Page 9 of The Billionaire's Distraction

Her lips curved.“Now, that one makes sense.Favorite drink?”

“Whiskey.”

“Favorite movie?”

“Heat.”

Naomi rolled her eyes.“You would pick that one.”

He said nothing, only watched her, but she swore there was the barest twitch at the corner of his mouth again.

“Favorite animal?”she pushed.

“Wolf.”

She shivered.She didn’t even know why that answer got to her, but it did.

One more.She leaned in slightly, eyes sparkling with the challenge.“Favorite…music?”

“Classic rock.”

Her mouth parted, caught off guard, because she hadn’t expected that.Somehow, that last one made him more complicated, more human, and more dangerous all at once.

Naomi exhaled, her heart hammering in her chest.Every clipped answer felt like a small victory, a prize she hadn’t known she wanted.And she wasn’t sure if she was more rattled by the brevity of his words—or by how much she craved the next one.

Naomi hesitated, chewing thoughtfully on her lip as if debating one more question, but she finally let out a soft laugh.“All right.That’s enough.I think I’ve milked about as many one-word answers out of you as humanly possible.”

Her pulse was still racing, but she tried to cover it with humor.He gave her almost nothing, yet she couldn’t seem to stop asking, couldn’t stopwantingmore.Every answer felt like a secret reward, and she found herself craving the next one, and the next.

She turned slightly, glancing toward the swings where Jacob was pushing Mark back and forth.Not high, gentle enough that the younger boy laughed instead of squealed.It was the quietest the two of them had played in weeks.A flicker of relief warmed her chest.Maybe today wouldn’t end in chaos after all.

“Well,” she said, trying to sound casual, “thank you for your help.The boys are behav—”

“Stay,” he ordered.

Naomi blinked, startled, as his large hand closed gently around her arm, stopping her before she could take a step.Not rough, not threatening—just…firm.She froze, her eyes darting up to his.He’d pulled her closer, so close she could feel the warmth emanating from his body, the sheer size of him making the air feel thinner.

Her breath caught, her instinct warring with something else entirely.She knew she should move, should pull away and put distance between them.But her body betrayed her, locked in place under his gaze.

“Why should I stay?”she asked, her voice softer than she intended.

“Because I want to get to know you.”

Naomi’s mouth parted in shock.What?That didn’t make sense.Men like him didn’t notice women like her.Not really.She was just a nanny with scuffed shoes and a tote bag stuffed with fruit slices and wet wipes.He was…well,him.

“That doesn’t make any sense!”she blurted, a little louder than she meant to, her heart pounding painfully in her chest.

He turned slightly toward her, though his chest remained angled toward the playground.Even in this moment, even while talking to her, he was still watching the boys.Still warning them without a word that their behavior was being tracked.That intensity made something low in her belly tighten.

“What doesn’t make sense?”His question was calm, but his dark eyes glinted as though he enjoyed her confusion.

Naomi’s mind scrambled, desperate for something sharp to say, something to put him in his place.She needed control back.Needed to shove this strange, suffocating attraction away.She opened her mouth—ready to deliver a scathing remark that might make him feel small, or at least distract herself.

But then she spotted her.

The woman from the other day.

Melissa Peterson sat on a bench a little ways off.She wasn’t approaching.She wasn’t even watching directly.Instead, her gaze kept drifting toward the Peterson house, her shoulders slumped forward, everything about her posture radiating defeat.Occasionally her eyes flickered toward the playground, but mostly they lingered on the home that should have been hers.