Page 34 of No More Billionaires

Heidi and I excused ourselves for a trip to the ladies’ room, leaving the guys to discuss their respective career paths.

As we washed our hands, Heidi leaned closer to the mirror, squinting in dismay.

“Oh boy—my nine a.m. makeup is not holding up too well. I’m giving the Joker a run for his money—can I borrow some concealer?”

“Sorry. I don’t carry makeup anymore. It’s kind of nice, actually. Less back pain,” I joked, doing a dramatic fake slump on my purse-holding side.

She studied me with a thoughtful gaze. “You were serious then—about what you said at Mara’s wedding. You don’t do the makeup and fashion thing anymore at all, huh?”

Suddenly I felt self-conscious and a tiny bit judged. “No. Not at all.”

“I mean, it’s fine. You look great just like you are. It’s just… so different to see you without the whole…”

Her hands danced around her face and head as she tried to explain.

“You were always so into it. I mean, you taughtmehow to do good TV makeup,” she said. “I thought maybe you threatened to go cosmetic cold-turkey because you’d just called off your wedding.”

“You mean because Mark called off the wedding. And yes, I was completely serious. This is the new me. Just call me Plain Jane.” I gave her a tight smile.

Heidi pursed her lips and drew her brows together, shaking her head at my reflection in the mirror.

“Sorry, sister, but you could never be plain. You’re still gorgeous.”

At the start of my protest she shrugged and dug a lipstick tube out of her purse.

“You are—you can try to dumb down your looks all you want, but babe, the framework is still there. You’re beautiful, and anyone who’s looking can see it.”

She cut her eyes slyly at me as she applied fresh lip color and rubbed her top and bottom lips together.

“Larson sees it.”

A frisson of anxiety passed through my midsection. “I don’t want someone to want me for how I look anymore. Especially not him.”

“That’s not what I’m saying. I mean I think he seesyou—and he definitely likes what he sees.”

I shrugged and gestured to my overall billionaire-repellant look. “Larson could have anybody. I doubt he’s really interested inthis.We should get back before the boys eat our food.”

The meal was amazing. I had to admit the four-way conversation was fun, and Larson managed to fit into our group better than I would ever have expected.

We all walked out onto the sidewalk together and waited for the valets to bring our cars around. Larson’s rental arrived first.

He took the keys and thanked the guy and turned back to shake Aric’s hand and hug Heidi.

Then he looked at me and there was a drawn out pause. “So… I guess I’ll see you at work Monday.”

“Yep. See you then. Have a safe flight tomorrow.”

“Thanks. You too.” He half-turned to go then turned back. “Do you want to take my number or something, in case you have any problems? I could—”

I did a double-blink. “Um, I have it. Deb put it on our itinerary.”

“Okay, good. Well, have fun tonight. Don’t make too many prank calls.”

“Okay. Good night.”

I watched him get into the car and tried to ignore the pulling sensation inside my stomach, as if something in me wanted to cut loose and follow him down 3rdStreet.

TWELVE

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