Page 79 of From Asher, With Love

“No.” She grins, nodding in the direction of the bar, where Asher disappeared to. “With him.”

Warmth radiates my body, and I know it isn’t just from the two glasses of champagne. “I am happy.”

“It’s about freaking time!” Julianna yells, holding onto London’s hand as they both sway to the music. London’s caught up in the beat, closing her eyes, swaying her head back and forth.

I’m losing myself to the beat, too, allowing the alcohol to hit my blood stream while keeping my attention on where Asher is standing at the bar. He’s leaning against the wooden counter, his eye on me. We’re at least a hundred feet apart, but there’s an invisible thread tying me to him.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Julianna’s jaw practically drops to the floor. Her cheeks flame red, and fire burns in her eyes.

“What?” I ask, looking over my shoulder.

“Rome Montgomery.” She spits his name out with disgust, curling her lip and scrunching her nose.

“Who’s Rome?” Selene asks, her eyebrows pulling together.

“Only the biggest, and I mean thebiggestasshole in the entire world.”

“Why?” London asks her. “What did he do?”

Julianna gives a mock laugh, tilting her head back. “He’s only terrorized me since we were kids. When we were ten, he put gum in my hair and walked around our private school telling everyone to call me Bubblehead. Our family and his have been at odds since before we were even born. He’s been taught to hate us his entire life and continues to make horriblestatements about us publicly. One year, he accused Holt of publishing an article he claims to have published in his own magazine. Of course, it was all a lie.”

“Wait,” Selene cuts in. She closes her eyes and shakes her head before opening them again. “He owns a magazine, too?”

“Among other things,” she mutters.

“Which one is he?” London asks, standing on her toes, attempting to look over the bobbing heads of the dancers surrounding us.

Julianna crosses her arms defiantly. Her boobs push out and her cleavage deepens above the cut of her disco ball dress. “The arrogant asshole headed our way.”

I search the crowd for anyone headed in our direction and quickly catch sight of who Julianna is talking about. Tall, dark hair, and a sharp jaw. His dark hair is slicked back perfectly, and he runs a hand over the top as he zig zags his way through the crowd.

“Oh, my God.” Selene gapes. “He’s gorgeous, like dangerously gorgeous.”

“No, he isn’t.” Julianna huffs. “Trust me, if you knew his personality and who he is deep down, you wouldn’t be saying that.”

Selene quirks her eyebrow. “I don’t know about that.”

“He’s just another corporate billionaire prick living off his family’s wealth and fucking any woman who even bothers to glance in his direction,” Julianna mutters, then scoffs. “I need another drink.”

I keep my comments to myself about her being a billionaire who inherited her family’s wealth, too. Instead, I keep things light.

“Didn’t you say you hoped we’d meet a few hot billionaires at your party?” I ask, stifling myself from laughing too loud. I point to Rome. “Well, there’s one rightthere.”

She groans and rolls her eyes. My best friend isn’t amused. She delivers me a glare, then she leaves the three of us on the dance floor, meeting Rome before he has the chance to meet us.

“Julianna!” I shout. “What are you going to say to him?”

She yells over her shoulder. “I’m going to find out who invited him here, then kick his ass out!”

“Shit,” Selene hisses, and the three of us rush to follow but keep a decent space behind.

Despite her anger, Julianna gently pushes her way through her party guests, careful not to take it out on them, stopping every now and then to smile, promising to catch up later. But her face falls the second she’s standing toe to toe with Rome. Her usual full lips press tightly together, and her nostrils flare.

Selene, London, and I watch the exchange between them as if we’re flies on the wall when, in reality, we have front row seats.

Rome’s mouth lifts in to a grin, and there’s a look of satisfaction in his eye. He simply stares at Julianna as he shoves his hand into his pocket and pulls out a small black box tied with red ribbon. Julianna doesn’t even move to acknowledge it, keeping her daggers pinned on the man in front of her.

“Happy Birthday, Lark.” He narrows his gaze as Selene jerks her head in my direction.

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