Page 105 of Charming Deception

“Well, I flung mud on your sofa. I made a scene, and quit my job in a very unprofessional way. I reamed you out in front of him.”

The crooked smile he gives me is fucking adorable. “I believe that’s the part he enjoyed the most.”

“Shit. He thinks I’m trouble.”

“Not at all. He’d never want to see me with ‘trouble.’”

I struggle for a response to that. The implication being that I’m the opposite of trouble?

Like, Jameson’s brother thinks I’m good for him?

I sip my coffee just for something to do, as this morning keeps growing hotter. Jameson just keeps looking at me, and somehow, I didn’t know that would be the hardest part. It was almost easier lying next to him in bed, in the dark. Here, I have nowhere to hide.

I need sunscreen to deal with my new fiancé. I’m burning out here.

“Look, I don’t mean to sound insecure or anything,” I tell him. “I think I’m all right. But you’ll have to excuse me if I just never saw myself as the kind of woman who’d attract the attention of a billionaire.”

“Do you mean my brother or me?”

The corner of his mouth twitches. He’s teasing me, maybe.

“I guess… both of you.”

“Then maybe the way you see yourself is not the full picture.” He adds casually, “Maybe, Megan Hudson, you don’t know how rare you are.”

Rare?

What does he mean by that?

I’m not special. Not like he is.

I decide to change the subject again. “So, you really just do whatever you want on Sundays?”

“I do whatever I want every day.”

“Wow. Now that’s freedom.”

“Yes, but I do work. I like to keep busy, and I don’t often sit still for long. Usually that means a lot of travel. Do you like to travel?”

“I don’t know. I never have.”

“Then we’ll soon find out.”

“We will?”

“I’m sure we will. Today, I’ll be getting my team up to speed. I wasn’t planning any travel for a few weeks, but that might change now. And everyone needs to know I’ve got a plus one now. You’ll go where I go.”

“Right.” My heart pounds at the thought of being his plus one. Fancy galas and posh, private clubs attended by the world’s elite flash through my mind, making my limbs feel shaky.

Good thing he’s strong. He might have to hold me up while he drags me down all those red carpets he seems so fond of.

“And,” he adds, “you’ll have your own security detail. That part is necessary.”

“Oh. Okay.” I guess that won’t be much different from the way things have been these last couple of weeks anyway, his guys shadowing me around.

Then he kills me with “You’re part of the Vance family now, and our security is high at all times.”

I think I squeak out a response to that.

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