Millionaire Playboys: Paying the Playboy's Price. Emilie Rose

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      Who’d have suspected the bean counter would be so difficult to shake loose?

      Rex had invited Juliana in to buy her a drink and dump her, and here she was back in his apartment long after midnight. Worse, it looked as though he’d be stuck with her until Kelly returned. It wouldn’t be a hardship if his body didn’t hum like a generator when she was around, but that was one engine he couldn’t afford to start.

      What really pissed him off was that as much as he resented her help, he really didn’t have a choice since he couldn’t come up with another solution. Damn his sister for refusing to become a part of the support network on base. But Kelly had always been an ostrich who preferred ignoring a problem instead of dealing with it. She couldn’t handle the tragedies of other husbands being killed in action, so she isolated herself from the wives and turned a blind eye to the possibility instead of preparing for it.

      Reluctantly, he settled beside Juliana on the sofa. She looked slightly rumpled and incredibly sexy. With her lids at half-mast, she looked tired enough to nod off at any second. The urge to pull her head onto his shoulder wasn’t a welcome one.

      She covered a yawn with her hand. “I called Irma on the way to the airport and set everything up. She’s thrilled about watching the girls, and Kelly’s relieved that they’ll be in experienced hands most of the time.

      “Kelly, Irma and I worked out a schedule. The girls will spend the nights here with you. You’ll deal with mornings and then drop them off at my town house. On weekdays, Irma will take over until I get home in the evenings. Becky and Liza will have dinner with me, and then I’ll bring them back here for baths and bedtime. I’ll stay until you can take over, and I’ll watch them on the weekends.”

      Juliana had made plans, but she’d missed a few critical details. “Hold it. Most nights I don’t get upstairs before two. That’s too late for you to drive home, and I only have two bedrooms—the girls’ and mine.”

      She sat up straighter. “Bedrooms aren’t an issue because I’m leaving each night as soon as you get home.” She rose, picked up her purse and took a step toward the door. “I’d like to stop by in the morning on my way to work so the girls can meet me. I think that would make them more comfortable with me tomorrow evening.”

      For a lady who was supposedly good with numbers, she wasn’t adding them up very well. He rose and parked his hands on his hips. “How far do you live from here?”

      “About twenty or thirty minutes, depending on traffic.”

      “And what time do you usually get up in the morning?”

      “Six, but I’ll rise earlier to come here.”

      “If you drive home, you’ll get about three hours sleep before you have to get up and come back.” As much as Rex hated to admit it, there was only one solution. “Starting tonight, you’ll have to sleep here.”

      Juliana’s mouth dropped open. She quickly snapped it shut again and backed toward the door. “That’s not necessary.”

      “No way around it unless you can live without sleep. It’s late. You’re exhausted. Take my bed. The sheets are clean. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

      Her eyes rounded. “But I don’t have clothes or…anything.”

      The idea of Juliana sliding naked between his sheets guaranteed he’d have a hard time sleeping—hard being the operative word. “I’ll loan you a T-shirt. We can throw what you’re wearing into the washer. We’ll get the girls ready together in the morning, and then you can go home to dress for work. I’ll follow you. You can show us around and introduce us to Irma.”

      A hand fluttered to her throat. Several silent seconds ticked past while she digested the new plan. “I…okay. But we could um…share the bed?”

      Flames licked through his veins, singeing the edges of his common sense. He knew he shouldn’t—couldn’t—have her, but that didn’t mean he’d be able to control himself if he had to lie beside her all night. “And then neither of us would sleep.”

      Her skin flushed and her lips parted on a ragged breath. “I’m sure we could figure something out.”

      Need throbbed insistently in his gut. “No.”

      He stalked past her, retrieved the largest T-shirt he owned—the more she covered the better—a new toothbrush and a bath towel. “Soap, shampoo, toothpaste are all in the bathroom. If you need anything else just yell.”

      After a moment’s hesitation, she accepted the small stack. “Thank you.”

      He hesitated, but then forced himself to say what he had to. “No, thank you, Juliana. I didn’t have a backup plan, and Kelly knew it. If you hadn’t stepped in, I’m not sure what would have happened. I owe you.”

      And he wished like hell he didn’t because those kinds of debts always came back to bite you.