Her Guardian Billionaire (Forbidden First Time Romance) by Belle Chastain

stalked down the hall, anger building with every step. He passed Malcolm with a tray full of coffee and pastries and never broke his stride.
    “Your breakfast, sir,” Malcolm called out.
    “I won’t be eating. Call the chauffeur, Malcolm. Miss Sinclair is leaving. Now.” He kept walking, striking the floor with purpose as Malcolm struggled to catch up with him.
    “But it’s Sunday, sir. The chauffeur is off today.”
    “Then ready a car, I don’t care which one. She can keep it. But I want her out of here. Immediately.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Slamming his palm out, the door to his wing flew back and crashed into the wall, shaking the entire hallway. He tossed open his bedroom door the same way as Anna sat up on the bed. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and smiled as he forced himself to calm. I was such a fool .
    In a voice that betrayed none of the rage simmering beneath, he addressed her. “Get out. Now.”
    “What? James, what’s happened? What’s going on?” She pulled the covers up to cover her naked body, and he laughed, mirthless and hollow. Stalking up to the bed, he ripped the sheets away from her, leaving her exposed.
    “You don’t deserve to hide from me.”
    “James!” Anna clawed at the bed, her breasts bouncing in the cool air as she tugged at the sheets and attempted to hide her bare skin. “You’re scaring me!”
    “And you’re using me. Did you think I wouldn’t find out? That you’d weasel your way into my bed, find out all my secrets, and then what? Use them to write your thesis? Make yourself famous?”
    “What are you talking about? I don’t understand!” She scrambled off the bed, backing away from him until her ass hit the wardrobe full of bondage gear. As she covered her breasts with her arms, her eyes widened in confused panic.
    He crossed his arms and jutted out his chin. “You used me. Just like Bianca. Did Malcolm tell you about her?”
    “No! He wouldn’t!”
    “Oh, so, you tried to get it out of him? How charming. And to think, I almost thought I loved you.”
    Anna paled, but stepped forward, reaching out into the empty air as her eyes filled with tears. “Tell me what’s going on. Please. There has to be a misunderstanding.”
    “There’s no misunderstanding. I read the acceptance letter from NYU. The one where they lay it all out—how you’ll give them insight into the James Davenport and get yourself a shiny Ph.D., too.”
    “It’s not like that. James, please, just let me explain.”
    “Save it Anna, I don’t want your excuses.”
    She closed her eyes and dropped her arms, revealing her naked body in all its glory. A pang of arousal rushed through him and he cursed his body’s reaction. He’d never touch her again.
    Opening her eyes, she stepped toward him. “James, I applied to the program almost a year ago, back when you never gave me the time of day. Hell, I don’t think we’d even had a conversation in months. What I told you before was the truth. I want to study tragic events—how terrible things shape people, transform them. I sure as hell know my life changed. It has nothing to do with you.”
    “They mentioned me by name, Anna.”
    Throwing up her hands, she shook her head in shock. “Of course they did. Everyone knows I’m the orphan you rescued. The one you vaulted from the depths of despair to luxury and riches. I’m a fucking cinderella story, remember?”
    She stepped closer, and he could see the shimmer of tears swimming in her eyes. “But I’m not cinderella and up until yesterday, you weren’t fucking close to a prince charming. It didn’t matter how much I crushed on you. Or how sexy, assertive, or compelling I thought you were. I was just a box you checked—orphan, one. Not a person, not a part of your life. Not a woman standing in front of you telling you she loves you.”
    James closed his eyes and backed up. She wasn’t going to worm her way back into his heart. Not with her empty proclamations of love. He opened