I was waiting for him to laugh it off. To act like what he’d said was a joke of some kind. Teasing me about something like that didn’t make any sense, but it was hard to believe that he was thinking about our relationship—or whatever I should call it—in terms of forever. He was a hot as heck billionaire who had all of his crap together. And I was...me, a foster kid with nothing to her name.

But he didn’t look like he was joking. It was more like the opposite. His dark eyes weren’t filled with humor. They were intense. Heated. Determined. His fingers tightened on my arms as he pulled me closer. “You heard me, Felicity. I have very specific plans for how we’re going to celebrate your eighteenth birthday.”

I gulped, unsure if the pounding of my heart was because I wanted him to be serious or if it was a sign of how badly I was freaking out over the idea. “Plans that involve me becoming your wife?”

“And knocking you up.”

“I’m not sure that I’m ready to be a wife and mom!” I squeaked.

He tilted my chin up with one long finger and winked at me. “You’ll be ready when the time comes, honey.” I felt my brows lift in surprise because he really seemed to believe that to be true. “And I’ll be right by your side every step of the way.”

I wanted to believe him. I really did. But life had taught me that people didn’t always stick around. Maybe, just maybe, he would. But it had been one heck of a week and a half for me, with lots of highs and lows. This morning, I was stuck in a group home and didn’t know where I was going to live after my birthday. Then Harrison showed up at my school and told me I was living with him. Being around him every day in a mansion? It was a no-brainer. But forever as man and wife? I needed some time to wrap my head around the idea of that. Luckily, I had a handy excuse for some alone time.

“Alrighty then,” I mumbled. “I guess we’ll see what happens when the time comes. But for now, I have a crap ton of homework to do. So I better get to it.”

I wiggled out of his hold, headed towards my bedroom, and turned when I felt him following behind me. “How about you save that ‘by your side’ stuff for something other than homework? I’ve got that covered all by myself.”

His dark eyes searched my face before he smiled and nodded. “Okay, I can do that. But only if you let me know when you need help with anything.”

“Will do,” I agreed. Before I could turn back around, he yanked me close and devoured my mouth until I could barely see straight. When he let me go, I reached out to the wall to steady myself. Once my legs felt like they could carry me again, I hightailed it to my room where I hid out for the rest of the night. Harrison let me get away with it, only stopping in when he was headed to bed to give me a goodnight kiss. It was one heck of a kiss, too. One I woke up still thinking about the next day. Right up until the moment he gave me a good morning kiss, and I become obsessed with that one instead.

I started and ended each day the same way the whole week. Not that those were the only times I got kisses from Harrison, though. He’d done a good job of keeping his hands off of me. Well, okay, not really...but he’d kept his dick out of me, and that’s what counted, right? But he never missed an opportunity to kiss me senseless, and the moment we walked in the door after he picked me up from school Friday afternoon was no exception.

“Come here,” he rasped as he kicked the door closed behind us and pulled me into his arms. “Fuck, I missed you.”

“I was only at school for seven hours,” I sighed as I tilted my head up, offering him my lips for the kiss I knew I was going to get.

He lowered his head and practically breathed his words into my mouth. “Seven minutes or seven hours. It doesn’t matter. If you’re gone, I feel the loss.”

My legs felt like jelly before the kiss even began. He made me feel more than wanted; it was like I was necessary to him. It was as though he understood how important it was for me to feel needed and went about giving it to me.

His hand sifted through my hair, fisted gently, and I went up on my toes. Then he kissed me, wet and deep. Tongues tangling, lips smashed together. And I kissed him back as hard as I could, trying to show him how much his words meant to me. When he released my lips, I blinked a few times to clear my vision as I stared up at him.

“Set up at the kitchen counter and get an early start on your homework. I want your undivided attention this weekend.”

He patted my ass when I walked past him, so I put a little more wiggle into my hips as I crossed the room. A satisfied grin spread across my lips when I heard his strangled groan, and I felt a rush of feminine power. Being around Harrison was good for me. Damn good, and a lot of it had nothing to do with the things he could buy. It was him. The way he was with me. And the way he made me feel, like this really could last forever.

Harrison had followed behind me and sat down to work beside me. I was happy as I started my homework. Happier than I ever remembered being before. Even the daunting task of statistics homework wasn’t enough to get me down, and that class was kicking my butt. I had to work hard just to keep a B in it.

“Who’s that?” I asked when the doorbell rang. I was only half-listening to Harrison’s response while I tried to figure out the answer to a particularly hard question. Then the bell rang again, and his reply registered in my brain.

“My caseworker?” I hissed as I jumped out of my seat. “She’s here? Now? Why didn’t you tell me she was coming?”

He pressed a gentle kiss against my forehead and gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze. “Because I didn’t want you to spend the whole week worrying about it when her visit is just a formality.”

He was right about the worrying part. I absolutely would have done that. I could only hope he was also correct about her visit only being a formality. I was on pins and needles as he opened the door and welcomed her into his home—our home now. I had a hard time focusing while I tried to not freak out, and most of what was said didn’t register. Luckily, Harrison seemed to realize how out of it I was and he took control of the situation. He got me settled back at the kitchen counter while he gave her a tour of the house. I didn’t get a single question done while they were gone, but I pretended to look busy when I heard them get closer.

“This entire situation is completely unorthodox,” Ms. Jensen sniffed.

My heart was pounding as I rose from my seat and crossed through the kitchen to join them in the living room.

“It’s rare for us to place a female foster child in the home of a single, male foster parent. I’m not sure how you managed to get your background clearance check with the FBI and Washington State Patrol done so quickly.” Her gaze swept across the room. “But I can only assume it has something to do with your wealth.”

“Does it matter?” Harrison spoke softly, but firmly. “You can’t possibly think that Felicity would have been better off in that group home than she is here.”

“I’m not saying that,” she huffed. I had to bite my lip to keep myself from interrupting because that’s exactly what it had sounded like to me. “Just because you’re wealthy, I’m not going to let you off the hook when it comes to the rules. Felicity might be turning eighteen soon, but until then she’s my responsibility and I’m entrusting her care to you.”

Harrison’s eyes flared when she called me her responsibility, but he kept his cool as he responded. “I wouldn’t expect any kind of special treatment from you while I’m Felicity’s guardian.”

“Good.” She nodded happily. “Then you won’t complain when I ask you to start your ongoing training sooner rather than later. You’re required to obtain thirty-six hours of it during the first three years. Since I have my doubts about your pre-service training, I think it would be best for you to get some of those hours in before Felicity ages out of the system and leaves your home.”

“I’ll make arrangements to start next week,” he assured her.

It wasn’t long before she left. Probably only another five minutes, but it still felt like forever. I peered through the decorative window next to the door, waiting until I saw her car pull down the driveway. When the gates closed behind her, I heaved a deep sigh of relief.

“Were you just saying that to make her shut up? Or are you actually going to take one of those classes?” I asked, trying to picture him sitting in one of them with all of the other foster parents.

“Of course I’ll take the class. There’s no way in hell I’m going to give her a reason to try to take you away from me. We only have to bide our time for a couple more months. Then, you’ll turn eighteen—”

“And I’ll fall off her books. She’ll be so busy with other kids that she won’t worry about me.”

“Exactly,” he purred in satisfaction.

No wonder he was a billionaire. He was a bit of an evil genius, after all.