Page 3 of Billionaire's Surprise

She’d seen me approaching, and I’d taken it as a good sign when she’d stood her ground, waiting for me, interest akin to mine lighting her eyes. Had she walked off the dance floor, I wasn’t sure if I would have followed her. I didn’t want to come across predatory.

But I’d known she was mine, so maybe, I would have pursued.

“Hi,” she said, turning that radiant smile up at me.

“Hi.” I held out my hand. “Fraser Cassel.”

“Emerson Blake.” Lightning arced through me as she slid her palm against mine.

“Can I get you a drink?” I asked.

“Have one.” She held up her glass.

“Right.” I carded my fingers through my hair and looked around. I spotted a hallway that obviously contained VIP rooms, and an idea hatched. “My brothers and I have a lounge.” I pointed toward the hallway. “Would you like to join us for some champagne?”

“Champagne?” she laughed. “Are you celebrating, or are you really that smooth?”

“Oh, we’re celebrating.” I pulled out my phone and shot an urgent text to my brother, Bennett, telling him to get us one of those rooms immediately. “Our firm closed a big deal today.”

“That’s nice,” she said. “Well, I’m here with my friends, so I really should get back to them. But thank you for the offer.”

My heart pounded. I couldn’t let her escape.

“Well, obviously, they’re invited,” I said quickly. “I wouldn’t dream of asking you to accompany me alone to a roomful of strange men.”

“So you agree you’re strange?” she asked. Her voice held a note of teasing.

“Not me,” I explained. “My brothers, though? Yeah. They’re all weird. Best to bring your friends along.”

“One drink,” she warned. “We have tickets to a show soon, and we fly out in the morning.”

“Of course,” I agreed.

Emerson corralled her four friends, and the ten of us made our way to the room Bennett had procured. Looking back, it had been crazy to drop five thousand dollars to get a few more minutes with Emerson, but she was worth it. I would have paid ten times that amount. Or more.

I’d been disappointed when she’d stuck to the one drink agreement, though. All I’d been able to learn about her was that she lived in Chicago and had a quick and wicked sense of humor.

The rest of her friends had been nice, and they’d all seemed to get on with my brothers, but that was about all I’d noticed in regard to them. My attention had been glued to Emerson. And when she’d left, she’d taken a piece of my heart with her.

Now, I was about to get hers in return.

“So she accepted the cruise offer,” I said, running back through my ingenious plan with Luke. “Which is good. When I started setting this up, I hadn’t realized it would be over Christmas.That could have been a disaster. She’ll be assigned to the suite, which will be decorated for the holiday and have a big Christmas tree in it. Once I’m sure she’s settled, I’ll show up and let her know the accommodations are actually for two. For us. She’ll find it incredibly endearing that I’ve tracked her down, she’ll fall into my arms, then into my bed, and we’ll live happily ever after. And on Christmas morning, she’ll wake up to tons of gifts under the tree, including one small, very special velvet box.”

“Boy, you’ve thought this all out, haven’t you?” Luke asked, his tone obviously amused. “You’re like Father Christmas. Or stalker boyfriend.”

“I’m not a stalker,” I scoffed. “I told you. It’s terribly romantic.”

“If you say so, but okay, fine. Let’s say it’s romantic. What are you gonna do if she doesn’t remember you?”

“We’re going to get married,” I said. “How could she forget me?”

“Who are you and what did you do with my shark of a brother who strikes fear into competitors?”

“Right here.”

“Um,” he muttered, eyeing me in disbelief. “Well… Youarethe idiot who paid five grand to spend ten minutes in a room with her. That’s probably pretty hard to forget. I still don’t get what’s gotten into you.”

I glared at him. “Shut up. Look, there’s no way she forgot me. I’m telling you, when our eyes met across that dance floor, we both knew we were destined to be. It was fate.”

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