Yours Completely: A Cinderella Love Story (Billionaires and Brides #1) (49 page)

“Do you have anything to wear?” Charlotte asked, eying my very small carry-on suitcase. I shifted my weight nervously. I hadn’t brought anything even remotely acceptable to wear to a gala. I had a nice pant suit for the auction, but I had a feeling that the gala was more of an evening gown kind of event.

“Um...” I bit my lip. Maybe I could find something in town. I looked around at the Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and a couple of Rolls-Royces. Even if I managed to somehow find a dress shop, there's no way in hell I would be able to afford anything that would let me even remotely fit in. I was going to stick out like a sore thumb if I tried. This was why I had tried to leave. I wasn't any good at these rich events. I didn't want to embarrass Bastian by showing up as a ragamuffin.

“Oh, good! You didn't bring anything. That makes this so much easier,” Charlotte answered for me, a knowing grin crossing her face. She looked like a cat in the cream. “It's always better to work with a blank canvas anyway.”

“What?” I was now imagining an Emperor’s New Clothes scenario. I was not going naked. I was okay with being a blank canvas, but not a naked or semi-naked one.

“I've got just the designer for you,” Charlotte said, looking me up and down and practically cackling with glee. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun!”

I looked at her confused and she just grinned wider. Taking my arm in hers and grabbing my bag, she dragged me into the house. There were people milling around looking at all the pieces up for display before the auction. They stared as she pulled me along, but Charlotte just kept going like they didn't exist.

“I am going to make you the Belle of the Ball,” Charlotte promised as we started up the stairs. She turned and grinned, her eyes bright with mischief. “Come with me.”

***

T
he girl staring at me was wearing a dress that had come straight out of a fairytale. Or a dream. Or both. The girl looked like a princess.

The dress was made of soft gold that flowed over her hips and made the woman in front of me appear lush and slender at the same time. A gold lace overlay started right at her hips and continued down the length of the gown to create a train that was both romantic and stunning. Her dark red hair was pulled back and clipped with a gold comb that matched the dress and brought out the shimmer of the woman's hair.

I swallowed hard and the girl staring back at me swallowed too. I made a face at the mirror and the princess in the amazing dress made the same face back. It was difficult to believe, but I cleaned up pretty good.

The three hours in the hair and makeup chair had done magic, and I was fairly sure that Charlotte had switched out the mirrors in the bedroom with magic ones to make me look this good in a dress. I no longer looked like the small-town girl from nowhere and instead looked like a movie star.

I looked like someone who could be with a billionaire.

“Holy crap,” Charlotte whistled, peeking her head in the door. “I do good work.”

Charlotte opened the door wider and came in. She was wearing an off-the-shoulder gown with a subtle mermaid tail in royal blue. With her dark hair and eyes, she was breathtaking.

“You look gorgeous, Charlotte,” I told her. She grinned.

“What? This old thing?” She grinned. Charlotte looked like she had just stepped out of a fashion magazine. She circled me, evaluating my dress and appearance. She reached up and adjusted the comb in my hair. “Sebastian’s going to lose his mind when he sees you.”

“You're sure he'll be happy to see me?” I pressed my knuckles against the lace at my stomach. The butterflies inside of me were going mad and for a moment I thought I might be sick. What if he didn't feel the same way about me?

Charlotte sighed. I'd asked her this at least a dozen times while getting ready. “He's been the moodiest, most grumpy man I've ever had the misfortune of being around since you left. He hasn't even gone out paddle-boarding in the mornings. Just keeps talking about the dark.”

My heart ached for the pain I had caused. “I'm just nervous. I don't want to screw this up again.” I bit my lip and promptly tried to stop. It would mess up the lipstick Charlotte's makeup artist had just spent twenty minutes perfecting.

Charlotte came over and took my hands in hers. “He has been a mess without you. A broody, heartbroken, love-sick mess. He's going to be overjoyed to see you. I promise.”

“You know Bastian and I had a fight, right?”

Charlotte reached up and carefully fixed a stray strand of hair. One red lock kept falling out of my up-swept hairdo and falling across my forehead no matter how much hairspray we used.“Yes. I know.”

She took both my hands in hers. She smiled gently, her eyes meeting mine and making sure I heard her words.

“I said some terrible things...” My lower lip quavered.

“He loves you,” she stated. “I know Sebastian. And I've never seen him the way he was with you. He was happy. And this past week...” she shook her head and grimaced slightly. “This past week has been a nightmare without you.”

“How could I have been so stupid?” I whispered. My eyes started to water. I had let the man of my dreams go because I hadn't believed in myself. It was the stupidest thing I had ever done. I just hoped he could forgive me.

“Don't you dare cry,” Charlotte admonished. “It may be waterproof mascara, but I will not have you messing up all the work we just did.”

I sniffed and looked up, forcing the tears back up. “Sorry.”

“Sebastian Belrose loves you. I think he was smitten from the moment he saw you,” Charlotte said with a smile.

“I don't think it was that fast. The first moment I was kind of a jerk,” I replied.

Charlotte laughed. “This is going to work out. I promise you. Just come downstairs.” She smiled and checked the delicate silver watch on her wrist. “You ready?”

I looked over at the movie star in the mirror. No, I wasn't ready. I closed my eyes and thought of Bastian. How he had said I was beautiful. And now I looked it. I could do this.

I nodded, not trusting myself to use words. There was a very good possibility that if I opened my mouth I would try and back out. She took my hand and led me out the door.

The hallway was dark and quiet. I could hear the murmur of a lot of voices and music downstairs. If this went poorly, I didn't think I would survive. I was already planning on how to walk out into the ocean as my backup plan, and I knew that didn't bode well for me.

“Show time,” Charlotte whispered as we came to the top of the stairs.

I nodded and let go of her hand to wipe my eyes before she could yell at me for ruining my makeup again. I went to the top of the stairs and looked down at the party.

I saw Chad first. He was standing in a cheap suit trying his best to ingratiate himself with a woman twice his age and wearing a diamond mine around her throat. It was easy to see that he was angling for her money, and by her fluttering eyelashes she was falling for his slimy charms. At least I wasn't the only one. I wanted to back out and run. If Chad was here, I wasn't sure I could do this. Luckily, Charlotte was standing right behind me and had her hand on my shoulder.

“No running. Bastian's right there,” she whispered, nudging me in the right direction.

I saw him and my heart stopped. I had missed him more than I could have ever thought possible. He was by the door, standing with Leo and who I assumed must be Gabe. He hadn't seen me yet, and I let myself admire him for a moment. He was so beautiful.

His suit was crisp and straight and made of some sort of black that seemed to absorb the light. It of course fit perfectly, highlighting the broad strength of his shoulders and his trim waist and even the perfect curve of his ass. He was stunning.

But there was something different about him. He smiled at his guests, but the smile never touched his eyes. If anything, he looked more withdrawn and wound tighter than usual. Leo and Gabe appeared to be carrying the conversation without him.

Charlotte gave my shoulder a gentle push. It was now or never. I took a deep breath, more to remind myself that I should breathe than for actual oxygen, and grabbed onto the bannister. I took one step and then another, my eyes not watching the floor, but instead watching Bastian.

He looked up at the stairs when I was at the halfway point, his blue-gray eyes going directly to mine. A thrill went through me as he did a double take and then a triple take. His mouth slowly opened and hung that way for a good minute.

He walked out of whatever conversation he had been having with Leo and Gabe, leaving them staring after him to meet me at the bottom of the stairs.

“Ava,” he whispered, waiting for me to descend the last stair. “You came back...”

“You can't get rid of me that easily.” I grinned, my heart pounding in my throat. “Especially when you offer me dream vacations to Paris.”

He blushed slightly, the edge of the scar on his cheek going white. “Oh, that.”

“Yes, that.” I took a step forward, feeling braver by the second. He seemed happy to see me. “Even without that, I couldn't stay away. You didn't have to do that.”

“I wanted to.” The honesty in his light eyes made my stomach do happy flip-flops.

“That's why it means so much to me,” I told him. I couldn't stop smiling. “It's everything. Thank you.”

He raised his hand, moving it like he was going to pull me into a kiss, but then he stopped and let it fall. He looked past me and frowned, taking a step back. The light in his expression was now tempered with caution. “Why did you come back?”

I turned to see what he was looking at. Chad. The woman with the diamonds was now flirting with one of his cheaply-dressed friends and he was sipping on champagne that he couldn't afford. I could only imagine what he had told Bastian.

“There's something I need to tell you,” I said quietly, biting my bottom lip. I knew I was probably smudging my lipstick, but if my nervous biting hadn't worn it off by now, nothing would. “Something important.”

Bastian's eyes darkened with seriousness, but flooded with concern at the same time. He took a step forward, ready to protect me, even from my own words. “Anything.”

I glanced back over at Chad. “Somewhere private?”

He nodded and took my hand to led me from the staircase. I could see Charlotte making her way down. Leo's eyes fixated on her and I wondered for a moment what was going on between the two of them. I didn't get to see what happened next because Bastian was pulling me into the next room. We hurried out to the back porch.

Outside the murmur of the music filtered through an open window somewhere, but it was soft and muted. The ocean hummed against the shore, dark water against white sand. I was suddenly incredibly nervous about being alone with Bastian.

He hadn't lost the guarded expression. In fact, as soon as the door swung shut, he dropped my hand and went to the railing to look out at the beach without me. The loss of his touch hurt like a physical wound. The waning moon shone on his dark suit and caught the dark edge of the scar along his cheek.

“Why are you here, Ava?” Bastian's voice was low, but I could hear the quiet anguish in his voice. His hands tightened on the railing making his knuckles turn white.

“I'm here for you.” My voice shook. My whole body was shaking. I felt naked even with the beautiful dress and perfect makeup.

He forcibly relaxed his hands from the railing and turned sharply, his eyes catching the moonlight. “Why?”

I swallowed down the fear and turmoil roiling up in my throat. This wasn't exactly the greeting I had been promised by Charlotte.

“I had to see you,” I whispered, taking a step forward. He retreated slightly.

“You said that when you left, you were gone.” His beautiful eyes were like stars in the night sky: distant and cold. “I was told you were seeing someone. That you had been seeing someone when you came here.”

“What?” I shook my head confused. “I wasn't with anyone but you. I don't want anyone but you.”

His hard expression flashed with hope for the briefest second before his brows came together again like storm clouds. “Please explain, then.”

The breeze off the ocean tugged the loose strand of hair across my face and I carefully tucked it back where it belonged before starting. I was surprised I could talk at all my stomach was so tangled up in knots, yet the words came smoothly.

“When I left, I was sure I didn't deserve you,” I started. I looked at his hands, remembering how they felt against my skin. So strong and safe. “I still don't think that I do, but I can't be without you.”

I glanced up from his hands. His face was still hard, his expression unreadable. I smoothed the fabric of my dress.

“I'm not worthy of a billionaire. I'm still a little broken and I'm not used to any of this,” I motioned to the party behind me, but I looked up and into his eyes. “But, I was wrong to leave. I was wrong to push you away because I was afraid. I guess if anything, it just shows how much I don't deserve you.”

My voice failed me at the end and I had to look away.

“And you didn't go home to be with someone else?” he asked. He sounded far more calm than I was. Almost business like. I looked up and into his beautiful, sad eyes and realized that he was using his business voice and face to keep from crumbling.

“No,” I replied emphatically. “Who ever told you that was a liar.”

“Chad. One of the auctioneers,” he said quietly. “He said that the two of you were engaged.”

If Chad had been on the balcony I would have thrown him off it and fed him to the sharks.

“
Bastard
,” I hissed. “Dirty, rotten, lying bastard!”

Bastian's eyebrows raised and the hint of a hopeful smile crossed his lips. “So, it's not true?”

“No,” I nearly shouted. I wanted to scream and cry. “Not even remotely close.”

“That's good to hear.” Bastian's shoulders relaxed slightly and he lost a little of the guarded look in his eyes. “I was afraid I really had lost you forever if that was the case.”

I took another step toward him and this time he didn't shy away. “No, you haven't lost me. I just took a wrong turn for a little bit. You've always had me.”