Page 96 of Playboy Billionaire

“I’ll let them know you’re on your way.”

“Penny, will you ride with me to the after party? We can drive around for a while and talk. Ty can grab a ride with Stew.”

“Yes, I’ll come with you.”

“What will Noah have to say about it?”

“Noah? Oh. Griffin we’re not together, not like you’re thinking. He’s seeing someone else. We rode together and Noah volunteered to be my bodyguard for the night. This is my first public appearance since I started showing. I was able to hide it up until about a month ago.”

“Are you sure about Noah? Look I remember the day he got shot like it was yesterday. I’ve played it over and over in my head. That is one of the main reasons I didn’t call you back. It was so obvious that you loved the guy. You didn’t even spare me a glance.”

“You weren’t the one shot and bleeding out. God Griff. Do you have any idea how much I blamed myself? It was my fault. All of it. If you or Noah had died because of me, well I’d never have recovered.”

“Stew is motioning to us; we’d better go in. You look amazing by the way,” he said. She held on to his arm as they went to meet Stewart.

46

After navigating through traffic, Griffin asked his driver to keep going. He liked seeing the city lights at night. “Take us around the city before you drop us off at the party,” he instructed.

“Will do sir.”

He took off his tie and suit jacket and threw them across the seat facing them. He unbuttoned his top buttons. “That’s much better.”

“What do you think of our film?” she asked, curious for his response.

“I’m blown away. I can’t believe I was a part of it all. Amazing special effects. The music is as good as yourFifty Shadessoundtrack.” He smiled as he remembered that day.

“It is going to be a big hit. Griffin, your life is about to change dramatically.”

“I kind of had a taste of that when I walked the red carpet.”

“What are you going to do? Is it a one and done or are you hooked?”

“One and done,” he said, without hesitation.

They both sunk back into the luxe seats, exhausted from the intensity of the premier. “You have a place here?” he asked.

“Malibu.”

“Is that where you stay most of the time?”

“It depends. As much as I’m able to, I like to be at my Montana ranch. But I love Malibu for different reasons. Are you into horses?”

“I rode some as a kid. Why?”

“Just wondering. I have horses at my ranch. I want to teach our little girl how to ride.”

Griffin smiled.

“What’s this party going to be like?” he asked.

“I may be the wrong one to ask. In my opinion, if you’ve been to one, you’ve been to them all.”

“Spoken like a truly jaded movie star,” he said.

“I heard you were on Jimmy’s show last night.”

“Yeah, didn’t you watch?”

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