Page 78 of Filthy Hot Billionaire
And then night had given way to day, and while I appreciated—and despised—the birthday gift of a spa day, I knew I would have to go back to my semi-independent, mundane at some point. This could not continue.
It wasn’t the accommodations that had me stalling, although I couldn’t deny I hated to leave such posh digs to return to cinderblock walls and particleboard desks, but because I needed to confront Knox before I did. I needed closure where he was concerned, something I hadn’t had for the past two years.
And then Kieran showed up and brightened my entire day.
“You’ll be fine in the sweater,” Kieran informed me when I went to retrieve my coat. “It’s on the warm side today.”
I decided to trust him, then linked my arm through his when he offered. I could feel the hard muscle and crisp hair on his thick forearm beneath my fingers, and I fought the urge to pet him like a cat. He was considerably taller than I was, but somehow we managed to walk together with relative ease. I noticed on the way to the elevator that he shortened his stride to match mine, so I lengthened mine a bit to help him out.
We rode down to the lobby, and I did my best not to focus on the way he cradled my arm close to his chest or the way he was rubbing small circles over my wrist with his free hand. Just that simple touch was enough to have sparks shimmering in my core. If he kept it up, I was sure I’d be a puddle of mush before the excursion was over.
The doorman opened the doors to allow us to exit, greeting both of us by name.
“Do you come here often?” I asked Kieran as we stepped out onto the sidewalk. “I mean, enough that he knows your name?”
He cast a devious smirk in my direction. “Knox owns the building.”
Of course he owned it. Why wouldn’t he?
“Do you live there, too?”
“No.”
“Does Knox?”
Kieran’s eyes glittered with amusement when he looked down at me and shook his head. “He does not.”
At the entrance to the park, we bypassed a few food vendors, waved off some people offering to bicycle us through the park as we moved at a leisurely pace. I found myself close to Kieran because he still had my arm in his and I enjoyed the simplicity, the closeness. It wasn’t something I was familiar with. Despite the fact I’d made friends at school, I was still lonely, but I refused to dwell on it.
It didn’t hurt that Kieran smelled delicious—something woodsy with a hint of spice—or that he was ridiculously handsome in profile, or that his touch was so gentle yet strong. I didn’t know this man escorting me through Central Park on a warm fall day, but I found myself falling for him just a little bit.
“Did you grow up here?” I asked, although I suspected I knew the answer to that. With his accent as thick as it was, I didn’t think he’d been in the US long.
“Nay,” he said with a smirk.
“Ireland?”
“Northern Ireland, aye. I came over about eight years ago. Steph came for university a few years before that. Just before she was to graduate, she decided she would stay here. At my mother’s urging, I came over to talk her out of it.”
“Doesn’t sound like the plan worked,” I teased, sidestepping a focused jogger.
“It did not.”
“Did she talk you into staying? Or did you find something that captured your interest?”
“A little of both.” He gestured at our surroundings with his free hand. “The city captivated me, not to mention the people.”
“And you and Knox? You’re friends as well as colleagues?”
“You could say that.”
“You know he’s my stepbrother, right?”
“I’m aware of the relationship between his mother and your father, yes. You didn’t grow up together, correct?”
“No, we didn’t. He went off to college when they married.”
“But you still see him as your stepbrother?”
