The Teacher's Billionaire

had spent more than a month on this very topic. It was amazing just how handy it was when dealing with business executives.
    “I hope I’m not disturbing you.” Following her into the sweet chocolaty smelling kitchen, he forced himself to keep his eyes locked on the back of her head and her long dark ponytail rather than the gentle sway of her hips. “I thought we might be able to arrange a time for your meeting with Warren,” he continued when she sat down at the table, which was covered with trays of fresh baked chocolate brownies.
    Her fake smile faltered for a moment. “I told you the other day, Mr. Talbot, I’m not ready. Even if I wanted to meet him now, I can’t take a lot of time off. It’s just not possible as a teacher. It’ll have to wait until at least June.”
    Take it slow and easy.
Making her angry won’t help matters.
    “We could arrange something for a weekend then.” He made the offer fully suspecting that she would still refuse.
    Initially, he hadn’t expected her to be so resistant. In fact he’d thought she would be excited about the prospect. After all it was Warren Sherbrooke. Most people would be thrilled to learn he was their father. Callie Taylor, however, seemed to be just the opposite. And even though it made his job more difficult, he liked her more because of that fact.
    Callie folded her arms across her chest and leaned back in her chair. “Mr. Talbot, flying somewhere for the weekend isn’t in my budget. I’m sorry if you don’t understand that.”
    Her movement had his eyes moving instinctively to her breasts. During his first visit she’d been wearing a loose baggy t-shirt that had hidden her body well. However, today she wore a fitted purple tank top and a pair of well-worn jeans both of which showed off her curves.
    Keep focused Talbot.
Despite the mental command, his body didn’t want to cooperate.
    Forcing his eyes back up to her face, he ignored her clipped tone and thought about how best to reply. While he didn’t know any teachers personally, he knew they weren’t paid a fortune. But if the cost of travel was the only problem, that could be easily rectified.
    “Warren would be more than willing to pay for all the travel expenses, or you could use his private plane. If you want to give me some dates, I’ll arrange everything before I leave Boston.”
    As soon as the words left his lips, Dylan knew he said the wrong thing. For a few seconds Callie glared at him, her eyes flashing with anger. The emotion made them even bluer, if that was possible.
    “If Mr. Sherbrooke is in such a rush to meet me, why didn’t he come himself? Why did he send you instead?” Callie snapped, her tone cold and unfriendly. A tone he hadn’t heard her use before.
    Dylan knew he gave her a reason during their first meeting, which meant she’d either forgotten or didn’t accept it. Something told him the latter was more likely. Still, just in case, it would be better to stick with his first excuse.
    “He’s campaigning on the West Coast,” Dylan began. “I thought I mentioned that.”
    Shifting in her seat, she nodded. “You did. But he could have come when he finished couldn’t he?”
    Unexpectedly, she gave him a small knowing smile. “If he really wanted to meet me, wouldn’t it be easier if he came rather than send you?”
    He sensed she already had an idea of why he’d come instead of Warren. Still he needed to answer her question. The truth was going to sound crass, but it would be better to get it out in the open now. If it came out later, it’d be much worse.
    “He wanted to come himself. We advised him otherwise.”
    “We?” she asked, her eyebrow raised.
    “His campaign adviser, my mother, and me. We were afraid of what might happen if the media learned about you now during the campaign.”
    He felt like a real ass admitting the truth aloud.
I probably don’t want to know what she thinks of me.
Without her even saying a word he knew he hurt her. Something he regretted more than he expected. Which made no damn sense because he barely knew her.
    “There is no way of knowing what kind of spin the media might put on the information,” he added when Callie remained silent.
    She’d expected as much, still it hurt to hear it.
Don’t let it bother you. What did you expect anyway?
    “I see. So he always does what others tell him?” Despite her best effort she couldn’t keep her voice from catching.
    Callie felt his warm hand fold over hers. The