Rocked by the Billionaire: A Billionaire's Club Story by Mandy Baxter Page A

of the blue because you’d left your heart behind. It sounds to me like what you needed was a little goddamned inspiration and you knew you’d find the drama to make it happen here.”
    “Kayleigh …” If only his reason for coming home was that simple. But was she right? Was everything he felt just an echo of some creative drive?
    “I was trying to move on.” Her voice broke with emotion. “And now I’m going to have to start from square one when you leave again.”
    ***
    Could she be more pathetic? Luke Blackwell was the prime example of why girls fell for musicians. His artistic soul, willingness to push boundaries, and fearlessness to lay himself bare was like catnip and wasn’t she the horny feline to go after him?
    “I don’t want to hurt you, baby. I never wanted to hurt you.”
    “I’m not your baby.” Who in the hell pined after their high school sweetheart for
eight years
? A drug she couldn’t quit, the second she’d laid eyes on him he’d held her rapt. “In fact, I’m pretty sure you’ve called a fair share of women ‘baby’ since you left.”
    She wanted him to deny it even though she knew better. To profess his faithfulness. If only to give her a good reason to walk away from him once and for all. She’d seen proof of his many hookups plastered all over the media. A space of silence stretched between them and Luke’s dark brows came down sharply over his eyes. “I fucked my way from one end of the country to the other and not a single one of those empty encounters could come close to even five seconds with you.”
    God damn his honesty. He’d never lied to her. Not once. And apparently he wasn’t going to start now. Kayleigh hadn’t exactly been abstinent, either, but a pang of jealousy speared her heart just the same. “You know, it would hurt less if you’d just blown into town for a quick fuck. At least I would’ve known where I stood with you. What you’re doing now is a thousand times worse.”
    “What am I doing, Kayleigh?” God, the way he said her name. A low, seductive caress that she felt on every inch of her skin.
    “I don’t want to care about you, Luke. I can’t.”
    “I can’t
not
love you,” Luke replied without guile. “No matter the distance or years between us. I won’t ever love anyone else.”
    He was
killing
her. Plying her with emotion that she couldn’t resist. Words that she’d been dying to hear for too long. Tears stung at her eyes but she refused to let them flow. “And because you won’t let me go,
I’ll
never be free to love anyone else.”
    Luke rushed at her, cupped her cheeks in his hands. He searched her expression, his own pinched with pain. The air sizzled between them and Kayleigh’s chest tightened as Luke seized her mouth in a brutal kiss.
    Passion had never been their problem. They’d had it in spades. There was a synchronicity between them that Kayleigh had never experienced with another man. His arms came around her, one gripping the hair at the base of her neck, the other curled around her waist. Their mouths slanted, tongues meeting in a wild tangle that caused Kayleigh’s stomach to twist into delicious knots. Kissing Luke was like riding a roller coaster. Always had been. One exciting twist and turn after another.
    He took a few stumbling steps back and she followed, their mouths joined in a frenzy of hungry kisses. The shade of the oak blocked out the reflection of sunlight behind her lids and a cool kiss of spring air caused a chill to ripple over her skin. Luke released his grip on her, fumbling with the buttons on her shirt. The last one released with a pop of thread as he shoved it down over her arms. Her bra went next, the clasp unhooked with a simple flick of Luke’s hand.
    Their lips parted as Luke stripped his T-shirt off and Kayleigh drank in the sight of his naked torso, covered with tattoos. She reached out, traced the outline of her name in swirling black ink, nested in a pattern of swirls on his left