Page 56 of Stuck With the Billionaire Grump

“You think you’re a real cool guy, don’t you?” he retorts.

For some reason, that makes me laugh.Coolis the last word I’d use to describe myself.

“Oh, yeah,” Eric continues, nodding as if he has me all figured out. “I asked around about you. Cool guy from California with a famous mommy and rich daddy. Sauntering around here in your Tom Ford suit—”

“It’s Thom Browne, actually.”

“—thinking that you can just have any pretty little thing you set your sights on. Well, you’re wrong, man. Lucy is a nice girl. A small-town type of woman. You can’t dazzle her as easily as you think. I understand what kind of man she needs, okay? She needs a man who is humble and hardworking. Someone who isn’t going to whisk her away to Hollywood for a little while, then grow bored of her and toss her away like she’s nothing. Lucy belongs with a guy likeme, so stop trying to get between us.”

For a long moment, all I can do is stare at him.

My first thought is,This guy is crazy. Because how would he have ever drawn the conclusion that I’m trying toget betweenhim and Lucy? What evidence would he have to back that up? The scene that he walked into when we were in the woods? Or just now, when all I did was simply ask her to dance?

Clearly, Eric is the sort of man who gets jealous easily. The possessive sort of guy who thinks he’s being protective when he’s really on the border of being blatantly controlling and manipulative. Basically, a walking red flag.

I should’ve known all that lighthearted friendliness was a mask. All my fretting about how he’d be a better match for Lucy seems stupid now. He doesn’t match her energy at all. It’s all a front. But Lucy’s light is all genuine. She truly is a ray of sunshine.

Even if I’m pretty sure Lucy isn’t interested in him, there’s no way I’m going to let him think he has a chance with her.

“Listen,” I say. “You’ve got me all wrong. I have no interest in whisking Lucy away to Hollywood, and I really don’t think there’s even the slightest possibility that I could ever get boredof a woman like her. Also, the way you’re talking to me about her right now is really inappropriate. She’s a human being, not a toy for us to fight over.”

Eric sneers and takes a step toward me. I can smell the alcohol on his breath. “You’re good at that, huh? Acting all chivalrous? Acting runs in your family, after all. I bet everyone thinks you’re just the nicest guy in town, don’t they? Got everyone fooled. But I saw you in the woods last night. You had your hands all over her. She lookedrelievedwhen I showed up.”

I hate the flicker of uncertainty that his words coax to life within me.WasLucy relieved when Eric interrupted that moment? I knew she probably wasn’t delighted to be tangled up in a bunch of muddy plants with me, but I thought we’d made a small breakthrough.

Have I merely been consumed by wishful thinking since then? Did Lucy simply accept my offer to dance because she wanted to be polite? Or because she only wanted an excuse to exit her conversation with Eric?

No, I don’t believe that.

“Yeah, look at your face, man. You know I’m right,” Eric says. “Lucy ismine, so back off.”

Before I can tell him that he’s acting like a complete moron, another voice cracks through our standoff like a hammer.

“I amnotyours.”

We whirl around to find Lucy standing there, hands clenched into fists at her sides, glaring at Eric with all the force of a hundred fiery suns. She is no longer sunshine, but a raging inferno.

Like a chameleon, Eric’s expression melts into a mockery of pure innocence. I can see the strain in his features when he pastes a smile onto his face and tries to look as relaxed as ever. “Lucy, hey! Believe me—that’s not what I meant.”

Thankfully, Lucy doesn’t buy it. Maybe she’s seen through him from the very start and I’ve been an idiot to think that she actually might be interested in him.

“I belong to nobody,” Lucy snaps. “Not you. Not Theo. Not any other man who has the audacity to bicker over me behind my back at my cousin’s wedding, of all places. You’re really not the man I thought you were, Eric. It’s a shame.”

Eric’s mask drops. A few people nearby are subtly looking on. I resist the urge to fade into the wallpaper and disappear. I’m not abandoning Lucy.

“Lucy, you’re being ridiculous. That’s not what—”

“The only thing that’sridiculousis your assumption that, just because you’ve been nice to me, I’d happily let myself be considered one of your possessions,” Lucy practically hisses. “Leave me alone, Eric. Go put that fake smile back on your face and play nice for the rest of the evening, because I’d really hate for Elijah to find out that his long-lost cousin is an absoluteloseron his wedding day.”

Then, with a sheepish glance up at me, Lucy turns on her heel and stalks away through the crowd.

Eric scoffs loudly. “Whatever, dude.”

Shaking his head, he heads in the opposite direction toward the open bar.

I don’t think twice. I go after Lucy.

Chapter Nineteen: Lucy

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