Page 53 of Billionaire's Dangerous Desire

The mountain of regrets settled in slowly, and I dashed out of his office in shame. And as I made my way home, I strongly hoped I didn’t make everything remarkably awkward with him, because I still had a fundraiser to throw. And it needed to be perfect.

ChapterTwenty-One

How do you spend a week making calls and running on errands all without an assistant, and still without breaking down? That was me. Every moment I needed someone to acknowledge how hard I was working, to the lengths I had put just to make sure I had a perfect thing coming along. But, that seemed like it was not coming.

Honestly, I missed Ryan. He was so good at giving compliments and acknowledging when you were busting your ass off. But, to Luca I was pretty much invisible. Maybe I had indeed made it awkward with the kiss I had left him hanging with. Maybe I had also left him with a massive boner as I teased and sleazed, but I just couldn’t at the moment. My conscience wouldn’t just let me. And, it wasn’t like I was still in love with Holden, or like I ever was, but there was just too much I had to settle in my mind. And, of course, there was the guilt.

One of the errands I had still not done, even though I had it at the top of my list, was finding a great caterer. It was a fundraiser after all. The food needed to be excellent. Stella had mentioned when we met that she was going to bring her special cake, a recipe that had been passed down from generations. And, even though I had my initial doubts about the credibility of that, I couldn’t deny how it would be a great help also. People were going to need dessert after all.

It's funny how I wad now worried about planning a perfect evening for these people that had judged me by my mere looks on my first day in their little town. How they stared like they were trying to prefer my soul, and find out what I was really up to. Like I had an ulterior motive, even. Suddenly, I felt at ease. I did not need to prove shit to them. I had run hundreds of parties in college, all of which had turned out successful, so nothing could get in my way. Not the townsfolk, not the awkwardness with Luca, and certainly not this godforsaken prankster.

Honestly, I missed Ryan. He was so good at giving compliments and acknowledging when you were busting your ass off. But, to Luca I was pretty much invisible. Maybe I had indeed made it awkward with the kiss I had left him hanging with. Maybe I had also left him with a massive boner as I teased and sleazed, but I just couldn’t at the moment. My conscience wouldn’t just let me. And, it wasn’t like I was still in love with Holden, or like I ever was, but there was just too much I had to settle in my mind. And, of course, there was the guilt.

The caterers shop was a long drive from Corduroy Lane. Really, it was like they’d erected their shop the furthest they could from the mayor's office. And only them knew why. I had hoped to just run in and out, but guess who I saw strutting out with their head raised higher than usual. Stella. And, she had a large cake in her hands. Guess when she meant homemade family recipe she meant the caterers special treat. Suddenly, I felt a slight flush. It was like I was having a battle within me. I wanted to confront her. I wanted to let her know, even if she felt she was fooling everyone, she wasn’t fooling me. Maybe she always walked around so esteemed because she could easily get away with everything in this little town she felt she owned. She’d told me that her dad was also a mayor in the town, and at his dying breath, he’d wished for her to become mayor took. But, of course, I couldn’t take any words from her mouth seriously. She was a liar, and a pathological one at that.

So, I had to wait for her to be fully out of sight before I strode down. I’d just say that was the longest ten minutes of my life. Stella loved to talk, and worse, she loved her phone almost to the point of addiction, so all the way out of the shop and down the street, she would stop and get distracted and start walking again. Lord knows it was frustrating. But, finally, I was at the caterer’s shop. I had spent days thinking about what I was going to get. Something that would embody the legacy of the town and yet say I wasn’t trying so hard. And even though that felt impossible, I was still going to do it.

“Good morning.” The attendant barely noticed me had I not called out to him. He was draped in an apron, and he had a sailor's hat atop his head. That just had to be the funniest outfit I'd seen. He was slender. Had little muscles, if not he’d had looked like Popeye.

He returned the greeting. “Good morning. How can I serve you?” In his baritone, those words sounded soft, and gentle like a prayer. But the kind of prayer where you knew what you desired, but you just wanted to know how you wanted to get it.

“I am planning the fundraiser tonight…”

“Oh, so, you’re the Evelyn Grey?”So, they were indeed gossiping about me.

“The Evelyn Grey?”

“You’re even prettier than their descriptions…”

“Well, thank you. A girl can only try.”

“Well, you’re certainly trying, alright.” I didn’t know whether he was flirting with me, but I was just not in the mood at the moment.

“Please, can I place an order for tonight. I want to get something good, tasty. Something that wouldn’t require too much time to make.”

“So, you’re sure of what you want to get?”

“Well… I want you and the little chefs in there to surprise me.” And, then, I just strutted right out.

It was annoying really. The boy was being a royal pain in my ass. Plus, I still hadn’t got the time to be entertaining his little dainty nuances. Little, naïve Evelyn, the Evelyn that didn’t know herself until she came here would’ve given in to that. She would’ve hiven that boy what he’d wanted, because she would have wanted it to. She would’ve ordered a doughnut, a cream pie, or something messy, so as she ate, she’d get him hard and make him drool. Then, she’d catwalk to the counter and flash her boobs in his face, and she’d lead him to the bathroom and fuck ths hell out of him till he screamed and moaned and came. She wouldn’t care who listened. She wouldn’t care if she was going to become the talk of the town. She’d keep bouncing on his dick, pleasuring herself in the best ways she knew how. But this Evelyn was in love. With her boss.

* * *

The hall looked extremely beautiful.Banners floated in the air, balloons dangled from the ceiling, and even amidst the ruckus, I could sense joy. The sort of joy that burned so bright it lit up the room. Townsfolk chattered away about so many things. I could hear their conversations even though I wasn’t near. They talked about the happenings since I arrived. The bandits, the prankster, the goat blood that spilled in the restaurant, how I was trying to uncover something from over twenty years ago. Their blathering unnerved me. It made me furious, terribly angry. But I couldn’t let them get the best of me. Well, not yet. I had to show them that my coming was the best thing to happen to their little town.

I saw Luca ahead, with an older looking, yet elegant couple. They had their hands in each other’s and they flashed smiles so wide it only drew me closer to them. I needed to get away from the bad energy around, and hear what made them smile so wide.

“Hi, y’all,” I greeted, flashing my teeth as I approached. “How are you enjoying the fundraiser thus far?”

Luca glared at me alarmingly, yet coyly and looked back at his guests. “Mom, Jamie, I’d like you to meet Evelyn.”

Mom? Why had I just assumed his mum was dead? “It's so nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Nice things, I hope?”

“Of course, only the best.”

Her grin widened. “That’s how I know you’re lying girl. Luca would never say good thing about me. Maybe when I’m gone, he’d finally appreciate how wonderful of a mother I am. How I am still a human being capable of making faults. But now, he’s just not fond of me.”

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