The Teacher's Billionaire

looked forced and her voice was cold telling Callie that Elizabeth was less than ecstatic about having her husband’s illegitimate daughter in her home.
    Not your problem. He invited you, remember.
    “You’ve probably guessed that this is my daughter, and your half sister Sara,” Warren continued walking over to his daughter.
    Callie nodded and smiled at the younger woman wondering what she might say today. She’d been rude before, but perhaps she would be more agreeable with her parents present.
    “We met the other day,” Callie informed Warren. “But we didn’t really have time to talk.” She had no intention of telling her father what had really happened. There was no point in appearing childish and petty.
    Warren pulled out her chair. “Of course you already know Dylan.”
    For the first time since entering the room, Callie let herself look over at Dylan. She hadn’t been able to get him out of her mind all night. The day they spent together had been wonderful. And her silly romantic side couldn’t help but want to do it again. The logical part of her brain knew that would never happen. Yesterday he had merely been keeping her company so she wouldn’t be lonely. There had been nothing more to it.
    Dylan hadn’t been able to take his eyes off Callie from the minute she walked into the room. Despite his best efforts he’d been thinking about her constantly. He wondered how her time with Warren was going. The previous day she admitted that she’d felt nervous about meeting him. And he couldn’t blame her. Dylan couldn’t imagine a more awkward situation. That was why he’d been tempted to greet her himself when she arrived that morning. Just for moral support of course. Or at least he kept telling himself that.
    He wouldn’t let himself admit that he simply wanted to see her, that he just enjoyed being in her company. So instead he conveniently went for a long run at the precise time he knew she was arriving. He’d even considered skipping lunch with the family, but his mother requested that he join them.
    “I hope you’ve had a nice visit so far,” Dylan said sincerely. Despite the possible complications Callie created for Warren, he hoped the two of them were able to develop some type of father-daughter relationship.
    Callie took the seat across from him. “Very nice, thank you.” As she reached for her water, she nibbled on her bottom lip and an overwhelming urge to taste her descended on Dylan. The previous night he had successfully beaten that urge but just barely. If they had been alone right now, he didn’t think he would be able to resist again.
    As if on cue, the moment Warren sat down two maids entered the room carrying plates. Everyone remained silent as the carefully arranged dishes were placed on the table.
    “Jake called earlier. He won’t be able to get here this weekend,” Elizabeth announced once the maids disappeared.
    Speaking directly to Callie, Warren explained. “He’s in New York doing some campaigning among the younger voters for me. He hoped to get here this weekend to meet you.”
    With everything else going on, Dylan forgot Jake was in New York that weekend. Perhaps he should head home to the city that night himself. He could use the excuse that he wanted to visit with Jake before his half-brother headed back to his townhouse in Virginia.
    Though he cared about Jake and was as close to him as he could be considering the eight years age difference, deep down Dylan knew his half-brother wasn’t the real reason he now thought about returning to New York. He wanted – no needed - to get away from Callie and the feelings she was starting to evoke.
    He decided a long time ago that serious, emotional relationships were not for him. He’d tried it once and had gotten burned. There was no way he was going to let that happen again. And somehow he knew if he wasn’t careful around Callie, she could make him want to change his mind.
    “Did he say how long he’d be in the city?” Just asking the question made Dylan feel as if he was taking the easy way out. Something he never did.
    “At least until tonight. Then he’s heading up to Buffalo,” Elizabeth answered before turning her attention to Callie.
    Scratch that idea.
Still there were other excuses he could use for returning to the city.
Lies you mean.
Lies, excuses - it was a fine line between the two. Did it really matter as long as it got him back to his normal life and away from Callie Taylor? Not as far