were still too similar to shake the pain Mr. Silver’s
words had surfaced in my heart. No, there’d be no sleep tonight.
    I grabbed a hoodie with my school’s mascot on the back and
slid into my sandals. Maybe a walk would do me good. I knew the water wasn’t
far and with a flashlight and a quick look at the map on the wall, I slipped
out into the moonlit trees.
    Without the flashlight, finding the path would have been
impossible. As it was, it was only nearly impossible. The trees became a solid
shadow that extended until forever with only pinpricks of moonlight making it
down through the foliage. The paths were kept clear and clean by invisible
hired help, so I made it to the beach in only a few minutes. I was inside the
dark trees, getting a little creeped out, and then they opened up and gave me a
view of the inky black waves and a fat golden moon on its horizon.
    I was also, very suddenly, no longer alone.
    He sat close to the water, but not close enough to get wet.
The waves stopped inches short of his bare feet as if he commanded them to keep
their distance.
    I knew I should go back, leave him alone. I doubted he’d
want to talk to me, but I also didn’t want to go back to listen to Shannon
snore and stare at the dark ceiling for the next three hours. If he didn’t want
company, I’d find a different spot on the beach to sit.
    When I got close to him, I noticed he hadn’t changed, the
cuffs of his slacks were rolled up, so were his sleeves, and his shirt was
untucked and wrinkled. He had a bottle of whiskey, something expensive looking,
dug into the sand, and a glass in one hand, his elbow balanced on his bent knee.
He lifted his head just enough to acknowledge my presence.
    “Are you lost, little girl?”
    “Couldn’t sleep.” His voice and the chilly breeze off the
water made gooseflesh break out across my arms. Before he could stop me, I sat
a few feet away and took off my sandals so I could feel the cold water on my
skin.
    “Who raised you, animals? It’s rude to invite yourself into
someone’s company when they clearly want to be drinking alone.”
    From anyone else, I’d take it as a joke, but there was no
humor in his voice. As soon as I sat down, I moved to stand again with a sigh.
    “You’re already here, might as well enjoy the very expensive
view.” He leveled his dark eyes on me and held out his half empty glass. I
shook my head.
    “Figures you’re not old enough.” He swallowed the shot he’d
offered me, and refilled his glass.
    “I’m old enough,” I corrected with more hostility than I
expected. “I just don’t want your pity-party alcohol. You seem to need it more
than I do.”
    “You,” he pointed at me over the rim of his glass, “have a
very smart mouth. Everything Shannon told me about you was a lie.”
    “She told you about me?” I don’t know why this surprised me
and I wasn’t sure whether I liked that he had secret knowledge of me or if I
was angry at Shannon for telling him anything.
    “My sister isn’t very good at making close friends. None of
us are, if you can’t tell. The Silvers don’t want to be equal with anyone; they
just want to be seen by everyone. There’s an important difference.”
    “You’re the only one who has treated me that way.” I sounded
braver than I felt. My stomach twisted itself up. “You do not have a very good
opinion of your family’s money.”
    “You are very nosy, little girl. What would you know about
money?”
    “Stop calling me that.”
    My breathing was reacting again, light and quick, like I
couldn’t get enough oxygen.
    His voice lowered, dark and husky, and my body responded. It
was the sound of the ocean, being alone out here with this man who clearly
wanted to forget a lot of things, who I understood in a way he couldn’t know about,
but I liked the way his voice made me feel. I liked his attention, even as
antagonistic as it was. It was