Page 45 of Beauty and the Bosshole

"Liar." I nip her bottom lip, dragging it through my teeth. "You do. I see it written all over your face, Ava. Tell me."

"Fine. Maybe I do."

I kiss her again, groaning at the thought of all the ways I'm going to make this woman come undone for me. At the thought of having a lifetime to spend lost in her, wringing pleasure from her perfect body. Christ, is there anything better?

And then her little hellcat hisses, sinking his damn claws into my hand.

"Fuck," I growl, jerking back.

"Meow." Max flicks a gaze up at me. He stares at me as if to say ‘back off, motherfucker’.

I heed the warning. For now.

"Bad kitty!" Ava admonishes, bustling him back into his pet carrier. He doesn't make it easy, clinging to the sides of the thing as if his life depends on it. But she outsmarts him after a moment and manages to wrangle him inside. Once he's settled, she plops back down on my lap, snuggling in.

"Is he always a pain in the ass?" I ask, watching him swat through the bars of it.

"Always." She laughs quietly and then sighs. "How did Leon know about him?"

"The same way he knew we were married, I'm guessing," I mutter. "My mother."

She stares up at me with wide eyes. "You told your mom about us?"

Jesus.

"You're my wife, Ava. You think I'd hide it from her?" I curve my hand around her jaw, locking eyes with her. "What's it going to take to make you realize this is as real as it gets, sweetheart? I didn't marry you on a whim. I married you because you’re what I want."

"I…" She licks her lips, staring up at me.

"Tell me," I growl. "Whatever it is, whatever you need, I'll make it happen."

"I don't need anything, Reese," she whispers. "I just feel…"

"Overwhelmed?"

She nods emphatically. "You're a freaking billionaire. And I'm a crazy cat lady. This feels too good to be true."

"You're the crazy cat lady I can't stop thinking about." I touch my lips to hers. "The one who keeps a smile on my face and makes my cock hard every minute of the day. Anyone can make money, Ava. Not everyone can light up every goddamn room they walk into. Trust me, sweetheart. Out of the two of us, you're the prize here. I'm just a grumpy motherfucker with money to burn."

"Yeah?" She beams up at me. "In that case, I have news for you."

"What's that?"

"We're going to have to burn some of that money before we go back to the hotel. Max needs things, or you're going to be buying a whole new penthouse suite."

I chuckle, flicking a glance at the cat. I have a feeling I'll be paying for damages regardless of what we buy for the fucking cat. There's no way he's going to cooperate while we're here. And thanks to Leon and his fucking meddling, I don't know how much longer we're going to be here.

My instincts say to grab my mother and get the fuck out of town now, but if he really did just buy out our battery supplier, I might not have a choice but to stick around and negotiate with him. Because our entire line of sex toys operates on rechargeable batteries. Without them, we're fucked. But no one else is.

Chapter Sixteen

Ava

Twenty minutes later, after a stop at a local pet supply shop, we arrive back at the hotel. Max scratches at the bars of his cat carrier as I carry him toward the hotel doors.

With his phone plastered to his ear, Reese is as prickly as Max. His other hand carries the bags from the pet store, a gold-plated litter tray, and a matching bowl set. When in Vegas…

The reality of what Leon’s trying to do to Aurora has hit Reese in the last twenty minutes, and he’s been on the phone to his suppliers to confirm what Leon said is true. It is. The mother-clucker has bought out the battery factory.