The Billionaire Bargain #1(22)

And then I slapped his butt.

Grant had just started raising an eyebrow at the‘sugarplum,’ and when I slapped his ass he almost jumped a foot before he recovered. The whole group whooped in delight.

“Ah, I remember that honeymoon phase,” Jennings roared at an even higher volume than usual, maybe trying to compensate for the background chatter of the party. I saw several champagne glasses vibrate off a table and smash to the floor.“Treasure it, my boy, and you as well, Lacey. Treasure it!”

“Oh, I will,” I breathed, making goo-goo eyes at Grant.“I’ll always treasure him.”

“And you as well,” Grant murmured, stroking a strand of hair over my ear.

“So how did you two lovebirds meet?” Jennings’s wife Patricia asked.“You work together, isn’t that right?”

“We do indeed,” Grant said.

He continued to absentmindedly stroke my hair as he talked, his arm slung casually around my shoulders.

“I was—if you’ll pardon my French—being a real shit-heel, and Lacey called me out on it. Well, I’ve always liked a woman with a temper.”

“And I’ve always liked a man who isn’t afraid to admit his mistakes and learn from them,” I added, leaning into Grant.

His arm tightened around me. How long had it been since I had really been held like this—tenderly, sweetly, yet without a second thought, as if it were perfectly natural?

Too damn long, if I was reacting to Grant like this when I’d already told him we could never have sex.

“We got to talking,” Grant continued.“And we had so much in common. Our philosophies about work, our tastes in art—we even liked the same silly show from the sixties!”

“It was love at first argument,” I cut in cheekily, and Grant gave me an adoring look that would have been the envy of any golden retriever, before kissing me on the cheek again.

“She’s a firecracker for sure!” Jennings boomed.“Oh, she’ll keep you on your toes!”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Grant murmured.

If he kept looking at me like that with those deep blue puppy dog eyes, I was going to fall right into them and drown forever.

“Neither would I, sweetheart,” I breathed.

Grant plucked a chocolate-covered strawberry from a passing tray.“If I’m not mistaken, I do recall that you like these…”

He placed it between my lips, and I flicked my tongue out over the chocolate, just brushing his fingers. His pupils dilated, and his other hand on my hip tightened.

I bit down on the berry, the sweetness and tartness of it making me close my eyes and almost swoon into his arms.

It was definitely the taste that was making me close my eyes and almost swoon into his arms.

“You’ve got a little something there,” Grant said, and his fingers gently wiped away a bit of juice from the corner of my mouth. Then, for good measure, he kissed away the rest.

I nipped his finger in reproof, trying to get my heart rate under control at the same time.“Grant, you’re the sweetest, but you can’t just feed me strawberries all night like we did on our anniversary. You’re neglecting your friends, talk to them!”

“Oh, don’t you mind us,” Patricia said, laughing.“It does my heart good to see you young people so in love. Gives me some hope for the rest of the world.”

“In that case,” Grant said,“I’ll go get Lacey some punch. And then just for you, dearest,” he added, squeezing me tight—he felt so good against me, so strong and reliable, and he smelled fresh and clean— “I’ll do my best to remember that there are other people in this room. Though you do make it hard when you outshine everyone around you.”

He dipped me into another kiss, and pulled me away to a chorus of“aaaaaaaawws” from the men and women around us.

“You’re not half-bad at this couple thing,” I said as we made our way across the room.“And here I was thinking you’d be completely remedial.”

“You wound me,” he said.

I smacked his arm lightly.“Big baby.”

“I’ll take the praise regardless,” he said.“You and I make a good team, you know.”

“Yeah, we definitely pulled the wool over the Rich Dude Brigade’s eyes, didn’t we?” I said.“They’re practically wearing wool sunglasses right now, we pulled that wool over their eyes so hard.”

“Such a way with words,” he teased, and stopped walking, reaching out instead to trace my lips.

I nearly forgot to breathe. I cast about desperately for something to say to distract him. Stock market tips? Wardrobe compliment? Speaking in tongues and prophesying the end times?

“You should do this for real, you know,” I blurted out to him.“Find some hot chick who can keep up with you and settle down. Or at least pretend to, for the company’s sake. People really seem to eat it up.”

He put on a puzzled expression.“Why would I look anywhere else?” he said.“You’re right here.”

Damn, he was much too good at pretending.

“I’ve—uh, I’ve got a busy schedule,” I said. I tried to laugh past the lump in my throat. Tried to tell myself I didn’t care where he looked, or at whom.“I can’t be holding your hand while I’m charging up the hill to take over the business world, can I?”