Page 37 of The Billionaire's Proposal

“Nonsense. When you know… you know. His father told me on our first date that he was going to marry me,” she says with a smile, clearly reminiscing.

“Did you believe him?”

“It felt good for someone to be so taken with me. Winslow is a lot like his dad.”

“Do you know about our first and second encounters?” I ask. It was definitely not love at first sight. Lust… for sure.

Winslow sneaks up behind me, snaking his arms around my waist and kissing my neck. “Mom knows everything, but I’m sure Cameron will keep me on my toes, like you do for Dad.”

His sister Waverly chimes in, “I can’t wait to see the proposal on tape.” She looks at her fiancé Benson. “It’s being shown tonight, right?”

“Must-see TV. She loses ten million but gains a billionaire.” Benson puts his arm around Waverly.

With his hand on my back, Winslow clears his throat and states, “Just so all of you know, Cameron signed a pre-nup at her request.”

“I have my own business that I love, and I don’t care anything about money except to have enough to pay my bills,” I clarify, needing his family to understand that I love him, not his money.

“Aww!” Wells and Warner snag a barstool in the kitchen. “Just like Mom and Dad.”

Mr. Worthington says, “Nice to meet you, young lady. Welcome to the family. And Wells, I like having money; I just didn’t want to run the family business. I much prefer creating advertising campaigns. And you mother loves what she does.”

“Mom is a floral designer,” Waverly says, full of pride.

I look around the large living room, and every arrangement is stunning.

“Will you do the flowers for our wedding?” I ask.

She hooks her arm through mine, and we end up on the patio overlooking a garden of hydrangeas, currently shaded from the sun, and a bed of wildflowers. “Would you like to have the wedding here in the gardens? Or do you want a church wedding?”

It’s beautiful and clearly, they make plenty of money on their own. A maze of boxwood bushes surrounded by a stone walkway has an opening that would be perfect for a floral arch.

“This garden would be perfect. I don’t have a large guest list. I’d like for it to be just his family and our real friends. Winslow and I haven’t discussed details except that he wants to get married sooner than later.”

She claps her hands together. “That sounds like my Winslow. He’s short on patience but long on love and business sense. Even as a kid, he would open his presents and rewrap them because he had to know.”

His mom has prepared a beautiful meal, and the tablescapes belong in Coastal Love magazine.

“Did you do this all yourself?” I ask his mom.

She laughs. “Yes, I love flowers, decorating, and hosting. What I don’t do is clean. I have to draw the line somewhere. When you do what you love, it doesn’t seem like a job or chore.”

She calls the family to dinner, and it stuns me how normal they are. Like every other family. There are arguments over politics. Laughs over his brothers’ stories. Praises for their mom’s cooking and at the end, Waverly asks if she can audition to sing at the wedding.

“You don’t have to audition. Winslow raves about your talent, and I’m positive he would want you to sing.”

She beams—it’s obvious Winslow is her favorite.

The entire family files into the living room, as Warner turns on the television to the last segment of the show.

As I turn down the million dollars one more time, Benson says, “I still don’t get why you turned down the money.”

I smirk. “I didn’t want the money. I prided myself on doing things myself and didn’t want anything from the grumpy billionaire who was suing me. Well, that’s a lie. I already wanted the man.”

Waverly pats her hands against her heart. “Swoon.”

Winslow sits on the arm of the chair as he fondles my hair and bends down to kiss me.

The host says, “She’s flipping the coin. She either gets ten million dollars, or she loses it all.”

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