Page 12 of Faking with the Bad Boy Billionaire

She excused herself and walked over to Steven, "You were gone for quite a bit."

"Just wanted to see if I could win some things and got myself a drink." He reached the table behind him and grabbed a fresh and full champagne flute for her. "I saw you with some of the families and wanted to give you some space."

"Well, thank you." She sipped her champagne and looked around when a little chime sounded overhead, signaling dinner. Josephine took Steven's arm, and they entered the main hall for a costly and tasty meal.

Josephine was not one to eat in public. She would snack, eat small out, and then eat whatever she wanted when she got home, but Steven noticed she wasn't eating when he leaned over and whispered, "I need you to eat if you are going to keep drinking tonight." Josephine visibly shivered at his words and put a forkful of the salmon in her mouth.

Josephine kept drinking more and more as the night went on. The food was good, the company was okay, but her partner in crime was perfect. He held onto her leg and squeezed a few times throughout the meal, reassuring her that no one would be judging her, even if her coworkers visibly were, and letting her know she could just be herself with him.

The pair made small talk with everyone while they waited for the auction to finish up, and when it did, Josephine was in for a big surprise. The name Steven Calhoun was called four separate times as a winner. With each win, Josephine realized it was everything she bid on, including the trip to Hawaii, that she had never thought she would win. She was wondering how much money he just spent on her that evening.

"Well, someone hit the dinero jackpot." Lana was staring at the pair. Josephine just sat there with her mouth open for a few minutes.

"Babe! What did you do?" Josephine finally found some words, and that was what came out.

"I made sure you got everything you wanted, and I donated to an amazing cause." Steven kissed her cheek, "Just enjoy it. We are engaged, and my job is to spoil you with reckless abandon. Just say thank you and give me a kiss." Josephine did what she was told and smiled at him, shaking her head before giving him their second deep kiss. They were so involved with each other that they did not realize the entire table was watching as she let out a low moan.

Steven pulled back from the kiss and handed her the champagne flute. "I think we need to go and get you a refill." They spent the next half hour being thanked for his donations and congratulated on the wins of the auction.

When the music started, Steven directed her to the dance floor, "This is a classy event, love, no grinding, no twerking, and no exposing things."

Josephine laughed so hard she snorted. Her hand flew over her mouth, and she moved her hand when she calmed down momentarily. "I make no promises, Mr. Calhoun."

When the final song came around, he spun her around the dance floor, held her close, and took her breath away. With the last song, he began pulling her closer, with a light touch burning the base of her spine. His fingers made their way into the edges of her dress, and he played with the chain. His other hand was holding onto hers. He held her as close as he possibly could, and her body was thrumming from the champagne. He smelled of whiskey, ocean, and sage. It was taking over all of her other senses. Every single place he was touching was on fire. Everything he smelled of took over her sense of smell and taste. Her eyes were locked on his, and all she could hear were the sweet little jokes he whispered.

When the music stopped, he collected their things from the table and walked her out to wait at the valet. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He started kissing her neck, and she couldn't help falling back to rest against him.

"Are you sure you should drive?" Josephine's voice pulled both of them out of the trance they were in.

"I sipped on one the entire night. I wasn't going to drive us home like that. I will have another one or two at the apartment." Josephine always felt a jolt of excitement whenever he called wherever she was home.

"Sounds perfect to me." The car pulled up, and he walked her to the door and closed it once she was secured inside. She watched Steven tip the valet and climb inside.

Chapter eight

Steven

Stevenlookedaroundashe climbed into the driver's seat, watching other couples leave in front of them and behind. The car was filled with silence before Josie reached forward and turned on some low music to fill the void. Steven was very aware of every tiny movement she made. There was this electricity in the air around them that had only been growing throughout the week. Steven reached over and placed a hand on her knee. She took a small, sharp breath, and he felt her relax under his touch. When he started rubbing his thumb back and forth, Josephine's head leaned back against the seat, and she slowly looked at him.

"Did you have a good night?" Steven's voice was almost raspy and strained as he tried to talk to her.

"It was wonderful. Thank you so much for doing this for me." Josephine placed her hand on top of his and gave it a squeeze.

"I would do anything for you, Josie. You know that." He squeezed her thigh tightly, and he caught her biting her lip out of the corner of his eye. She squeezed her legs together a bit, and Steven was fully aware that she felt the spark, too.

"Did you know I thought we would be together after prom?" Josie's voice pulled everything since that night straight down in his mind. His memories of every interaction went crashing out of what he thought he knew.

"So did I, but you found Tyler," Steven remembered seeing her between him and the side of the house. She was tugging on Tyler's suit, pulling him closer. He leaned in and kissed her, and Steven had to look away. He went and found Macy. He asked her out. Josie and Steven started drifting apart little by little after that.

"No, you found Macy, so I went to Tyler." Josie's correction of what happened had him spiraling internally. It was his fault. Macy was in his lap by the fire before he removed her to find Josie, but he didn't know Josie had found them first.

"I don't remember that."

"You wouldn't," Josie let out a small snort, "not with all the awkward barely boobs in your face."

Steven could not help but laugh with her about Macy. There were some inside jokes about how Macy always pretended to be larger than she was, but the whole school knew the truth. Except for the padding in her shirts, there wasn't much going on inside.

The rest of the ride was quiet. Steven wanted to tell her the truth from his side of things, too. Josie had given him a glimpse of her feelings, but he kept himself fairly shut off during his whole trip there. Steven got out and opened the door for her when they approached the house. He held a hand out for her to take, and there was no hesitation. She took it and squeezed in reassurance that they were okay. He watched her walk to the door. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he wanted to make her all his.

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