Tempted By The Billionaire Next Door. Therese Beharrie

been close by...and that he probably didn’t wear any pants to bed either...

      The image sent her thoughts down a dangerous road, and suddenly she couldn’t stop imagining what Dylan would look like naked. Or what it would feel like to be in that bed with him, turning over during the night to run her hands over that delicious body of his. To snuggle closer and kiss him, to feel the way his body responded to hers. With him naked, there would be no barrier to what would happen next, and she’d be able to—

      ‘Jess?’ She jumped and felt her cheeks flush when she saw Dylan in front of her, completely clothed, with a puzzled look on his face. ‘Are you okay?’

      ‘Yeah, I’m fine. Ready to go inside?’ She didn’t wait for his answer and instead walked to the house.

      Where had that come from? she thought. She wasn’t the kind of girl who had fantasies about men she barely knew. Hell, she didn’t have fantasies about men at all. She’d never been the type. She hadn’t felt the need to date around and see where it would take her. She’d had two steady boyfriends in her life, and both relationships had only lasted about a year.

      When her last relationship had ended, Jess had seen no point in trying again. Sure, it might have been because her life had completely changed shortly after the break-up. But she’d worked hard to rebuild it—by herself—for the last two years and she hadn’t seen the point in having a man around while she did.

      So perhaps the fantasy she’d just had about Dylan was the result of the nothingness she’d had in her life since she’d broken up with her last boyfriend. Or it could have been her over-excited pregnancy hormones. She would put it down to both, and refuse to acknowledge the third option.

      That maybe she just wanted her best friend’s brother.

      She was almost relieved when she saw the puddles on the floor when she walked in. It gave her something else to think about. Something else to worry about.

      ‘Wow,’ he said from behind her.

      ‘Yeah,’ she replied, taking it all in. ‘I’m not sure what happened.’

      ‘It looks like it came from the second floor. I’ll go take a look.’

      While he was upstairs, Jess tried to do some damage control. She used towels to soak up the water on the floor, and wiped all the surfaces that had been affected. Fortunately, it seemed the water had only leaked in her bedroom, the kitchen and onto the passage that led to the front door, missing the carpeted lounge and its expensive furniture.

      But she was still out of breath when Dylan returned.

      ‘It looks like a geyser burst. A quick fix, though I’m not sure we can say the same for the ceiling. There’s some water damage—’ He broke off and frowned at her. ‘Are you okay?’

      ‘Yeah, fine.’ She waved a hand. ‘I’m just not used to not being able to do normal things like dry the floor.’

      ‘Why don’t you rest for a bit? I’ll finish up here and make the necessary calls.’

      ‘No, you don’t have to.’

      She stepped onto the towel in front of her to pick up the one just beyond it, but it slipped under her feet and she felt herself falling before she fully realised what was happening. A strong arm went around her waist and drew her up, and then Jess found herself staring into Dylan’s eyes.

      There was concern there, but she could also see the faint light of anger at her refusal. But seconds passed and neither of them looked away, and soon his eyes changed. The concern, the anger, faded and was slowly replaced by interest.

      By attraction.

      That was the word for it, she thought. And it was a dangerous thought since something instantly sprang inside her chest at the prospect, at the recognition of what had caused her fantasy about Dylan earlier. She swallowed as the attraction changed to desire, and more seconds passed as she realised that that change was because of whatever he saw in her eyes.

      Because being reminded about the fantasy she’d had about him earlier had made her body go hot. Had made her tingle, ache. Now she was pressed against the chest she’d spent days admiring, her hands braced against it, and she could feel his heart thudding against her hand. She should move, she told herself.

      But she couldn’t bring herself to put distance between them. The only movement she wanted to act on was to press herself even closer against him. To feel his muscular body tight against her, and have him feel the softness of her body. Her belly would get in the way, but she could—

      The thought stopped her imagination abruptly, and shame took the place of desire. How could she be thinking these things when she was pregnant? When she was carrying a member of Dylan’s family?

      There was no way she could entertain these fantasies. She couldn’t think about Dylan in any way other than as Anja’s brother, the uncle to the child she carried. Getting involved with him had no benefits. It would probably hurt her best friend. It might even hurt the baby.

      And though she wasn’t the biological mother, while she carried him or her, she was responsible for the baby. The baby was her most important priority, and she couldn’t ignore that just because Dylan made her feel things she’d forgotten she could feel.

      Her relationship with Anja was important to her. More important than anything else. She would not screw it up. ‘Thanks,’ she murmured, thoroughly doused of the heat of attraction. ‘Why don’t you get this cleared up and I’ll make the calls? I have the information on my laptop.’

      ‘It’s not damaged?’ he asked her quietly, taking a step away from her.

      ‘It’s in the lounge. The water didn’t get there.’

      ‘Okay then.’

      With careful steps, Jess made her way to the lounge. There would be no repeat performance of the last ten minutes.

      Not now, not ever.

       CHAPTER FOUR

      BY THE TIME Dylan was done clearing up, the plumber had arrived and confirmed his suspicions: the geyser had burst. While they liaised with the insurance company and arranged for it to be replaced and informed them of the other damage, Dylan watched Jess. She’d been acting strangely from the moment he’d answered the door that morning, and he couldn’t quite figure out why.

      Was it because of the way things had ended between them the day before? Maybe, he thought. But then he remembered the way things had crackled between them when he’d saved her from falling. The way his body had reacted to her body’s proximity, and the shame he’d felt when she’d pulled away.

      She was pregnant, for crying out loud. There was no circumstance in which that didn’t make her off-limits. He needed to remember that, he thought, when his heart stuttered as his eyes rested on her.

      But, damn it, there was just something about her that pulled him in. That made rational thought not matter, and made hope flair when it shouldn’t. And it had nothing to do with her relationship with his sister.

      He told himself to pull back, to control himself, and went over to talk with her.

      ‘The insurance is sending out their own evaluators this afternoon,’ she said, and he saw the fatigue in her eyes.

      ‘Figured as much when we realised the plumber we called wasn’t on their list of approved service providers.’

      ‘I’ve told them what the plumber identified the problem as, and gave them the details of the geyser. I doubt they’ll arrive with it—wouldn’t want to waste their money in case it wasn’t what we said—but it should be replaced by the end of the day.’

      ‘And the ceiling?’

      ‘They’re sending someone