Love Arranged (Lakefront Billionaires, #3)(86)

“Why not?”

“Because what good will that do?”

I place my hands on my hips. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those people who don’t believe in therapy.”

“And if I was?”

“Then I’d ask what happened to make you think that.”

He looks away. “I went before. Back in Vegas, but I didn’t last long.”

“Why not?”

“Turns out confidentiality has a price, and my uncle was easily able to pay his way into knowing everything about me.”

My chest aches for all the shit his uncle put him through. “So this is a trust issue.”

“Which is kind of a problem since therapy requires it, don’t you agree?”

“Fair, but let me ask you a different question, then.”

“What?”

“Do you trust me?”

He looks up at the ceiling before answering, “Surprisingly, yes.”

His honest answer fills me with warmth, and I use it as motivation to push the issue. “What if I know a therapist who couldn’t be bought by anyone?”

“Everyone has a price.”

“From what I hear, her hourly rate is expensive, but she’s worth every single minute of it.” My sister has said as much, but I can’t personally confirm.

“What’s her name?”

“Doctor Martin.”

“Haven’t heard of her.”

“Exactly. It’s by design, I can assure you.”

He tilts his head. “How does she find new clients?”

“People find her, not the other way around.”

He stays quiet as he serves us dinner, and we both sit at the island.

I don’t expect him to give me an answer tonight, so I decide to give him an out. “Tell me you’ll think about it?”

“If I were to say yes…” he says, and I hold my breath. “Don’t expect much from it.”

“Me? Never.” I smile, feeling victorious against the demons holding him hostage.

We stick to lighter topics until both our plates are clean and we head to the living room. I should go home soon, but my will to leave dies when Lorenzo and Daisy climb onto the couch.

I join them because there is no way I can resist at least thirty more minutes of their company. Lorenzo wraps an arm around my waist, tucks me against his side, and passes me a remote.

“Put something on.”

“What kind of mood are we in?”

“Whatever makes you laugh.”

I dip my head so he can’t see the goofy little smile on my face because there can only be one reason why he wants that, and damn if it doesn’t make me fall in love with him a little bit more.




At some point, I must’ve fallen asleep on the couch during our movie night, so I’m surprised to wake up in Lorenzo’s bed. He lies beside me, shirtless with the comforter draped over his lower half.

Compared to earlier, he looks at peace, with his hand holding mine like he couldn’t help himself from touching me. I’m tempted to shut my eyes and fall back asleep, but then I notice the clock on his nightstand.

For once, I’m the one breaking my mom’s curfew. Usually Dahlia is the one to do so with how often she falls asleep at Julian’s house, and I always tease her about it because is falling asleep with her boyfriend worth sneaking back into our house at four a.m.?

One look at Lorenzo has me understanding that maybe my sister’s reasons make sense.

I’m tempted to stay, but my mom has been through enough this week without me giving her another situation to hyperventilate over.

Rather reluctantly, I pull my hand back. Lorenzo doesn’t wake up, but a furrow forms between his brows.

It dawns on me that Lorenzo is sleeping on the left side of the bed this time, and I have no idea why.

Not like you can wake him up and ask for an answer.

I slide off the bed, and I’m nearly halfway across the room when Daisy, who I didn’t know had her own bed in Lorenzo’s room, starts barking.

I try to shush her, but it’s too late.

Lorenzo rubs the sleep from his eyes before slowly rising onto his elbows. “Sneaking out on me?”

“No,” I say, although that’s totally what I’m doing.

He smirks. “Were you planning on giving me a kiss goodbye?”

“Seeing as I’m not into somnophilia, can’t say I was.”

“I’m wide awake now, and even if I wasn’t, you tripping the alarm system would’ve done the trick.”

Damn. I can’t believe I forgot about the system after him checking it multiple times last night.

I should ask him to type in the code so I can leave, but there’s something about that smirk on his face that draws me in. Daisy quickly loses interest as I head over to Lorenzo’s side of the bed.

Since I don’t want him to gloat, I drop a kiss onto the top of his head like he always does to me and toss him his phone, which was on the nightstand. “Okay, now disarm the system. Thanks! Bye!”

He snatches my hand before I can escape. “Kiss me like you mean it.”

“Then I’ll never leave.”

“If it were up to me, you never would.”

Even if I could manage to get my legs to cooperate, there is no way I can go home after he spoke those words into existence.