Condoned (Beauty And The Billionaire Geek Book 3) by E.E. Griffin Page B

at him.
    “William. Everyone calls me William now. I’m an important man.” He puffed out his chiseled chest, impressed with himself.
    “Whatever. William ,” I mocked. “Why are you hacking my personal information?”
    “I’ve thought about you a great deal over the years. Maybe too much,” he said, trailing off.
    The bus pulled up and the door swung open. A passenger disembarked, and the driver looked at me impatiently. I’d been caught in Billy’s tractor beam. I wanted desperately to get away, but I wanted to stay with him just as desperately.
    “Getting on?” the driver called through the darkness. I just stood there staring at him. The driver sighed and swung the doors closed. What was I doing? That was my ride. Too late. The bus drove off down the street without me on it. I looked back at William and glared.
    “Come with me,” he said, reaching for my hand. I let him take it and lead me to a red Porsche. He took my garment bag and put it in the trunk, then opened the passenger door for me. Inside my head I was yelling at myself to get a grip and not go with him. He’d ruined my life, and I didn’t forgive him.
    William Black the great tech billionaire slipped into the driver’s seat next to me. It would have to be my geek ex-boyfriend who turned into the next Bill Gates. The geek who I loved more than anything, who broke my heart, who after we broke up, went on to earn enough money to buy Greece. It had a way of making a girl feel really crappy about herself.
    He sped down the street narrowly burning through yellow lights. The Billy I remembered owned a Vespa and wouldn’t take the freeway. This William Black was some kind of speed demon.
    Before I had a chance to think, we parked. I looked up and found we were sitting in the parking lot of the park were we’d first kissed. Confusion clouded my brain. I felt myself on the verge of panic as a tear slipped down my face.
    “Come on,” he said, standing above me, outside, with the door open. I slipped out and wiped the salty moisture off my face. I did not want to cry in front of him. No way.
    He took my hand and it hurt how natural if felt to hold it again. The warmth of his touch sent waves of electricity through my body and my muscles tightened and tensed as the damp place between my legs buzzed to life.
    We weren’t supposed to be in the garden after dark, a sign said, but William Black was one of Seattle’s elite. People like him didn’t have to follow rules. I didn’t know how I felt about that. We both grew up poor, but William had entered the upper echelons of society. He’d never be the same again.
    He took me to the same bench, under the bamboo, that had been our spot so many years ago. Emotions were doing gymnastics inside my chest, and I didn’t know if I was going to laugh or cry or puke. We sat down and the cool air of the Sound blew over my bare face. I shivered and William put his arm around me to protect me from the cold.
    I could feel the bulk of his newly formed musculature. The solidness and strength of his body aroused me as much as the memories of the intimacy we’d shared.
    “I have something for you,” he said, breathing hot breath into my ear. His lips lightly touched my earlobe, making me tingle all over and deep inside my most secret parts. I was a different woman than I was five years ago. All the things he’d offered then, that I’d rejected, I now craved. The love, the security, the happily ever after, I wanted all those things now. “Open your hand,” he said breathing on my neck.
    I put my palm up and unfurled my clenched fingers. He placed his hand over mine and dropped a tiny, cold object in my palm. When he removed his hand, I looked down at the object under the glowing street light of the walking path not far beyond the garden. I had to squint to make it out, but it was what I thought it was.
    A little charm in the form of an infinity sign sat in my hand.
    “I never got to finish the bracelet,” he