THE BILLIONAIRE’S BARGAIN

CHAPTER 5: THE LIBRARY

Maya found Julian in the library.

He sat in a leather chair, laptop open, typing with the kind of fury that suggested he was imagining someone's face on the keyboard. His tie was gone. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone. He looked like a man who'd been up all night fighting wars.

"You're still in last night's suit," Maya said from the doorway.

Julian didn't look up. "I have three meetings before noon. I don't have time to change."

"You have time to sulk."

That got his attention. Julian's eyes snapped to hers. Cold. Sharp.

"I'm not sulking."

"You walked out of your own kitchen because I accepted a lunch invitation. That's sulking. Or jealousy. I can't tell with you."

Julian closed the laptop. Set it aside. Stood up.

He walked toward her slowly. Each step deliberate. Controlled. The way a predator moves when it knows the prey can't run.

"Jealousy," he said, "implies I have a claim. I don't. We have a contract. You can have lunch with anyone you want. Derek. A reporter. The doorman. I don't care."

"You care," Maya said. "Your jaw is doing that thing."

"What thing?"

"That ticking thing. It only happens when you're angry. Or lying."

Julian stopped a foot away from her. Close enough that she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes.

"Derek Tanaka is dangerous," Julian said quietly.

"He seemed nice."

"Derek Tanaka seems nice to everyone. That's how he gets what he wants." Julian's hand lifted. Hesitated. Then tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. The touch was feather-light. It made Maya's breath hitch.

"What does he want?" she whispered.

"Right now? He wants to prove that my engagement is fake. That I'm still the same unstable, unlovable man his father thinks I am." Julian's fingers lingered at her jaw. "And if he can do that by taking you to lunch, making you laugh, making you choose him — he'll do it."

Maya's heart hammered. "I'm not going to choose him."

"You might. He's charming. I'm..." Julian's thumb brushed her cheek. "I'm not."

"You're honest," Maya said. "Sometimes brutally. But at least I know where I stand with you."

"And where do you stand, Maya?"

Maya looked up at him. The gray eyes. The messy hair. The man who bought buildings but couldn't buy sleep.

"I stand in your library," she said. "Wearing your diamonds from last night. Arguing with you about lunch. I stand exactly where you put me."

Julian's hand dropped. He stepped back. The distance felt like a wound.

"I didn't put you anywhere," he said. "You signed the contract."

"I signed the contract because you offered me two hundred thousand dollars and a chance to save my mother's shop." Maya's voice shook. "But I didn't sign up for you looking at me like that. I didn't sign up for almost-kisses on balconies. I didn't sign up for wanting—"

She stopped. Bit her lip.

"Wanting what?" Julian asked. His voice was barely audible.

Maya shook her head. "Nothing. Forget it."

She turned to leave. Julian caught her wrist.

"Don't," he said.

"Don't what?"

"Don't walk away. Not when you're about to say something real."

Maya looked down at his hand on her wrist. Warm. Strong. The same hand that had signed away empires and was now holding her like she might disappear.

"I want lunch to be over fast," she said softly. "I want to come back here and argue with you about books I haven't read. I want you to tell me why your hands are rough when you've never worked a day in your life. I want..." She looked up. "I want to know if last night on the balcony was real for you, or if I'm just another contract to check off your list."

Julian's grip tightened. Not painful. Anchoring.

"Last night," he said, his voice rough, "I was one second away from ruining everything. The merger. The contract. My entire life. Because I wanted to kiss you more than I've wanted anything in ten years. That's not in the contract, Maya. That's not professional. That's not safe."

Maya's chest ached. "And?"

"And I'm still one second away," Julian said. "Every time you walk into a room. Every time you smile at me like I'm not a monster. Every time you wear my diamonds and argue with me about pockets." He let go of her wrist. Stepped back. "So go to lunch with Derek. Smile at him. Charm him. Do your job. But when you come back — if you come back — don't look at me like that. Because I'm not strong enough to keep saying no."

Maya stood frozen. The library felt too small. The air felt too thin.

"Julian"

"Go," he said. He turned back to his laptop. His shoulders were rigid. "You have twenty minutes to change. Don't be late. Derek hates waiting."

Maya didn't move. She wanted to say something. Something that would bridge the space between them. Something that would make the contract disappear.

But she didn't know the words.

So she left.

In her bedroom, she stared at the red dress hanging in the closet. The diamonds on the nightstand. The reflection of a girl who'd signed a deal with the devil and was now falling for him.

She changed into a simple blue dress. Brushed her hair. Put on lip gloss.

At the door, she paused. Looked back toward the library.

Twenty-nine days, she thought.

And then, quieter: I don't want them to end