Page 85 of The Billionaires

“Because it’s an honorary one,” he says. “Get famous or give a school a large-enough donation, and you’ll get one too.”

“I’m sure there’s more to it than that. Have you at least told Juno about your MBA?” she asks. “You earned that, right?”

He sighs. “Juno’s dream is to get a degree of her own, so I figured that bragging about my scholastic accomplishments would be gauche.”

“That doesn’t follow,” I say. “I can be proud of you… and a little jealous at the same time. Besides, I want a degree in Botany. You don’t have one of those, do you?”

“No,” he and Pearl say in unison.

“Then I’m only a little jealous,” I say. “And, obviously, impressed.”

“See?” Pearl says. “No problem. You should have told her.”

Lucius rubs his temples. “Are you trying to make me forget what I came in here to say?”

Pearl grins. “It was probably, ‘Juno, I missed you.’”

“No,” he says grumpily. “I was going to ask you about your elbow.”

“Aleksy, you’re a traitor!” Pearl yells.

“What happened?” Lucius demands.

Pearl lifts her right elbow theatrically. “Nothing. I probably overplayed badminton. Aleksy had me ice the elbow for a few days, and it’s feeling better.”

Lucius examines her elbow with such intensity you’d think he’s x-raying it with his gaze. “You’re seeing a doctor tomorrow,” he announces. “I know you’re up by ten, so that’s when I’ll have him come over.”

As they gently bicker about the timing, I can’t help but smile on the inside. I already knew that Lucius cared about his grandmother, but his overprotectiveness is showing me just how much—and it gives me an epiphany about him that I should have gotten much, much sooner.

If Lucius were a plant, he’d be a cactus. Prickly at first glance, but in the right circumstances—like around his grandmother—he blooms. He had a tough start in life but was able to make billions and otherwise thrive. Just like his cactus brethren, Lucius has hidden depths to him that I’m still unraveling.

This explains a lot. Like the way he’s been hijacking all my thoughts lately. I mean, I love cactuses, so should it be so surprising that?—

Aleksy walks in the room. “The chefs are here with the dinner.”

At dinner, Pearl turns into a hybrid between an inquisitor and a detective, so all our earlier get-to-know-each-other training pays off in spades. What impresses me the most is how many details Lucius remembers about me—even things I mentioned in passing.

It’s nice to be noticed like that, even if it’s just to fool his grandmother today.

“Have you heard from your mother?” Pearl asks Lucius as we finish the divine éclairs the pastry chef made for dessert.

He nods. “Your daughter is on a safari in Botswana.”

“Ah.” Pearl dabs her mouth with a napkin. “Excuse me a moment. I have to go powder my nose.”

As soon as she leaves, Lucius whispers, “I bet this is a test.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What kind?”

“To see if we’ll be able to keep our hands off each other.”

Is he saying what I think he’s saying? I swallow the last bit of éclair over a lump in my throat. “Did you want to put our earlier practice to use?”

He looks at my lips greedily. “If she catches us, it will cement the fartlek.”

Grr. I’m beginning to really, really hate that f-word.

“Unless you mind?” he says.

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