Page 34 of The Billionaires

“I don’t,” he says. “That’s a tip for what’s-her-name.” He points at the hostess/waitress.

He strides out, without so much as a thank-you or goodbye.

“Thanks. Everything was wonderful,” I tell her, then hurry after Lucius.

When we get to the door, he stops, and I nearly crash into him.

“Do you need to use the bathroom before we go?” he asks.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Are you breaking our pact already?”

“How? I was just… Never mind.” He approaches the limo and opens the door for me.

I get inside, but instead of joining me, he closes the door.

Huh. I guess I’m riding home by myself—and I haven’t earned a goodbye either.

CHAPTER 15

JUNO

As the limo takes me home, all I can think about is how date-like what just happened was, especially for a business meeting—which is what it really was. The out-of-this-world food, the getting to know each other, the—let’s be honest—attractive man I was with. Hell, Lucius even seemed somewhat less horrible. Some of the time, anyway. There were a few moments when he seemed downright likeable.

Wait. No. What the hell am I thinking? Finding Lucius likeable is like petting a wild raccoon without a rabies shot—too risky. To him, this is just a transaction, that’s all. What we’re about to do is as fake as the wax celebs at Madame Tussauds, and confusing it for an actual relationship would be foolish.

After what happened with Jason, I’m not looking to be in a real relationship, but if I were, it wouldn’t be with a prickly asshole like Lucius, who—despite what he said about not being born with a silver spoon in his mouth—probably thinks of me as uneducated white trash.

The limo stops.

I thank Elijah and rush home. Once inside, I start to pace as I go over the whole situation.

The more I think about it, the more I realize how huge of a deal this is. For starters, I’ll finally be able go to college. Or at least I can fund it now. I still need to apply—and acceptance is something I’m definitely worried about.

What I need right now is to share this whole crazy thing with someone—ideally, Pearl—but the stupid NDA is in the way.

Think of the devil. Pearl is calling me. Of course she is. She was here when Elijah stopped by.

Shit. The NDA means I’ll have to lie to her. On the bright side, if Pearl buys the idea of me and Lucius dating, the rest of the world will too.

I accept the call.

“Dish,” Pearl hisses instead of a hello.

I take a deep breath. “He told me he likes me.”

The squealing sound that comes from Pearl’s end of the phone is worrying. It’s probably my friend producing the noise, but it could also be that she stepped on her cat’s tail.

“Details,” she demands when the sound subsides. “All of them.”

“So… you know the article?”

“The one I showed you?”

Ah, right. “Turns out, the reason it was written was because of the adoring way Lucius looked at me when we exited the building. I didn’t notice, but the journalists did, so he took me out to apologize… and to see if I liked him back.”

“Tell me you do like him back,” Pearl whispers.

I theatrically clear my throat. “You’ve seen his picture, right?”

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