Bedding the Billionaire (Book 3) (Legacy Collection) (36 page)

Mrs. Duhamel
had offered to watch Colby for the day so Lil could support Abby as she fluctuated from being excited about the big day to being a nervous wreck
. It still amazed Lil that beneath her strong façade, Abby worried and succumbed to the
occasional
panic just like she did.

To
alleviate their stress, Abby and Lil spent two hours having their hair and nails done by the stylists Dominic
had hired
for them
.
Eventually Lil had returned to her own suite to dress alone.
Well, alone was really an exaggeration of
the
situation.
Lil was feeling a bit crowded by the entourage whose sole job was to anticipate her every need. Abby said
she wouldn’t
notice the staff or the security after a while, but
Lil was longing for
the
privacy of her penthouse. Did Jake live like this?
Lil couldn’t imagine him tolerating the constant intrusion.

That evening, Lil stood at the top of the stairs
in a sleeveless, floor length orange dress,
wondering
if she had chosen her attire
wisely.
Many of the women she could see were much more demurely dressed in either a sophisticated black or subdued red.

Nicole
waved to Lil from across the room, looking every bit as comfortable in her
floor length
, off-one-
shoulder, claret
Erdem
dress.
She and
Stephan move seamlessly through the crowd, stopping to engage in what appeared to be just the right amount of small talk
with each group of guests
before moving on to the next cluster of people.

Dominic and Abby were located at the far end of the hall, greeting people who were casually making their way to meet them.
The party looked like a scene out of movie.
Everyone looked so poised, so perfect.

I don’t even know how to address them.

I should have asked.

No,
I should have pretended to be sick tonight, that’s what I really should have done.

How am I going to be Abby’s maid of h
onor if I’m not even brave enough t
o leave the top of the stairway?

As if on cue, Jake appeared at the bottom of th
e stairs in a simple, formal tuxedo.
The warmth in his eyes as he looked up at her freed her feet.
She forced herself to take the stairs gracefully instead of flying to his side as she wanted to.

When she reached him, h
e kissed he
r
lightly
on the cheek
, linked her arm with his and whispered
, “You look stunning tonight.”

Tucked against
his side, l
ost in the magic of the evening, she
lowered her sarcastic shield and replied, “So, do you.”

He stopped and looked down at her, smiling. “Ms.
Dartley
, did you just give me a compliment?”

She couldn’t help but return his smile. “
I can be nice.”

He bent and growled into her ear, “But I’ve begun to consider your taunts a form of foreplay.”

She
playfully
swatted his arm. “You would.”

His words tickled her ear. “If we were alone I would show you exactly what you do to me, but I can wait until tonight.”

“Tonight?”
H
er throat dried and her heart pounded in her chest.

“Oh, yes, after Dom and Abby make their announcement, I’m going to steal you away to my private suite in the north wing.”

“And just what makes you think I’ll go with you?”

He ducked behind a potted plant with her and claimed her lips hungrily.
She hesitated for just a second before meeting his lips enth
usiastically. His tongue teased
then enter
ed, coaxing and
exciting
.
His
hands molded her frame to his, firmly
holding her against the evidence of his need for her
.
“You’ll come.”

He set her back from him and adjusted her clothing.

I’m sure I will
, she thought
and fanned her face
.
Maybe more than once.

“I love
that
expression on your face,
”
he said.

She cocked her head in question.

They stepped out from behind the plant and he said, “The one that says that you have a naughty thought that you’re not going to share.
I’ll
spend the entire evening wondering exactly what you were thinking just then.”

“I could tell you,” she said boldly.

He pulled h
er into his side as they walked and growled suggestively,
“Why not simply show me later?”

She wo
uld have said something
witty
if she had been able to think coherently.
Much more of this and she was going
to suggest they cut the evening sh
ort and consequences be damned.
Instead she
gathered
her resolve and
regained some clarity by focusing on the people around them. Jake
escort
ed
her through the crowd and introduced her to everyone from a Prime Minister to a Sheik
h
.
He didn’t
introduce
her with a
label
, but his arm never left her waist and the message that she was his could not have been more obvious if he had rented a billboard.

Not that Lil minded.

His possessiveness gave her another reason to hope.

Lil was allowing herself to relax and enjoy the evening when she saw someone across the room
who
immediately changed her mood.

Jake felt her tense and asked, “Is there something wrong?”

Oh, just potentially,
everything.

“No,” Lil answered
evasively
. “I just saw a friend of mine.”

Jake scanned the room
and asked coldly
, “Who?”

His tone made her temporarily return her focus to him. “Are you jealous?”

“No,” he
said
in an angry tone. “No,” he said again, sounding like he was aiming for a more casual answer.
Then he turned her more fully toward him. “Should I be?”

No, but
if you knew everything
you might
wish this were about another man.

“
Not unless you think my taste is tall, red haired women.”

He let out a slow breath.
“Your friend
Alethea
?”

Her eyebrows furrowed, “How do you know about her?” Then she remembered. “Would you stop reading my background check, please? It’s not fair.”

“
Is it my fault
they were so
thorough?”

“
It’s going to be your fault if I stomp this heel into your toes.”

He nodded. “Point made.
”

Lil tried to pull away. “
Excuse
me,
I have to go speak to her for a moment...”

“
I’ll go with you.”

“
No, you can’t becau
se…” She stopped herself.
No more lies
.
“
Jake, do you trust me?”

His expression was unreadable.
Then he said, “Yes.”

“
Believe
me when I tell you I have to talk to
Alethea
alone and I can’t tell you why.
I want to tell you, but it doesn’t involve just me.”
She took his hand in hers
, trying to convey
the importance without giving anything away.

“That sounds pretty ominous.”

“It might end up being something good, but I can’t say more than that right now.
Can you do that for me? Can you give me a little time
to figure this out?”

He looked like that was the last thing he wanted to do, but he said, “Trust goes both ways, Lil.”

“I know,” Lil said huskily.
I hope I don’t lose yours over this
.

“I’ll go
get us a drink,” he said and
withdrew his arm from around her.

No, she wanted to cry, but she let him walk away.
Somehow, she was going to make this right.

She flew to
Alethea’s
side and grabbed her arm.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Lil hissed at her friend.

“You’re not going to congratulate me for successfully gaining entry to one of the most heavily guarded events in recent history?
I even snuck Jeremy in.
He’s at the appetizer table.”

Lil looked over and saw a man
eating
everyone’s share
of
the
shrimp
.
Oh, my God.
“I thought we agreed you weren’t going to do this.”

Alethea
flipped
her thick crimson
hair over one bare shoulder
. In a simple, black,
floor length Tom Ford gown,
Alethea
blended well with the crowd, looking more like a movie star that night than a security consultant.
Her eyes flashed with annoyance.
“You should have told me the
Waltons
were coming.
They are like the holy grail of computer programmers.
No one was even sure they were still alive until word came that they were coming to this event. I couldn’t miss it.
Hell, Jeremy shaved and left his basement to meet them.
They are that big.”