Page 87 of The Billionaires

To make matters worse, Lucius puts his hand on my lower back to lead me out. My cheeks burn hotter and my brain short-circuits. On autopilot, I tell Pearl what a great pleasure it was to meet her, and she returns the sentiment. I think.

Keeping his hand on me, Lucius leads me to the limo and shepherds me inside.

“Great job,” I say when his touch is gone and coherent thoughts return. “She has to think we’re really together.”

He agrees, but all I can think is that Pearl isn’t the only one fooled. The way he looks at me—I’m not sure what’s real anymore… and that makes a crazy idea invade my mind.

A way to see if I’m alone in my confusion, or if Lucius might be in the same yacht.

The idea is simplicity itself, but I’m not sure if I have the proverbial balls to carry it out.

All I need to do is invite Lucius over to my place.

CHAPTER 32

LUCIUS

As the limo pulls away from Gram’s house, I position my legs to hide the hard-on that’s been bothering me all evening. Until today, I thought “blue balls” was something teenage boys invented to get their reluctant girlfriends to give them hand jobs, but now I’m on the verge of acquiring the mythical condition myself.

“Lucius?” I hear Juno say as if from a distance.

“Yes?”

She chews on her lip. “There’s something I wanted to ask you.”

I give her half of my attention while the other half is working on a list of gross things in order to calm my overactive biology. Her lip chewing isn’t helping.

“Never mind,” she says after a beat.

Now she’s got my full attention. “Something to do with Gram?”

She shakes her head. “I was just… Never mind.”

She’s usually a lot more eloquent than that. Maybe it’s a food coma?

“Do you mind if I check my email then?” I ask her. It’s an unsexy activity that might help calm down my dick.

“Go for it,” she says, but she looks extremely disappointed. “In fact, I should call back Pearl—my friend, the cat owner. Not your grandmother.” She taps her pockets, then rummages in her purse, her expression more worried by the second.

“Did you lose your antique?” I ask.

She nods, but then her eyes light up. “I think I left it on the coffee table at your grandmother’s house.”

“Ah, makes sense.”

“Can we go get it?” she asks. “I might get calls from my clients and?—”

“Sure,” I say, then lower the partition and tell Elijah to turn around.

Juno suddenly looks uneasy. “Wait. Isn’t your grandmother sleeping by now?”

I shrug. “I have the keys.”

“Let’s sneak in quietly so we don’t wake Gram,” I tell Juno as I open the door.

She nods, and we tiptoe into the house and down the corridor.

As we approach the living room, I hear something I can’t quite make sense of. The sound is like someone slowly clapping their hands.

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