The Last Eligible Billionaire(79)

Begonia touches her cheek as if she’s testing its temperature. “Makeup does this every time,” she whispers back in a much more whispery voice.

“Right? Remember freshman homecoming? You were batting them off like maggots on poop.”

“Hyacinth.”

The brown-haired twin laughs with glee.

She’s in a lovely ivory gown, flowing around her belly, crisscrossed with crepe across her breasts and accented with thin, gold-trimmed straps holding it aloft.

And despite their identicalness, she can’t hold a candle to Begonia, whose eyes are dancing, smile beaming so bright the sun itself would shield its eyes, her shoulders held back, chin high, as if she were royalty in a previous life and will carry this essence of confidence with her until the end of all time.

“Hayes?” she says softly, though that twinkle leaves no doubt she knows why I’m speechless.

“We’re not going,” I hear myself say.

One of her newly-sculpted brows arches as she reaches the bottom step. “No?”

“You’ll outshine the host, though you’ll have her eating out of the palm of your hand within minutes, and then the vultures will descend and they won’t stop with what’s in your hand, but rather they’ll attempt to eat you alive. You don’t belong to this crowd, Begonia. They’re too cutthroat, and you’re too perfect.”

I need to stop talking.

There are witnesses, and I’ve just nearly confessed to adoring her beyond reason.

She smooths a hand over my lapel. “Hayes. We’re going, and I’m going to try caviar and hate it and dribble it down my dress and horrify your crowd, which is perfect, since you hate hanging out with them, and then they won’t invite you back.”

Hyacinth laughs, the sound echoing throughout the foyer. “You two are seriously a match made in heaven. Also, call me when the caviar thing happens so I can talk you down. It will not be as bad as you think it is.”

Begonia squeezes her sister’s hand. “What if I spill red wine on someone wearing a dress like yours?”

“Then Hayes will come to your rescue,” Hyacinth replies. “And he gets out of ever going to these things again. Why don’t you like these things, Hayes? Are they terrible? Or is this just not your crowd?”

The stylist is long gone.

My housekeeper is quietly retreating back upstairs.

Keisha, Millie, and Uncle Antonio have departed.

It’s just us.

“Hyacinth, would you like to spend your days doing nothing more than operating the preschool’s parent club?” Begonia asks.

She shudders. “Hush your mouth.”

“High society is to Hayes what preschool parent club is to you. Great for some, but not for all.”

“Oh, jeez. At least my kids will eventually outgrow preschool.”

I choke on an unexpected laugh, which earns me another of those magnificent Begonia smiles.

“Will Liliane or Amelia be there?” she asks with an innocent bat of her lashes.

I can’t stop smiling back at her. “My world is not ready for you, Begonia.”

“Keisha operates in your world. They are more than ready for me.”

The front door opens, and Robert steps inside. “The helicopter is ready, sir.”

“Oh my god, take all the pictures!” Hyacinth tackles Begonia in a hug. “And can I pee before we get on the helicopter? I can’t hug you after I pee or I might have to pee again.”

Begonia laughs, then bends to kiss her sister’s belly before hugging her tight. “Go on. We’ll wait.”

Hyacinth waddles deeper into the house to reach the bathroom.

Robert ducks out the front door.

And I turn to settle a hand on Begonia’s waist and brush a kiss to her jaw. “You are breathtakingly gorgeous this evening.”

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to, but I thought…”

“Whatever you thought, you thought correctly. We do, unfortunately, have to go. What’s this scent? It’s intoxicating.”

“You like it?”

“I’m enraptured. You wear it well.”

“Keisha gave it to me. She’s working on a secret project to take over the world with beauty products on the side.”

“Hm.”

“Hm?”

“She’ll overcharge me exorbitantly to buy the scent so only you can wear it.”

Begonia laughs as she arches into my body, but stops suddenly. “Oh my god, you’re serious.”

“If I have to endure society and people because of my family’s success, I may as well reap the benefits of a private perfume for my girlfriend.”

My cock is rock-hard, again. Touching Begonia’s smooth skin, inhaling that delectable fragrance complementing her unique sweet scent, pressing my body against her curves—she’s a land Siren, and I am hopelessly devoted to her.

There are so few ways this can end well.

And right now, I don’t care.

Right now, all that matters is that she’s here, and under whatever guise, right now, she’s mine.





31





Begonia



About a year ago, Chad took me to a party hosted by his financial firm celebrating some kind of big milestone. It was at the fanciest hotel in Richmond, and he shilled out nearly five hundred dollars for us to get a room for the night, and we dined on appetizers of mini quiches and shrimp cocktail and got not quite tipsy enough at the cash bar for me to overcome all of those feelings of being in the absolute wrong place.