Tempted by the Billionaire: A Hometown Hero Series Novel by Clare Connelly Page A

lips. “Impossible to say. But if she has been taken, she’s probably far, far away by now.”
    Willow nodded. He was right, but the pronouncement filled her with grief. “Can you imagine what her family’s going through? What a nightmare.”
    He nodded. He felt nothing but sympathy for the little girl who was missing. But, perhaps because he’d seen the horrors of a warzone, he held very little hope for her recovery. After all, he’d had a front row seat to some of humanity’s worst impulses. What some people were capable of doing, even to children, defied explanation.
    “And how are you this morning, Willow St Clare?” He asked, his tone husky, as he studied her sleep deprived face and passion pink lips.
    As her eyes met his, she felt a lurching deep in her soul. “I’m good.” Good? She was so much better than good. She ran a hand through her dark hair, unconsciously drawing his gaze to the silky mane.
    “Do you have plans for today?” He asked with a twist of his lips.
    She thought of her deadline, and guiltily shook her head. “Nothing that can’t wait,” she fibbed.
    His smile was all the reward she needed. So sexy. So handsome. Her pulse sparked in her blood like an electrical current. “Good. Because I think we should go on a date.”
    “A date?” She asked with a small smile of her own. “You don’t think we’re past a first date?”
    Guilt, an unusual emotion for him, spread like a spider’s web in the breeze. “Not only do I think we’re not past it, I think you deserve it. I think you deserve an incredible first date. Can you meet me back here in an hour?”
    “An hour? Sure.” She reached up and touched his face, because she couldn’t resist. “Where are we going?”
    “A surprise,” he said with a wink. “You’ll like it.”
    “I know I will.” She dropped her hand, but instantly wished she hadn’t. Her fingertips tingled from the contact. Her whole body ached for him. Willow was in trouble, and she’d never felt better.
    * * *
    “Are you actually saying you just bought a car?” She asked, eyeing off the black Dodge.
    His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled down at her. “I wanted to take you out on a date. I couldn’t do that with you driving.”
    She arched a brow, but slid into the seat. “That’s sort of chauvinistic.”
    He laughed, and came to sit beside her. “I was going for romance.”
    “In this day and age, there’s a fine line between romance and chauvinism.”
    “Oh!” He clutched at his chest, pretending to be wounded. “The cynicism. You surprise me, Willow.”
    She rolled her eyes. “I just don’t understand why you’d buy a car in Haymarket Bay?” But beneath the veil of cynicism and criticism was unadulterated pleasure and hope. Did it mean he planned to stay? And for how long? Surely he wouldn’t buy a car if he was going to leave again anytime soon.
    He instantly understood, and that spider web of guilt seemed to thicken across his senses. “I can always sell it. Give it to Ike.” He looked at her as he turned the key and revved the powerful engine. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
    Right. The hope was weighed down like a stone in water. It didn’t mean anything.
    “Mattias…” She toyed with the hem of dress. “I don’t mean to sound intrusive, but cars are kind of expensive to just buy and then give away.”
    He nodded, shooting her a droll look as he expertly navigated the beast of a thing towards the beach. He turned left onto the esplanade, and picked a route that would take them along the coastline. “Is this going to turn into a lecture about silver spoons and a sense of entitlement?”
    She frowned. “Depends. Are you saying you were born with a silver spoon?”
    “I’ve certainly read that in the papers,” he laughed. “I guess a billion dollar trust fund amounts to that.”
    Willow spun her head to face his so fast she thought she’d got whiplash. “A billion dollar trust fund ?” She demanded, her body