A Forbidden Love (Eligible Billionaires Book 9) Read online

  “Backyard?” Ilana looked around, confused. The waterfront townhouses were on the far side of the cement bike path. The sand on the near side of the path stretched all the way to the ocean’s edge.

  “Yeah, this is my backyard. Who the hell you think sleeps in this tent each night?” Wedge said, pointing to the one-man pop-up. “I do!”

  “Oh right. Backyard.” Ilana pressed her hand to the side of her head. “Sorry.” Pounding throbbed through her skull. She touched her chin gingerly, and pulled her fingers away red.

  “You’re bleeding,” Devon said. He leaned closer to scrutinize the scrape. He smelled clean and salty. Then he sat back on his haunches, his wet suit hanging from his hips. Ilana wanted to reach out, to skim her hands over that smooth wet skin…to feel the curve of his muscles beneath her fingers.

  Jeez. Since when did she want to touch a stranger’s muscles? She must have really hit her head.

  “Looks like you scraped up your knees too. Are you okay?”

  “I think I’m fine.” She bent her legs to put her feet flat and started to stand. A sharp pain tore through her ankle. “Ah! My ankle. Maybe not.”

  “Okay, so, no to walking.” Devon put one arm around her waist and his other arm under her bent knees. With one secure pull, he lifted her off the ground and into his arms.

  Hello! Her heart jolted in her chest. Wow.

  “Let’s get some ice and maybe a cloth to stop that chin from bleeding.” He smiled. Who had teeth that white and a smile that perfectly even? “Wedge, can you open the gate for me?” Wedge hustled to a few steps in front of them as Devon started across the path.

  “Wait.” Ilana turned her head to gaze into the eyes of this gorgeous man who’d literally just swept her off her feet. “Where are you taking me?”

  A smile broke across Devon’s face. “To my house, of course.”

  Chapter 3

  Devon’s place was spartan. He hadn’t entertained, and he definitely hadn’t decorated. The best part of his digs was the view from the back patio and the deck off the master suite that looked out onto his backyard—the Pacific. As attractive as she was, Devon doubted he’d be showing this absolutely gorgeous woman in his arms the master suite.

  “No need to worry about this guy, lady,” Wedge said as he shuffled ahead of them toward the nearby gate. “He’s a good egg. Besides, I’ll come too.”

  Devon fought the smile that threatened to curve over his face. To her credit, the girl in his arms made no remark that the guy who was offering to protect her, should she need it, was a homeless man who lived in a tent on Venice Beach. Nope, she didn’t frown or make a face or wrinkle her nose at Wedge’s suspect hygiene and possibly unstable mental health. No, she took out her phone instead and began to text.

  “I’m just letting my best friend know what’s happened.” She looked up into Devon’s eyes.

  His heart tightened and heat flashed through his body.

  “We’re supposed to meet at work in an hour,” she continued.

  Devon nodded and took a long breath. Under the clean scent of her sweat, he could smell lemons. The aroma of lemons and some sort of flower filled his nose. Was it weird that he took a second and then third breath, wanting to fill his lungs with the fragrance of this stranger? A woman he didn’t know, but who said her name was…Ilana. It sounded so exotic, so unusual, and yet there was something about her, the weight of her in his arms, the way her body molded to his, something that seemed familiar. He shook his head. How ridiculous.

  Ridiculous or not, the heat that swelled in his belly and below spoke to the definite attraction. One look into her eyes, and he had felt familiarity laced with warmth. A longing had taken hold of him. Was it her vulnerability? Her injury? He’d always been a sucker for saving hurt animals and people. But this longing…seemed somehow different than the attraction he’d experienced with women before now.

  Wedge pushed open the gate to Devon’s backyard. Devon walked in and settled Ilana on the chaise lounge by the fire pit.

  “Okay?” he asked. That face. Wow, that face belonged in a painting, or on a magazine cover or something…with its delicate sculpted cheekbones and that classic jaw and tiny upturned nose. She nodded, her blue eyes shining out with warmth…she wasn’t classically beautiful, she was stunning.

  “I’ll get some ice for that.” Devon disappeared inside the townhouse, pulling open the back door a few minutes later with a large Ziploc bag of ice and a clean cloth in his hand. “Oh man, it’s swelling.” He draped the bag over her ankle. “Put this on your chin.” He handed Ilana the cloth.

  Ilana gingerly pressed the cloth to her chin.

  Devon leaned forward and peered at the scrape. Dried blood smeared the edges of her jaw. “I think we should take you to urgent care. You need an x-ray for that ankle, and it’d be a good idea to get those scrapes looked at.”

  Ilana glanced at her phone. “Amelia hasn’t responded.” She looked at Devon through her impossibly long eyelashes.

  His breath caught in his chest.

  “Can I get your address so I can call an Uber?”

  “An Uber?” Devon shook his head. “What kind of guy lets a bleeding woman with a swollen ankle take an Uber to urgent care? Definitely not the kind my mother raised.”

  A tiny smile fluttered across Ilana’s lips.

  Devon’s heart jolted. Damn. That was quite a smile. He liked making her smile. He gestured at his wet suit, still half hanging off his body. “Let me get out of this, and we’ll go.” Ilana tilted her head and examined him from top to toe as though considering whether or not to accept his help. “Okay?”

  “Okay,” she said softly. She leaned forward and shifted the position of the ice on her ankle. Then she looked up again with those gorgeous eyes. “And Devon?”

  His sex hardened from the sound of his name on her lips.

  “Thank you.”

  “Of course.” He turned and bolted into the house. Maybe just a quick cold shower before he put on his clothes.

  *

  Was this how a lightning strike happened? Two hours later Ilana stood in front of The Children’s Enrichment Center with Devon by her side. Her ankle, thankfully only sprained, had swollen into a puffy cylinder sporting one small but deep eggplant bruise. Her scrapes stung from the thorough disinfectant scrub they had received to get rid of any stray sand from the path. The urgent care had sent her home with reams of after-care instructions and crutches…and yet, she smiled.

  She smiled at the gorgeous, funny, gallant man who’d carried her from the beach to his house, then from his house to his car, and then sat with her in urgent care while she was x-rayed and cleaned up. Finally, he’d driven her back home, to the Enrichment Center, all the while telling her outrageous jokes and tales about his three brothers back in New York.

  “You actually made this morning fun,” Ilana said. “How did you do that?”

  “Wasn’t just me,” Devon said as he pulled open the front door of the Center. “I had a willing cohort. Or maybe I mean a captive audience.” The charming, brilliant, white-toothed smile that already seemed so familiar spread over his face. Ilana’s heart careened through her chest.

  She was too busy, too stressed, too worried, and now simply too injured to even consider being attracted to a man and yet…And yet, being attracted to Devon wasn’t something she could choose or not. She simply was. Undeniably so. From the moment she’d opened her eyes and found him peering down at her while she lay bloodied and bruised on the pavement. Oh. My. She curled her fingers around the foam handgrips of the metal crutches and hopped forward.

  “Listen,” Devon’s voice was silken luxury, “I was wondering if we could have dinner?”

  Ilana paused and smiled. Thank goodness he’d asked.

  “I know you’re busy with the opening, and now you’re injured, but I just…” He leaned his head against the door that he held propped open for her. “It’s just, I really want to see you again. I enjoyed this morning.”

&n
bsp; The corner of Ilana’s mouth twitched up in a wry grin. “Enjoy” might not be the word she’d use, at least not for all of it.

  “Not you being injured, of course,” Devon said, as if he could read her mind. “I enjoyed keeping you company. If I can enjoy two hours in urgent care with you, then think about how much fun we’ll have at a restaurant.”

  Ilana nodded. She’d thought that too. Already. She’d even thought about more…which was weird and strange and so unlike her. “I’d love to.” She dropped her gaze and hobbled through the door.

  “Oh my God!” Amelia swept up and put her arm around Ilana. “It’s as bad as I thought.”

  Ilana slid her eyes toward Devon. “Maybe not so bad.”

  Amelia turned to face him. “Thank you for taking care of her this morning. My phone was completely dead when she tried to text, and by the time I listened to the messages here you two were already halfway through urgent care.”

  “No problem.” Devon’s gaze met Ilana’s. Her stomach tightened and heat thrilled through her body. “It’s not every day that a man gets to rescue the woman of his dreams.”

  It was the kind of thing men only said in movies, but Devon Travati was talking like that about her, here, in real life. The scariest part was, Ilana liked it.

  Chapter 4

  Broke? Check. Hobbled? Check. Pending outrageously expensive medical bill? Check. Opening in ten days? Check. Strange phone calls from unknown caller? Check. Business destined to fail due to improper review of lease by witless first-time business owner? Double checkity, check, check, check. Ilana sighed and popped two ibuprofen into her mouth. Life would be looking pretty sour about now if Ilana hadn’t met Devon.

  Her skin prickled. The thought of Devon’s smile, his touch…him. She filled a glass at the kitchen sink and slugged back the pills, hoping for some pain relief.

  “I can do this without you.” Amelia picked up a box of paints from the counter beside Ilana.

  “I have no doubt, but would you go to your apartment and not help?”

  Amelia blew out a big breath. “As much as I wish I could say yes, so that you’d go rest that ankle, no, absolutely not. This is our new business and I’d be down here too, making everyone miserable with my injuries,” she teased . “That doesn’t mean I don’t think you should go upstairs and ice that ankle.”

  “Not going to happen.” Ilana gripped her crutches and maneuvered herself out of the kitchen. She took a long look around the nearly finished art room. “I’m going to work on the music room. There’s sheet music to unpack.”

  Amelia followed her out. “James brought over the instruments the Venice Orchestra donated.”

  “I saw the four children’s violins.”

  “They look brand new.”

  “Do you think?”

  “Yeah,” Amelia nodded. “I think they bought them and donated them. Every artist in Venice is totally digging what you’re doing. They all want to teach a class in the next couple years.”

  Ilana’s stomach pitched forward. Would there even be an Enrichment Center in six months? Her mouth grew dry. She had to tell Amelia…she was her partner…her best friend. She couldn’t keep this secret from Amelia.

  “So listen,” Ilana started. “We need to talk about the Center—”

  The bell above the front door jingled and they both turned.

  Ilana’s sex tightened and heat flooded her cheeks. Brad Pitt meets Zac Efron. The man standing just inside the door in jeans, sunglasses, and a black T-shirt was better looking than any man Ilana had ever known.

  “Here comes your Prince Charming,” Amelia whispered beneath her breath.

  “Stop.” Ilana automatically ran a hand over her hair to smooth down any wild strands.

  “Whatevs. He’s gorgeous and chivalrous, and he obviously has the hots for you.”

  Ilana’s heart fluttered.

  “I’m wondering if you didn’t twist that ankle on purpose. Yowza. How many times have you gone out this week?”

  Devon smiled and walked through the front room toward them both.

  Ilana’s heart ratcheted up to overdrive.

  “Three, counting today. This time, he wanted a tour.” Ilana glanced at her friend, trying to keep her tone nonchalant.

  Amelia lifted an eyebrow, but kept her gaze firmly trained on Devon. “You go, girl. That’s definitely the kind of man I’d want to tour my business.”

  Ilana smiled and slid her gaze back to Devon. His movie-star good looks mesmerized her, with those bright blue eyes and a smile that seemed to make birds chirp and angels sing and sunshine spread across her face.

  “That man is H-O-T,” Amelia whispered. She shook her head and tugged the end of one of her braids. “If you decide you don’t want him, you let me know.”

  Devon stopped and looked appreciatively at Amelia’s murals painted all over the walls of the art room. As he took in the artwork, Ilana couldn’t take her eyes off of him. Her cheeks heated as she fixated on his profile, the sensual curve of his lips…my God…she could barely breathe, let alone speak—

  “Hi,” Amelia said. “They’re mine, I did them.” Amelia reached out her hand to Devon.

  “Right, right.” Ilana snapped out of her stupor and pulled her gaze off Devon. “You remember Amelia DeLoitte. My business partner.”

  Devon gestured toward the nearest wall. “I love your work.”

  “Thank you,” Amelia said. “I enjoy doing it. And I’m also excited to be doing the Enrichment Center.”

  Devon smiled. After a moment of awkward silence, Ilana realized they probably both expected her to say something next, and she blurted, “Amelia has a show at The Legend Gallery soon, right after the Center opens.”

  “I know.” Devon lifted an eyebrow. “I just received an invitation.”

  “It’s a great space and I love working with Amanda.” Amelia pulled her phone from her pocket and glanced at the time. “In fact, I need to run by the gallery for about an hour. Promised Amanda I’d go by to discuss placement.”

  “Go.” Ilana nodded toward Amelia, feeling a pang of guilt. She was juggling a lot with the opening and a show. “I’m good here.”

  “I’ll help too, if she’ll let me,” Devon said. “And then I’ll feed her, or she’ll feed me. I was promised a meal.”

  “Hmm, sounds like the beginning of an excellent evening,” Amelia ducked into the kitchen to grab her purse from the counter and threw the strap over her shoulder. As she walked behind Devon on her way to the front door, she wiggled her eyebrows and shot Ilana a thumbs-up.

  Ilana’s cheeks fired. Amelia grinned and disappeared through the door.

  “Are you ready for Monday?” Devon asked. Ilana turned her attention back to him, hoping her blush would fade quickly.

  “Define ready.” She smiled. “We’re booked solid. We have enough teachers for now, we just added three more classes, and Amelia forced me to raise our prices.”

  “Forced?

  “I prefer to keep them as low as we can. I have this need to make certain that any kid who wants to can come to the Center.”

  “I love that.”

  Devon’s words sent a cozy glow through Ilana’s body. Her brain buzzed when he was near.

  “Can you show me around?” He glanced toward her ankle.

  Ilana pulled her crutches tighter to her side. “I may be injured, but I’m not debilitated. Let’s start at the front.” She led the way back toward the front room. He followed along, and when she stopped, stepped close, putting one hand on the small of her back.

  Deep breath. The scent of him was still fresh like sunshine and salty like the sea. She prayed that there were no smudges of dirt on her nose. “So this is obviously the front room, where the kids and their parents can wait for their classes. And the chalk wall is for—”

  “Kids to get creative while they wait?”

  “Exactly.” Ilana steered him back toward the art room. She could feel his presence, like a magnetic field, as he kept pace with
her. It felt good to have him so near.

  “How’s the ankle?”

  “Still hurts. Not as much. If I stay off my feet, most likely all better by the end of the weekend.”

  “And if you don’t?” Devon asked, as though he already knew that Ilana couldn’t possibly stay off her feet before the Enrichment Center opened.

  “Ten days?”

  Devon nodded. “And the scrapes?” He leaned closer. Her breath caught in her chest. He was so close. Her eyelids fluttered and she licked her lips. He gently tilted her head upward with his fingertips to look at her chin. His warm breath caressed her neck. “How are they today?”

  “Good,” she whispered. Her eyelids drifted down. Just inches and he could press his lips to her neck. Or she could turn and press her lips to his…

  Devon straightened and took another look at Amelia’s murals. “The place is amazing.”

  Ilana’s eyes popped open and she smiled ruefully. No. She couldn’t kiss him now…but she wanted to. “There’s a lot more to see.” She walked him through the art room into the music room, telling him about the different working artists who’d agreed to teach classes along the way. Then she headed into the dance room, which had been set up with mirrors and ballet barres along the walls. “And this is the dance studio. Upstairs we have the library, where we’ll teach creative writing for prose and poetry.”

  “You two did this all yourself?”

  “Well, with a little help from our friends.”

  “How many kids?

  “Seventy-five starting the first week. Amelia made me up our prices because our enrollment was getting too high.”

  “I’d think with the rent on this space, you’d have to charge a lot for the classes.”

  “Well…” What could she say? She didn’t want to lie. She also didn’t want to tell Devon the truth before she spoke to Amelia.

  Devon held up his hand. “Sorry, businessman. I always want to know how people make businesses work. This is fascinating to me, amazing really. Just exactly the type of business I want to be in.”