Bedding The Billionaire (Bedding the Bachelors Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

looked back at her. Hesitated. Then nodded. “Of course.”
    He kicked off his shoes and climbed into the bed with her. As she shifted to turn on her side, he pulled her close so that he was spooning her back. She felt him kiss her temple.
    “I’ve missed you, Jamie. I’m so glad we’re still friends.”
    “Me, too, sweet thing,” he said. “Me, too.
    She let out a shuddering sigh. He really was a very nice man. He would make someone a wonderful partner. An excellent husband. But not her, she reminded herself.
    Not her.
    Seeing her parents—especially her father—had reminded her she could never fit into Jamie’s affluent world. Could never toe the line the way that would be expected. Could never meld into the mold that others would want to put her in.
    But despite that knowledge, for the first time in over fifteen years, she wished she could.
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    Two weeks later
     
    “How are you doing, Lucy?” Grace asked.
    The other woman had her legs stretched out in front of her on the comfortable lounge chair that sat on the deck of Melina’s beautiful home. Lucy had arrived in Vegas earlier in the day and the three of them were enjoying some alone time together while Melina’s twins, Charlie and Tabitha, slept and while Max and Rhys made final preparations for the opening of their new magic theater the next night. Lucy figured Jamie was also in town, but she was trying to put that fact out of her mind.
    Unfortunately, she had too many things she didn’t want to think about; obviously her sister’s death was number one on the list. It was virtually all she’d been able to think about and for the first week following Gail’s death, Lucy had hibernated in bed with her shades drawn, crying more than she’d ever thought it was possible for a human being to cry. She’d been overwhelmed by grief and regret and guilt…but even though she’d asked them not to visit or come to the funeral, Melina, Grace, and Jamie had kept in touch.
    They’d been the support she’d needed to finally crawl out of bed and start living again.
    Today was the first time she’d actually seen Grace and Melina since Gail’s death and funeral, and she knew her friends were worried about her.
    “I’m doing okay. It’s been tough. It’s weird, you know…we didn’t have a relationship for the past fifteen years, but she was my first best friend. In spite of our differences and all the years that went by, I never stopped loving her.” Even to Lucy’s own ears, her words sounded hollow. If she’d loved her big sister so much, why hadn’t she put aside the past and mended fences with her? One lousy phone call in fifteen years hadn’t been much of an effort. She hated that hurt feelings and pride had come between them, but she also knew it had been more than that. Her sister had not only chosen Mason over her, but in doing so, she’d helped Lucy feel like a pariah—even though her sister had known how hurtful that would have been to Lucy, who’d often cried in her arms because she never seemed to fit in.
    As Lucy was speaking, Melina brought out the iced tea. She handed Lucy and Grace glasses, then sat on the other side of Lucy and took her hand.
    “What about the baby? Have you been able to see her?”
    “Not yet. She wasn’t at the funeral.”
    Lucy stared into her drink as even more guilt and regret overwhelmed her. It made her so sad that she hadn’t known about Milly while Gail was alive. There was no way of knowing, but sometimes she thought if she had known, the baby would have been the thing to bring the sisters together again.
    She took a sip of her tea then looked up and smiled at her friends, who were watching her with worried expressions. “All I can do is move forward, right? I’ve called Mason’s sister Diana a couple of times and she’s let me talk to Milly on the phone. She’s a gurgler and cooer just like your babies, Melina. I’m hoping to get to visit her soon.”
    “That’ll be