Page 100 of Seducing the Billionaire

The excited gleam in her eye tells me all I need to know. “You’re looking at the future owner of Shepherd Designs.”

I stand, pulling her into my arms, loving the way she wraps herself around me in response. “Congratulations,” I whisper into her hair. “Not that I had any doubt about your proposal.”

She pulls away, grinning from ear to ear. “Well, I did have a billionaire look it over for me.”

“It’s the least I could do.” Especially since she won’t let me fund her shop. “Did you decide on a location yet?”

She takes a seat, launching into her dilemma about whether she should choose the less spacious, pricier space available on Prince Street that has great foot traffic, or the more out of the way building in Brooklyn that’s bigger and cheaper.

I sit and lean back in my chair, letting her words wash over me, pleased to see her so animated about her new business.

Things are going well for both of us on the business front. After a minor drop in stock prices when news of our relationship first got out a year ago, Bishop Industries is better than ever as I’ve finally implemented ideas that are definitely notthe way Dad did things.

“What are you smiling about?” she interrupts herself, pointing playfully at me.

I hold up my hands in adon’t shoot megesture. “Nothing. I just like hearing you talk, is all.”

Her cheeks flush prettily. “Oh God, I’m rambling again, aren’t I? You must be sick to death of listening to me go on and on about the boutique.”

“Not at all. I’m happy to be your sounding board.”

She stands and leans over the desk, kissing me squarely on the lips. “You’re too good to me,” she murmurs seductively.

“Don’t get me worked up here,” I warn, breaking away.

“Would I do that?” She grins slyly, taking her seat again. “Oh, look what I got in the mail.” She digs in her purse, pulling out what looks like a postcard. “Gabriel and Mackenzie’s save the date.”

I take it from her, examining it. “Why’d they send this? They told us when the wedding would be already.”

She rolls her eyes good-naturedly. “It’s just what you do. You’ve lived in hotels too long to actually get any mail.”

She’s got me there. And if I receive anything here at Bishop Tower, Vivian takes care of it.

“And,” she continues, “I think Serena and Archer will have some news for us soon.”

She says it in a sing-song way, like she has some juicy gossip. I lean in, wanting to be a part of whatever she knows. “What is it?”

“I told you they’ve been trying for a baby, right? Well, Serena texted me and Mackenzie this morning in our group chat asking when we could all get together because there’s something she wants to tell us.”

Holy shit. Could Archer actually have a kid on the way? “You don’t know for sure, though.”

“No, but what else could it be?”

I shrug half-heartedly. “They’re moving?”

“No way. Archer’s consulting business is going great and Serena would never let go of her shelter. She’s even opening a second site.”

“Okay, okay.” I grin at her. “We’ll see if you’re right soon enough.”

I can’t believe how well she’s fit into the dynamic of my brothers and their significant others, from pretty much the very beginning. I’m lucky to be so close to Gabriel and Archer now after all those years physically apart, and Emma’s grown closer not only to her sister, but Mackenzie too.

“Okay, one more thing to tell you. Brian asked Mom to move in with him.”

I sit up straighter. “What?”

“It took me by surprise too. It seems like they just started dating, but she reminded me they had their seven-month anniversary last week.”

Yeah, I guess it has been that long. She met her boyfriend at some fibromyalgia support group Emma convinced her to join a while back, and it’s made a huge difference in her quality of life now that she’s taking full control of managing her disease.

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