Page 62 of Billionaire’s Game

“The clothes, not the era,” I said. I couldn’t help myself. I was a history major after all.

“So do you want me to get you a drink or something?”

“Or something,” I said facetiously. And then without thinking I reached my hand out to his and he took it. At that very moment, I saw Violet coming toward us. I guiltily removed my hand from his and opened my mouth to apologize. I know she saw us, but she seemed unconcerned as she made her way to us.

“Magnus! There you are! Come on, Channel Seven is here. Let’s get a picture. I’ll bring him right back, Lesli. I promise.” And just like that, Violet whisked him off.

I wondered about her last comment, about bringing him back to me. Did she know that I was secretly interested in him? Or maybe it wasn’t all that secret. She did just catch me holding hands with him. I didn’t know what I’d been thinking. The only excuse I could give myself was that it was becoming harder and harder to keep my feelings in check when Magnus was around. I didn’t know what to do from here, but I decided then and there to stop being afraid of how I felt. I vowed to tell Magnus by the end of the evening how I felt and I’d also have to tell Violet. My shoulders filled with tension again and my stomach did somersaults at the idea of how my words would hurt her, but I knew I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I couldn’t hide how I really felt from the world, not to mention from a friend.

I caught up with Misha, Emmaline, and Lacey. They’d been staring in my direction and when I approached, they tried to appear nonchalant. They didn’t say a word but their silence spoke volumes.

“What?” I said with a hint of annoyance.

“You and Magnus seemed awfully cozy until Violet showed up.”

“We’re just friends.”

“Friends don’t stare into each other’s eyes and hold hands,” Emmaline said matter-of-factly as she helped herself to another flute of champagne as a waiter made his rounds.

I followed her lead and helped myself to one too. I needed a little liquid courage for what I planned to do tonight.

And then I thought to myself, maybe I needed to practice saying it out loud.

“You guys,” I said taking a deep breath. “I’m in love with Magnus.”

“I knew it,” Lacey said.

“You need to tell him,” Emmaline immediately added to the conversation. “From what Lacey’s told us, he just started dating Violet, but you don’t want things to progress too far along before telling him how you feel.”

“So true,” Misha said nodding. “Tell him how you feel and then rip his clothes off and have dirty sex with him in his limo. It’s what I would do.”

I giggled. “I’ll definitely consider it.”

“You do that,” she agreed before waving to someone behind us. “Oliver and Grandma are here!”

“He made it,” Lacey said as we moved as a group toward them. On his arm was Kat, Misha’s grandmother.

We all hugged and fussed over each other.

“Welcome back! How was the vacation?” I asked.

“Great. Wonderful,” Kat said.

“But I was ready to come home,” Oliver said. “This old body isn’t what it used to be. Kat, here,” he said kissing her forehead. “Now, she could have stayed in Greece. You should have seen her, dancing on tables in the Greek isles.”

Kat laughed. “I had a grand time. But I missed my apartment.”

Oliver sighed. “I took her to the fanciest hotels money could buy, but this one wanted to experience hostels. I stayed at a hostel for this woman. I had to share a bathroom with strangers. It was almost inhumane.” His tone was incredulous, which made the rest of us laugh.

Kat pinched the tip of his nose, in a very cute, affectionate manner, and said, “Oh, hush. You loved every minute of it.”

“Only because I was with you...”

“You’re too sweet.” They shared a brief kiss.

“Ok, ok, get a room,” Misha said, making a face.

“I might be your grandma but I’m also a sensual, hot-blooded woman with needs—”